Cossey, or Costessey (St. Edmund)

COSSEY, or Costessey (St. Edmund), a parish, in the incorporation and hundred of Forehoe, E. division of Norfolk, 4 miles (N. W. by W.) from Norwich; containing 1074 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the north by the river Wensum, and comprises 3040 acres, of which 1500 are arable, 640 meadow and pasture, 550 woodland, and the remainder common and waste. Cossey Hall, the seat of Lord Stafford, lord of the manor, is a spacious quadrangular mansion, erected by Sir Henry Jerningham, Bart., and contains many stately apartments; it is situated in a well-wooded park; and contiguous to the house is the family chapel, dedicated to St. Augustine, and richly embellished with stained glass. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Trustees of the Great Hospital, Norwich: the tithes have been commuted for £337, and the glebe comprises 60 acres. The church is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower surmounted by a spire. There are a place of worship for Baptists; and a Roman Catholic chapel in the early English style, erected in 1841.