Mendham (All Saints)

MENDHAM (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Hoxne, partly in the hundred of Earsham, E. division of Norfolk, but chiefly in the hundred of Hoxne, E. division of Suffolk, 1¼ mile (E. by S.) from Harleston; containing 823 inhabitants, of whom 566 are in Suffolk. A Cluniac priory, subordinate to that of Castle-Acre, was founded at Bruninghurst, in this parish, in the reign of Stephen, by William, son of Roger de Huntingfield, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary; it subsisted till the Dissolution, when the site was granted to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk: there are some slight remains. The parish comprises 2998a. 33p. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 5. 2½., and in the patronage of Mrs. Whitaker; net income, £122; impropriator, William Adair, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £440, and the vicarial for £50; the glebe comprises 25 acres. The church is in the later English style, with a square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.