' ', ' \ ( 1 ^ /' ii^ S rilAVrET<.R\ HILL O/ Cr. o yu'/v///' / h//////u\ f u//// or fyrwra ^. KOYAL ILLUSTEATED HISTOIiY OF E/STEf ENGL/ND, CIVIL, MILITAEY, POLITICAL, AND ECCLESIASTICAL, FKOM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME, IKCLUDINa A SUfiVEY or THE EASTERN COUNTIES: PHYSICAL FEATURES, GEOLOGY, AND NATURAL HISTORY OP CAMBRIDGESHIRE, ESSEX, NORFOLK, AND SUFFOLK, DESCEIPTIONS OF ANTIQUITIES, CASTLES, CAMPS, FORTS, CHURCHES, ABBEYS, MONASTERIES, MARKET TOWNS, PUBLIC BUILDINGS, AND THE SEATS OF THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY; AN ACCOUNT OF AGMCULTUEE, MANUEACTUEES, TRADES, &c., MEMOIRS OF COUNTY FAMILIES AND EMINENT MEN OF EVERY PERIOD. BY A. D. BAYNE Author of " A History of Norwich." JAMES MACDONALD & Co., li A R K E T - r L A C E , G R E A T Y A R M U T H PRINTED AT THE " KOIirOLK NEWS " OFFICE, MUSEUM COURT, ST. ANDREW'S, NORWICH. THtC;BTVCmBR CONTENTS OF VOL. I. LVTBODUCTIOK^. Plan of the Work Topoguaphical and Historical ^Natural History and Geology of Eastern England, 9 ; Climate and Flora of East Anglia, 21 ; tlie Fauna of Eastern England, 24 ; the Bird* of l^orfolk and Suftblk, 26; the Fishes of Norfolk and Suffolk, 29. CHAPTER 1. Topography ov Essex Situation and Extent, 33. General Description of Essex, 33 ; Physical Features of the County, 36 ; Political Division of the County, 39 ; Ecclesiastical Division of the County, 39 ; Estates in Essex, 40. Hundreds in Essex Tendring, 40; Lexden, 41; Wuistree, 41; Thurstable, 42; Deiigie, 43; Kochford, 43 ; Chelmsford, 44 ; Witham, 45 ; Hickford, 45 ; Fresh well, 46 ; Uttlesford, 46 ; Clavering, 47 ; DunmoAv, 48 ; Ongar, 48 ; Walthaiu, 49 ; Becoutrec, 52 ; Bai-stable, 52 ; Chaflbrd, 53 ; Havering atte Bower, 54. The Towns in Essex (Colcliestev Line of Bailway.J Stratford, 55 ; Barking, 56 ; Ilford, 56 ; Romford, 57 ; Brentwood, 58 ; Ingatestone, 61; Chelmsford, 61; Witham, 64; Braintree, 64; Coggeshall, 67 ; Colchester, 69 ; Ardlcigh, 76 ; Manningtree, 77 ; Harwich, 78 ; Southend, 82 ; IVlaldon, 84 ; Walton-on-the-Naze, 84. (Cambridge Line of Bailway.J Tottenham, 86 ; Walthumstow, 86 ; Edmonton, 87 ; Enfield, 87 ; Waltham Abbey, 88 ; Roydon, 90 ; Broxbourne, 90 ; Harlow, 91 ; Sutton, 92 ; Bishop Stortford, 93 ; Stanstead, 93 ; Elsenham, 94 ; Quenden, 94 ; Newport, 95 ; Saffron Walden, 95 ; Audley End, 98; Chesteiford, 100. Essex [Castles and Forts, 101 ; Aubkys and othsr Monastic Institution* IN ESSBX, 101. u contents. Seats op the Nobility and Gentry in Essex Audley End, Lord Braybronke, 39 ; Euston Hall, Viscount Maynard, 39 ; Thorn- don Hall, LokI Petre, 39 ; Tcrling Place, Eord Kayleigh, 39 ; Rivcnluill Place, Sir J. P. Wood, LL.D., 39 ; Down Hall, near Harlow, Sir J. T. J. Selwin, 39 ; Hill HaU, Sir W. B. Smith, 39 ; Heydon Hall, Sir B. J. H. Soame, 39 ; Mesner Hall, Sir R. A. .Ulcyan, 39 ; Wivenhoe Hall, Sir W. C. De Crespigny, 39 ; Dale Hall, Sir B. HartwcU, 39 ; Xcwton Hall, Sir B. P. Henniker, 39; Bell House, Sir T. B. Lennard, 39 ; Ingatestone, Edgar Disney, Esq., 61 ; Audley End, Lord Bray brook, 98. CHAPTER II. Topography of Cambridgeshire Situation and Extent, 101 General Description of the County, 102 ; Hundreds and Parishes in the County, 108. The Towns of Cambridgeshire Cambridge, 109 ; the Univei-sity of Cambridge, 112 ; the University Colleges, 124; Newmarket, 125 ; Linton, 127; Waterbeach, 127; tlie City of Ely, 128; Littleport, 131; March, 131; Wisbeach, 132; Thorney Abbey, 135; Whittlesey, 136. The Bedford Level, 136. The Estuary of the AVash of Lincoln, 138. CHAPTER IIL Topography of Norfolk Situation and Extent, 139. General Descrijjtion of the County, 139 ; the Forest Bed in Norfolk, 1 10 ; tlie Norfolk Coast, 141 ; Physical Features of Norfolk, 145; Political Divisions, 147 ; Ecclesiastical Divisions, 147. Hundreds in West Norfolk Clackclose, 148; Grimshoe, 149; Shrophani, 153; Guiltcross. 154; Wayland. 156; South Greenhoe, 157; Forehoe, 158; Mitford, 162; Launditch, 164; Eynesford, 165; Gallow, 166; North Greenhoe, 168; Smithdon, 172; Freebridge Lynn, 173; Freebridge Marshland, 174; Brotliercross, 176. Towns and Parishes in West Norfolk Downham Market, 149; Thetford, 150; Attleborough, 153 ; East Harling, 155; Kenninghall, 155 ; Quidenham, 156 ; Watton, 157; IMerton, 157; SAvatt'ham, 158; Wymondliani, 159; Kimberlcy, 161; Hinghaiu, 161; Dereham, 162; Elmham, 165; Moreton-ou-tlie-Hill, 165; the Burnhams, 166-; Fakenham, 167; Houghton, 167; Raynham, 168; Walsingham, 168; WeUs, 170; Holk- ham, 171; Hunstanton, 172; Castle Acre, 173; Ca.stle Rising, 173; Hillington St. Mary, 174; Sanclringham, 175; a description of Lynn Regis, 175 ; Rise and Progress of the Town, 176. Seat8 of the Nobility and Gentry in West Norfolk Kenninghall, 155 ; Quidenhain, 156 ; Merton, 157 ; Kimbeiiey, 161 ; Elmham, 165; Houghton, 167; Raynham, 168; Walsingham, 169; Holkham, 171; Hunstanton, 172; Hillington, 174; Sandringham, the Seat of the Prince of Wales, 174. CONTENTS. m Hundreds in East Norfolk Blofielcl, 183; Walsham, 185; South Walsham, 186; Happing, 190; East Flesg, 103 ; West Flegg, 193 ; Tunstead, 187. Towns and Parishes in East Norfolk P.ishop's Thorpe, 183 ; Postwick, 183 ; Blofield, 183 ; " Stmmpshaw, 184 Brandestoii, 184; Burlingham, 184; Buckenham Ferry, 184; Cantley, 185 Acle, 185; Soiitli Walsham, 18G ; North Walsham, 187; Westwick, 187 Bacton, 189; Ingham, 190; Ludham, 191; Eccles, 192; Caister, 193 Stokesby, 195 ; Aslihy, 195 ; Rolleshv, 195 ; Martham, 196; Somerton, 196 Wintertou, 190. Seats of tiik Nobility and Gentry in E\st Norfolk Bishop's Thorpe, 183 ; Blofield, 183 ; Ikirlingham, 184; Westwick, 187. Hundreds in North Norfolk Taverham, 197 ; Holt, 202 ; South Erpingham, 203; North Ei-pingham, 208. Towns and Parishes in North Norfolk Attlelmdge, 197; Drayton, 198; Cossey, 198; Taverham, 199; Hoi-sford, 199; Horsham, 199; Cattou, 200; Sprowston, 200; Ptackheath, 200; Spixworth, 201 ; Salhouse, 201 ; Wroxham, 201 ; Holt, 202 ; Melton Constable;, 202; Cley, 203; Aylsham, 203; Blickling, 205; Gunton, 200; Coltisball, 207 ; Heydon, 207 ; Trimmiugham, 208 ; Mundesley, 208 ; Sher- ringham. 209; Sidorstrand, 210 ; Cromor, 211. HE.A.TS OP the Nobility and Gentry in North Norfolk Taverham, 197 ; Cossey, 198 ; Gatton, 200 ; Eackheath, 200 ; Wroxham, 201 ; Spixworth, 201 ; Letheringsett, 202 ; Aylsham, 203 ; Bhckling, 205 ; Gunton, 20G ; lleydon, 207 ; Cromer. 210 ; :\relton Constable, 202. Hundreds in South Norfolk Honstead, 213; Humbleyard, 217; (layering, 219; Loddon, 222; Depwade, 224; Ear.-ham. 220 ; Diss, 231. ' Towns and Parishks in South Norfolk Ariniiighall, 213; Whitlingham, 213; Kirby Bedon, 213 ; Bramerton, 214 ; Surlingham, 214; Caister, 214; Shottesham, 210; IBracon Ash, 210; East Carlton, 217; Keswick, 217; Hethersott, 218; Kotteringham, 218; Aldeby 219; I'.nu.ke, 219 ; Burgh Wheatacro, 220; Kllingham, 220; Geldestone 220 ; Gillinghitm, 221; Haddiscoo, 221; Kirby Cane, 221; Hales, 222 Howe, 222 ; Lnngley, 222; Ditchingham, 223; Loddon, 223; Stratton. 224 Ta.|{i,''>? ' I fip^s^ ^'---rl' j) id uJ < ^ J? Ld _1 h < o T-H > < o z Q n: m A HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. INTRODUCTION. ANY histories liavo been published of different counties and towns ^^^~j in the eastern part of this island,, but no connected narrative of events has yet appeared^ presenting a view of the state of provincial society in every age. Nearly all the local books are merely topographical, descriptive of counties, or towns, or villages, or antiquities. But the races of rajBu. were similar at different periods all over the district, and similar events occurred at different places, in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. It is generally admitted that the physical features of a country in- fluence in a great degree the physical, mental, and moral character of its inhabitants, and thus to some extent determine their histoiy. A district without momitains, mines, or broad rivers, is adapted by nature to be chiefly agricultural, and yet, being surrounded by the sea, must be to some extent suited for the purposes of commerce. Therefore, if it holds good at all that there is a relation between the physical character of a country and its people, some account should be given of its physical features. The first part of this work contains a general survey of Ea.stern England considered as one district or tract of land, with a description of its physical features, its extent, situation, soils, and climate, its geologv, botany, and natural history. This is followed by a brief description of 4 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLA.ND. oacli county, tlic political and ecclesiastical divisions, tlie government, the market towns, tlie population, the roads, railways, &c. Thus the whole district is presented to the reader as the scene of a varied history of events. Dr. Arnold has very ingeniously developed the parallel between the' life of individual man and that of society in general, and it applies to British society. As man has his birth, infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, so has society. The ancient British period was the infancy of the British nation, the Roman period that of its childhood, the Anglo-Saxon period that of its youth, when the various elements of national life began to be developed ; the Norman period was that of the early manhood of the nation, when order arose cut of chaos, when the j airing elements of society were blended together into one people. To show this growth of national life in Eastern England is the object of the following pages. The British element is shown to bo the first basis of English society. This element is found in the physical organization of the natives of the Eastern Counties, and in their language. The natives were not all exter- minated, for many of them remained on the soil and mingled with the Roman invaders, who, if they killed the fighting men, kept the women as slaves. The Roman element was the second basis of English society, and it is found in our language, literature, laws, and municipal institutions. The Romans introduced roads, with many improvements in the useful arts, especially in the southern and eastern counties. Then came the third, barbarian, Gothic or Teutonic, element; the strong nature, the fresh manhood, which used these roads and adopted these institutions, introducing also a new language, new laws, and institu- tions, embracing also the Christian religion. The Normalis, a superior race, introduced a fourth new element, more especially the feudal system, which established lawand order, consolidating English society. The materials for an enquiry respecting the colonization of East Anglia are chiefly the names of places, which if properly handled might lead to some important results, and rectify many mistakes in history. The evidence of the names of places might be supplemented by such scanty historical records as we now possess, for unfortunately many of the original HISTOKY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. O records have been lost, so that we cannot even trace the succession of East Anglian kings. We discover what Avas the earliest mention of the division of East Anglia into Northfolk and Southfolk. We find that they had the same designations in their own native country whence they came. The Eastern Counties have taken part in many historical events since the Norman Conquest, chiefly in the long resistance to Norman tyranny. East Anglia has been the theatre of many important movements deeply affecting the welfare of the country. The meeting of the Barons at the shrine of St. Edmund preparatory to Magna Charta ; the great riots in the reign of Richard II. under Jack Straw, in connection with the insurrection of Wat Tyler ; the insurrection in the reign of Edward VI., under Robert Kett, in Norfolk, will show that the men of East Anglia have not been deficient in spirit to resist any semblance of oppression. The Eastern Counties were all combined or associated in the great rebellion against the tyranny of Charles I., and kept the Civil War outside their borders. Oliver Cromwell Avas the chief leader in this eastern district for some years before he was called to act elsewhere on behalf of the Parliament. He visited most of he eastern towns, and conducted or directed military operations. The plan of this history requires some explanation in order that the reader may better understand its design, which is to present a complete narrative of events that took place in the Eastern Counties in every period. The course of events appears to have been from the south to the north, in Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk, and, therefore each county is made the scene in succession. The order of time is followed as far as necessary to preserve the continuity of the narrative, but the lead- ing events are separated from minor details which may have happened in the same year. The state of society is considered at the end of every period, aud also the state of religion. The history of the Eastern Counties is divided into twelve periods : 1 . Tlu! Ancient liritish Period before the invasion of the Romans, wlien this island was all a wilderness. An account is given of the origin and viU'ious tribes of the aborigines, especially of the Iceni ; of their modes of life and warfare ; of their government, religion, manners, customs, habitations, costumes, wea]ions, ])urial places, antiquities, &c. It is proved that the lc(Mii were a very warlike people and not savages ; that they had many useful arts, tigricultiire, and manufactures; that the 6 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENQLAJND. Icoui were not exterminated nor driven away from the land^ but mingled with their invaders. 2. Tlie Roman Period for 400 years, including the invasions of Csesar, Claudius, Agricola, and other Roman Emperors, the subjugation of the natives, the introduction of useful arts, the formation of roads, the building of forts, camps, and towns in the Eastern Counties. The course of events is shown to be from the south to the north, from Kent to Essex, thence to Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norwich, and Norfolk. An account is given of Roman antiquities, of the remains of Roman roads, forts, camps, towns, &c. It is shown that the Romans first made roads and built towns, which were the earliest seats of civilization. Municipal institutions were first established in the towns. 3. The Anglo-Saxon Period for 600 years, including the invasions of the North European tribes, first in the south, next in the east of England, the formation of eight Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, then the establishment of the monarchy all over England. A full account is given of the early settlements of the Angles, Saxons, and Danes in East Anglia. The Danes are proved to be the parent stock of the people. A sketch is added of Anglo-Saxon antiquities, of the hints derived from the names of places, &c. The state of society in the Anglo-Saxon period is described, with ample details as to the establishment of the Church of Rome in East Anglia. 4. Norman Period, including the Norman Conquest of England, the leading events in the reigns of William I. and William II., the grants of land to Norman nobles in the Eastern Counties, the rebellion at Norwich Castle, the siege of the castle, the state of agriculture, the state of society and religion, county families in Eastern England, Norman antiquities castles, abbeys, priories, churches, monasteries, bishops, and eminent men. 5. The Twelfth Century, including the leading events in the reigns of Henry I., Stephen, Henry II., Richard I. ; historic scenes in Suffolk, state of agriculture, state of society and religion in that century, county families, and eminent men. G. The Thirteenth Century, including the leading events in the reigns of John, Henry III., Edward I. ; eminent men, state of agriculture, state of society and religion in that century, county families in Eastern England. HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND, / 7. The Fourteenth Century, including the leading events in the reigns of Edward II., Edward III., Richard II. ; industrial progress, state of agriculture, state of society and religion, county families, and eminent men of the period. 8. The Fifteenth Century, including the leading events of the reigns of Henry IV., V., and VI., of the House of Lancaster; also of Edward IV., Edward V., and Richard III., of the House of York ; state of agri- culture, society, and religion, commencement of the Reformation, county families, and eminent men. It is shown that the Reformation commenced in England in the fourteenth century, and extended to Eastern England in the fifteenth century. 9. The Sixteenth Century, including the progress of the Reformation, the leading events of the reigns of Henry VII., Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, all of the House of Tudor; statv of agriculture, society, and religion, county families, and eminent men of the period. 10. The Seventeenth Century, with the leading events in the reigns of James I., Charles I., Charles II., James II., all of the House of Stuart ; the Commonwealth, the Revolution, state of agriculture, society, religion, county families, and eminent men of the period. The progress of society is traced in the government, laws, legislation, literature, religion, in- dustry, and trade of the period. 11. The Eighteenth Century, including the leading events in the reigns of George I., George II., George III., all of the House of Hanover ; the lives of eminent statesmen. Sir Robert Walpole, Lord Townshend, and others ; state of agriculture, society, and religion, county families, and eminent men of the period. 12. The Nineteen til Century, with the leading events in the reigns of George III., George IV., William IV., and Queen Victoria; sketches of the progress of agriculture, of society, of religion, literature, science, and art in Eastern lOngland. If the history of a nation can be fitly exhibited in the lives of its eminent men, if the charms peculiar to biography can be transferred to national annals, and if the unity of purpose so necessary to history can bo imparted to biography, the same may be done in a provincial history of the Eastern Counties. Therefore, memoirs are introduced of eminent men and county families in this work. All the memoirs given are grouped O HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. togetlier in different poriods after the Norman Conquest^ forming as many distinct epochs in the narrative down to the accession of Queen Victoria. All the eminent men and county families are noticed in the periods when they flourished, and thus greater interest is conferred on the narrative of leading events. These memoirs show not only the characteristics of each epoch, hut the details of the lives of men who guided the course of events, and were instrumental in producing changes in the state of society. These memoirs are drawn from many sources, and constitute what properly belongs to the history of each county. There are few eminent men or distinguished ancient county families to be noticed in Essex or Cam- bridgeshire, compared with the number of those in Norfolk and Suffolk, and therefore those in the last-named counties are the most prominent in this work. Norfolk can boast of the most distinguished historical characters and ancient families in Eastern England. The Dukes of Norfolk are all historical, and some of them are identified with the general history of the country for many ages. They had large possessions in both Norfolk and Suffolk, and lived in palaces at Norwich and Kenninghall till a late period. The Jerninghams, Le Stranges, Fastens, Walpoles, Towns- liends, Windhams, Cokes, Mortimers, and many others, were historical characters of rank and station, and filled conspicuous positions in public life at various times. UISTOUY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. NATURAL HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. When wc travel over any district of any extent in this island^ we first observe its physical features, and the more prominent objects, the moun- tains, hills, valleys, rivers, and lakes ; but there arc few of these remark- able in Eastern England, Avhich is a vast projection of undulating land, spreading out from London to the North Sea. The whole area, including the Counties of Essex, Cambridge, Suffolk, and Norfolk, is the largest level tract of land in Britain, and it is all cultivated like one vast garden, diversified by woods and plantations, rivers, streams, hills, and dales. There is a natural history of every country and every district which should be first investigated. The physical influences which have affected any people must not be overlooked. What nature has done for the in- habitants of any country should be an enquiry preceding every other. If there be any purely natural causes, arising from geographical position, climate, soil, productions, or other circumstances, they must form the basis of any history. We may find that in these natural causes and influences, the history of any people has been pre-determined in a particular direction. First, then, we find that Eastern England possesses all the advantages of this island, as to its position, its insularity, and its climate. The district is in the temperate zone, and has all the benefit of the Gulf stream, a broad warm river in the ocean, flowhig from the Gulf of Mexico, round Great ]iritain. Thus we have here a warmer temperature than we should be otherwise entitled to in our nothern latitude, for the gulf stream flowing round our island keeps back the icebergs, which would otherwise come down upon us and dash against our coasts. THE GEOLOGY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Geologists, after exploring n grcvit part of the earth, arrived at the con- clusion that it has existed in five or six different states or conditions, in as juany periods of vast dui-ation, long before the present state of our planet. These periods were divided into primary, secondary, and tertiary, the last, though very remote, being as it were only the yesterday of geology. The s))erial iutei-est of the study of the geology of the eastern district is that of the tertiary strata. At one time it was thought that the geological divisions termed Friiuary, Secondary, Tertiary, etc., represented separate peiiods of time, and at the close of each period great changes of the eai'tli and of its ffora and fauna weri followed by a new world called suddenly into existence by the Almighty Creator. But geologists were then 10 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. groping in the dark^ and now believe that the natural history of our island is a continuous and unbroken one, and shows a very gradual progress of nature, the gaps which exist merely arising from the destruction of physical records in this small part of the earth. The earliest geological formation, near enough to the surface in Norfolk, for us to know anything about, is the chalk, the uppermost member of the Cretaceous series in England. Beginning with the Cretaceous series, we have the Eocene, the Miocene, and the Pliocene, or the less recent and the more recent forma- tions. In the Eocene formation we have the London Clay and the Plastic Clay. In the Pliocene we have the Coralline Crag in Suffolk, the Red Crag, the Norwich Crag at Bramerton, the Forest Bed along the coast from Southwold in Suffolk to Cromer in Norfolk. The chalk extends under the bed of the German Ocean, and forms the under strata of a great part of Europe ; and wherever it is found it proves that the land composed of it was for myriads of ages under the sea, because chalk is the deposit of marine animalculte in the lowest form of animal life. There is evidence that at one time, before man appeared on the earth, the Straits of Dover did not exist, the greater part if not all the bed of the North Sea was dry land, that into one vast estuary between Norway and North Britain flowed all the rivers of North-eastern Europe, the Elbe, the Weser, the Rhine, the Scheldt, the Seine, the Thames, Ouse, Welland, Nene, Cam, and Humber. The first proof of this is from what may be seen in the rivers of the Eastern Counties. The Rivers Yare, Ouse, and Cam contain bream, roach, and other white fish, and the pike which feeds on them. Now this class of white fish is peculiar to one class of rivers. Their principal home is in the rivers of North-eastern Europe. They must have come into this island by fresh-water streams when the bed of the Xorth Sea was dry land, and were the original progenitors of the fish in our rivers in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire. After these white fish got into our rivers, the land of this island appears to have been raised on the eastern side, and the whole of the present bed of the North Sea was overflowed from the Atlantic Ocean, which spread over the vast plain for 100 miles in breadth from south to north, and flowed in broad arms up the valleys of Norfolk and Suffolk. Then whole forests were sub- merged on the Norfolk coast, as proved by the Forest Bed near Cromer. East Anglia, including Norfolk and Suffolk, is one compact region, geologically and ethnologically, and forms part of the slope of the North Sea basin, for the North Sea valley is a true physical depression, compared with its breadth, and the depth of the North Sea is very small. The channel running parallel with the coasts of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk has a maximum depth of only 180 feet, so that a change to that amount of sea level would lay bare the Avholc of the sea bed from the coast of HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. 11 ' Norfolk across to Holland. A depression of 120 feet would extend the great Germanic plain nearly to our area. A deep submarine trough has been traced at a mean distance of fifty miles from the coast of Norway. Across the line of greatest depth the change is abrupt. This curious feature is just what would have been produced by the subsidence of the whole of the southern portion of the Scandinavian region, together with fifty miles of area around to a depth of 600 or 700 feet. There are good grounds for supposing that such has been the process ; and the geological history of the basin seems to supply the precise date of the subsidence in question. The whole of the eastern district lies in a vast basin of chalk, above which there is every variety of strata and soil. Above the chalk in Norfolk and Suffolk, there arc extensive beds of crag, which is a name for any sandy or gravelly soil, but the early geologists soon found that it was something more ; its very perfect shells were recognised as similar to those in the neighboring seas in part as foreign or unknown. Mr. Charles worth proposed a sub-division of the crag in 1834, and it was amended in 1838 as follows : " Upper Crag of Norfolk and Suffolk, without mammalian remains ; beds with mammalian remains : Red Crag, containing 150 to 200 species of marine shells ; Coralline Crag, containing 800 to 400 manno shells." Thus far back Mr. Charlesworth separated the Norwich Crag from that of Suffolk. The Red Crag at Tattingstone, Rumsholt, and Sudbourne was said to overlie a worn and uneven surface of the White or Coralline Crag ; and from this consideration their relative dates and ages was inferred. This nominal sub-division has been adopted from 1838 to the present time. The IJryozoan Crag overlies London Clay, and is under twenty feet thick. It is a good division, because it is an indication of a definite range of depths, where the sea bed was not within reach of surface disturbance, yet where the drifthig power was considerable, and having its own pr()])er fauna, of which the Bryozoa form a very large proportion. The exam])k's of this condition of sea bed occur only in Suffolk, where they are now about forty feet above the sea level. Assigning to these l)eds depths of forty fathoms, a difference of 300 feet is the least that can be assvnned as that of their original, compai'cd with their present positions. It is the lowest condition or the deepest of which our English area offers any illustration. The Red Crag is a complex assemblage in spite of its small vertical dimensions. Of all that was so grouped, originally a very small portion only can now be referred to as such ; namely, the crag at AValton-on-the-Naze. In this alone is to be found an old sea bed, a marine life zone, undisturbed since its original accumulation. The Red Crag beds of the valleys of the Stour, Orwell, and Deben, though referable to ^^ome part of the same general period, are wholly re-arnnged beds. 12 HISTOliY OV EASTKHN ENGLAND. and 6f the later stages of the crag sea. They are, relatively to the Walton beds, very shallow water accnmulations presenting that disigonal mode of accumulation in varying directions indicative of surface distur- bance and tidal movements. Above them in places, and on the laud side of them, are certain accumulations of red coarse sands which have also been referred to the Red Crag. The shell gravel of Antwerp corresponds with the Red Crag of Suffolk. Additions were subsequently made, as in the case of the Chillesford Crag of Prestwick and the Bridlington Crag. With respect to the recognition of the fossil shells of the crag, and the use made of such guides, M. Deshayes, in I80I, proposed three zoological groups for the whole of the marine series of formations above the chalk. The oldest or Nummultic contains a marine fauna wholly extinct. Tho middle may be termed older Kainozoic, and it was in this upper or modern group, which included the sub-Appennine and other continental sea beds, that the Avhole of the English Crag was included as comprising a large proportion of marine forms. The Norwich or Fluvio-marine Crag was for many years the subject of various opinions as to its value and distinctness as a division. It had also been made to include any bed containing either mammalian or molluscan remains, or even an admixture of fresh and salt water molluscte, in any part of Norfolk or Suffolk. General opinion seems now to have come round to the view which some geologists had long since taken. Mr. S. Wood, writing in 18G5, states that "the Norwich Crag is not geologically distinct from the Red, but the Fluvio-marine condition of the same period. ^^ He considered the Fluvio-marine accumulation in some parts of Suffolk to be of the same age as that of Norwich. More recently, the Norwich sec- tions, as at Bramorton, have been subjected to a closer examination; and according to Mr. J. E. Taylor, a diligent explorer, these admit of a twofold division. Tho upper is a coarse and rubbly accumulation, with well-rounded pebbles of flint ; the lower consists of finer sands. A band of white cross bedded sand intervenes. Such a change in the character of successive beds Avould not by itself have been of much importance, but zoologically the differences they present are much more significant. In 1849, Mr. PrcstAvick made known some marine beds in the parishes of Iken and Chillesford. At Iken, these beds are superposed upon a worn surface of the older or l^ryozoan Crag. There is no such direct evidence as to their relation to the Red Crags, but there is no doubt that they are unconformable to both divisions. These beds are in striking contrast to the true crag in respect of their composition and the condition of the shells Avliich they contain ; they were tranquil depositions, the bivalves at every place constantly exhibiting the two shells in contact, and in the position in which the animals lived. j HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. 