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Walsham, North (St. Mary)

WALSHAM, NORTH (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, in the union of Erpingham, hundred of Tunstead, E. division of Norfolk, 15 miles (N. N. E.) from Norwich, and 124 (N. E. by N.) from London; containing 2655 inhabitants. In the year 1600, nearly the whole of this town was destroyed by a fire, which, although it continued but three hours, consumed property of the value of £20,000. It is situated on an eminence, on the road from Cromer to Norwich, and consists of three streets diverging from a central area, in which stands the church; the town is paved, and lighted with gas, and the inhabitants are well supplied with water. A canal passes through the parish, a short distance north-east of the town, in its course from Antingham; and the river Ant, not far distant, is navigable to the sea at Yarmouth. The market, which is chiefly for corn, is on Thursday: a fair is held on the day before and on Holy-Thursday, for cattle and horses; and statute-fairs for hiring servants take place on the two Thursdays before Old Michaelmas-day. The market-cross, erected by Bishop Thirlby in the reign of Edward VI., was repaired after the great fire in 1600, by Bishop Redman. Two courts baron occur annually, one of the Bishop of Norwich, and the other of Lord Suffield; and the magistrates hold petty-sessions every Thursday. The powers of the county debt-court of North Walsbam, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Tunstead and Happing, and part of that of Erpingham. The parish comprises 4172a. 37p., of which about 400 acres are pasture and gardenground, 150 woodland and plantations, and the remainder arable, with the exception of 200 acres not yet brought into cultivation.

The living is a vicarage, with the rectory of Antingham St. Margaret annexed, valued in the king's books at £8; net income, £336; patron and appropriator, the Bishop: the glebe comprises 2 acres, with a house. The church is a spacious and elegant structure, chiefly in the later English style; on the south side of the chancel are three sedilia of stone, and a piscina of elegant design. The tower, which was 147 feet high, fell down in the year 1724, and is in ruins. In the chancel is a monument to Sir William Paston, Knt., a native of the town, and founder of the free grammar school; it was erected during his life, and is surmounted by a recumbent figure in armour. There are places of worship for Wesleyans, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Primitive Methodists. The grammar school was instituted in 1606, for the education of 40 sons of residents in any of the hundreds of North and South Erpingham, Happing, Tunstead, and Flegg; and was endowed by the fotinder with the rents of certain estates at Horsey and Walcot, to the amount of £250 per annum. The school contains a good library, bequeathed by the Rev. Richard Berney, in 1787; and a monthly lecturer receives £12. 12. per annum out of the school funds. Archbishop Tenison, Bishop Hoadly, and Admiral Lord Nelson received the rudiments of their education in the establishment. A national school is supported; and £30 per annum, the rent of an allotment of waste land, is expended among the poor. About a mile south of the town is a stone cross, erected to commemorate a victory obtained in 1382, by Spencer, Bishop of Norwich, over some rebels headed by a dyer named Litester.


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

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