Sutton, Long (St. Mary)
SUTTON, LONG (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Holbeach, wapentake of Elloe, parts of Holland, county of Lincoln, 4¾ miles (E. by S.) from Holbeach; containing 5845 inhabitants, of whom 3736 are in the township. The parish comprises, exclusively of its three chapelries of Sutton St. Edmund, St. James, and St. Nicholas, 8738 acres of land, chiefly rich marsh and fen; 427 acres are common or waste. It had anciently a monastic cell, called Ketel; John of Gaunt is said to have had a seat here; and on the marsh is a farm named King's House, where King John halted after he had lost his carriages and baggage in crossing the Wash. There is a considerable market for corn and cattle; and fairs are held on May 13th and 14th, and the Friday after September 25th. The village has risen within the present century, and especially within the last fifteen years, to the rank of a handsome and flourishing town, an advance mainly owing to the erection of a bridge at the mouth of the river Nene, and the formation of a road between the town and the river. The bridge is a massive structure of oak, having a platform, with a moveable cast-iron centre 52 feet in the span; the Wash embankment connected with it, which was completed in July 1831, is two miles in length, and an immense tract of fertile land has been recovered from the Wash by its construction. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £40, and in the patronage of Trustees: the great tithes have been commuted for £1973. 13. 6., and the vicarial for £432. 6. 6. The church is a fine structure, with an ancient stone steeple and a lofty spire, serving as a landmark to mariners in the Wash. St. Matthew's church, Sutton-Bridge, is in the early English style, and consists of a chancel, nave, north and south aisles, and a tower at the west end; the first stone was laid in July 1841, by the treasurer of Guy's Hospital, and the governors of that institution were the principal contributors to the erection: the patronage is vested in the Bishop of Lincoln. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Unitarians. A free school was endowed, under a bequest by Robert Phillips, in 1492, and is now conducted in a commodious building erected by subscription in 1835. There are almshouses for six widows, who receive £6 per annum each. In 1603 Thomas Allen bequeathed estates now producing about £220 per annum, for various purposes in the church, the apprenticing of children, and the relief of the poor; and other bequests have been made yielding about £40 per annum, for charitable uses.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.