18 Mr. 0. Fishorj from a careful study of the country from Orford to Tliorpo, convinced himself that the Chillesford Crag was in an interme- diate position between true lied Crag and the Fluvio-marine Crag at Thorpe, near Aldborough, in Suffolk. Bridlington Crag was a name given to a set of marine clay beds occurring at that place, about thirty feet thick, that overlie an accumulation of chalk flints derived from the subja- cent chalk. Mr. S. P. Woodward first directed attention to these fauna beds in his general list of the Norwich Crag accumulations. Mr. Trimmer adopted the theoiy of submergence and emergence, which, guiding his observation, enabled him to arrange and harmonise all that confused mass of materials called "drift.'' For the whole of the period and its products, he proposed two groups of drift a lower and an upper. He seems to have recognised certain distinctive characters in the lower drift, Avhich are the indications of the different conditions of accumulation concerned, such as " the masses of fragmentary chalk with little or no admixture of other matter," "angular fragments slightly worn," &c. The lower drift overlaid the chalk, except near Norwich, where it had been designated the Norwich Crag, at its base. Beyond, and on to the coast, the lower drift is of sand ; above, on the coast section, is a blue till with boulders, horizontally bedded, passing up into very contorted beds. These lower sands Avest of Cromer contain the d'hris of the underlying lignite beds. In the None Valley which joins the Ouso at Lynn is met with a set of marine depositions of this age. They extend some miles along its course, and occupied what had been a creek when the whole of the lk>dford Level was covered by the sea. In West Norfolk, near Lynn, the geological formation is called " the lower or inferior green sand," usually 100 feet in thickness, frequently of a green colour (whence its name), but generally of the usual dingy brown and white, like any other bed of sand. Sometimes it is full of fossil shells, and remains of fishes are in the vicinity of Cambridge. The quantity of fossils is so great as to cause some portions of this deposit to be worked for artificial manures. 'J'lie coprolite beds occur in the green sand, and their value is well known. 'I'he green sand lies ben(\'ith Ihe chalk and rests upon a formation called tli(> " Upper Oolite." Tlie inferior green sand commences near Lynn, and trends along the shoi'o as far as Hunstanton on tlu> coast. It extends inland to a distance of about four or five miles, and forms a belt bordering the Norfolk side oi' the Wash. On account of the softness of this de])osit, we find the ecnintry which it underlies che([uered by a series of hills and dales, distinguishing it from the fiat tracts which indicate a chalk district. The u]iper beds of green sand are composed of " car stones," which are used 14 HISTORY or EASTERN ENGLAND. for house building. These car stones lie in the higher grounds, and we may see the pits dug there from which these flat stones are quarried. The centre of Suffolk is composed of a substratum of chalk, and the crag or gravel full of fossil shells is found in the eastern part of the county. The crag rests on the London Clay, which extends to Southtown and Yarmouth. When an Artesian well was bored at Lacon^s brewery some years since, the men bored through 300 feet of solid clay, which contained few shells to distinguish it. After passing through about 320 feet, they came to the Reading and Woolwich series, formerly called the Plastic Clay, and it was then determined that the clay was in Norfolk and Suffolk. This informs us what was the climature of the period, and what was the flora and the fauna in former ages. It was almost a tropical climate, with a tropical flora and fauna. The Coralline Crag rests upon the London Clay in Suffolk, and sometimes on chalk. The Red Crag rests on the Coralline Crag, and the Mammalian Crag rests upon the Red Crag, which contains very perfect shells. A considerable interval has elapsed between the Coralline Crag and the London Clay. For instance, the upper and middle portions of the London Clay of the Eocene period have been washed away or never laid down, and thus we have the Coralline Crag resting on the London Clay. The Coralline Crag consists merely of a very indurated mass of beautiful shells cemented with lime. No mammalian remains have' been found as yet in the Coralline Crag. In this crag the percentage of shells is 52, but it is much less in the London Clay, so that an enormous interval must have intervened between them. As soon as coprolitc nodules were found in the Coralline Crag, geologists began to sift it, and then the bones of animals of the mammalian order were found the Hippotherium and others. By this system it was proved that they were in a matrix, differing from the Red Crag, and which has nothing to do with it. They were washed out of the London Clay or one of the Miocene formations, and were probably so destroyed. But in the crag at Bramerton the remains of the Mastodon and the Hippopotamus have been found, and of these Mr. Roper, of West Tofts, has a fine collection. The Norwich Crag, as at Bramerton, rests on the same kind of crag as that at Aldborough in Suffolk. The Norwich Crag contains a bed of shells firmly compacted together, sometimes very friable and sometimes very perfect, breaking out here and there ; but sometimes we may travel many miles without seeing any shells at all. At the bottom of the Norwich Crag there is invariably a bed of large stones, and it is in that bed that the most ancient remains of mammals have been found. The percentage of recent to extinct species is 60 in the Red Crag and 89 in the Norwich Crag. Some of the most eminent HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. 15 geologists are of oplniou that there is very little difference between the lied Crag and the Norwich Crag ; but others, after minute examination, thought they were very different. Mr. J. E. Taylor, indeed, proved a great difference between them. That gentleman found many specimens of the remains of mammals in the Norwich Crag, which as yet has been very imperfectly worked. Most beautiful specimens of the Mastodon have been found in the Stone Bed. A few years since, five teeth of the Mastodon and of the Elephas, like the Mastodon, were found. Remains have been discovered of the lion, the boar, the fox, and several species of the deer, in the Stone Bed. The first Mastodon was found in Norfolk by the celebrated William Smith, the father of modern geology. He was on a visit to Norfolk, and at Whitlingham he mot with a specimen of the Mastodon. He took it to London and gave it to Cuvier, who said it never could have been found at so late a period as the Norwich Crag, and that it had been found in the Miocene. There is an immense difference between the first Mastodon and the last Elephant, and yet it is impossible to define where one begins and the other ends. They are a proof of the wisdom of the Creator, who gave such a plasticity of nature to those animals that they were able to adapt themselves to changes of climate and changes of food, and it is in a marvellous manner that the Mastodon gradually grew into the Elephant. The Hev. J. Gunn found many bones of the Elephant in the Forest Bed, and he made a collection from it which now occupies a room in Norwich Museum, Remains of the Mammoth and of other extinct animals have been found along the Suffolk coast, especially in Lothingland. Indeed, this part of Suffolk has afforded several specimens of the Mammoth or fossil elephant, which geologists believed to be formerly a native of this island before it was separated from the continent, '^fhe tip})er part of the femur of one of these animals was taken up before 182G on a manor belonging to the lato Sir Thomas Gooch, Bai't., of Benacre, in Suffolk. The remains of the Mammoth have been found in all the diluvian beds of this island, as wc^U as the rest of Europe, generally in a decayed state, owing to the percolation of water through these beds, which usually con- sist of gravel and sand. The fragments are never rolled or worn by tho action of water, which proves that they were not brouglit to us from the tropics by the current of some great cataclysm, but that the animal lived to a good old age, and p(M*ished on the spot where his remains were discovered. The Forest bod near Cromer is one of the most interesting points in Norfolk geology; It is the proof of a teiTcstrial surface before the period 16 IIITOUY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. of tlio accumulations of the ^^ glacial drift.'^ Tliis old land surface near Cromer is exposed at the sea level, but it extends inland, and has been mot with at considerable depths in the offing. The arboreal vegetation buried in these beds comprises the Norway spruce, Scotch fir, yew, oak, alder, all of them common trees in Europe. The Cromer coast section demonstrates that by process of change of level of the land and sea, a forestal condition of the surface had been brought down to the sea margin, that the trees had died, and that mud deposits had formed partly under fresh, partly under brackish water lagoons. Subjacent to the " Forest bed,"' and covering the surface of the chalk, thei'o is a layer of' chalk flints; a like accumulation is seen resting in the chalk in numerous other places, as in the sections at Bramerton below Norwich, Holy Cross, Thorpe, &c., and are all referable to the same period and agency. The flints have been dissolved out of the chalk by the action of rain water, and left ill sifti. These beds appear to indicate the introduction of the great glacial period when so many kinds of huge animals perished, and seem to prove that a reversal of the relative levels of the northern and southern parts of the Eastern Counties was taking place, so that which was under water during the crag period became land, and what was land became covered with the sea. Evidences of the coast line of this northern sea are found in Suffolk, near Southwold, in an ancient pebbly beach. There was a gradual refrigeration of climate from the early Tertiary epoch, and with these pebbly saiids there came a period of ice and snow, as in Greenland. This was the glacial period, the beds deposited during which have been divided by Mr. S. Wood into lower, middle, and upper. The lower beds developed in the coast between Happisburgh and Cromer, sometimes 200 feet thick, are represented by the brick earth at Sprowston, near Norwich, and arc supposed to have been deposited in or near the mouth of some river, draining the newly-made land to the east ; while to the west and soutli-west of Holt they are represented by an immense sheet of chalky clay, often unsti'atified, sometimes containing large boulders of rock from a distance of broken flints, evidently due to a sheet of ice developing what was then the land, grinding down the solid chalk, and spreading out the detritus in a similar manner to that of the ice sheet of Greenland. A little further west lie hills of solid chalk, with the upper parts broken and shattered, and the flints disturbed and contorted, showing the proofs of the force which produced the sheet of chalky mud. In Cromer cliff may be seen masses of marly clay, which were lifted from their resting places and dropped into the brick-earth deposit. What carried these boulders to their resting place in the cliffs, shattered the surface of the chalk, and spread out the great sheet of chalky clay ? Only one agency at work upon the earth is competent to bring about such results, and that is ice HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. 17 ice enveloping the surface of the old chalk land, grinding over it, pushing out the chalky mud before it ; and ice in the form of icebergs floating out to sea with masses of chalk and marl frozen to them, which, as they become detached, sunk down into the muddy bottom. The features of the middle glacial beds prove that the excessive cold must have received some amelioration, at least, in the sea waters. The return of comparative warmth, with doubtless its accompanying vegetation, was succeeded by a still more severe and long-continued cold, which was sufficiently prolonged to cover the whole of Europe with the ruins of the destroyed rocks, and to allow a great part of England to sink below the level of the sea. The Upper Glacial (or Boulder Clay) extends in an almost unbroken sheet, often of great thickness, from Norwich to Dereham, southwards as far as the brow of the Thames Valley, forming the stiff clay lands of Suffolk and Essex, while in the other direction it stretches to North Wales and Scotland. The Boulder Clay in Eastern England is invariably full of fragments of chalk, proving that, like the chalky clay of the Lower Glacial period, it had its origin in the glaciation or grinding down of the chalk by ice. The fact of the sands upon which the Boulder Clays were deposited being undisturbed and perfect, proves a greater depth of sea, a sea deep enough to allow icebergs to float freely. The angular condition of the Boulders found in these clays proves that they were not deposited by water in the clays, but that they had been torn from their parent rocks by ice, and dropped by melting icebergs into the mud. At this period, the rocky backbone and mountainous parts of this island were above the sea ; those portions of the land were then covered with ice and snow, and when the sea rolled over these countries its bottom was cover(>d with boulder clay. When the period of submergence was fulfilled, the land slowly rose from the waves, the awful winter of the glacial period ]);isse(l away, then came a fitful spring time, and at last the genial summer which England now enjoys. Since the bottom of the glacial ocean began to emerge from the waves, tlu! principal part of the valleys of Eastern England have been formed. 'I'liere is a controversy as to the formation of these valleys, some geologists asserting that they were very ditterent in former periods to the present, some believing that they were always the same. Now it is clear that when the sea bottom rose high enough to be affected by the action of the tiiles, those currents would exercise great power in scouring out anv iiKHpialities that ])revi()usly existed in the sea bottom, and thus give rise to valleys, which formed the channels for the natural drainage of the district, and wherein the mud or silt brought down by th(> drainage would accmnulate. J)uring the post-glacial period, and again at a very late dat(, the sea ajipears to have filled the great valleys of Suffolk and Norfolk, I? 18 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. such as those of the Orwell and Yare. It is probable that all the low- lying marshes in the valleys of the Waveney, the Yare, and the Bure^ were covered with sea water during the Roman occupation of Eastern England. Since that time, arms of the sea appear to have receded, leaving only the present narrow, shallow streams flowing into the sea along the eastern coast. At some places, as at Dunwich, the sea has made constant encroachments on the land. There the sea now covers a great part of the former site of the ancient city. The east coast, from the Thames to the estuary of the Wash, has under- gone many changes. Southwold was a large tidal estuary, with two arms of the sea covering the present marshes long before they were enclosed, and the deterioration of the port is attributed to the enclosure. Lowestoft Ness has grown out subsequent to the erection of the church in the fifteenth century. There lias been at this point a great extension of trade, due to the formation of the harbour and the admirable natural roadstead formed by the outlying sands, the extension of which south- wards is remarkable. This parallel extension southwards of the sands, coincident with that of the littoral deposits, cannot, however, be attributed to the same cause, but a parallel one, for the main course of the great Atlantic tidal wave from north to south towards the Thames produces this effect on the sands, and the wind waves similarly affect the littoral deposit. The combined roadsteads formed by these sands are well known to mariners. The great changes at Yarmouth are remarkable ; founded on a sea sand opposite the mouth of what was an estuary when the Romans occupied these islands, with stations at Caister north and Burgh south. The sands, five miles in length and 1000 acres in area, have been subject to great vicissitudes. The harbour at one period had two entrances, sometimes entirely blocked up, with different entrances at various periods. The mo- tion of the sands is progressively in a south direction, and at one time, before the formation of Lowestoft Ness, the outfall was as low down the coast as Gorton, or four miles south of the existing outfall. This was at last confined by the present works, first commenced in the reign of Elizabeth, and the harbour is now one of the most important on the coast, with ten feet depth at low water. For sixteen miles north-west of Yarmouth the peculiarity of the coast is a continuous belt of " Marrams,'' or sand hills, forming a fluctuating defence to the various valleys and marsh land, situated between the out- crops of the tertiary downs. At Caister these sand hills have been very much wasted by the sea, the hillocks represented entire in the ordnance survey being now cut in half. There have been abrasions of the " Marrams '^ at Winterton Ness, at Waxham, and at Eccles. At Happis- HISTOEY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. 19 burgh the tertiary cliffs have been wasted at the rate of two-and-a- quarter yards in depth yearly during the last sixty years. At Triminghani^ more northward, the cliff, 200 feet high, forms a continuous avalanche of sand. At Sidestrand the undercliffs and chasms increase, and past Overstrand the same enormous slips are met with. Cromer has suffered much, standing on the north-east salient angle of Norfolk. The portion of town now remaining is dependent on sea walls, forming a projecting point, as the cliffs rapidly wasted east and west of it. At East Runton and Beeston, where the chalk crops out in more defined masses, the diminution amounts to two-and-a-half yards per annum over the last quarter of a century. At Sherringham commences a line of beaches travelling westwards towards the Wash, forming the beaches at Weybourn, Salthouse, Cley, and Blakeney, which beaches are the outworks to natural harbours at those places. Between Blakeney and Wells, an thence westward to Brancastcr, a range of " Marrams " forms an outer barrier at high water parallel to the high land, enclosing tidal estuaries of considerable area, the low water channels from which have formed harbours from the earliest historic periods. Sherringham Cliff is a very high steep shore. It looks on one side full on the sea, and on the other over a varied country, presenting undulating ground, many hills scattered widely about, and numerous highly cultivated inclosures. The Rev. John Gunn, ]\I.A., F.G.S., contributed the following interesting paper on the Relative Position of the Forest-Bed and the Chillesford Clay in Norfolk and Suffolk, and on the Real Position of the Forest-Bed : At n incctiiigof tlie Geolo;i;u'al Society, liekl May 20tli, 18G8, 1 stated, in opposition to the view entertained by Mr. I'restwich of tlic Forest-hed beinf; placed above the ("hiilesford Chiy, tiiat I liad seen it at Easton IJavent, in Suffolk, upon tlie beach, at a lower level than tlie Cliillesford Clay in the cliff, and also that I had seen it at Kessingland and I'akefield, on the beach and at the foot of the cliff, underlyinj? the Chillesford Clay. I have visited these places several times since ; and a fall of the cliffs and the jMU'tial tleiu'ing away of the lieach at Kessingland have exposed the strata in the following ascending order: The Forest-bed on the beach ; the freshwater I'nio-bed, similar to those at Mundesley and liunton ; the Fluvio-mnrine bed ; the Marine (including the Chillesford Clay, both the blue-laminated below and the brown-laminated above) ; the sands and gravels which contain the Tellina balthica crag at Wroxham Weybotu-ne ; and the (ilacial series, wliich, as it does not enter into the present iu(piiry, I have not ])articularized. The Forest-bed at Kessingland and the adjoining parish of Pakefiold is one of the richest depots of l-^U'pliantiiic and Cervine remains, and also of t]w Rhinoceros etruscus* ; and, judging from its ])ositioii on the sa'mc horizon, and from its mineral and fossil contents, it can scarcely be doubted that it is an extension or continuation of the Bacton and Mmidesley Forest-bed. The Chillesford Clay here and in a gorge between Kessingland and Pakcfield, a few yard.s inland, is well developed. As .Mr. Prcstwich admits the presence of the Chillesford Clay at Kessingland, and the Forc>t-bed is to bo .H'cn there on the beach beneath it, it is unnecessary for me to add more in support of my statement ; but I am desirous to submit to the Geological Society some observations and suggestions with respect to the real position of the Forest-bed. In order to ascertain tlie true jwsition of tlie Forest-bed, it is requisite to have au insight into its * A specimen described by Mr. Boyd Dawkins (Proceedings of tbe Geologiciil Society, January 8tb, 1868) was obtained at Pakeflcld. 20 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. very coini)lex nature. The soil of the Forest-bed appeurs to consist of an argilhiceous sand and fj;ra'vel, or a compound of both, and to liave been dejxjsited in an estuary. Hones of El&phas meridionalis, tofjether with a j^reat variety of deer and other mammals, sharply fractured, ])Ut not rolled, are found in it, especially in tlie ffravel, which is called the " Elephant-bed " on that account. These arc associated with the bones of whales and fragments of wood, indicating that the estuary was open to the sea, most probably northwards, for the admission of the whales ; while it appears'to have been closed at the Straits of Dover and Calais, to afford a passage for the mannnals into this country. This deposit of the soil may be regarded as the first i)hase of the Forest-bed ; and hei'e, we may observe, a long interval may liave intervened between this and the second phase, which dates from the raising of the soil to the surface of the waters and the growth of the forest upon it. In this the remains of the E. antiquus are most abundant ; other varieties of the elephant are found liere, which it is lumecessary for the subject of the present inquiry to particularize, together with Rhinoceros etmscus anil Trogontherium Cuvieri. This may be regarded as the true Forest-bed ; the stools of the trees belonging to it are visible along the coast at various places from Kessingland to t'romer. The third phase commences with the gradual going down and submergence of the Forest-bed on the gathering of waters upon it. First freshwater, then fluvio-marine, and lastly marine beds (including the Chillesford Clay) were successively deposited, and contain their respective faunas. A fourth phase might be added, which consists in the continuance of the undulating ridges of the Forest-bed above water after the deposit of tlie freshwater and fluvio-marine beds. This may be observed at Kessingland anil Happisburgh. At the latter place the bones of a goat, or some ovine animal, were found, together with hazel-nuts.* From this brief description it is obvious that the term ' Foi-est-bed " is inadequate to express so varied a formation, which, judging by its clianges of level and of its fauna, must have continued a very long thne ; and I beg to suggest that tlie " Forest-bed series " would be a better name. The want of proper divisions has led to many complications, especially in the paUeontological department. It might be supposed that it would be easy to ascertain the position of a bed of such duration and extent ; but such is far from beuig the case. It has a nearly uniform horizon on the level of the water, and every attempt to reach the bottom of it has been foiled by the water rising. It is evident that it nuist lie between the Chalk, or London Clay, below and the Chillesford Clay above. In the inland section the only two intervening beds are the supposed Mammaliferous Crag of Mr. Charlesworth and the Marine Crag, which may be seen to advantage at Bramerton and Thorpe. Between these two beds there does not appear to be any break for the intercalation of the Forest-bed series ; for they are deposited in succession upon each other in increasingly deeper water. The ^lammaliferous Crag was supposed to contain the Mastodon arvemensis, and has, therefore, been regarded as older than the Forest-bed, which has not been known to yield the IMastodon. Where, then, can the Forest-bed be placed in the inland section, either in point of time or of superposition ? I beg to suggest the following solution. All the specimens of Mastodon arvemensis, so far as I can ascertain, have been foiuid, together with Elephas meridionalis and several species of Cervus, m a stony bed, one or two feet thick, between the surface of the Chalk and the Fluvio-marine and Marine Crags ; and, consequently, those crags, with the exception of a few water-worn fragments and the teeth of Arvicoloe, are nearly non-]\iammaliferous. It seems probable, therefore, that here may be a break for the intercalation of the Forest-bed, and that the Fluvio-marine and Marine Crags ought to be detached from this stony bed, with wliich they have hitherto been incorporated under the name of Mammaliferous Crag. The stones appear to be derived from the disintegrated chalk, which is worn down both by the chemical and mechanical action of water. The highly mineralized and decayed condition of the bones and teeth indicates long exposure to the atmosphere ; and, together with the disintegration and wearing down of the chalk by pluvial and atmospheric action, may account for their not being found in the upper part of the chalk hills. An act of justice may still be done to the memory of the illustrious Cuvier, who expressed his utter incredulity when the ^Mastodon's tooth found at Whitlingham, near Norwich, by the father of Knglish geology, was shown to him. and he was assured that it came from the Xorwich Crag. He affirmed that it v/as next to impossible ; and the result of the above observations tends to prove that Cuvier was correct in his opinion that the Mastodon belonged to an older deposit. A break is here established between the stony bed whicli contains the Mastodon and the Fluvio- marine which contains no proboscidean remains, and an opening is made for the Forest -bed between them. It might be supposed to be easy to trace the Fluvio-marine Crag to the coast-section, and so to prove whether it dips beneath the Forest-bed or whether it overlies it, and is identical with the Fluvio-marine of the coast-section ; but much difficulty arises from the Fluvio-marine Crag inland being cut off and intercepted by the i-alleys of the Bure and of the Wensum, and several of A fuller description was given in a paper entitled " The Anglo-Belgian Basin," read at the Meeting of the British Association at Nottingham. HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. 