Islington (St. Mary)
ISLINGTON (St. Mary), with Tilney, a parish, in the union of Wisbech, hundred of Freebridge-Marshland, W. division of Norfolk, 3¾ miles (S. W. by W) from Lynn; containing 251 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the western bank of the broad part of the old river Ouse, where the waters were diverted into the Eau-brink cut, and the land converted into pasture ground. It comprises 1691a. 1r. 8p., of which about 900 acres are arable, and 725 pasture, meadow, and woodland. A good road between Wisbech and Lynn now crosses the river, which before was nearly half a mile wide. Islington Hall is the beautiful seat of Edward Bagge, Esq.: the pleasure-grounds are laid out in the old Dutch style; the mansion bears the date of 1619, but has been considerably enlarged. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 4., and in the patronage of the Crown; impropriator, Mr. Bagge. The great tithes have been commuted for £265. 5., and the vicarial for £100; the glebe contains upwards of five acres, with a house. The church, which is pleasantly situated in the grounds of the Hall, is a cruciform structure in the early and later English styles, with a square embattled tower.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.