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Houghton, New, or Houghton-by-Harpley (St. Martin)

HOUGHTON, NEW, or Houghton-by-Harpley (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Docking, hundred of Gallow, W. division of Norfolk, 7 miles (N. by W.) from Rougham; containing 303 inhabitants. The parish comprises by computation 1495 acres, of which about 715 are arable, 30 pasture, and the rest comprehended within the park and plantations of Houghton Hall, the seat of the Marquess of Cholmondeley, situated on a gentle eminence. This mansion, which is one of the finest in the county, was begun by Sir Robert Walpole, in 1722, and finished in 1735, and is a magnificent structure of freestone, consisting of two principal fronts, connected with their respective wings by balustraded colonnades: the interior contains numerous apartments splendidly fitted up, and a large collection of statues and paintings of the first order. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5; patron and impropriator, the Marquess: the vicarial tithes have been commuted for £108. 17., and the glebe contains 4 acres. The church is chiefly in the early English style; in the nave is an ancient stone coffin, on the lid of which is sculptured, in basrelief, a priest in full dress.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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