21 tlicir tributaries ; and tliis difficulty appears to be increased bv a slirink Cut, some thousands of acres have been laid quite diy, the air is not so damp as formerly, and the climate is more favourable to health and longevity. North and north-easterly winds are more prevalent in Norfolk than in other parts of the country. These are severely felt in winter, and vegetation is consequently backward. The contiguity to the sea and the marshes and fens, with the vapours coming from Holland, accounts for the frequent rains during the summer months, when storms of thunder, lightning, wind, and rain are of frequent occurrence, but they are seldom of such long duration as in more hilly districts. The county on the whole is as healthy as any part of England. THE FLORA OF EASTERN ENGLAND. The stratification, soil, air, and climate of the Eastern Counties being similar, except in the Fens, the trees, plants, flowers, &c., which flourish in one county may be expected to grow in another, but there are some differences in the flora of each county. In the Fens there is a wide level of blue gault clay impervious to water ; and, of course, almost void of vegetfition. This eastern district is very remarkable for the extreme beauty of niral scenery, which has been ever celebrated by our descriptive writers and poets, especially in Norfolk and Suffolk. It is, moreover, one of those characteristics of which the inhabitants may be proud, because of 22 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. their own efforts in aid of the bounty of nature^ for much of the charm which is owing to the high cultivation of the land and the consequent fertility which is the prominent feature of the landscape ; but^ irrespective of that trait, there is no other part of England that can boast of such an extent and diversity of fascinating scenery, undulating plains and swelling heights, sparkling rivulets and grassy nooks. One who has often painted our landscape in words says : " There is no greater pleasure than that of wandering in the deep woods and beneath the shady hedge rows, through dell or dingle, or in those cool secluded places where a calm twilight ever seems to sleep in the burning noon of day.''^ The aspect of the country is generally very beautiful, more especially in Essex, where it is well enclosed, and for the most part displays verdant pastures. The hills, none of which are high, are cultivated to the tops, and there are abundance of trees of every kind, most of them being oak and chestnut, which impart a rich appearance to the view. There is very little waste land, and even the woods are to some extent cultivated. The orests of Epping and Hain'ault belong to the Crown, though the in- habitants of the villages near have the right of pasturing their cattle. The Rev. Kirby Trimmer was the author of the "Flora of Norfolk.'^ In treating of the geological formations of the county with reference to the distribution of plants, he thus describes the peat in the alluvial district of East Norfolk : " The peat of the Yare borders both sides of the river with an average breadth of about a mile-and-a-half from the Yare and Waveney Canal to Surlingham ; above which, to Trowse near Norwich, it contracts to half-a-mile. The widest part of the peat of the Bure is below the confluence of the Ant and the Hundred stream with that river, the breadth varying from three miles at its northern and southern extremities to about a mile-and-a-half in the centre. Along the separate course of these streams, the breadth of the peat varies from half-a-mile to a mile on the banks of the Bure from its junction -with the Ant to Wroxham; on the banks of the Ant from the junction before-mentioned to Stalham Broad , and on the banks of the Hundred stream to Hickling and Horsey Broads. The upper parts of the Yare and Wensum above Norwich, and of the Bure and Ant above Wroxham and Stalliam, as well as their tributary streams, are in many places fringed with peaty meadows, vary- ing from one-eighth to one-fourth of a mile in breadth." This county affords a rich and abundant flora, although not possessing" all the natural advantages for the production of those rarer wild plants that are seldom found except in the more favoured localities. Norfolk is said to be far above the average in the number of its flowering plants, when compared with other counties of equal extent. About 1767 species are known as growing wild in England, Scotland, and Ireland. Of these. HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. 23 1027 species have been found in this county. Therefore, the number of flowering plants found in Norfolk is moi'o than half of the whole number of species in this island. It is generally admitted that the geological character of a district has very great influence over its vegetation, but plants are more affected by the surface soil in which they grow than by the strata over which they occur, unless the latter happen to be near to the surface soil. To mark the distribution of the species throughout the county, it may be divided into three parts : First, the eastern division ; second, the c^^ntral division third, the western division each of which presents a different flora. The great diversity of the soil produces a corresponding diversity in the vegetation. The eastern division contains the alluvium of the valleys of the Yare, the Bure, and the Waveney ; the Blue Clay or Wreck of Ihe Lias, which occupies the higher ground of the same valleys ; next to which we meet with the larger part of the Crag formation, and then a small portion of the Upper Chalk at the south-western corner of the division. The plants of a considerable part of this division, with the exception of the Fungi, have been investigated by Messrs. C. J. and,J. Paget in their "Sketch of the Natural History of Yarmouth. ^^ This work embraces a radius of tenmiles. The central division, with the exception of the north-east corner, which is crag, lies entirely in the Upper and Medial Chalk formations. Mr. K. J. Mann has given its botany in " The Flora of Central Norfolk," printed in the fourth volume of " Loudon's Magazine of Natural History.'' This embraces no more than could be observed in a day's walk from Norwich. This is nearly all we have of the Flora of Central Norfolk, leaving the ])lants of three-fourths of this division as yet unnoticed, except by tlic casual observer. The western division comprises all the rest of the county, and presents geological features of a nuich more varied kind ; thus, the nortli-east corner is occupied by a small portion of the Medial Chalk, to which succeeds a belt of the hard chalk, running from Hunstanton to the banks of the Little Ouse ; then follows a narrower belt of the Chalk Marl, succeeded by about the same width of Green Sand or Car Stone ; and the series ends with a very narrow line of Kinnneridge Clay and Oolite, wliicli runs from Heacham till it reaches the Eiver Wissey. The extreme west of the county is occupied by the alluvium of Marsh- land and the valleys of the Ouse, the Wissey, and the Nar. In 1841, " A List of the Flowering Plants Growing Wild in Western Norfolk " was ])rinted in the "Annals and Magazine of Natural History;" and in 1843, " A Flora of the Neighbourhood of Sandringham " was printed in the first volume of tlu> " Phytologist," by Mr. James Moxcu. This flora embraces a radius of three miles from Sandringham Church. 2-4 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. THE FAUNA OF EASTERN ENGLAND. East Anglia is tlie Paradise of sporting men, the whole distriet being one vast preserve for every kind of game. Extensive plantations are everywhere full of pheasants, partridges, and other winged game. Hares and rabbits swarm all over the country, and eat up a great part of the produce of the soil. There are wide heaths in Norfolk and Suffolk, interminable ranges of marshes full of water fowl, rivers and broads full of fish. The Eastern Counties have long retained the reputation of possessing as rich and varied a fauna as any other parts of the British Isles. The three great departments of natural history are there presented under circumstances very favorable for observations. Less attention appears to have been paid to the wild animals by naturalists than to the birds which visit the Eastern coasts. The Eev. Richard Lubbuck, rector of Eccles, delivered some lectures on this subject, published in 1848. Li giving a sketch of the animals, birds, and river fish to be found in Norfolk, he said the first di\asion that of Mamjialia might be comprised within a narrow compass, as species grew gradually scarcer and scarcer*. When we looked at the trim fences and high cultivation of a great part of this district, a wide stretch of imagination was necessary to carry the mind back to the time when the urus, the bear, and the wolf ranged the forest or traversed the marsh, pursued by hunters nearly as savage as themselves. "The Norwich Museum contains very fine skulls of the animal first mentioned, the urus, dug up during the excavation of the North Walsham Canal, and it would seem to have been formerly not an micommon animal here. It should be remembered that the skulls of this animal, which from time to time have been found, betoken a very different creature in size to the present wild cattle of Chillingwork Park, although these are, no doubt the legitimate descendants and sole remnant in Britain of the urus or unrochs so famous formerly for gigantic size, unrivalled swiftness, and ferocity.^^ Mr. Lubbock before noticing wild species in detail gave an account of domesticated animals. "With regard to Black Cattle,^^ he said, "we have not in this country any peculiar breed of the district. Suffolk has its own peculiar cow, which is in high repute with dairymen in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. The Norfolk horse used to be a low and rather thick- set animal, with great trotting powers ; but of late years blood has been the order of the day here as elsewhere. It has been usual to decry Norfolk horses, but that celebrated sportsman, Henry Goodricke, who Avas a heavy man, and a very hard rider, used to ride horses purveyed for him by a dealer at Swaff'ham with great satisfaction. The ftiir in spring, at Uownham, always attracts all the London dealers. The reason that Norfolk horses HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAN1>. ) SO often disappoint those who breed them is the too common plan of keeping them badly when young. No animal can develop its powers if unfairly stinted in food whilst growing rapidly/^ It may here be added that Suffolk can boast of a very fine breed of cart horses, as well as the best riding horses. " There is one species of dog very common here, though not entirely peculiar to the county the Yarmouth water dogs, as they are generally termed in other parts of England. The sagacity of these dogs in pursuit of wounded birds and their hardihood in the water must be seen to be believed." "The pole cat or foumart is much more common than it at first appears. It is strictly nocturnal, and then so erratic in its habits that detection and capture arc difficult. Formerly it was supposed that this animal, having esiablished itself in a wood, pi eyed in that very cover without straying far away ; but the pole cat is similar in its habits to the fox, and, like that animal, will travel miles for booty, when it might satiate itself close at home." " Some naturalists supposed that the ferret is nothing more than the ])olecat domesticated. The one is certainly a most active, the other a slow and torpid animal, but this may arise from close confinement." "The stoat, here provincially called the lobster, makes head against constant ])ersecution and the increasing efforts of the gamekeepers. Probably the extensive rabbit warrens and the open nature of a great j)art of the ct)unty have encouraged its increase. Where the country is enclosed, and a trapper knows his business, it is easily caught." "TheNoi'folk sheep is, indeed, .s'? great bustard, within the present century, was a resident in Norfolk, jiiul might often be seen H^'ing over the county; but that fine bird is now extinct in its last abiding place in this island. The last bustard killed in Norfolk was a female, obtained at Lexham, near Swaffhani, in 1838, the renmant of a small flock of hens which had for some years fre(piented that neighborhood. The bustard is now only an accidental visitant. The ratjfe for wholesale shootiu": has also caused 28 HISTOKY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. many birds to disappear, except as temporary sojourners in their migratory course. In Norfolk and Suffolk, on most of the estates, game is strictly preserved. Consequently pheasants and partridges are abundant. The dense woods kept up for game afford both food and shelter for smaller birds the finches, buntings, larks, sparrows, and others. Of these there has been at times a barbarous slaughter. But it has been found very unwise to destroy the insect-eaters for the sake of saving a little corn. The birds resident and breeding in Norfolk and Suffolk are the kestrel, the sparrow hawk, marsh harrier, owl, missel thrush, song thrush, black- bird, redbreast, gi'eat tit, golden-crested regulus, various tits, wagtail, lark, bunting, chaffinch, greenfinch, bullfinch, linnet, redpole, crow, rook, jackdaw, magpie, jay, woodpecker, wren, nuthatch, kingfisher, ringdove, stockdove, pheasant, grouse, partridges, peewit, king dotterel, oyster catcher, heron, redshank, snipe, waterrail, moorhen, coot, mute swan, sheldrake, shoveller, wild duck, teal, great-crested grebe, little grebe, gull, sparrow. The spring and autumn migrants in Norfolk and Suffolk are the osprey, merlin, goshawk, buzzard, hen harrier, fly-catcher, ouzel, hoopoe, rose- coloured paster, plover, turnstone, sunderling, white stork, white spoonbill, curlew, whimbrel, spotted redshank, sandpiper, Avoodcock, snipe, knot, strut, grebe, common guillemot, razorbill, cormorant, gannet, tern. The summer migrants in Norfolk are shrikes, spotted fly-catchers, red- starts, storechats, wheaterns, various warblers, nightingales, pepits, wag- tails, wrynecks, swallows, martins, swifts, great plovers, landrails, crakes, cuckoos. The autumn migrants are numerous, including most of the gulls, bramlings, hawfinches, mealy redpoles, philacopes, g6ese, pintails, widgeons, velvet scoters, common scoters, pochards, ducks, golden eyes, smews, red-breasted mergansers, divers, auks, puffins, skuds, fulmar petrels, cappedpetrcls, manx shearwaters, stormy petrels. The winter migrants in Norfolk are the rcdwiug, fieldfare, common crossbill^ SAvau, hoopoo, and others. There are many accidental and irregular migrants appearing at various seasons of the year. Among the accidental visitants to Norfolk and Suffolk may be mentioned falcous, kites, woodchat, shrikes, common dippers, golden orioles, pine grosbeaks, nutcrackers, rollers, white-winged crossbills, bee-eaters, Alpine swifts, bustards, sand grouse, collared pratincoles, herons, avocets, stilts, strays, Polish swans, eider ducks, hooded mergansers, ringed guillemots, Caspian terns, roseate terns, gull-billed terns, whiskered terns, capped petrels, fork-tailed petrels. HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. 29 There are various lakes in Norfolk and Suffolk the resort of water birds. Fritton Lake is more than two miles in length, and in some places of considerable breadth. The banks of this water, fringed with woods and glades, are highly picturesque and beautiful. It abounds with a great variety of fish, and is the resort of widgeons, ducks, teal, and every other denomination of wild fowl. During the season, which begins in October, and continues till April following, vast numbers are caught, and produce a considerable sum to the proprietors. The method of taking the wild fowl is as follows : Creeks or canals are cut in particular parts of the decoy, over each of which is a long net or pipe, wide at the entrance, and tapering at the further end like a pui'se. Into these the fowls are enticed by ducks bred up tame for the purpose, who are constantly fed at these places, with which they are quite familiar. As soon as the decoy-man perceives the flock fairly settled in the water, he goes down secretly behind a reed fence, and throws into such places as the decoy ducks are accustomed to, a quantity of corn, to which they immediately resort, followed by -the strangers until they are all at length insensibly led into the pipe without perceiving it above them. When the decoy man has ascertained that they are all within the net, a dog, who is perfectly trained, rushes from behind the reeds into the water swimming directly after the fowl, and barking at them, they immediately take wing, but being beat down by the net naturally swim forward to avoid the dog, until they are hurried into the purse, and there become an easy prey to the decoy man, who immediately sets the tame ducks at liberty. The whole business is conducted with so little noise as not to alarm the fowl in the other parts of the decoy. FISHES OF NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK. Mr, T. E. Gunn, Naturalist, of Norwich, contributed the following account of Fishes in Norfolk and Suffolk : The County of Norfolk has long retained the reputation of possessing as rich and varied a fauna as any in the British Isles ; the three great departments of Natural History being here presented under circumstances especially favourable for development and observation. But while the study of ornithology has been well and ably worked out, and has perhaps reecMved more attention here than in any other locality in Britain, the original observations on the other branches the mammalia, fish, reptiles, and insects from want of efficient publication, are lost to the public. Selecting one branch, " The Fishes,^' I will endeavour to give a brief outline of the extent and importance of this valuable order. The north, east, and ])art of the western boundary of Norfolk, formed '30 IIISTOKY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. by an extensive and irregular coast line ranging from lofty chalk cliffs, sand banksj and shingly beaches, intersected by rivers and numerous inlets or bays, is peculiarly favourable to the capture of both resident and migratory species. Beside the large number of rare and accidental visitors to this coast, the products of the fisheries are important and extensive, giving employment to a great number of men and boats in the herring, mackerel, and trawl fisheries, a large proportion of the population near the coast being engaged for a great part of the year in catching, preparing, and packing the fish. Sir Thomas Browne, who wrote some two hundred years ago, published in his work a list of the coast and river fish of Norfolk ; but as far as I am aware, no further particular information on this subject was published until 1834, when a catalogue of the species, with reference to the occurrences of the rarer ones, was included in Messrs. Paget^s " Sketch of the Natural History of Yarmouth and its Neighborhood.^^ Subsequently, notices of rarities have occasionally appeared in the Zoolor/ist and our local newspapers. In 1848, the Rev. K. Lubbock published his " Fauna of Norfolk/' which embraced several notices of both coast and river fish, especially treating of those inhabiting our broads and rivers. During the last few years, I have collected notes and observations on the fishes, and having received valuable information from several gentlemen, particularly from J. H. Gurney, Esq., who has kindly placed his MS. notes at my dis- posal, I venture to offer the following catalogue. The fisheries, as I have before observed, are of great importance, and form the principal occvipation of the inhabitants along this coast. The seaport towns of Yarmouth and Lowestoft are the largest and perhaps the most important fishing marts in Britain. The produce from this branch of industry has so greatly increased of late years that in 1 860 the exports to foreign parts from Yarmouth alone were 54,684 barrels of herrings, and 20,399 tons weight of other sea fish, beside the enormous quantities used for home consumption. The whitebait, the subject of much contention amongst ichthyologists as being no true species, has recently been identified by Dr. Gunther as the fry of the herring. Thousands of these fry, which are so much prized in London, are thrown away on this beach and wasted. They are caught by the fishermen about August, when fishing inshore for other fish. The sprat, which is also taken in immense numbers on this coast soon after the herring season is over, is still considered by some as the young of the herring, as very few specimens are found with the roe or milt fully developed ; but according to Dr. Gunther's recent classification of the clupeidas, it is constituted a genuine species. The sturgeon, apparently a rarity in the time of Sir T. Browne, has HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. 31 of later years been obtained frequently. A few large specimens are taken every season, particularly about Yarmouth and Lowestoft (I have seen three very fine ones and heard of a fourth this season) . An extract from " Harrod's Gleanings," p. 32, states that in the eighth and ninth years of the reign of King Edward III., when that king visited his mother at Castle Rising, the commonalty of Lynn presented him with sturgeons and falcons. Amongst the varieties occurring about this coast, recorded by Sir T. Browne, Messrs. Paget, and others, may be mentioned, the two gilt heads, mailed gurnard, sword fish, pilot fish, sea horse, trumpet fish, gemmeous and sordid dragonetts, anchovy, fire-bearded rockling, spotted dog fish, hammer-headed shark (the head of the only specimen obtained in Pjurope in late years is preserved in the Norwich Museum, being the specimen figured by Yarrell), blue and porbeagle sharks (a skull of this latter is in this Museum), angel fish, saw fish (the only British specimen was obtained off Lynn in the time of Sir T. Browne), short sun fish, and the shagreen, sandy, and eagle rays. Of recent years the following varieties have been noticed : The Spanish, black, and I'ays sea breams, tunny (one in Museum), plain bonito, sword fish, opah (one specimen in Museum), spotted goby, flying fish (of which one specimen taken this season off Yarmouth is believed to be the only one caught on the Eastern coast. One of the pectoral fins only was preserved by a fisherman, and this has passed into my possession ; Dr. J. E. Gray has identified the species to which it belongs as Exocetus solitans, specimen exhibited), anchovy (a single specimen captured this season in the Lynn river), lesser forked beard, blue and fox sharks, tope, short sun fish, and the eagle ray. Of accidental varieties a double-headed haddock, and a whitincr with three eyes, obtained off' this coast, are now in the Sailors^ Institute at Yar- mouth, and J. H. Gurney, Esq., mentions in the Zoologist a singularly malformed casse, wanting the superior maxillary and intermaxillary bones. I'his is preserved in the Norwich Museum. The broads and rivers are abundantly supplied with fish, affording excel- lent sport for anglers : these are the pike (for which the Norfolk broads have long been famous), perch, carp, tench, bream, roach, dace, gudgeon, rudd, melt, and the sharp and broad-nosed eels. Among the river fish rarely occurring are the German carp, Pomeranian bream (specimen in tins Museum), chub, bleak, and snig eel. In May, 18GG, I obtained speciTuens of what YaiTell calls the smooth- tailed stickleback from the stomach of a spoonbill, and, in referring to Dr. (h-ay, I find he considers it only one of the many varieties of the common three-spined species ; and in dissecting a heron I also found some sjx^ci- OZ HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. mens of the ten-spined stickleback, including one with nine spines only. This specimen greatly differed from the others; first, in the number of spines ; secondly, by having the throat and under parts of a deep black instead of white minutely spotted with black, as in the ten-spined ; and, thirdly, by being much stouter built in proportion to its length. This, if fully investigated, might prove a distinct species. My specimen was, unfortunately, too far advanced in decomposition for preservation. In August, 1866, a very large specimen (apparently the largest on record) of the broad-nosed eel was taken in the River Bure, at Horning. It weighed 7^: lbs., and measured 3 feet 8 inches in length and 10 inches in girth. The total number of species in my catalogue is 123, which is, I think, a fair proportion of the total number of the British species known, especially considering the narrow limits within which the working out of their knowledge' has been confined, leaving a reasonable hope that when this subject is more fully investigated we shall be enabled to make several further additions to our Norfolk list. ANGLING IN SUFFOLK AND NOEFOLK. The rivers of the two counties are generally full of small fish, and angling is a popular sport. The Waveney, which divides Suffolk from Norfolk, is a river of considerable length, and its waters in the upper course are singularly transparent. It produces eels of a delicate flavour, Avith pike, perch, and roach in abundance. Smelts are taken in the season, and occasionally a salmon strays up the stream. The perch are unrivalled for the brilliancy of their colours, and sometimes attain a considerable weight. Sturgeons seven feet in length have been captured; and large lamphreys are frequently caught. The Waveney, after a long winding course between the two counties, flows into the Yare at Reedham, The Yare, up the stream to Norwich, produces several kinds of small fish, more especially bream, plaice, perch, and roach. Reedham, Cantley, Coldham Hall and Buckenham, are favourite fishing stations in the sum- mer season. Nine stone of fish have been caught at Buckenham by one angler in a day. "A (lay with not too liri^lit a beam, A warm but not a scon'liiii"; sun, A southern jrale to cool the stream. And half the fisher's work is done." Coldham Hall is a favourite resort of anglers from all parts of the country. CHAPTER I. A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. <;Th.SSEX is bounded on tlio north by Suffolk and part of Cambridgeshire, td^< on the south by the River Thames, on the west by Middlesex and Hertfordshire, and on the east by the German Ocean, to which its coast line presents many deep and winding indentations, in and near the estuaries of the Thames, the Crouch, the Blackwater, the Colne, and the Stour, with many small islands. The eastern parts of the county are generally level, but the other portions are picturesquely undulated, and present a varied and pleasing succession of fine rural landscapes. Essex forms part of that wide tract of country on the eastern side of England, which is the largest space of level ground in the whole island ; biit it has many gentle hills and dales, and towards the north-west, whence most of its rivers proceed, the country rises, and presents a continued inequality of surface. The most level tracts in the county are those of the southern and eastern hundreds. Extensive salt marshes border most of the coast, and are mostly protected by embankments or sea walls. The banks of the Thames are low and marshy. Geologists have distinguished the eastern district, which includes Essex, as that on wliich the superior strata rest on chalk. The London Clay extends nearly all over Essex, and has been pierced in many places and found to be of great thickness. 1^'his formation chiefly, and sometimes wholly, consists of bluish or blackisli clay, in general very tough, and containing nearly horizontal layers of ovate or flatfish masses of argilla- ceous limestone called Se])taria, from liaving been apparently traversed by { Ta(;ks, now partially or wholly filled uj) with calcareous spar or sulphate of barytes. Amongst the super-strata, besides the London Clay and vegetable mould, are found brickearth, sand, crag, })il)e clay, and the ])]astic clay formation. The? alternation of fresh-water formations with those of marine origin, establish a complete and highly important analogy between the French and English series. The crag is a stratum of sand and gravel ; and tin; north-east coast is covered with this up])er niarini! formation, which, with the enclosed organic remains, often exhibits impregnation with iron. The various formations contain (juan- tities of organic remains, both vegetable and animal, showing that at one ])(>riod the flora and fauna of the eastern district were very different to tlie present flora and fauna. Marine remains an' found in great variety oi HISTOliY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. near the coast on tlie northern part of Essex. Remains of tlie larger Mammalia, the Mammoth, the Rhinoceros, and various species of deer, are found in the ci*ag deposits at Walton-on-the-Naze, where many of the fossils agree with those in the upper marine formation of the Paris basin. According to the Roman authors, the Trinobantes were the aborigines of the territory now called Essex, but few remains of that people have been traced. There is extant a list of kings or chiefs of the Trinobantes before and after the Roman invasion, of whom little is on record of histo- rical importance. In the reign of Augustus (b.c. 31) a king of that people lived, who appeared, from the number of coins dug up with his name inscribed, to have had a considerable acquaintance with Grecian and Roman art. He was named Cunuboline, or Cunubelinus, and sometimes Cunbelinus, and had his royal seat at Camulodunum, so called from a temple of Mars, there worshipped under the name of Camulus. The first Roman camp and colony in this island appears to have becji established at Camulodunum, on the site where Colchester now stands in Essex. The ruins of the Roman camp may be traced all round the town. If any antiquary should have any doubt on the subject, it must be dispelled by inspecting the Roman remains or relics deposited in the Castle Museum ; the group of cinerary urns, with a fine gladiatorial vase, found by Mr. Taylor at the West Lodge ; the imperial coins found in the neighborhood; and, above all, by the researches of Dr. Duncan, who has traced the cloaca of one of the Roman villas, who has identified the sites' of the Roman cemeteries, traced their roads, piled up their coins, and pointed their footsteps everywhere in and around the to^\ai in a manner which proves beyond question that this must have been the great seat of the imperial jDOwer in England. The ancient walls, of Avhich some interesting relics yet remain, though in many parts crumbled into ruins, were no doubt planned and built by the Roman conqueror when he had decided on settling in this part of the country. The foundations seemed to have been preserved, and they enclose a space of 118 acres, representing the extent of the city of Camulodunum. There are also Roman remains at Lcyton, Wanstead, Great Burstead, Tolleshunt Knights, West Mersea, Harwich, and other places ; and tumuli, or barrows, at Lexden, Bures and Montem, West Mersea, and Wigborough. The remarkably large tunmli called Bartlow Hills are in this county, though taking their name from the neighboring village of Bartlow in the county of Cambridge. On the exploration of these mounds between 1832 and 1840, all the remains discovered were evidently of Roman origin, and from their funereal character prove that they were A DESCKIPTION OP ESSEX. 35 raised in memory of warriors buried beneath, wliicli fact is corroborated by the remains of a Roman encampment near the spot. It is generally acknowledged that at an early period this island was intersected in various directions by British trackways, which were after- wards improved by the Eomans. The four principal Eoman roads which traversed England were Watling Street, extending from the Kentish Coast to London, York, Carlisle, &c. ; Ermyn Street, which extended from London to Lincoln, and the Humber ; the Fosse Way, which passed from Bath to Lincoln and Newark ; Icknicld Street, which extended from London, through Essex via Stratford, Romford, Ligatestone, Chelmsford, and Colchester, to Caistor in Norfolk. Two Roman roads branched from Colchester, one through Dunmow to St. Albans and Cambridge, and the other crossing the Stour to Combre- tonium. Another Roman road passed from London through Leyton, Hornsey Lane, Bishop Stortford, Chesterford, into Cambridgeshire. Iciana is supposed by Horsley to be Chesterford. 'Dr. Gale says Saffron Walden is seated on two military ways running north and east. Many Roman antiquities have been found at Chesterford, and the military way at Gogmagog Hills points to that place. At Kinghill near Audley End is a Roman camp near a road, which is traced to Chesterford. The road which passed from Colchester to St. Alban^s (Verulaniimi) may be traced through Stanway, Coggeshall, Braintrec, Dunmow, and Stortford. A military way has been traced from Colchester to Colne, Sible-Hedingham, Yeldham, Ridgewell, and Haverhill. The foundations of a Roman villa wore found at Ringwell in 1 79i. At Colchester, there is a jjrofusion of Roman bricks, and other antiquities, and many urns, coins, tesselated pavements, &c., have been found near Billericay and in many other parts of Essex. From the Itinerary of Antoninus five principal stations appear to have been cither formed or occupied by the Romans in Essex. These were Durolitum, Ctesarormagus, Canonum, Camulodunum, and Ad Ansum, all seated on the road which formed the fifth Iter from London to Venta Icenorum in Norfolk. The sites of most of them are subjects of dispute among antiquaries, but they generally agree that Camulodunum, the principiil station, was at Colchester, and that it had been previously the capital of the Trinobantes. When the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes came from the regions on either side of the ]^]lbo nearly fourteen centuries ago, our island was imperfectly governed. The inhabitants, now deserted by their Roman conquerors, were in no condition to offer any lengthened resistance. The military chieftains who came over rewarded their followers with land, a portion called a mark being given to each clan or kinsfolk ; and it is believed that 36 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. the chief towns of many of these marks are traceable at the present day in their names^ which denote the kin or family to whom the land was given. Hence the names of Mailing, Stoyning, Becking, Ealing, Hailing, Epping, Gidding, Reading, which names are believed to denote the marks or land, or kinships. The relation between the chief and the follower was very intimate among the Teutons of old. The leaders of the emigration to Britain had each his band of devoted liegemen, who would be sure to vie with each other in deeds of perilous daring, and to whom, when the enemy was subdued, the chief apportioned rewards in land or booty. The marks or land of the kinships Moelo, Stoena, Boca, and the like are believed to have in this way received the names of Mailing, Steyning, Becking, &c. Many other names which do not end in "ing,'^ such as Endington, the ton or clearing of the kindred of Enteu Arlington, the homestead of the Arlings. The towns of Essex, and indeed of all Eastern England, are all of Anglo-Saxon origin, as proved by their names, some- times taken from rivers on which the places are situated -as Colchester, from the River Colne ; Chelmsford, from the River Chelmer. Many places were named from meadows and marshes where rushes grew as Rushall, Rushbrooke, Rushbury, Rushford. Other places were named from fens as Fen Ditton, Fen Stanton, Fensbury (now Finsbury) in London. Some places were named from meres or small lakes as Hazlemere, Livermere, Mereston ; others from fords over rivers as Deptford (Deepford), Thetford, Larlingford. Essex being almost wholly an agricultural county, the greater number of the inhabitants reside in villages. The face of the county is generally very beautiful ; it is well enclosed, and for the most part presents good verdant pastures ; the hills, none of which rise to great heights, are cultivated to the tops, and there is abundance of trees, especially oak and chestnut. The proportion of waste land is smaller than in any other county in England. The forests dg not amount to more than 14,000 acres, which are not all uncultivated. These forests belong to the Crown, though the inhabitants of many surrounding parishes have the right of pasturing their cattle in them. . The Sovereign has the right of keeping deer in all the enclosed woods, and the occupiers of land in the various parishes included within the ancient boundaries of the forests have a right to feed horses and cows, but not cattle. The numerous common rights have led to considerable devasta- tion of the timber in those forests, and occasioned no small injury to the pro]3erty of the Crown ; but plans have been adopted for preserving the trees and converting a part into a nursery for growing timber for the Royal Navy. In ancient times, it would appear that the whole county was forestal; and the following rhyming charter of Edward the Confessor, A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 37 relating to a remoter part of it, is said to be taken from the Forest Rolls of Essex : " Ic Edward Koning, Have given of my forest the keeping, Of the Himdred of Chehner and dancing, To Kandolph, pi})er king, and liis kindling, Wyth heose and hynde, doe and bock. Hare and foxe, cut and brocke, AVylde fowel Avith his flock, Partricli, fesant hen and fesant cock, Wyth green and wylde stob and stock. To keepers and to yemen by all her might, l>oth by tlay and eke by night. And hounds for to hold (rood and swift and bold ; Four grej'hounds and six racches For liare and foxe and Avilde cattes, And therefore iclie made him my broke, Witness the bishoj) Wolston ^Vnd brooke ylced many on .Vnd iSwein of Essex our brother And taken him many other, .Vnd our Steward Howelm That by sought me for him." Edward the Confessor is also said to have had a park at Havering, enclosing it from the forest. Tendring Hundred was disafforested by Stephen ; all that part of the forest which lay to the north of the high- way from Stortford to Colchester met with the same treatment at the hands of John; and Henry III. allowed the making of another park at lleydon Mount, at the same time giving John de Lexington leave to hunt in what was still the Forest of Essex. Then came another large enclosure for the great people at Heydon Gurnon, but the Mountfitchets of Havering seem to have been hereditary grand wardens of Epping Forest so far back as King Stephen. Then it passed to the do Chires ; from them, diminished to the wardcnship of ]^]p])ing Forest, to tlie Earls of Oxford ; but Henry VIII. took so kindly to it that the earl of the period surrendered his wardcnship to the king for the time, in order that the royal hunter might liave it all his own way. Elizabeth was like-minded with her father about it, and hunted in it constantly. King James gave it back to the Oxfords ; tlu>y conveyed it to tho Exeters ; one of those earls in turn to the Earl o Lindsay, from whom it passed to Sir R. Child, and descended through the families of Tylney and of Long to the Earls of Mornington, with whose representative it must now be, if the office still exists. From several perambulations made in the 18th century, it appears that tlio greater part of Essex was at that time one continuous forest. Several districts weiv disafforested at different periods. The forests 38 HISTORY OV EASTERN ENGLAND. of Eppiug and Hainault (sometimes called Waltliam Forest) still retain about 10,000 acres of old woods and large tracts of open commons in wliicli tlie timber lias been mostly grubbed up. Though the natural woods have been rapidly disappearing during the last hundred years, the wood- lands of Essex are still extensive, and would supply a vast quantity of well-grown straight timber if the trees were suffered to remain till grown to their full size. Though but few new plantations of wood have been made during the present century, solely with the view of future profit, there are in all parts of the county abundance of clumps and belts of fir and forest trees for the decoration of gentlemen's seats, which are numerous in the county. The district now known as Epping Forest lies to the north and north- east of London, and comprises a series of woodland ranges which may be said to begin at Leytonstonc, seven miles from London, and end at Epping, eight miles further on ; a tract on an average of three or fouV miles wide, the wood being thickest about Loughton or Buckhurst Hill. The county comprises about 420 parishes, twenty market towns, and more than 1,000 villages and hamlets, altogether inhabited by a popula- tion of 404,851 people, chiefly engaged in agriculture. The county was formerly an important seat of the woollen manufacture, and it still has a portion of the silk trade, and has near London some extensive chemical works, iron foundries, machine and engineering works, gun-powder mills, &c. Many of the people on the sea-coast and on the banks of the Thames, the Colne, and other rivers and creeks, derive employment from the valuable oyster and other fisheries. The principal corn and cattle markets are held at Colchester, Chelms- ford, Braintree, Saffron Walden, Dunmow, and Romford. Colchester, the largest town and borough in Essex, has about 24,000 inhabitants ; but the most populous j)art of the county is near London, in Stratford, A\''est Ham, and Plumstow. Southend, Harwich, and Walton-on-the-Naze, are the principal bathing-places in Essex; and its principal ports are Colchester, Manningtrce, Harwich, Maldon, Bnvnham, Purfleet, and the London Victoria Docks. As early as 1:304, a number of Flemings, who had emigrated from Bruges, landed at Harwich, and established their craft at Becking and Shalford in Essex, from whence they spread to Braintree, Halstead, Coggeshall, Dedham, and East Bergholt. These foreigners were an industrious race of people, and being well-skilled in the making of cloth, as well as in agricultural pursuits, they proved a valuable acquisition to the country. Before this, our wool had been bought up by the Dutch and Flemish traders, ^vllo supplied us with cloth ; but these settlers soon consumed the growth of this district, and required large supplies from other counties. A DESCRIPTION OP ESSEX. 39 POLITICAL DIVISIONS. Since the passing of the Reform Act in 1832, the county lias been divided into the northern and southern districts, each sending two repre- sentatives to Parliament. Six other members are sent to the House of Commons from this county by the three small boroughs of Colchester, Maldon, and Harwich. The polHng places comprise all the principal market towns in the county. The number of electors registered for the county in 1847 was 10,858 viz., 5,644 in the northern and 5,214 in the southern division. The county at one period returned ten Conservatives to Parliament, and their return was celebrated by a grand banquet at Chelmsford in September, 1841. ECCLESIASTICAL DIVISIONS, Essex is in the province of Canterbury, and in the diocese of Rochester, except the ten parishes of Barking, Chingford, East and West Ham, Great and Little Ilford, Ley ton, Walthamstow, Wanstead, and Woodford, which arc in the diocese of London. Until a few years since, the whole county was in the diocese of London. The change was effected by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of England appointed and incorporated by an Act of Parliament passed in the Gth and 7th of William IV. to carry into effect the reports of the Commissioners appointed to consider the state of the Established Churches of England and Wales. They obtained in 1836 the sanction of his Mnjesty in Council to certain schemes and decrees, of which the following is the substance : That all parishes Avhich are locally situated in one diocese, and are under the jurisdiction of another, be made subject to that Sec within which they are locally situated ; that certain new dioceses should be created ; that such appor- tionment or exchange of ecclesiastical patronage should be made among the archbishops and bishops as should be consistent with the relative niiignitudc and iniportiince of tlieir Sees, so as to leave an average yearly income (.!' lir,,(i()() (,, (he Archbisho]) of Canteibiiry, 110,000 to the Archl)isli.,p i,\- V.nk, ,110,000 to tlic P.ishop of London, 8,000 to the Pishoj) of Dm-hiim, ,i7,000 to the Bishop of Winchester, 5,000 to the liishops of YAy, Worcester, and liatli and Wells res})ectively, 5,200 to the Bishop of St. Asaph and Bangor; and that out of the funds arising from the said diocese over and above the said incoiues, the Com- missioners should gnint such sti})ends to the other bishops as .should make their averagt' annual incomes not less than 4,000, nor more than i5,00(l. 'I'he Commissioners are also i'ni])owi'red to create new district })arishes, and to augment all ])ooi- church livings to the value of 150 t'aeli j)i>r annum, out of the funds falling into tiieir lunuls from the rich bishoprics and b^'uctices. About 1815, they purchased a large and elegant 40 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. mausion at Danbury^ which is now the palace of the Bishop of Rochester, whose former residence was at Bromley, in Kent. His diocese now comprises a large part of Hertfordshire, as well as nearly all Essex, and forty-seven parishes in Kent. The Essex portion of the diocese of Rochester comprises more than 420 parishes, chapelries, and new ecclesiastical districts, nearly equally divided in the two Archdeaconries of Colchester and Essex. The County of Essex, with an area of 1,060,549 acres, contained in 1801 a population of 404,851 persons, including 203,143 males and 201,708 females, showing an increase in 60 years of 177,169 persons. The towns containing over 2,000 inhabitants in 1861 were Colchester, 23,809; Chelmsford, 6,033; Harwich, 5,070; Maldon, 0,261; Saffron Walden, 5,454; Barking, 5,076; Braintree, 4,305; Brentwood, 2,811; Coggeshall, 3,166; Halstead, 5,707; Romford, 4,361; Stratford, 15,994; Waltham Abbey, 2,873. All these towns arose in the Anglo-Saxon period, long before the Norman Conquest. ESTATES IN ESSEX. Though many noble families have estates in Essex, but few of them now reside in the county. Of those who do reside may be mentioned Lord Braybrooke, of Audley End ; Viscount Maynard, of Euston Hall ; Lord Petre, of Thorndon Hall ; and Lord Rayleigh, of Terliug Place. The county, however, has many handsome seats of wealthy Commoners, and a long list of Baronets, among whom are Sir J. P. Wood, LL.D., Bart., of Rivenhall Place ; Sir J. T. Ibbetson-Selwin, of Down Hall, near Harlow; Sir W. B. Smith, of Hill Hall; Sir C. C. Smith, of Suttons; Sir B. J. H. Soanie, of Heydon Hall; Sir R. A. AUeyn, of Mesner Hall; Sir C. W. C. Do Crespegny, of Wivenhoo Hall ; Sir B. Hartwell, of Dale Hall ; Sir B. P. Henniker, of Newton Hall ; Sir T. Barrett Lennard, of Bell House. HUNDREDS IN ESSEX. The comity of Essex is divided into twenty hundreds for the purposes of civil government. Surveying them from east to west, they may be named in the following order: 1, Tendring; 2, Lexden, 3, Winstree; J', Thurstable ; 5, Dengie ; 6, Rochford, all eastern near the sea, and tlio rivers Thames, Crouch, Blackwater, and Stour ; 7, Chelmsford ; 8, Witham (Midland); 9, Hinckford; 10, Freshwell ; 11, Uttlesford ; 12, Clavering; 13, Harlow; 14, Dunmow (all north); 15, Ongar; 10, VV^ultham (west); 17, Becuntree ; 18, Barstable ; 19, Cliaiford; 20, Havcriug all south near the River Thames. A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 41 TENDKING HUNDRED Is a pleasant and fertile district^ forming a little peninsula^ separated from Suffolk on the north by the estuary of the Stour, bounded on the east and south-east by the German Ocean, and washed on the south and west by the waters of the Colne and its estuary, by which it is separated from Lexden Hundred and Colchester. It is nearly circular, being about fifteen miles in length and thirteen in breadth, with a tongue of land at its extreme point, jutting into the sea, and upon this stands the town of Harwich. To the southward a fine promontory extends about five miles, the sea forming within a bay of winding creeks, surrounding several small islands ; and at the end of this head-land rises Walton-on-the-Naze, the pleasantest bathing place along the coast. It might naturally be supposed that, being so close to the ancient Colonia, Tendring Hundred would have been the scene of Roman habitations and settlements ; but except at a few points by the sea, which they occu])ied for defensive purposes, no traces of this people are found. By the Normans, the Hundred was attached to Colchester Castle ; and the present owner, Charles Gray Round, Esq., has the right to appoint a steward and bailiff. Though disafforested by King Stephen, the laud seems to have remained in a half-reclaimed state down to a recent period. At the beginning of the last century, it was described as being much covered with wood, and full of fir and bushy ground ; but drainage and modern enterprize have made it one of the best cultivated and most fertile districts of the country. It contains the following twenty-eight parishes : Tendring, Alresford, Ardleigh, Beau- mont, Great JJentley, Little Bentley, Bradfield, Brightlingsea, Great iirojulcy, Little JJruniley, Great Clactou, Little Clacton, Elinstead, Frating, I'rinton, Great Holland, Jjittle Holland, Lawford, Manningtree, Mistley, Great Oakley, Jjittle Oakley, Great Osyth, Ramsey, Tharrington, AVeeley, AVix, A\^ral)iiess. l.EXDKN IH'XDI.'Kl) C()m])vises the largo ti'act which extends from Kelvedon ami Coggeshall 11]) to Colchester, and ])artly around it, but not including JiCxden, from which it may hv, presumed it originally received its name. It swee})S on the right between Winstree and Thurstable, and the boundary of the borough uj) to Wivenhoe ; and it tak(>s in all the iniral parishes on the left nearly u]) to Halstead. On the north skirts the Stour, wliich divides it frt)ni Suffolk, u]) to Tendring Hundred. It is intersected by tlu" Colnc,an(l touclu'd along part of its westei'u l)or(ler by the JJlackwater. Although its soil varies, it has a large ])ortion of rich corn lands. It compi'iscs the i'oUowing thii'ty ])arishes : Coggeshall, Aldliam, Cliappel, Marl's Colne, Colne I'lngaine, \\'ake's Colne, \\ hite Colne, Copfoi'd, 42 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Feering, Iiiwortli, Marksliall^ Messing, Pattiswick, Great Toy, Little Toy, Mark's Tey, AVest Bergliolt, Boxtecl, Dedliam, East Dongland, Eastliorpe, Fordliam, Great Horkesley, Little Horkcsley, Langliam, Mount Bures, Stanway, Wivcnlioc, Warmingford, WINSTREE HUNDRED Is only about nine miles long by five at the broadest part, and partakes of the mixed maritime and agricultural character of that of Thurstable, to which it adjoins west ; and it is bounded on the east and south by the estuary of the Colne and the ocean. The name of the Hundred is generally believed to be derived from two Saxon words signifying ^^ Victory " and "A Wood/' probably an allusion to an important battle with some of the fierce marauders who in early ages found access ,to this district from the sea. The Danes were driven to Mersea Island, and besieged there after their defeat by King Alfred. The Saxons had many salt works then an important branch of manu- facture along this coast. Considerable commerce, according to the capabilities of that day, appears to have been carried on here ; and there is no doubt that the inhabitants had acquired some of the civilisation and luxurious taste of the neighboiing city of Camulodunum, so that the exposed tract was peculiarly tempting to the sea-rover seeking for plunder. Thus, at a later period, Mersea Island, which had been a sort of suburban residence for some of the great officers and Roman aristocracy of Colchester, became a place of importance for resisting the entrance of the northern pii'ates into the Colne or the bay. At the present time, the remains to be found in that island of the magnificence of the Imperial rulers, and the stately towers of Layer Marney, memorials of the splendour which prevailed here nearly two thousand years later, are the chief objects of interest in the Hundred. It contains the following thirteen small ]iarislies : Layer Marney, Layer Breton, Layer-de-la-Hay, Al)berton, Fingringhoe, Langenhoe, Poldon, Great Wigborough, Little Wigborough, Salcat, Virley, Wes| ]Mersea, East Mersea. TIIURSTABLE HUNDRED Is a small district, partly agricultural and partly maritime, lying on the verge of the river and Blackwater Bay, along which it extends from Heybridge to Tollesbury and Tiptree Heath, and it is bounded on other sides by Lexden and Winstree and Witham Hundreds. It is about eleven miles long from west to east, and from three to six miles broad. The Hundred includes a pleasant tract of country. Along the estuary of the Blackwater lies a large extent of rich marsh land, running from the A DESCRIPTION Or ESSEX. 43 vicinity of Maiden up to Salcot Creek ; and beyond this rises a range of undulating high lands, upon which can be seen the villages and church towers of the various parishes. The district was no doubt the scene of some very early settlements, and it was often over-run and ravaged by the Danes, but there is little or no interest attached to its ancient history. Its local records are little more than a dry detail of births and burials of families who have long since departed and left few footprints on the lauds they owned. There is scarcely a ruin to be seen, and the mansions and parks of the modem world are almost as scarce. Salt works are often mentioned amongst the possessions and grants in Doomsday Book, and the Conqueror had three, large factories of the kind here; but this branch of industry has dwindled away before the competition of other j^arts of the kingdom, and the inhabitants are no.v employed either in maritime pursuits oyster dredging and the coal cariying trade or in agriculture. The Hundred comprises the following ton parishes : Heigbridge, Goldhanger, Langford, Tollesbury, Tolleshunt d'Arcy, Tolleshunt Major, Tolleshunt Knights, Groat Totham, Little Totham, Wickham Bishops. DENGIE HUNDRED Has been the scene of some important events in the history of the nation, but in ages so remote that there is no written record to identify them with the locality ; and in traversing the district, we find few of those ancient relics by the aid of which their memorials may be trnced out. On the shores beyond Briidwell stood the city of Ithanchester, in which Cedde, the first bishop of the diocese, in G58, baptised Mary in the new faith, built a church, and endowed priests and deacons to minister in it. In a later age, the Danes took possession of the Hundred, and long made it their head-(juarters or cam]) along the coast, from which they sent fortli their expeditions and plundered the other parts of the country. It Avas. in a niannor their reco<;nised home in their earlier strujjK'les for the master- sliip of the huul, as its present name implies Dengie being derived from Danes-ig, " tlie Danes' island." A thousand years have passed since that time, and a gi'cat change has been wrought in the scene. Flocks gnize undisturbed on tlie I'icli marshes beyond which the long narrow war-vessels were moored. The carol of the ploughman and the tinkle of the sheep- bell are heard at twilight, instead of the martial signal. Tlie fierce chief- lain has subsided into the skilful farmor. The steel that glitters in tlie sun is that ot" the sickle or the scythe; and instead of the wild warrior returning tf) his den with his prey, the rich lu>avy Avheats of Dengie arc sent forth to hel[) to feed aiul fatten other parts of the kingdom. This Hundred contains tlie following twenty-one parishes, irrespective 44 HISTOIIY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. of the borough of Maldoii, wliicli is described separately : Wood- liain Walt, Woodliam Mart, Hazeleigli, Purleigli, Cold Norton, Stow Maries, North Frainbridge, Latchingdon, Snoreham, Mundon, Steeple, Mayland, Althorne, Cricksea, Burnham, Southminster, Asheldham, Dengie, Tillinghain, St. Lawrence, Bradwell. ROCHPOED HUNDRED Is bounded on three sides by water on the south by the lower part of the Thames and the sea, eastward by the German Ocean, and on the north by the River Crouch. Its length from east to west varies from ten to seventeen miles ; in width, it is about seven miles. It is a rich wheat- growing district, with its lands relieved in many places by dark woods ; it is finely undulated, and there are marshes along the vale of the Crouch and the coast of the Thames and the ocean, where the population assumes a mixed agricultural and maritime character. Formerly the Hundred was regarded as a seed-bed of all kinds of aguish diseases, and this character still lingers about the islands formed by the winding of the I'ivcrs and creeks along the coast ; but the progress of drainage and other agricultural improvements has removed this reproach from the mainland, and brought a healthier atmosphere with increased fertility. In old times, the care and custody of a Hundred brought substantial power and profit to noble and royal personages. In I08O, the Earl of Oxford held this bailwick on condition that he should, " at his own cost and charge, keep the fences juid lodges of the King's parks at Rayleigh, Hadleigh, and Thundersley, in repair." Throe hundred years before this, and in the earliest record, we find it and most of the land in the possession of the great Baron Twene, the reputed Dane, who saved his estates by adroitly succumbing to the Norman. It contains the following twenty-four parishes : Rochford, Barling, Canewdon, I^astwood, South Frambridge, Foulness Island, Hadleigh, Hawkwell, Hocklc}^, Leigh, Paglesham, Prittlewell, Rawreth, Rayleigh, North Shoebury, South Shoebury, Shopland, Southchurch, Great Stam- bridge, Little Stambridge, Sutton, Great Wakering\ Little Wakering, Ashingdon . CHELMSFORD HUNDRED Lies as nearly as possible in the centre of the country if we lop off 'J.YMidring, which juts out to Harwich and Walton ; being situate about twenty-seven miles from Bow J^ridge on the one side, the same distance from Bulliugdon Bridge, the Sufiblk boundary on the other, twenty-four miles from Hertfordshire on tlie north-west, and twenty-tvv(j miles from the River Thames on the south. The lands are for the most jiart fair and fertile, lying in general low. A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 45 and being well-watered by the Chelmer, the Cam^ the Wed, and other tributary rivulets. There are gentle valleys and graceful slopes to be found in it ; and here and there the land swells up into picturesque eminences, as at Danbury Hill, at Galleywood Common, at Little Baddow, and the Church of Fryerning, from which views can bo obtained stretch- ing even into other counties. ^ In early times, like other districts, this formed a little local government of its own. The Hundred court was held for the trial of offences, and the inhabitants were organized for the maintenance of order, and held responsible for the escape of criminals a liability of which a remnant survives in the action which still lies against them for damage committed by a mob. It docs not, however, appear to have been a favourite spot with the old military barons. At least, they have left here none of those castle ruins which are the footprints of the race. But the cowled monks fastened thickly upon it ; and their religious halls and cloistered homes were erected on many a fair spot and sheltered nook of the Hundred. The Hundred comprises the following thirty parishes : Great Baddow, Ijittle Baddow, Blackmore, Boreham, Broomfield, l^uttsbury, Chelmsford, Chcgnal St. James, Chegnal St. Mary, Danbury, Fryerning, Hanningfield East, Hanningfield South, Hanningfield West, Ingatestone, Great Leighs, Little Leighs, Margaretting, Mountnessing, Rettendon, Roxwell, Bunwell, Sandon, Springfield, Stock, Great Waltham, Little Waltham, Wedford, Woodham Ferris, Writtle. WITHAM HUNDRED, Or half-hundred, as it was anciently called, is a rich and fei'tile tract, skirted at one part by Chelmsford Hundred, the Chelmer flowing eastward along its border, and bounded on the west by the Hundred of Dunmow, on the north and east by the Hundreds of Hinckford, Lexden, and Thurstable, and on the south by that of Dengie. It is of a somewhat circular foi-ni, extending about nine miles each way. The Hundred has been described as " one of the pleasantcst and most fertile divisions of Essex;" and its good and varying soil, with the rich vales through which How the ]31ackwater and the little streams of the lirain and the Ter, are proofs that this character has not been lightly })i'stowed. 'J'here are no records of its very early settlement ; but its situation on the great military highway, and relics of the imperial rulers that have been found within its borders, are signs that it was not altogether unknown to the Romans ; and its ])r()ximity to the strongholds and haunts of the Danes renders it probable that the first buds of civilization which had begun to sprout amidst its fairest lands were often trodden down by those fierce marauders. The Hundred comprises the 40 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. following fourteen parishes : Witham, Crossing, Hatfield Peverel, Terliug, Little Braxted, Kelvedon, Ulting, Bradwell, Rivenhall, Faulkbourne, Fairstead, White Notley, Black Notley. HICKFORD HUNDRED Is the most extensive in the county : so extensive that for practical and judicial purposes it is divided into two North Hinckford and South Hinckford. The Hundred, which partakes of a mixed agricultural and manu- facturing character, is about eighteen miles in length, by fourteen or fifteen broad, and is computed to contain one-eighth of the whole county. It reaches from Chelmsford and Witham Hundreds, adjoining it on the south and south-west down to the River Stour, which bounds it, and separates Essex from Suffolk on the north and north-east. On the north it touches on Dunmow and Freshwell, and on the east upon Lexden Hundreds. The whole tract is in general finely undulated and richly wooded ; and in the fertile vales toward the lower part of the district, the hop is cultivated to some extent. The Hundred includes the forty-seven following parishes : Ashen, Alphamstone, Braintree, Brunden - cum - Ballingden, Belchamp St. P., Belchamp Otten, Belchamp Wait, Birdbrook, Booking, Borley, Bulmer, Bures Hamlet, Felstead, Fenchingfield, Foxearth, Gestingthorpe, Gasfield, Halstead, Hedingham Great, Hedingham South, Great Henny, Little Henny, Lamarsh, Listen, Maplestead Great, Maplestead Little, Middleton, Ovington, Panfield, Pebmarsh, Pentlow, Rayne, Ridgewell, Great Saling, Steeple Bumpstead, Shalford, Stambourn, Stebbing, Stisted, Shirmer, Tilbury, Toppesfield, Twinstead, Weathersfield, Wickham St. Paulas, Great Yeldham, Little Yeldham. FRESHWELL HUNDRED, Or, as it is sometimes called. Half -Hundred, is a small district, about ten miles long from north to south, and six in breadth at the widest part, lying between the Hundreds of Hinckford, Dunmow, and Uttlesford, and touching at its extreme points on Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. It is of a purely rural character, with its fertile farms and pleasant hills and vales interspersed with fine woodlands. It takes its name from a spring rising in a valley near Radwinter called Freshwell, which, after joining several other rivulets, falls into the Blackwater. It includes the following ten parishes : Bardfield Great, Bardfield Little, Bardfield Saling, Ashden, Helions Bumstead, Hadstock and Bartlow Hamlet, Hempstead, Radwinter, Great Sampford, Little Sampford. A DESCEIl'TION OF ESSEX. 47 UTTLESFORD HUNDRED Lies between Clavcring Hundred, and those of Dunraowand Fresliwell; at one point it touches upon Herts, and its extreme point borders upon Cam- bridgeshire. The old Eoman mihtary way known as Ikene-street traversed part of this district, and the tract from Littlebury through the Chester- fords is rich with the remains of those imperial rulers of the land. This Hundred contains the following twenty-five parishes : Takeley, Arkesden, Birchanger, Great Chesterford, Little Chesterf ord. Great Chishall, Little Chishall, Debden, Elmden, Elserham, Haydon, Henham, Littlebur}", Newport, Quendon, Eickling, Stansted, Mountfitchet, Strethall, Wendens, Ambs, Wenden Lofts, Wicken Benant, Widdington, Wimbish with Thunderslcy. CLAVERING HUNDRED Is the smallest Hundred in the county, and lies on the north-western side, and is bounded on the Avcst and south by .Hertfordshire. The Hundred comprises the narrow tract of land lying on the north side of the railway between Bishop Stortford and Newport, extending about nine miles, but not more than four, and in some places only two, in breadth. This lordship was part of the possessions of Suene, and Claveringbury Castle was of some note as one of the strongholds of feudal days. It gave name to the family of Do Clavering, which dwelt here ; and at different periods it was in the hands of various noble owners till it came, through a grant of Queen Mary, to the Barriugtons of Hatfield Broad Oak. The Castle, which stood near Clavering Church, fell with the feudalism it represented and uplicld. The only traces left by the ancient lords of Clavcring are traces of the works round the area of their Castle home, and of the deep trench by which it was defended. It comprises the following six parishes : Clavering, Berden, Famham, liuugley, iManewdeu, Ugley. HARLOW HALF HUNDRED Does not exceed in extent some of the larger parishes in the county. .](jiiniig Dunmow Hundred on the east, it skirts the forest woodlands, and westward is bounded by the Stort, which dividi>s Essex from Hertfordshire. It is eleven miles long, by from three to six broad. The district is con- veniently situated for connnunication with the neighbouring counties ;. the railway, which twines with the Stort along its ])order, occasionally plunges into it, and throws out its stations here and there. The scenery in the snmmer months is exceedingly picturesque. As wo ascend some of the hill-tops of the Hundred, we catch glimpses of rich vales, quiet fai*ms, and 1-8 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. scattered villages, with a dark mass of forest land in the distance. There are no striking historical events connected with the locality, no battle- fields to wander over, nor castle ruins to inspect ; but we find it to have been in Roman Catholic times a perfect nest of monks, there being five monastic institutions within it, while the neighbouring Abbey of Waltham drew much of its fatness from tracts of its land. It contains the following eleven parishes : Harlow, Great Hallingburg, Little Hallingburg, Hatfield Broad Oak, Latton, Matching, Rettswell, Great Parndon, Little Parndon, Roydon, Sheering. THE HUNDRED OF DUNMOW Is composed of a long narrow tract of land, stretching from the outer verge of Thaxted towards Saffi'on Walden at one end, and to Mashbury, within five miles of Chelmsford, on the other, a distance of nearly twenty miles. It is not more than eight miles across at the broadest part, and at some points it narrows to little more than half this distance. The Hundred is intersected at some points by deep valleys, which give picturesqueness to its high lands and variety to its soil ; and through some of these lower grounds, the Roden and the Chelmer, which take their rise in this part of the county, flow. Much of this land is loam or chalky clay, and a large quantity of the barley supplied to the makings of Stortford and Ware is grown in the district. Lying midway between the two great arteries of traffic, the high roads and railways communicating with Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire, its inhabitants are chiefly employed on local trades and the pursuit of agriculture ; but it is a Hundred rich in remains and memories of the past. Its two chief towns, Dunmow and Thaxted, still bear in their streets marks of the quaint style of olden times. Many of its churches are beautiful specimens of the magnificence and architectural taste of former ages. The choir of the Priory Church at Little Dunmow, with its laughable legend, and the ruins of Tilty Abbey, tell of the ecclesiastical splendour which once adorned the district ; and as we ascend the green turf which covers the huge mound of rubbish at Pleshy and Canfield, we stand upon all that remains of the power of the Lord High Constables of England, and the splendour of the once mighty De Veres. Dunmow comprises the following twenty-five parishes : Burnston, ]3roxted, Groat Canfield, Little Canfield, Chickney, Great Dunmow, Little Dunmow, Good Easter, High Easter, Great Easton, Little Easton, Landsell, Mashbury, Pleshy, High Roothing, Aythorp, Berners, Leaden, Margaret, White, Morrell Hamlet, Shellow Bowels, Thaxted, Tilty, Willingale Doe, Willingale Spain. A DE8CEIPTI0N OP ESSEX. 49 Great Dunmow is pleasantly situated on an eminence close to the river Chelmer, one of the finest trout streams in England. A number of Roman coins have been found here, and some antiquaries suppose it to be the Roman station Cassaromagus, which others fix near Widford, not far from Chelmsford. On the road from hence to Colchester are the remains of a Roman Causeway. Dunmow consists principally of two streets. It has a Market-cross in the centre of the town, erected in 1578, and repaired in 1761. The Church is a large building of considerable antiquity. Some portions of this edifice (including the east window, which is a very fine one) are in the decorated English style, and others in the perpendicular. It has an embattled tower at the west end, and over its entrance are the arms of several noble families carved in stone. Dunmow has meeting-houses for Independents, Baptists, and Quakers. Baize and blankets were manufactured hero in great quantities ; but this branch of trade has been given up. The manufacture of sacking and a species of coarse cloth is, however, carried on. Little Dunmow stands two miles east of Dunmow, where a Priory of Augustine Canons was founded in 1104 by the Lady Juga, sister to Ralph Baynard, the then lord of the manor. This pious lady built a Church also, a large and stately fabric, the roofs sustained with rows of columns, whose capitals were ornamented with oak leaves elegantly carved, some of which still remain in the part now used as the parish church. This was the eastern end of the ancient choir, with the north aisle. Under an arch in the south wall is an old tomb, said to contain the body of the foundress. The Church contains some curious monuments ; one to the memory of Walter Fitzwalter, a powerful baron of the reign of Henry III., who died in 1198, and is said to have been a descendant of the Lady Juga. To this noble is ascribed the institution of the ceremony of giving a flitch of bacon to any married persons who would, in the presence of the prior, kneeling upon two sharp stones in the churchyard, take the following oath : " You shall swear by the custom of your confession, Tliat you never made any nuptial transgression Since you were married man and wife, Hy liouseliold brawls, or contentious strife ; Or otherwise in ])ed or at board-, OtFended each other in deed or word ; Or since the parisli clerk said amen, Wislied yourself unmarried again ; Or in a twelvemontli and a day Repented not in thought any way. But continued tme, and in ilcsire, As when you joined hands iu holy choir. 50 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGIAND. If to these conditions, without all fear, Of your oAvn accord you will freely swear, A whole gammon of bacon you shall receive, And bear it hence Avith love and good leave ; For this our custom at Dunmow well knoAvn, Though the pleasure be ours, the bacon's your own." The flitch, which is a side of bacon, wsis the express reward of this un- common nuptial agreement ; though the word gammon (a ham) is used in the oath, perhaps as more suitable to the rhyme. The first persons on record who claimed this reward were Richard Wright and his wife, of Bradbourn, in Norfolk, in the reign of Henry TV. The last time it was claimed was in 1751, when a large print was engraved of the ceremony which took place on the occasion the parties, after they had taken the oath, being carried in procession through the town on men^s shoulders, with the bacon borne before them. Of late years attempts have been made to revive the ancient custom, but these were only theatrical ex- hibitions. The old fun and spirit of the ceremony were entirely gone. ONGAR HUNDRED Extends from that of Dunmow on the north to Havering on the south, a distance of about fourteen miles ; but in breadth from Waltham on the west to the verge of the Hundreds of Chelmsford, ChafFord, and Barstable, which it skirts on the east, it narrows in parts to about seven miles. The Hundred is exceedingly pleasant, being finely undulated, and touching at several points upon the forest. Of the part towards Epping, it was written a hundred years ago " It may with propriety be called the garden of Essex, from the pleasing variety of the hills and vales, the fertility of the soil, the goodness of the roads, the neatness of the buildings, and the many additional ornaments it receives from the number of noblemen^s and gentlemen^s seats with which it abounds." In this and some of the neighbouring Hundreds, various estates were held by the tenure of "attending the wardstaff," a ciirious old ceremony intended, as far as we can judge from the allusion to it in records, to secure an annual muster and brief training of the men upon whom devolved certain duties at a time when the preservation of the peace and the protection of property were left very much in the people's own keeping. A description of this proceeding has been preserved in a manuscript account of the rents of the Hundred at the time they were granted to John Stoner of Loughton in the reign of Henry VIII. It is there described as having been observed " not only in the time of King Edward III. and Robert the Bruce, some time King of Scots, but also in the time of his noble progenitors, kings of England, long before which the A DESCKIPTION OP ESSEX. 51 Saxons inhabited this realm, as manifestly may appear more at large by ancient records thereof made by Humphrey de Bohun, the Earl of Here- ford and Essex, and Constable of England, lord of the said Hundred, dated at Fleshy the 10th of July, in the eleventh year of the reign of the same King Edward, as also by divers other records in the Saxon tongue." This Hundred contains the following twenty-six parishes : Ongar Chipping, Ongar High, Chigwell, Fyfield, Greenstead, Kelvedon Hatch, Lambourne, High Laver, Little Laver, Magdalen Laver, Loughton, Moreton, Navestock, Bobbingworth, North Weald, Norton Mandeville, Abbess Roothing, Beauch Roothing, Shelley, Stanford Rivers, Staple Abbots, Staple Tawney, Stondon Massey, Thordon Bois, Thoydon Gamon, Thoydon Mount. WALTHAM HALF HUNDRED Lies at the western corner of the county, where it is bounded by the River Lea, and joins on the other side the Hundreds of Harlow and Ongar. From north to south, it is about ten miles ; its breadth at the widest part is only six miles, which is narrowed in some places to two. Though small in extent, the Hundred was of considerable importance in old times as the seat of the great Abbey of Waltham, and the scene through which kings and courtiers, issuing from the neighbouring hunting place of Chigwell, were seen following the stag through the forest glades. In monkish times, the forest lands hereabout had the reputation of being a favourite promenade of visitors from the other world ; but the rule of the dark vale and the wood was shared by beings of more substantial shape the Waltham Blacks, as they were designated, from the blacking their faces, a sort of lawless community of Robin Hoods. The poet has thus described a night scene in the locality : " Doop in tlie forest's dreary tracks, Where ranged at large fierce Waltham Blacks, There passengei's with wild affright Slu'unk from the liorrors of tlie night ; Wliere o'er the marsli false meteors beam. And glowworms in the bushes gleam : There, through the woods, o'er meadows dank, The meny devils frisk and prank." The muse, too, has added an anecdote of the kind of ghost that walked the marsh, in the account of the escape of the Lady MilHsent from the neighbouring nunnery : " Behold a maid still fearless rove. Fair Milliseut, the child of love ; From Cheston's dome she wanders darkling, Arrayed in white, her eyebeams sparkling ; 52 ITTSTORY or EASTEP.N ENGLAND. Astound, the curate and mine host Exclaim that they have seen a ghost ! Yet Miuichensey does soon discover She's mortal to her favoured lover." Tha ghosts appear to have left the scene in disgust after the suppression of the religious houses. The Hundred comprises only four parishes Waltham Holy Cross^ Epping, Nazing^ Chingford. BECONTREE HUNDRED, From the smallness of its extent, has sometimes been called a Half Hundred, but is described as a Hundred in Domesday Book. For its size, it is the most thickly-populated Hundred in the whole county. The Hundred occupies the south-west corner of the county, between Havering Liberty, Ongar, and Waltham Hundreds, and the Lea, and is bounded on the south by the Thames. Its name is derived from an important beacon one of the telegraph posts of ancient times which stood upon a hill now occupied by a mill at Woodford ; and the district appears to have long been, as now, a favourite suburban retreat of the London merchants. The Hundred is the last in the county Londonward, and contains the following nine parishes : Barking, Dagenham, East Ham, West Ham, Leyton, Little Ilford, Wanstead, Walthamstow, Woodford. BAESTABLE HUNDRED Is of a straggling character, a narrow strip of it extending across the high road below Brentwood; and skirting Chelmsford Hundred, it runs 1 7 miles up to that of Eochford, at Rayleigh and Hadleigh. From this point it extends along the river up to Grays, and on the west it adjoins to Chafford. It is pleasantly undulated, and the south and south-eastern parts command a series of fine water-side views. It contains the following thirty-three parishes : Bemfleet South, Bemfleet North, Bowers Gifford, Bulphan, Burstead Great and Billericay, Little Burstead, Chadwell, Curringham, Doddinghurst, Downham, Dunton, Fobbing, Horndon East, Horndon West, Horndon-on-Hill, Hutton, Ingrave, Laindon Hills, Laindon, Basildon, Mucking, Nevendon, Orsett, Pitsea, Ramsden Grays, Rams, Bellhouse, Shenfield, Stanford-le-Hope, Thunders- ley, Thurrock Little, Tilbury East, Tilbury West, Vange, Wickford. At the furthest part of the Hundred, on the river side, is Little Thurrock, adjacent to Grays ; and below it are the Tilburys, East and West, originally forming one parish. At East Tilbury there was an ancient ferry across the Thames, leading to the famous Roman road on the opposite shore, known as Higham Causeway ; and this is believed to have been the spot where the Emperor Claudius, a.d. 45_, crossed the river A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 53 in pursuit of the Britons. West Tilbury lies just above it, and this locality was the site of one of the ancient cities of the land, named Tillabury, which, from its name, appears to have been a Roman station, and from hence the Imperial rulers made a road to Billericay. Bede, in the seventh century, mentions Tillabury as a place of importance, and as one of the first storehouses from whence the riches of the Christian religion were distributed over the land. A later historian says: " Certain it is that here was, in the seventh century, a considerable town, though now reduced to a poor village, for when Cedd, or St. Chad, came, and again converted the Saxons to Christianity, and was consecrated bishop of this diocese, he fixed one of his episcopal sees at Tillabury." This Cedd flourished about G5-J-, and we find little notice of Tillabury after that date. Probably it was destroyed by the incursions of the Danes in the succeeding ages. We do not find that any remains of its ancient strength or dignity have been brought to light. That the parish, however, long continued more populous than it is now may be inferred from the fact that a free Chapel, said to have been founded in the time of St. Thomas a Beckett, formerly stood a mile from the Church, on the very spot in which the battlements of Tilbury Fort have been raised since. This formidable fortress, which effectually guards the passage of the river, was originally erected by Henry VIII. as a block house. When the country was menaced by the Spanish Armada, great efforts were made to get the fort into order, so as to repel the expected attack of the enemy. Of this a full account is given, under the proper date, in our historical narrative. CHAFFOliU HUNDRED Is n long narrow sti-ip of land, strangeh- intersected and intermixed, as if marked out at random on the map, extending thirteen miles from Brent- wood, in a southerly direction to the Thames at Grays. On the northern point at South Weald, it is little more than two miles wide ; and at its broadest part, from west to east, it is about seven. The parish of Shenfield, belonging to Barstable, is thrust in between it and Chelmsford Hundred ; and its boundary ends away to a sharp narrow point by the side of Havering, where it touches upon Ongar district. The name of the Hundred, like the parish of Chadwell, is believed to have been derived from Jiishop Cidd or, as the vulgar pro- nounce the name, Chad the planter of Christianity in the district in the early Saxon period. He was the second Bishop of London, being appointed in 658, and he is stated by Bede to have been very active in this district. So highly was the bishop venerated foi- the doctrine and 54 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAKt). civilization lie sowed, that his name was placed in the list of Saxon saints. It might, therefore, naturally be used to give distinction to the district ; and with the addition of the ford through the Ingrebrun on the river to Purfleet, in time gave name to the Hundred. Most of the land is good, with rich marsh pasture towards the river. Indeed, there is arable land in West Thurrock, which produces continuous heavy crops without manure ; and nearly the whole tract on the level stretching from Purfleet to Tilbury is of the same character. The northern part is thickly studded with mansions and parks, abounding as it does with scenes of rich rural beauty, and combining easy access to the Metropolis, with all the enjoy- ments of country life. There is not a trace left of monastic ruins, nor a remnant of baronial prison-walls, which remind us of the system and Bufferings of departed days. The Hundred comprises the following fifteen parishes : Aveley, Childer- ditch, Cranham, Ockendon North, Ockendon South, Rainham, South Weald, Brentwood, Stifford, Thurrock (Grays), Thurrock West, Upminster, Warley (Great), Warley (Little), Wennington. LIBERTY OF HAVERING-ATTE-BOWER. This ancient Liberty, which is ruled by a high steward, deputy steward, clerk of the peace, and a coroner, and has the singular privilege of appointing its own magistrates by popular suffrage, is situate about twelve miles from London. It is bounded by Becontree, Ongar, and Chafford Hundreds, but extends to the Thames on the south, where it is less than a mile in width. It is about four and a-half miles from east to west, and extends about nine miles inland to the northward. Romford, with its Town Hall, in which the quarter sessions and other courts are held, is now virtually the capital, as it has been for ages past, though Hornchurch was the mother parish, this being originally an offshoot or chapelry. It has been generally thought that in early times the high road passed through Hornchurch, and so on by Upminster, Warley, and Hutton, to Ingatestone ; but we are disposed to believe that the Romans carried their road from London to Colchester very nearly along the present track, and that close to this spot they fixed their station of Durolitum, mentioned by the Itinerary. The tradition of the neighbourhood states this to have been at Old Church, situate half-a-mile from Romford, on the green lane or Roman road running from Great Hford to Hornchurch ; and this tradition is in some degree confirmed by an old map of Romford of the date 1696, on which about forty acres of land are variously described as " Ruin Meadow,^^ " Great Ruings,'^ " Lower Ruings,^' and " Three Little Ruings,^' all being near the Church. The whole of this peculiar district was in the earliest A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 55 ages one manor under the king, and formed a part of Becontree Hundred ; but as the palace at Havering gradually grew into greater importance, and became more frequently a place of royal resort, it was erected into a liberty, with courts of its own to administer justice in ecclesiastical, civil, and criminal matters, even to the inflicting of the punishment of death the object being to give greater security to the court, and dignity to the officers who dwelt around it. This, however, being royal demesne, and often the home of the Sovereign, there is reason to believe that privileges were enjoyed and local powers were exercised not usual in a simple manor, and which the charters afterwards granted did little more than consolidate and confirm. The Liberty comprises the three following parishes : Eomford, Havering, Hornchurch. THE TOWNS IN ESSEX. These are generally of small size, situated near rivers or roads, or the railways from London to Harwich eastward, or from London to Cambndge northward. Along the Colchester line of railway there are stations at Stratford, Ilford, for Barking, Brentwood, Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, Kelvedon, Marks Tey, for Sudbury, Colchester, Ardleigh, Manningtree, and Harwich, all in the direction from west to east. We now proceed to describe the towns in the above order, briefly noticing their antiquities. STEATPOED Stands at the junction of the roads leading through the middle of Essex eastward, and into Cambridgeshire noi'tliward. It is one of the wards of West Ham parish in Essex, only three miles distant from London, and has become a very important place, crowded with factories, chemical works, and other trading establishments ; but foremost amongst these are the extensive works of the Railway Company for the repair of their engines, trucks, &c. These railway works cover an area of twenty acres of land, the engine rooms alone occupying an acre. The continual departure and arrival of trains causes a great bustle at the railway station both day and night. West Ham is the most thickly populated parish in Essex, doubling the whole population of some of the smaller Hundreds in the county. Its hamlets have grown into towns, and it has become a busy suburb of the gi'eat Metropolis, which pours its redundant population into this part of the county. Stratford Abbey stood in marshes near a branch of the River Lea, and 56 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. was founded about the year 1134 by William de Montfitchet for brethren of the Cistertian Order, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary and All Saints. It was endowed with the Manor of West Ham. The village of Stratford, or Stratford Langthorn, may be regarded as a prolongation of the suburbs of the Metropolis, being joined to it by an almost continuous line of buildings, constituting the village of Bow, or Stratford-le-Bow, in Middlesex. A bridge was built over the River Lea at Bow, by Matilda, wife of Henry I. ; it was repaired by Queen Eleanor, but was taken down thirty-six years ago, and a neat one of granite erected in its place. The old bridge was so high in its centre that it resembled a bent bow. Hence the name of the village, Stratford-le-Bow. BARKING PARISH Lies below East Ham upon a short sheltered creek of the Thames formed by a debouchement of the River Roden. It has become a town, recently much improved, with good houses and shops, and a population of 5000, independent of its outlying wards, which form goodly villages of themselves. The land around is chiefly devoted to the production of vegetables for the London markets. Fishing is the chief business of the inhabitants, about 200 smacks of from 40 to 60 tons each, carrying ten men and boys, being engaged in this healthy employment in the North Sea. The parish was formerly divided into four wards, namely, Barking Town, Ilford, Ripple, and Chadwell, now divided into two parishes. Barking and Ilford. Barking has figured conspicuously in our ancient annals, chiefly in consequence of the noble Abbey that once graced it, and said to have been the first convent for women in England. The Abbey was founded about a.d. 670, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the reigns of Sebbi and Segber, Kings of the East Saxons, by Erkenbald, Bishop of London, in compliance with the earnest desire of his sister Ethelburgh, who was appointed the first Abbess. ILFORD Is a ward and chapelry in the parish of Barking, seven miles by road distant from London. It contains few places of note, being chiefly occupied by farmers and market gardeners. There is, however, in the village, a paper mill, a house of correction, a chapel, and some alms houses. Great Ilford is a town equalling the mother parish in population, and has a handsome Church, built in 1831 at a cost of 3500. This district includes Chadwell Ward ; Barking Side, where a new Church was erected in 1 8 10 at a cost of 3,000 ; and Alborough Hatch, where there A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 5/ is a Chapel-of-Ease. Witliiii its circuit tliere are many handsome residences. ROMPOED (ST. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR), A market town and parish, and the head of a union, in the Liberty of Havering-attc-Bower, south division of the County of Essex, seventeen miles south-west from Chelmsford, and twelve east-north-east from London. It is situated on the road from London to Norwich, and consists chiefly of one long wide street, which is well paved and lighted with gas. The houses are tolerably good, and the inhabitants are well supplied with water. A brewery for ale and porter has been established for nearly a century. The Eastern Counties Eailway crosses the road near the town. Li ] 836, an Act was passed for making a railway from Romford to Shollhaven, and for constructing a tide-dock at its termination. The work is commonly called the Thames Haven Railway. The market, held on Wednesday, was granted in 1247, and is the general market for all kinds of agricultural produce, cattle, &c. ; there is also one on Tuesday for calves ; and one for hogs Avas formerly held on Monday, but is now discontinued. A fair takes place on Midsummer-day for horses and cattle, and a statute fair for hiring servants on the market-days next before and after September 29th. The parish, which with the parishes of Homchurch and Havering constitutes " The Liberty of Havering-atto-Bower," was formerly considered one of the wards of Hornchurch ; but by an Act of ]^irliaraent passed for the regulation of the poor in 1786, it is recognised as a separate parish, although as regards ecclesiastical affairs it is still partly dependent on Hornchurch, The earliest charter was granted by lOdward the Confessor, which has received several confirmations and additions, and the government is vested in a high steward, deputy steward, and justice, who are a corporation exercising magisterial authority, and have a patent authorising them to hear and determine, every thi'ce weeks, all actions for debts, trespasses, ejectments, and replevins, in a court of ancient demesne. The tenants of the liberty claim exemption from toll everywhere throughout the realm, both for goods and cattle. sold, and provisions purchased ; from payment towards the county expenses ; and alst) a personal exemption from being empanelled on juries and inquests, save within their own liberty ; with various other privileges. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Warden and Fellows of New College, Oxford, to whom all the tithes were given by ^V^illiam of Wykeham. The Church was erected in 1407, and consists of a nave, north aisle, and chancel, with a tower at the west end ; in the east window is the figure of the patron saint, in fine old painted glass, and there are several ancient monumental tablets and effigies, of which the 5$ HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. most remarkable are, one to Sir Anthony Coke, Ambassador to Elizabeth, who died in 1576, and was interred here; and two others to the memory of George Hervey, Knight, and his daughter. The edifice was i*e-pewed in 1841, and 680 additional sittings obtained, of which 534 are free, in consideration of a grant of 500 from the Incorporated Society. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. A free school for children of both sexes was erected in 1728, and has been endowed with various benefactions amounting to more than 1,300 ; it is further supported by subscription, and is on the national plan. An almshouse was founded by Roger Reed in 1483 for the support of five men and their wives, and re-built in 1784; the value of the endowment is 422 10s. per annum. The new Union Workhouse was erected at a cost of 10,000, and the Union comprises ten parishes or places. Here were anciently a guild and a chantry, the revenue of the former of which was valued at the dissolution at 4 10s. 2d., and of the latter at 13; also an hospital, a coll to that of Mount St. Bernard, in the Savoy, London, founded at an early period, and dedicated to St. Nicholas and St. Bernard. There is a mineral spring in the Park of Gidea Hall of some repute among the poor. Francis Quarles, the poet, and author of " The Divine Emblems," who was cupbearer to the Queen of Bohemia, and afterwards secretary to Archbishop Usher, was a native of the place. Many ancient mansions formerly stood in the neighbourhood, but most of them were demolished and replaced by modern seats of the gentry. These all lack the savour of historical interest. BRENTWOOD, Though only a hamlet of South Weald, is yet the principal town in the Hundred, and may be regarded as the head of it. It is situated at the extreme northern corner, about eighteen miles from London, on picturesque high ground, and is surrounded by park lands, woods, and commons, and pleasant alternations of hill and dale, with scenery as fine as can be found anywhere in the county. The place was of some note in very early ages. South Weald is stated to have been one of the first inhabited spots in the Forest of Essex, and as it lay upon the old Roman way, it was probably a halting station for the Imperial legions on their march ; possibly, at times, a point of more permanent occupation. A few earthen vessels and other relics of that people have been dug up in the neighbourhood. In later times, when the county had become Chris- tianized, Brentwood was the halting-place of pilgrims to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket, whence a gate across the road to Ongar obtained the name of Pilgrim's Hatch, which appellation the hamlet still retains. The A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 59 manor of Brentwood, or Costhall, was given by William de Woekendon to the Abbey of St. Osyth, and to catch the offerings of the religious travel- lers who took this direction to cross the river into Kent, and partly to accommodate their own tenants, the monks in 1221 built the little chapel which, embrowned with the storms of 600 years, still stands in the main street. It was dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket, and a priest was to officiate there daily. After the cessation of pilgrimages and prayers for the dead, the place continued to be used as a place of public worship by the inhabitants of Brentwood; but in 1835 they had completely outgrown it, and a neat new Church was erected on the south side of the town, at a cost of 3,500, which was raised by subscription ; and the living is now a perpetual curacy in the patronage of C. T. Tower, Esq. Brentwood is generally thought to have been once the assize town ; and the assize house, which still exists on the south side of the street, is pointed to as a proof of its claim to this dignity. A trustworthy historian of the last century thus adopts and confinns the tradition : " The assizes have been sometimes kept in thjs town, but the unreason- able expense of obtaining that favour, the want of proper and sufficient accommodation, and the distance of the place from the northern and largest parts of the shire, have generally caused them to be fixed, as well as the sessions, at Chelmsford.^' Even in the last century, Brentwood had its public races in rivalry of those at Chelmsford, a course being formed on Warlcy Common ; and we find from a detail of the sports in September, 1 705, that they were kept up for two days, and plates of 50 were run for. These have long been discontinued, and the memory of them has almost departed. The town, however, has not decayed. It is one of the few places which have drawn life and vigour from the railway. The Crown Inn, which was a hostelry for 400 years, and was for two centuries in the occupation of the family of Salmon, is now the County Bank; but another very ancient inn, the White Hart, which for some ages has kept its hospitable door open for the traveller, still flourishes, '^i^hc old houses have been much improved ; new villas have sprung up around, almshouses, industrial schools, and asylums of city companies have been built in the vicinity ; and the to-svn bears about it the appearance of prosperity, and the signs of further extension. The Grammar School which stands at the entrance of the town, on the road leading to Ingrave, was founded by Sir Anthony Bro^vne, who ob- tained the property of the Abbey here after the suppression, he having procured a royal license for the purpose in 1557. The master was to be a priest, nominated by him and his heirs. Two guardians of lands and possessions, inhabitants of South Weald, were to be put in and out at the discretion of the patron ; and the body was to be a perpetual corporation, 60 HIStOEY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. with a common seal. It was endowed with the tithes of Dagenham and Chigwell Grange. By a decree in Chancery in 1570^ the Bishop of Lon- don and the Dean of St, PauFs were made visitors ; and in 1622 the institutions of the school, which had been drawn up in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, were published by authority. It was to be open to all boys of the parish, or any other parish within three miles of the school-house, and they were to be taught " Grammar learning gratis.'^ The value of the tithes of Dagenham in the last century was stated to be 400 a-year, and Chigwell Grange was set down at 80 ; but by the increase in the value of property, the first now yields more than lOOO, and the other 330. When the Charity Commissioners made their inquiry they found the benefits of the school fell far short of the requirements of the district and the capabilities of the endowment. At their instance an attempt was made to shake off the cobwebs which had been woven around the insti- tution and crippled its usefulness. A long course of litigation followed, spreading over more than twenty years ; decrees, appeals, and fresh suits protracted the case, till at last in 1848 it was found necessary to resort to an Act of Parliament to give effect to a new scheme of the Court of Chancery to vary and extend the trusts, enlarge the charitable uses, and regulate the property of the institution. By this, new life has been given to the whole. C. T. Tower, Esq., as lord of the manor and owner of the property, which belonged to Sir Anthony, continues the patron, but the affairs of the trust are administered by wardens, selected from gentlemen of the district. The Church is a fine ancient building, its stone tower rising above the trees on the hill top a sacred landmark to the country around. Entering the yard by a licli or corpse gate of the fifteenth century, we approach the Church, which is well calculated to arrest the attention of the anti- quarian. The tower was built in the reign of Henry VII., but the other parts of the edifice are of more ancient date. The early English pillars, which divide the chancel and nave, north chapel and aisle, rest on Norman foundations. The building contains several elegant monuments, one to Hugh Smith, Esq., a former lord of the manor; another to the Neave family ; and in the centre of the chancel stands the tomb of Sir Anthony Browne, of delicate workmanship, the top covered with a black marble slab, but the figures are much mutilated, and most of the brasses, which contained shields and a legend, are gone. At the feet of the figures is the following inscription in Latin : Sir Anthony Browne, Knight, Justice of tlie Queen's Bench. He died May 16th, 1567, aged 57. And Johanna liis wife. A DHSCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 61 The County Lunatic Asylum. To the south of Brentwood, on the brow of a hill, finely adapted for the purpose, stands the County Lunatic Asylum. A building as noble in its object as in its architecture. The first stone of the building was laid by C. G. Round, Esq., on the 2nd of October, 1851, and it was opened for the reception of patients on the 23rd of September, 1853. The style of the building is mediaeval of the Tudor period. The total cost of the asylum was 89,557. It is capable of containing between four and five hundred patients The staff consists of a doctor, medical superintendent, a chaplain, a medical assistant and dispenser, a steward and clerk, with twenty-seven male and twenty-six female attendants and servants. INGATESTONE Is an ancient place, but it has fallen on evil days. The Market-place is partly enclosed ; the cattle market has entirely disappeared, and a formerly flourishing town is now a small village. The parish Church is in the perpendicular style of the fifteenth century, and it contains many monu- ments to the Petre family, who once resided in the neighbourhood. Near the railway station are the park and plantations of the Hyde, the seat of Edgar Disney, Esq. The mansion, which is quadrangular, of red and black brick, was built in its modern style by Timothy Brand, Esq., in 1713, and it contained many curious remains of past times. CHELMSFORD (ST. MARY), A market town and parish, and the head of a union in the hundred of Chelmsford, south division of the county of Essex, of which it is the chief town, twenty-nine miles (north-east by east) from London on the road to Yarmouth, containing, with Moulsham, 6789 inhabitants. In the reign of Edward the Confessor, and at the time of the Norman survey, it was in the possession of the Bishops of London ; and two buildings, still called Bishop's Hall and Bishop's Mill, seem to indicate its having been either permanently or occasionally their residence. In other respects it was an inconsiderable place till the reign of Henry L, when Maurice, Bishop of London, built a stone bridge of three arches over the river Cam ; and diverting the road, which previously passed through Writtle, made Chelmsford the great thoroughfare to the eastern parts of the county, and to Sufiblk and Norfolk. From this period the town increased in im- portance ; and its trade so much improved, that in the reign of Edward III. it sent four representatives to a grand council at Westminster. A Convent for Black or Dominican Friars was established at an early period, the foundation of which has been erroneously atttributed to Malcolm, King of Scotland ; its revenue at the dissolution was 9 6s. 5d. In 62 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. this convent, of whicl) only the site is visible, Thomas Landford, a friar compiled a universal chronicle, from the creation to his own time. During the war with France, two extensive ranges of barracks for 4000 men were erected near the town, both of which have been taken down ; and at a short distance from it, a line of embankments, defended by star batteries, of which some traces are still remaining, was raised to protect the ap- proaches to the metropolis from the eastern coast. The town, which is surrounded by interesting scenery, is well paved and lighted with gas; the houses are in general modern and well built, and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water. Considerable improvements have been made of late years in the appear- ance of the town and neighbourhood ; a handsome iron bridge has been erected over the Chelmer; and more recently a road has been formed, commencing at the twenty-eighth milestone on the London road, and after crossing the River Cam, by an elegant iron bridge (about 100 yards from the stone bridge erected in 1787, and connecting Chelmsford with the hamlet of Moulsham), enters the town about the centre of the High Street. An elegant building, called the Institute, has been built for the delivery of lectures, for concerts and public meetings ; and near the Eastern Counties Railway, which passes a little to the west of the town, numerous villas have been erected. Races, which continued for two days, were held in August, on Galleywood Common, about two miles from the town, where there is an excellent two-mile course. The trade consists principally of corn, which is sent to London, and in the traffic arising from the situation of the town as a great public thoroughfare ; there are several large corn mills on the banks of the Chelmer. A navigable canal to the River Black- water, twelve miles distant, was constructed in 1796. The market is held on Friday, for corn, cattle, and provisions ; fairs are held on May the 12th and November the 12th. The town is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold petty sessions for the division every Tuesday and Friday ; and constables and other officers are appointed at the court leet of the lord of the manor, who also holds a court baron occasionally. The assizes and sessions for the county, and the election of Knights for the Southern Division of the Shire, are held here. The Shirehall is an elegant and commodious structure, fronted with Portland stone, and having a rustic basement, from which rise four handsome pillars of the Ionic order, supporting a triangular pediment : the upper part of the front is ornamented with appropriate figures, in basso-relievo, of wisdom, justice, and mercy: in the lower part is an area for the Corn Market. The old County Gaol, completed in 1777 at an expense of upwards of 18,000, s a spacious and handsome stone building, in the hamlet of Moulsham ; it is appropriated exclusively to the reception of persons confined for debt, A DESCRIPTIOK OP ESSEX. C3 and to prisoners committed for trial. Adjoining the gaol and incorporated with it, is the House of Correction, used for convicted female prisoner. It was built in 1806 at an expense of 7500. The new Convict Gaol at Springfield Hill, on the road to Colchester, is a very extensive and well- arranged building of brick ornamented with stone, begun in October, 1822, and completed in 1825, at an expense of 55,739 17s. Ofd., and capable of containing 254 prisoners, of whom 218 may be confined in separate cells. A building has lately been erected for the reception of vagrants. The parish comprises 2348 acres, of which the soil is generally a deep rich loam, occasionally intermixed with gravel, and producing fair average crops. The living is a rectory, valued in the King's books at 31 2s. Cd.; it is in the patronage of Lady John Mildmay. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 500, and the glebe contains 15| acres, valued at 25 per annum, to which there is a glebe house. The body of the Church has been re-built, at the cost of 15,000, the former having fallen down in 1800 from the unskilfulness of some workmen, who in digging a vault undermined two of the principal pillars. It is a stately structure of the later English style, with a square embattled tower, crowned with pinnacles, and surmounted with a lofty spire. A Chapel-of- Ease, in a modem style of architecture, has been erected in the hamlet of Moulsham, on a site given by Lady Mildmay, and was consecrated in 1839. There are places of worship for Independents, Baptists, Irvingites, the Society of Friends, and Wesleyans ; there is also a Roman Catholic Chapel at Newhall. The Free Grammar School was founded and endowed in 1551 by Edward VI. ; the income is about 488. In common with those of Maldon and Brentwood, it has an exhibition of 6 per annum to Caius College, Cambridge. The school-house was re-built by R. Benyon, Esq., in 1782, on the site of a more ancient one erected by Sir John Tyrrell, Bart. Philemon Holland, translator of Camden's Britannia, and a native of Chelmsford ; John Dee, the celebrated mathematician ; Sir Walter Mildmay, Bart., founder of Emmanuel College, Cambridge ; and Dr. Plume, Archbishop of Rochester, received the rudiments of their education in the establishment. A school for the maintenance and instruc- tion of boys, founded in 1713, and a school for girls, founded in 1714, are supported by endowment and subscription. A school on the national plan for boys, girls, and infants was erected by subscription in 1841, and there is a Lancastrian school. Six alms-houses in the hamlet of Mouls- ham, founded by Sir Thomas and Lady Mildmay in 15G5, were re-built by \yilliam Mildmay, Esq., in 1758; four in Baddow-Iane, erected by the sale of a barn given by William Davis in 1520 for the use of the poor, have also been re-built, and two tenements added at the expense of the 64 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. parish. Chelmsford Poor Law Union comprises thirty-one parishes or places, and contains a population of 30,603. The inhabitants of an island in the river have from time immemorial practised the form of electing a representative in Parliament, which takes place either on a dissolution of Parliament or the vacation of a member for the county. WITHAM, The capital of the Hundred, owes its origin as a town to the precautions taken to guard against the incursions which the Danes were accustomed to make from the creeks and marshes of Dengre. The ancient Britons, it is clear, encamped in the pleasant spots of the forest hereabouts. Cinerary urns of that people, 2000 years old, have been dug up recently in the fields. The old Saxon chronicle states that in 913, "in the summer, betwixt gong day (Ascension) and Midsummer, King Edward came with some of his forces into Essex to Meldunes, and abode there while men worked and built a town at Witham. And a good deal of the folks submitted to him that were before under the dominion of the Danes." This, however, has little to do with the modern town of Witham, which in the course of time grew up near the highway. In 1380 it had attained so much importance that the Prior of St. John, as lord of the manor, obtained a license to hold a market. From this time the hamlet gradually drew off the trade of the little town. Hostelries arose to accommodate the passing traffic ; houses were erected in the quaint style of the age with their gables to the street, and the old town at Chipping Hill was deserted. A great change appears to have come over the character of the houses in the last century (1737) by the discovery of a mineral spring, which was represented by Dr. Taverner to be of surpassing power in the cure of a variety of diseases ; and speculators built a pump-room, and reared lodging-houses for the crowds of patients who were expected to come for relief, but the whole scheme failed. Witham is now a clean and handsome country town, with some pleasant walks and picturesque scenes around it, including a stately avenue of limes leading from the town to Chipping Hill. There is a branch line from this place to Braintree. BRAINTREE (ST. MICHAEL), A market town and parish, and the head of a union in the Hundred of Hinckford, North Division of the county of Essex, eleven miles (north by east) from Chelmsford, and forty (north-east) from London. This place is described in Domesday Book under the head of " Raines," including also the village of " Raine," to which it was at that time a hamlet, and from which it was separated in the reign of Henry II, A DESCRIPTION OP ESSEX. 65 In consequence of its situation, on the road leading from London into the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk, it is supposed to have derived considerable benefit from the numerous pilgrims who passed through it on their way to the shrines of St. Edmund at Bury, and Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk, and the population having consequently increased, it was made a market town early in the reign of King John. In the early part of the reign of Elizabeth, the Flemings, fleeing from the persecution of the Duke of Alva, settled at Braintree, and introduced the manufacture of woollen cloth ; but it appears that that manufacture had existed long before, and was extensive as early as 1389, it being noticed in an Act of Parliament intituled " The clothes of certain counties packed and folded shall not be put to sale before they be opened." The town is pleasantly situated on an eminence, and consists of several streets irregularly formed and inconveniently narrow; the houses in the central part of the present town, now the only remaining portion of the old town, are in general ancient, and many of them are built of wood ; but in the principal street, which is the grand thoroughfare, are many well-built modern houses. The woollen trade has given place to the manufacture of silk, which has been introduced into this neighbourhood within the last 50 years, and in its various branches now affords general employment to a rapidly- increasing population. In 1810, Messrs. Wilson and Courtciuld erected on the little river Pant the first silk-throwing mill, in which from 300 to 400 persons, chiefly young women and children, are employed. Silk weaving in its general branches was subsequently introduced into this and the neighbouring towns. The manufacture of silk crape has more recently been established; in this branch about 1,400 workpeople are employed by the Messrs. Courtauld in the towns of Bi-aintree, Becking, and, Halstcad, in machine making, spinning, weaving, dyeing, and crape finishing. l^he total number of persons employed in the silk trade in these three towns, in 18-'J8, was about 2,210, of which about G60 were crape weavers in hand and power looms, 450 silk weavers in other branches, and 1,110 factory hands. Straw platting has also been lately introduced, and affords employment to a cousick'rable number of females. The market, which is equal to any in the county, is on Wednesday. ITic fairs tiike place on the 7th of May and October 2nd, each lasting for three days ; the latter is a great mart for cattle and hops. The Government was formerly vested in twenty-four of the principal parishioners, anciently called " headboroughs," but in 1584 styled ''governors of the town, and town magistrates ;" this body has, however, long been dissolved. The Q6 HISTORY OF EASTEllN ENGLAND. county magistrates now hold a petty session here for the division on alternate "Wednesdays. Braintree is the place for nominating and returning two knights for the Northern Division of the Shire. The parish comprises 2,249a. Ir. 19p. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the King's books at 12 3s. 4d. ; present net income 212. It is in the patronage of Lady Stewart; impropriator. Earl of Winchelsea. The present Church of Braintree, as appears by the will of John de Naylinghurst, an inhabitant, in which he gave two bullocks towards the work, was built about 1349, in the reign of Edward III. ; the ancient edifice having fallen into decay, and being inconvenient for the new town which was growing up, large additions have since been made to it, as appears by the variations of style ; and we find that in the reign of Henry VIII. plays were acted in the sacred edifice, as was common in those days, in order to swell the fund for the erection of the south aisle. The Church is altogether an interesting specimen of the architecture of other days, but it is more interesting from its name having become in our times famous throughout the county, and a text word in the law books of the land. For more than twenty years, from 1836, when the first vestry meeting on the subject was held within its walls, down to 1853, when final judgment was given in the House of Lords, Churchmen and Dissenters were fighting the battle of Church-rates over its half-prostrate pillars, its mouldering aisles, and dilapidated roof ; and when at length the struggle ended, and it was broadly decided that a rate for its repair could not be levied without the consent of the majority in vestry, the sacred pile was left in a state of ruin. Thus it lay for a time, to the great discomfort of the worshippers ; but within the last few years, by means of a subscription raised by the vicar and a committee, the nave has been new roofed, the north aisle renovated," the tower and spire repaired and restored, at a cost of 1,670. The trustees of the Felstead charities, who receive the great tithes, have, too, voted 240 for an arched roof and a new east window for the chancel ; so that the parochial temple begins to stand forth in renewed strength and its ancient beauty ; but to complete the work on the north and south side, and in tliG north and south chancel aisles, and to re-construct and fit up the interior, requires a further sum of 2,500. Most of the monuments in the Church are of comparatively modern date. Against the chancel above the altar-tomb, enclosed in a grating, is the- following inscription on a brass plate : " This grate was ordered to be set up by the last will and testament of Samuel Collins, late Dr. of physick, eldest son to Mr. Samuel Collins, hereunder buried, who served about nine years as principal physician to A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. ' 67 the great Czar, Emperor of Russia, and after his return from thence taking a journey into France, died at Paris, October 26th, 1670, being the 51st year of his age." There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Methodists. An ancient Grammar School, in which the eminent naturalist, John Ray, received his education, is supported partly by an endowment of land, now let for 18 a year, bequeathed by J. Coker, Esq., partly by an annuity of 45 left by the Rev. James Burgess, and partly by voluntary contributions. In the reign of Charles I., Henry Smith, alderman of London, who, from the habit of going about like a beggar accompanied by his dog, obtained the name of ^' Dog Smith," bequeathed 2,800 to the poor of this, and thirteen other parishes. There are many other charities in the town, yielding altogether nearly 200 per annum. The poor law union of Braintree comprises fourteen parishes or places, under the care of twenty -two guardians. The Workhouse, erected at a cost of 6342, will contain 300 inmates. About half a mile distant some years ago might be seen the ruins of a very ancient Church, founded before the conquest, and formerly the parish church. The site of a Roman camp (now called the Cherry Orchard) is pointed out, and many sepulchral coins, fragments of Roman pottery, and Roman coins, have been found, besides three British gold coins, supposed to be those of Boadicea; one gentleman in the course of a few years has col- lected coins of twenty-three Emperors and one Empress, from Agrippa, A.D. 37 to Honorius, A.D. 395 ; and there are several other collections. This was the scene of the martyrdom of Richard Piggott, in the reign of Mary. Samuel Dale, M.D., editor of the " History and Antiquities of Harwich," resided here, and assisted Mr. Ray in collecting rare plants in Essex ; he was also the author of a " Pharmacologia," which passed through three editions in his lifetime, and has since been several times re-printod. The Rev. Mr. Challis, Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge, is a native of this place. COGGESHALL, GREAT (ST. PETER). A market town and parish in the union of William, Witham Division of the Hundred of Lexden, north division of the county of Essex, three miles (north) from Kelvedon, and forty -four (north-east) from London. This place is within the Duchy of Lancaster; it is supposed by some antiquaries to have been the Roman station Ad Ansam, and by others the Canonium of Antoninus, wnth the distance of which latter from Csesaro- mngus its situation precisely corresponds. Numerous vestiges of Roman antiquity have been discovered. The present town appears to have risen 08 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGT.AND. from tlio establishment of an abbey in 1142 by King Stephen and his Queen Matilda, for monks of the Cistercian order, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, to the abbot and monks of which King John granted several privileges, among which was probably the power of life and death, as is inferred from . the ancient name of one of the streets, which is still by some called Gallows Street. Henry III. granted them free warren, a weekly market, and an annual fair for eight days. The revenue of the abbey at the dissolution was 298 8s. ; the remains, which exhibit speci- mens of early English architecture, are now occupied as a farm-house ; the exterior has some lancet-shaped windows in good preservation, and in the interior are some good windows and vaulted and groined roofs. Near the abbey is an ancient bridge of three arches, built by King Stephen, over a canal cut for conveying water from the river to the monastery. The town is situated near the River Blackwater, from which it rises gradually to a considerable elevation, and consists of several narrow streets ; it was lighted with gas in 1837, and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water from springs in the neighborhood. The manufacture of baize and serge, formerly extensive, is now extinct ; the principal branch of trade is silk weaving, which has been established about twenty-five years. In 1838, Mr. John Hall erected a silk-throwing mill capable of employing 500 persons. Messrs. Westmacott and Co. have 100 looms at work, weaving broad silks and velvets ; and in 1826 Mr. Bankes commenced the tambour work on lace net. An extensive iron foundry and steam flour mill have been erected by Charles Newman, Esq. This place is noted for its vegetables and garden seeds, which are abundant. The market is on Thursday ; the spacious market place contained an ancient cross, which was taken down in 1787. A fair for cattle and pedlery is held on Whit Tuesday. Coggeshall anciently comprised the parishes of Great and Little Coggeshall, now consolidated ; in the latter, now only a hamlet, were two churches, built by the monks one for their own use, which has been demolished ; and the other for a parochial church, of which the remains have been converted into a barn. The parish comprises by computation about 2,300 acres, 300 of which are woodland; the soil is various, in some parts a strong loam resting on a clay bottom, in others a stiff wet loam on a whitish marl, and in the neighbourhood of the town a rich deep loam of great fertility. The living is a vicarage, valued in the King^s books at 11 3s. 4d. ; net income, 215; patron, Peter Du Cane, Esq., lord of the manor; impropriators, Charles Ekingley, Esq., and Mrs. Cuswell. The Church is a spacious, handsome structure, in the later English style, with a large, square tower ; the aisles are embattled, and strengthened with empanelled buttresses ; the interior contains several ancient monuments. A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 69 There are places of worsliip for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Inde- pendents, and Wesleyans. A school, under the direction of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, was founded in 1636 by Sir Robert Hitchman, Knt., who bequeathed land producing 300 per annum. There is a National School for boys, and a Lancastrian School is supported by subscription. There are six unendowed almshouses ; and among the charitable bequests for the use of the poor is one now amounting to 58 per annum, given by Thomas Paycocke, Esq., in 1580; and one of 20 per annum, the gift of Sir Mark Guyon, Knt., which, with 15 per annum payable out of the rectory of East Tilbury, is distributed in bread every Sunday. COLCHESTER, A borough market town, having separate jurisdiction, and the head of a union, locally in the Colchester division of the Hundred of Lexden, north division of the county of Essex, twenty-two miles (north-east by east) from Chelmsford and fifty-one (north-east by east) fi*om London. It was called by the Britons Caer Colun, and appears to have been a town of considerable importance prior to the invasion of the Romans, who, accord- ing to Tacitus and other historians, having under the conduct of Claudius subdued the Trinobantes and taken possession of this town, garrisoned it with the 2nd, 9tli, and 14th Legions, styled by him the conquerors of Britain. The Roman name of the place is said to have been derived from an altar dedicated to Mars, under the name of Camulus, by which also that divinity is designated on some coins still extant of Cunobeline, king of the Trinobantes, who, prior to the conquest by the Romans, had his residence here. Claudius, having reduced the adjacent country to a Roman province, appointed Plautius his propraetor, and returned in triumph to Rome. After his departure, Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, taking advan- tage of the absence of part of the Roman legions, attacked Camulodunum, which after a feeble resistance she entirely demolished. According to l*liny, and the evidence of Roman coins and other ancient inscriptions, it appears to have been soon re-built with increased splendour, and to have been adorned with public edifices a temple to Claudius, a triumphal arch, and a statue to the Goddess of Victory. Constantino the Great is tra- ditionally said to have been born in the city, which continued to flourish as a principal station of the Romans till their final departure from Britain. The Saxons, by whom it was afterwards occupied, gave it the name of Colne-ceaster, and it retained its consequence as a place of strength for a considerable time, but began to decline in proportion as London rose in importance. On the irruption of the Danes, it became a principal residence of that people, who by treaty with Alfred were established in the city and county adjacent ; but re-commenciug their 70 HISTORY OV EASTERN ENGLAND. barbarous system of plunder and devastation, Edward the Elder in 921 took tlie town by assault, and putting tliem all to the sword, re-peopled it with West Saxons. According to the Saxon chronicles, he repaired the walls in 922, at which time he is stated to have erected the Castle, now falling into decay, but the remains of that edifice are evidently of Norman character. Colchester was a considerable town at the time of the Norman survey, but suffered greatly in the wars of the succeeding reigns. During *;he turbulent reign of John, Saher de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, having assembled an army of foreigners, laid siege to the place in 1215 ; but on the approach of the barons, who were advancing from London to its relief, he drew off his forces and retired to Bury St. Edmund^s. He afterwards got possession of the town, and having plundered it, left a garrison in the castle, which having been invested by the King, was compelled to surrender. It was subsequently besieged and taken by the troops of Prince Louis, whom the barons had invited into England to their assistance, and who, thinking the opportunity favourable for conquest kept possession of it for himself, and hoisted the banner of France upon its Walls ; but the barons having submitted to their new Sovereign, Henry the Third retook the castle from the Prince, and expelled him from the kingdom. Li the reign of Edward III., the town contributed five ships and 170 mariners towards the naval armament for the blockade of Calais. The inhabitants, during the attempt to raise Lady Jane Grey to the throne, stedfastly adhered to the interests of Mary, whose cause they supported with so much zeal that, very soon after her accession, that Queen visited the town for the express purpose of testifying her gratitiide. Her Majesty was received with every public demonstration of joy, and on her departure was presented with a silver cup and 20 in gold. During her reign many of the Protestant inhabitants were put to death on account of their religious tenets. In 1648, the inhabitants, who had during the contest between the King and the Parliament generally espoused the cause of the latter, for whose support they had raised considerable supplies of money, but, finding it necessary to restrain its inordinate power, formed an alliance with the Royalists, who, being closely pressed by the Parlia- mentarians, took up their station in the town, into which they were admitted by the inhabitants by treaty. The town was soon afterwards besieged by the Parliamentarian army under Fairfax, who had been joined on his march by Colonel Whalley and Sir Thomas Honeywood with 2000 horse and foot, and after a close blockade for eleven weeks, during which period it was gallantly defended by the Earl of Norwich, Lord Capel, Sir Charles Lucas, and Sir George Lisle, the garrison, reduced to the extremity of want and suffering, surrendered to Fairfax, when Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle were shot under the Castle walls. A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 71 This is supposed to be a borough by prescription. It was first incorpo- rated in 1189 by charter of Richard I., who conferred on the inhabitants many vahiable privileges, which were confirmed by succeeding sovereigns, and extended by Henry V.; the charter, having been forfeited on several occasions, was renewed by George III. in 1818. The government was vested in a Mayor, High Steward, Recorder, Chamberlain, twelve Aldermen, eighteen Assistants, and eighteen common Conncilmen, aided by a Town Clerk, two Coroners, a Water Bailiff, four Sergeants-at-Mace, and other officers. By the Act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76, the Corpo- ration now consists of a Mayor, six Aldermen, and eighteen Councillors ; and the borough is divided into three wards, the Municipal and Parliamen- tary boundaries being co-extensive. The Mayor for the time being, and for the previous year, are justices by virtue of their office ; and there are seven others. The borough first exercised the elective franchise in the 23rd of Edward I., since which time it has, with occasional intermissions, returned two members to Parliament. The right of election was formerly vested in the free burgesses generally, whose number was about 1400 ; but by the Act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, non-resident burgesses, except within seven miles, have been disfranchised, and the privilege extended to the 10 householders of the borough, the limits of which comprise 1 1,055 acres. Tlie voters formerly consisted of 10 householders and freemen ; the Mayor is the returning officer. The Recorder holds ([uarterly courts of session for the borough and liberties, together extend- ing over sixteen parishes ; and the Mayor and Recorder hold two courts of pleas for the recovery of debts to any amount, the jurisdiction of which was extended by Edward IV. to the adjoining parishes of Berc- Church, Greenstead, Lexden, and ]\[yland. These courts are held at stated periods : one, called the Law-Hundred, for actions against free burgesses, is held on Monday ; and the other, called the Foreign Court, for actions against strangers or non-freemen, is held on Thursday. The petty sessions for this division of the county are also held in the town every Saturday. The ^loot Hall is an ancient edifice, originally erected by Eudo Dapifer ; underneath is the town jail. The town is a polling-place for the Northern Division of the County. Colchester, upon very dis- puted authority, is supposed to have been the seat of a diocese in the early period of Christianity in Britain. Henry \^III. made it the seat of a suffragan bishop, and two bishops were successively consecrated. The town comprises within the walls the twelve parishes of All Saints, containing 24,000 inhabitants ; St. James', 1059 ; St. Martin, 994 ; St. Mary-at-the-Walls, 1505; St. Nicholas', 1096; St. Peter, 2127; St. Runwald, 320; the Holy Trinity, 875; St. Botolph, 6228; St. Giles', 2736; St. liConard-on-the-Hythe, 11-92 ; and St. Mary Magdalen, 473 ; 72 aiSTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. and four other parishes without the walls, viz., Lexden, Bere-Churcli, Myland, and Greenstead, which are considered as part of the town, but are described under their respective heads. The living of All Saints is a rectory not in charge, net income 291; patrons. Masters and Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford ; the tithes have been commuted for a rent charge of 35. The Church, erected in the year 1309, near the east gate of the monastery of Grey Friars, which had been founded by Robert Fitzwalter in that year, consists of a nave, north aisle, and chancel, with a handsome tower of flint and stone ; the south wall, though now covered with cement, is of Roman bricks, laid in the herring-bone style. The living of St. James is a discharged rectory, valued in the King's books at 11 10s., and in the patronage of the Crown ; net income 98. The Church is a spacious structure, built prior to the reign of Edward II. It consists of a nave with north and south aisles and a chancel, with a tower of Roman brick and stone, and has a fine altar-piece representing the adoration of the shepherds. The living of St. Martin's is a discharged rectory, valued in the King's books at 6 3s. 4d. ; net income 72. The Church was much damaged during the siege of the town in 1648 ; it was re-pewed in 1 841, when fifty free sittings were added. The steeple, which was built with Roman bricks, is in a ruinous state. The living of St. Mary's-at-the-Wall is a rectory valued in the King's books at 10 ; net income 212 ; patron. Bishop of London. The Church was re-built in 1713, with the exception of the ancient steeple, which, becoming ruinous, was repaired in 1729. It contains some ancient monuments. The church- yard is surrounded Avitli avenues of lime-trees, and is much frequented as a promenade. The living- of St. Nicholas is a discharged rectory, valued in the King's books at o10 ; net income 92 ; patrons. Masters and Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford. The Church is ancient -, the tower some years since fell down upon the nave and chancel, the latter of which is still in a ruinous state. The Chapel of St. Helen in this parish, re-built by Eude in 1076, was lately used as a place of worship by the Society of Friends, and now for a Sunday School. The living of St. Peter's is a dis- charged vicarage, valued in the King's books at 10; net income 285; patrons, trustees of the late Rev. Charles Simeon. The Church, an ancient structure, was erected before the conquest, and in Domesday-book is noticed as the only church in Colchester. It was extensively repaired and modernized in 1758, when the tower of the west end was erected, and was some time since greatly beautified at a cost of 3,000. The altar-piece is embellished with a fine painting (by Halls) of the raising of Jairus' daughter. The living of St. Runwald's is a discharged rectory, valued in the King's books at 7 13s. 4d. ; net income 160; patron, Charles Grey Round, Esq. The Church, which is small, was erected about the A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 73 close of the loth century. It is partly of brick and partly of stone, with a wooden turret rising from the centre. The living of the parish of the Holy Trinity is a discharged rectory, valued in the King's books at 6 13s. 4d. ; net income 158; patrons, Masters and Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford. The Church was erected in the year 1349, and consists of a nave, south aisle, and chancel, with a tower, but only a part of the tower, the west door (now closed up) and a small portion about it, are of early date ; but this small part is curious from its near approximation to Roman work, being plastered over bricks, and also from its having a straight-lined arch. The arch into the church is semi-circular, and of fiat tiling. It contains several ancient and interesting monuments, among which is one to the memory of Dr. William Gilbert, chief physician to Queen Elizabeth and James I., and author of many learned works. The living of St. Botolph's is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Masters and Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford; net income 21. The tithes have been commuted for a rent charge of 230 7s. A new Church in the Norman stylo of architecture, lately built under the superintendence of Mr. Mason, of Ipswich, at a cost, including the purchase of t\\B site, of above 7,000, the doorway and other portions of the western elevation are taken from the Norman tower at Bury St. Edmund's. There are 1079 sittings, of which 815 are free, the Incorporated Society having granted 1000 toAvards the expense. The old Church, which has been in ruins since the siege in 1848, exhibits indications of its original magni- ficence and of the antiquity of its style, which appears to have been the early Norman, and of the same date as the neighbouring priory ; it was built with bricks of extraordinary hardness, supposed to have been taken from the Koman station. The living of St. Giles is a discharged rectory, valued in the King's books at 30; patron and incumbent. Rev. John ^Voodrooffe Morgan ; the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 200 ; and the globe comprises one acre and a-half, to which is attached a good glebe house. The Church, a very ancient structure, which has been repaired and enlarged, contains a monument to the memory of Sir Charles laicas and Sir George Lisle, who were shot by order of Fairfax, under the walls, after the siege of the town. The living of St. Leonard's is a discharged rectory, valued in the King's books at 10 ; net income, 100; patrons, INIasters and fellows of Balliol College, Oxford. The Church is a spacious structure, in good preservation, and was formerly remarkable for the exquisite carved work of the roof, which, having fallen into decay, was removed. The living of St. Mary Magdalen is a rectory, valued in the King's books at 11, and in the patronage of the Crown. The small Church is pleasantly situated on Magdalen Green. On the site of the Chapel of St. Anne, which stood in the parish of St. James, and 74 HtSTORY OF EASTERN EXGL.VND. was formerly a liemiitage, a barn has been erected, part of the Chapel ' having been incorporated with the building. There are two places of worship for Baptists,, two for Independents, and one each for the Society of Friends and Wesleyans. The Free Grammar School was founded and endowed by the Corporation, to whom Queen Elizabeth, in the 26th year of her reign, granted several ecclesiastical revenues for that purpose ; the income amounts to 181 10s. Dr. Harsnet, Archbishop of York, received the rudiments of his education in the school. Two schools for boys and girls were established in 1708 ; towards the purchase of the school-house, Mr. Samuel Rush, in 1711, gave 100, and 50 were given for the same purpose by his widow. Mr. William Ruggs, in 1747, gave a freehold messuage and twenty -five acres of land for the better maintenance of the school, to which fourteen other benefactions have been added. The two national central schools are an extension of the original plan of the charity school. There is another national school in St. Peter's parish, a Lancastrian school is supported by subscription, and there are schools supported by the several Dissenting congregations. Mr. John Winnock founded, and in 1679 endowed, alms- houses for twelve aged widows, with a rent-charge of 41, to which several other benefactions were added subsequently, and with one of them, by Mrs. Mary Barfield, four new houses were erected ; the income now amounts to 235 13s. 8d. Mr. Arthur Wonsley, in 1726, founded and endowed almshouses for twelve men, to which six others have since been added. In 1791, Mr. John Kendall erected and endowed eight almshouses for widows, whose husbands had died in Winsley's almshouses, or in default of such, for other single women ; the small original endowment having been considerably augmented, the annual income amounts to 166, and eight additional houses have been erected. Four almshouses for aged women were erected and endowed in 1552 with 6 6s. 8d. per annum by Ralph Fynch, to which 5 per annum has been added by John Lyon, and the interest of 262 10s. new 4 per cent, annuities by W. Godwin, together with 1000 3 per cent, consols, for four additional houses ; the income now amounts to 51 3s. 8d. The Essex and Colchester General Hospital, completed in 1820, and supported by subscription, is a neat building of white brick, situated on the south side of the London Road. The Poor Law Union of Colchester comprises the twelve parishes within and the four without the walls. Of the monastic establishments anciently existing here, the hospital, originally founded at the command of Henry I. for a master and leprous brethren, and dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen by Eudo, who had been a principal officer of the household of William the Conqueror, and his two sons William and Henry, and the revenue of which at the dissolution was 11, was refounded in 1610 by James L for A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. lo live poor brethren and a master, who is always the clergyman of the parish. The almshouses have been lately re-built, and are tenanted by five widows, who receive Is. per week each ; and the i:emainderof the income, which is very considerable, is appropriated to the master^s use. Of the other ancient establishments, the principal was St. John's Abbey, founded in the reign of Henry I. by the same Eudo for the monks of the Bene- dictine order, the revenue of which was at the dissolution 523 17s. ; of this only the gateway is remaining, a handsome structure in the later English style, and, consequently, either re-built since the foundation of the abbey, or a subsequent addition to it. To the south of the town was a monastery of Augustine canons, founded in the reign of Henry I., and dedicated to St. Julian and St. Botolph by Ernulphus, wdio afterwards became prior; at the dissolution its revenue was 113 12s. 8d. ; the only remains are its stately church, now in ruins, which was previously the parish church of St. Botolph. Without the walls was an hospital, or priory, of Crutched Friars, an order introduced into England about 1244, the revenue of which at the dissolution was 7 7s. 8d. The priory of Franciscan, or Grey Friars, was founded in 1309 by Robert Fitz- Walter, the only probable remains of which is the parish church of All Saints. Of the walls by which the borough was surroundeil, and in consideration of repairing which Richard II. is recorded to have exempted the burgesses from sending members to three of his parliaments, considerable portions still remain ; they Avore strengthened by bastions, and defended on the west by an ancient fort of Roman construction, the remaining arches of which are built with Roman bricks; and the north and west sides, where the town was most exposed, were protected by deep intrenchments. The entrance to the town was by four principal gates and three posterns, which have mostly been demolished. The ruins of the Castle occupy an elevated site on the north side of High Street ; the form is quadrilateral, and the walls of the keep, twelve feet in thickness, are almost entire ; the building is of flint, stone, and Roman bricks intermixed, and is supposed to have been originally erected by the Romans, though subse- (juently repaired by Edward the Elder; the solidity of the structure has frustrated repeated attempts to demolish it for the sake of the materials. The town and environs abound with relics of antiquity, among which is a quantity of Roman bricks in several of the churches and other buildings ; and tessellated pavements, sepulchral urns, statues, lamps, rings, coins, medals, and almost every other species of Roman antiquities have been discovered. William Gilbert, born in 1540, physician to Elizabeth and James I., and autlicn- of a work on the qualities of the loadstone, entitled " De Magnete," and other publications ; and Dr. Samuel Harsnet, Arch- bishop of York, were natives of this place. The late Right Hon. Charles '/'6 itlSTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Abbot, Speaker of the House of Commons (whose father is rector of All Saints), was elevated to the peerage, June 3rd, 1817, by the title of Baron Colchester, which is now enjoyed by his son. The town is built on the summit and northern acclivity of an eminence rising gently from the rive Colne, over which are three bridges, and occupies a quadrilateral area inclosed by the ancient walls, within which the houses to the south and south-east are irregularly disposed ; the streets are spacious, and the High Street contains many excellent houses ; the town is well paved, and lighted with gas, and well supplied with water. The theatre, a neat and commodious edifice, erected in 1812, was opened annually by the Norwich Company of comedians. A botanical society was instituted in 1823 ; and there is a medical society, established in 1774. The barracks, with a park of artillery, was capable of accom- modating 10,000 troops ; but since the conclusion of the war they have been taken down. The woollen manufacture appears to have been carried on so early as the reign of Edward III.; but the weaving of baizes, for which it was afterwards distinguished, was probably introduced by the Flemings in the reign of Elizabeth, and at that time employed a consider- able number of the inhabitants. This manufacture was subject to certain regulations prescribed by the Baize Hall ; but it has been transferred to other towns. A large silk throwing mill was established in 1825, and employs about three hundred hands ; there is a distillery, employing about fifty men ; also a rectifying house. The oyster fishery on the river Colne, granted to the free burgesses by Richard I., confirmed by subsequent charters, and for the preservation of which Courts of Admiralty were and are still occasionally held at Mersea Stone, about eight miles from the borough, but now generally at the Moot Hall, aff'ords employment to about six hundred licensed dredgemen ; and numerous smacks are engaged in conveying to London the oysters, for which there is a very great demand, especially for those of Pyfleet, which are found in a small creek, and are remarkable for their goodness and flavour. The river is navigable to the suburb called the Hythe, where are a spacious quay and a custom house. The market days are AVednesday and Saturday, the latter being the principal, for corn and provisions, and'also a large mart for cattle and sheep. The Market Place is on the north side of High Street, and is commodiously arranged. The Corn Exchange, erected a few years since, is a handsome building supported on columns. The fairs are on July 5th and the following day ; July 23rd and two following days for cattle ; and October 20th for cattle, and the three following days for general merchandize. ARDLEIGH, The last parish in the hundred of Tendring, has a railway station. It is A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 7/ a large parish, being thirty-eight miles in circumference. The Manor of Picotts, which takes its name from a family which held it in ancient times, belongs to E. Eeeve, Esq. ; Bovills, a title also derived from an owner in the time of Henry II. to W. S. Lamb, Esq. ; and Martells Hall to Lord Ashburton. The park, a good mansion, is the residence of J. P. Osborne, Esq. The Church is a handsome modern structure, having been rebuilt some years ago. The parish has the right of sending twelve free scholars to Dedham Grammar School ; and the poor have 2 1 Os. a-year from Love's Charity. MANNINGTREE, Though it has a customary market for corn and cattle on Thursdays, com- prises but about twenty acres, and is only a hamlet of Mistley, which forms, in fact, its eastern subuib, while Lawford constitutes the western. With their fine ports and extensive quays they form, combined, a place of considerable business ; the Stour, on whose southern bank they stand, being accessible for vessels of 250 tons up to this point, and navigable twenty miles fui'ther up to Sudbury. It is at this spot that the river begins to expand into a broad estuary, and it has been truly said that on the first break of morning, " When the waking sunbeams fringe Aith gold the trembling watere," and we turn our gaze up the Stour, with the cliffs on the right wooded to their summits, busy life awakening all along the spacious quays, where many of the 500 vessels which belong to the port are beginning to move, the scene is altogether the most picturesque to be found along this part of the coast, abounding, as it does, with \news of maratime life and rural beauty. At the Domesday survey, Manningtree and a part of Mistley were held by Adeliza, the half-sister of the Conqueror, but subsequently went to an Augustine nunnery in Devonshire, and the other Manor of Mistley belonged to the Priory of St. Osytli. After the Reformation the property was granted away, and about 1680 it was purchased by Edward Rigby, Esq., whose son built Mistley Hall. The pretty little hamlet, too, known as Mistley Thorn, was the creation of this gentleman. He erected fifty good dwellings there, made a quay, built granaries and warehouses, and also" a handsome Church, in place of the old one. The Bigby's were succeeded by the Earls Rivers, who partially deserted the place ; and the hall, which stood on an eminence about half-a-mile above the Stour, and was sun-ounded by a park of 700 acres, extensive gardens and plantations, was pulled down in 1815, the materials sold, and the property lotted out to the highest bidders. This was regarded at the time as a misfortune to the neighbourhood. It has been found, however, that ever since the place has been growing in business and importance. The land thus set 78 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. free gave greater scope to industry allowed commerce more elbow room for its efforts. Dwellings, wharves, warehouses, maltings, and mills have been built, and the population has largely increased. Various good county seats adorn the neighborhood : Mistley Place, occupied by E. Norman, Esq. ; the New Hall, by Robert Page, Esq. ; Lawford Hall, a large mansion standing in a fine park, the home of Mrs. Greene, the lady of the ancient manor ; and Lawford House, the elegant residence of Thomas Nunn, Esq. The Chapel of Manningtree, in which is a monument to Thomas Ormond, one of the martyrs of the time of Queen Mary, was built about 1616, out of the ruins of the old one, which stood on a rising ground near the site of the present, and it was considerably enlarged some years ago. The curacy was consoli- dated with Mistley up to 1840, but in that year it was constituted a separate benefice. Anciently there was a guild here called Trinity Guild, with an income of 8 5s. 4d., which passed into lay hands. The Church of Lawford is an ancient structure, and the walls are still ornamented with various elaborate old stone carvings. The only charity at Manningtree is a house occupied by poor people (formerly the workhouse), believed to have been given by Smith about 1680. Richard Rigby, Esq., who died in 1732, directed by his will the establishment of six almshouses, the inmates to have six chaldrons of coals, twenty-four bushels of wheat, and twenty-four bushels of barley or malt, out of the profits of the wharf; but the charity was not carried out, and since the inquiry of the Charity Commissioners, a decree of the Court of Chancery has directed the value of the coals, wheat, and barley to be distributed amongst the poor parishioners. HARWICH, A seaport, borough, and market town, having separate jurisdiction, locally in the Hundred of Tendring, Union of Tendring, North Division of the County of Essex, forty-two miles (north-east by east) from London. The name of this place, which is expressive of circumstances connected with its early history, is by Camden derived from the Saxon Harewic, signifying a station or harbour for soldiers ; and from the same authority it is supposed that during the time of the Romans, the Counts of the Saxon shore had a stronghold, or castle, here, in which a force was stationed to repel the Saxons and Danes, who at that time made frequent incursions from the opposite coast. This opinion is in some degree confirmed by the remains of a Roman camp and tumulus in the vicinity of the town, near which coins and fragments of tessellated pavements have been found at various times, and by the discovery of teeth and bones of large animals in the A DESCRIPTION OP ESSEX. 79 Bouthern cliff, which are by some antiquaries thought to be remains of elephants brought into England by the Emperor Claudius. After the departure of the Romans, Harwich, with the district adjoining, was wrested from the Britons by Erchenwine, or Erchwine, a Saxon chief, who held it under Octa, grandson of Hengist, till with the rest of the kingdom of East Saxony, it fell into the possession of Egbert in 740. In 885, a considerable battle was fought near this port between the fleet of Alfred and sixteen Danish ships, which terminated in the entire defeat and capture of the latter. In 1326, Prince Edward and his mother, Queen Isabel, landed here from Hainault with a force of 2750 soldiers, and being joined by several of the nobility, and headed by Thomas de Brotherton, Duke of Norfolk, then lord of the manor, and resident in the town, proceeded to Bristol to make war against the King. In 1838, the same Prince, then Edward III., embarked at this port, with a fleet of 500 sail manned with archers and slingers, on his first expedition against France ; and in the year following, the French, in retaliation, made an unsuccessful attempt with eleven galleys to set fire to the town. In 1340, the French navy, consisting of 400 ships, having been stationed near Sluys, in Flanders, to intercept the King's passage to France, Edward assembled here his naval forces, and sailing on Midsummer eve, and forming with the northern squadron, under the command of Lord Morley, encountered the enemy, destroyed one-half of their ships, and killed or captured nearly 30,000 of their men. Henry VIII. visited Harwich in 1543; and in 1558, preparations were made here for the reception of Philip, King of Spain, on his arrival to celebrate his nuptials with Mary, Queen of England. Queen Elizabeth was sumptuously entertained here in 1561 by the Corporation, who escorted her as far as the windmill on her return. In some of the naval engagements between the English and the Dutch, in the reign of Charles II., the contending parties approached so near the town as to render their operations visible to the spectators on the cliS*s. When Harwich was fortified against the Dutch in 1666, Charles II. having proceeded from Newmarket to Languard Fort, sailed hither in his yacht, accompanied by the Dukes of York, Monmouth, Richmond, and Bucking- ham, and, with others of his suite, attended divine service at the parish church ; in the evening they embarked for Aldborough, whence they pro- ceeded by laud to Ipswich. AVilliam III., and Georges I. and II. visited Harwich on their respective tours to the Continent ; and the Princess Meck- lenburgh-Strelitz landed at this port on her arrival in England to cele- brate her nuptials with King George III. In 1808 the Countess de Lille, consort of Louis XVIII., the Duke and Duchess of Angouleme, the Count and Countess do Demas, and others of the nobility of France, seeking an asylum in this country, in the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, arrived 80 HrSTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. in the Emyalus frigato, commanded by the Hon. Captain Dundas. On the 16th of August, 1821, the remains of Queen Carohne, consort of his late Majesty, George IV., were brought to this place, whence they were conveyed by the Glasgow frigate to be interred at Brunswick. Harwich is situated on a peninsular projection on the north-eastern extremity ot the Essex coast, bovmded on the east by the North Sea, and on the west and north by the estuaries of the Stour and the Orwell, which, uniting previously to their influx into the sea, form a spacious and secure harbor, nearly three miles in breadth. The town is in general well built, and consists principally of three streets ; an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1819 for watching, paving, and lighting it, and for supplying the inhabitants with water. An Assembly and a Reading-room have been erected in West-street, and a Theatre was opened in 1813. The founda- tions of a castle and fortifications by which the town was defended was seen previously to the encroachment of the sea at an extraordinary ebb of the tide in 1 784 ; but of its ancient walls and gates, with the exception of a very small portion serving to indicate their former strength, the memorial is preserved only in the record of tolls levied in the reign of Edward III. for their repair. Harwich is much resorted to during the season for sea-bathing ; and hot and cold baths, arranged with every accommodation, are supplied from a large reservoir of sea water ; there are also bathing machines near the jetty. The harbour is protected on the east by the isthmus on which the town is built, verging towards the north, and on the west by a similar projection of the coast towards the south ; the entrance is defended by Landguard Fort, erected on the eastern promontory of the opposite coast, by a large martello tower, and by a number of shoals near the fort, which so much contract the passage as to admit of only one large vessel at a time, rendering the harbour difficult of access, except to expert navigators. Though of unequal depth, the harbour and bay together form a capacious roadstead for the largest ships of war, 100 of which were assembled here during the war with Holland in the reign of Charles II., exclusively of their attendant vessels, and 300 or 400 sail of vessel carrying coal. To facilitate the entrance into the harbour by night, two lighthouses were erected under letters patent of Charles II. On the eastern part of the town, where these are situated, is a convenient stone quay, and near it is a delightful promenade called the Esplanade. By means of these lights, vessels are guided off a sandbank called the "Andrews," forming a bar across the entrance to the harbour, from Landguard Fort into the rolling grounds, from which the passage leadinginto goodanchorage is safe. The custom-house establishment consists of a collector, comptroller, and other officers. The trade of the port principally arises from the quantities of stone obtained here, from A DESCRIPTION OP ESSEX. 81 which cement is manufactured; about 100 small vessels and boats are employed in and near the harbour in dredging for stone for making it. The North Sea fishery, though it has materially declined, still aflfords employment for a considerable number of vessels ; and a constant traffic is carried on by means of steamers and wherries with Ipswich and Man- ningtrce. The number of vessels above fifty tons burden is sixty-one, and their aggregate tonnage 5497. Ship building is carried on to a considerable extent ; the dockyard is well provided with launches, store- houses, and other requisites ; several third-rate and other vessels have been built, and a patent slip has been recently constructed, on which ships of very large burden may be hauled up for repair with great facility. The manufacture of copperas from stones which are found in abundance on the shore was carried on in the seventeenth century, about which time an attempt was made to obtain potash from various sea-weeds ; but it was soon abandoned. The market days are Tuesday and Friday ; the fairs, principally for toys, are on May the 1st and October the 18th, each for three days. The borough was first incorporated by charter of Edward II., which was renewed, with additional privileges, by James I., through the interest of Sir Edward Coke, and subsequently confirmed by Charles II., by which the government was vested in a Mayor, eight Aldermen (including the Mayor), and twenty-four capital Burgesses, together forming the common council, assisted by a Recorder, High Steward, Town Clerk, Chamberlain, Clerk of the Market, and other officers. By the Act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76, the corporation now consists of a Mayor, four Aldermen, and twelve Councillors ; the Mayor and late Mayor are justices of the peace, and the total number of borough magistrates is twelve. The borough first sent members to Parliament in the seventeenth of Edward III., but discontinued till the twelfth of James I., since which time it has made regular returns. The right of election was formerly vested in the Mayor, Aldermen, and capital Burgesses, thirty-two in number ; but by the Act of the 2nd and 3rd of William IV., cap. 45, it was extended to the 10 householders of the borough, the limits of which contain 1461 acres. The Mayor and eleven of the corporation, until the passing of the Municipal Reform Act, which abolished admiralty jurisdictions, possessed conjointly the powers of the Court of Admiralty, with all its privileges and profits, without accounting to the Exchequer; and at the Admiralty Sessions the Mayor was usually preceded by a person bearing a silver oar, which was kept for that pur- pose in the town chest. A court of record is held under the charter of Charles II. every Tuesday for the recovery of debts not exceeding 100, but from the expensiveness of the proceedings it has almost fallen into disuse. Petty sessions are held weekly. A new Guildhall was erected some years 82 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. since, of which the lower part is used as a prison for the borough, chiefly for the confinement of prisoners previous to their committal to the county gaol, and the upper is appropriated to the holding of the courts, and to the transaction of the public business of the corporation. In the old Guildhall, a small brick building, were several buckets bearing the arms and names of members of the corporation, among which were those of Sir Edward Coke, Attorney - General in the reign of James I.; Christopher Monk, Duke of Albemarle, Colonel Sir Ch^frles Lyttleton, Governor of Languard Fort in the reign of Charles II. ; Sir Harbottle Grimstone, Master of the Rolls in the same reign ; the Duke of Schom- berg. Lord Bolingbroke, and Edward, Earl of Oxford, who were recorders of the borough. The borough comprises the parishes of Dovercourt (All Saints) contain- taining 1231, and St. Nicholas 3839 inhabitants. The living of Dover- court is a vicarage, with the perpetual curacy of St. Nicholas annexed, valued in the King's books at 5 Os, lOd.; net income, 221 ; it is in the patronage of the Crown ; impropriator, N. G. Garland, Esq. The Church, which is an old building, contains several ancient monuments, and it was celebrated for a rood held in high veneration, for the destruction of which three men from Dedham, who had stolen it from the Church and burnt it, were hanged for sacrilege in 1532. The Church of St. Nicholas, re-built in 1820 at an expense of 18,000, is a handsome edifice, in the later English style, with a lofty square embattled tower ; in the chancel are three finely-painted windows, presented by John Hopkens, Esq., and containing severally the arms of that gentleman, those of the town, and of Dr. Howley, then Bishop of London. Among the monuments is a well-sculptured bust of Sir William Clarke, Secretary of War to Charles I. and II. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans. A school-room was built in 1724 by Sir Humphrey Parsons, and a national school is supported by subscription. A fine spring of clear water, which was much esteemed for its medicinal properties, and possessed a petrifying qviality, is noticed in the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1669. Quantities of amber, and, according to some, ambergris, are occasionally found on the shore ; and in the vicinity of Languard Fort transparent pebbles are found, which were formerly set in rings by the inhabitants. SOUTHEND, In the Hundred of Rochford, is a pleasant and greatly-improved watering- place. It is a hamlet of Prittlewell, but throws that parish into the shade, in its general character, its public buildings, and population. The place is a growth of the last century. We read in a journal of 1768 : "A scheme A DESCRIPTION OP ESSEX. 83 is on foot to render Southend a convenient place for bathing, the situation being esteemed the most agreeable and convenient for the purpose on the Essex coast." Buildings were erected accordingly, but the plans and projectors ahko failed, and the matter slumbered till 1800. A member of the Heygato family then purchased the buildings and improved the place. In 1804 Southend was visited by Queen Caroline and the Princess Charlotte. This event stamped upon it a fashionable character, and since then it has been much extended. First arose the fine range of buildings called the Terrace on the high cliff towards Leigh. A pier was carried a mile-and-a-quarter into the sea in 1835; a handsome Church was built in 1840, and a railway to the Metropolis was opened a few years ago, and now a new town is rising upon a pleasant spot in the vicinity. Of late in August, when all Londoners get away from the city to the sea-side as soon as they can, and for as long a period as possible, many of them go by the pleasantest of routes to Southend, one of the prettiest of watering places, where they gladden their eyes and freshen their hearts with a sight of the sea, and inhale the invigorating breeze. The scenery along the railway to Southend is full of interest, presenting pleasant glimpses of Barking, Rainham, Purfleet, Stanford-le-Hope, with its old Church on the hill, Benfleet, and the ruins of Hadleigh Castle. All the way travellers may indulge in the peaceful associations of rural prosperity suggested by the pastoral seclusion of Low Street, and the rich fields of waving corn beyond, brightened in colour by the crimson poppies, and made musical by the thrilling songs of soaring skylarks. On the one side are quiet countiy lanes and scattered homesteads embosomed in rich foliage ; on the other, ships high up in the Hope, bearing the fruits of commercial industry and enterprise to remote regions. Passing the ruins of Hadleigh Castle, the river Thames becomes the sea, and fishing smacks are glancing in the sunlight, and the old fashioned houses of Leigh emerge into sight. Now the travellers feel the sea breeze fanning their pallid faces, leaving the smart taste of salt on their lips ; and before the keen relish of it is gone they arrive at Southend. They soon find their way to excellent hostelries, where they can secure all creature comforts. For amusements there are the usual watering-place facilities. For a promenade there is the pier, one and a quarter mile in length, where they may enjoy a breezy walk. They may walk on and on, over the rippling or foam-crested waves below ; they may enjoy the sight of the trembling waters, breaking over the black beams of the jetty beneath, and watch the transparent sea anemone floating amidst the timbers and eddying past. Looking back- ward, they may watch the landscape diminish in the perspective, and see the town afar off. 84 HISTORY EASTERN ENGLAND. MALDON Is a port borougli and market town situated on an eminence near the confluence of the rivers Blackwater and Chelmer, in the southern division of Essex, 38 miles from London. This place is supposed by Camden to have been the Roman Camulodunum which other later antiquaries with more reason have fixed at Colchester. Maldon is an ancient place, but is not remarkable for any important events. It claims to be a borough by prescription. Its burgesses are mentioned in Doomsday book, and in 1086 they held 180 houses and 18 demolished manses. The earliest known charter was granted in 1155 by Henry II., who gave to the burgesses all the possessions which they then held of the Crown, and all their liberties by tenure of free burgage, the service reserved being the supply of one ship for forty days when summoned by the King, to which liberties and customs was then added a complete exemption from the county jurisdiction. This charter was afterwards confirmed several times. Under the Act of 5th and 6th William IV., c. 76, the borough is now governed by a Mayor, four Aldermen, and twelve Councillors. The borough first had the franchise in the 2nd of Edward III., since whose time it has continued to send two members to Parliament. The old borough comprises the parishes of All Saints, St. Peter, and St. Mary, each parish having an ancient spacious Church. The port is small, but has considerable trade chiefly in coals. WALTON-LE-SOKEN, OR WALTON-ON-THE-NAZE (aLL SAINTS), A parish in the Union and Hundred of Tendring, North Division of the County of Essex, ISJ miles (south-east by east) from Manningtree. This parish, which is bounded on three sides by the sea, forms a noted pro- montory, called the Naze, from the Saxon term signifying a nose of land. Imbedded in the clay which forms the basis of the clifls, there have been discovered, usually after the ebbing of very strong tides, some curious fossils, the tusks of elephants, with the horns, bones, and teeth of other huge animals. The shore abounds with pyrites, chiefly of wood, of which immense quantities have been here manufactured into the crystal, com- monly called green copperas, or sulphate of iron; and nodules of argillaceous clay, which continually fall from the clifls and harden into stone, are gathered and conveyed to London and Harwich for making Roman cement. The manufacture of copperas is now discontinued at Walton, and it is now sent to London for that purpose. The ground upon which the old copperas works stood i^ sufiiciently apparent, an almost indelible mark being attached to it. A DESCRIPTION OP ESSEX. 85 Mr. T. Wilrasliurstj in an interesting description of the place and its productions, says : " The chffs of Walton abound in the vestiges of a former state of this planet. In consequence of the crumbling nature of the cliffs, here termed ' Antedilu\'ian/ these vestiges are laid bare to the eye, and fossil shells are always to be found, either projecting from the cliff, from which some ponderous mass has been recently detached, or strewn upon the beach. In a private collection of the late Mr. John Brown, F.C.S., of Stanway, is deposited the tusk of a mammoth; it is eight feet long and twenty-four inches in circumference, and was found here on the beach, between low and high water mark. The shells are found generally in excellent preservation, among which are the tere- bratula, about one-and-a-half inches long, and thick, nearly oval, roughly striated transversely, and having a large foramen defined by a distinct border. The fossil oyster, or ostrea deformis, and the reversed whelk, murex contrarius, also furnish abundant specimens. On the north and north-west of "Walton lies a comparatively inland sea, formed by a series of creeks, extending from a spot called Stone Point, about five miles along the northern shore. Many small vessels may here be observed dredging for the young oyster, or ' spat,' as it is termed, which is thence conveyed to the celebrated oyster beds of the River Colne, where they in due time arrive at maturity.' ' Walton has grown into one of the most pleasant watering-places on the coast. A century ago it was a dreary tract, the resort of smugglers, and a point upon which the sea was making rapid inroads. Houses and fields, and even its church, have, in fact, been carried away by the waves, the foundations of the latter being at times visible far out in the waters. !Modorn energy and enterprise have changed the whole character of the place. A neat little new Church has arisen, and the land has been pro- tected from the further ravages of the sea. Excellent hotels, terraces, and villas have been built. A handsome pier has been provided. Altogether its bracing air, with its finebeach and bold open sea, its pleasing walks, its brick octagonal building on the Naze, rising to the height of 80 ft., and from its summit affording splendid views inland and to seaward ; its martello tower, a remnant of the old war, on the north, and the rich fossil treasures of its cliffs, combine to render it a summer resort as picturesque as it is becoming popular. The charities consist of ten acres of land given by John Sadler in 1563, and Thomas Goulding in 1582 ; and twenty-five acres by unknown donors ; a rent-charge of 2, out of Pulpit Field, purchased with money left by Charles Stevens in 1613 ; an acre adjoining, given by an unknown donor in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; and four cottages built on the site of ancient almshouses which fell down in 1813. SQ HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Returning to Stratford junction we start on what is commonly called the Cambridge line, which runs near some towns in the northern division of Essex. On our left are thin hedgerows, beyond which is the broad expanse of Hackney marshes, and the old clock tower and new Church or Hackney conspicuous beyond. On the right of the line are the wooded clusters about Leyton and Leyton Park House, home of old annuitants, who there find a respite from the cares of the weary world, a noble home, and charming pleasure grounds, for the payment of a small sum. A little further on we come to Lea-bridge station. TOTTENHAM Is a long straggling hamlet on the banks of the Lea, the western end of which is called Tottenham High Cross, from a cross that has stood there from time immemorial. At Tottenham the Lea is very beautiful, and the country presents the appearance of a highly cultivated, rich, and varie- gated garden. Old Izaak Walton mentions the High Cross. In his time, he says, " there was a sweet shady arbour which nature herself has woven with her own fine fingers ; it is such a contexture of woodbine, sweet briar, jessamine, and myrtle, and so interwoven as will secm-e us both from the sun's violent heat and from the approaching shower." Here Piscator used to solace and refresh himself, he says, with " a bottle of sack, milk, oranges, and sugar, which all put together made a drink like nectar ; indeed too good for any but us anglers." This, however, has alas ! long since departed, and the sweet shades he speaks of live only in the fervid imagination of the Cockney poets, who come here as to classic ground, to peruse the pages of that lover of rural beauty, who has made so many thousands of the Londoners take to the gentle sport. WALTHAMSTOW Is a parish in the Hundred of Beacontree in Essex. It adjoins Woodford on the verge of the forest, and abounds in beautiful woodland scenery, with a tract of marshland towards the Lea, by which river it is separated from Middlesex. Its population has vastly increased within the last twenty years, and is scattered over a series of separated villages named Church End, Chapel End, North End, Marsh Street, Higham Hill, Clay Street, Whips Cross, and Wood Street. The Church is a noble and imposing structure, believed to have been partly erected by Sir George Monix, Lord Mayor of London, in 1514, who sleeps with his lady in the chapel at the east end. Waltham is a Saxon term signifying a dwelling in a wood. The parish was once a forest, the property of Harold, the son of Earl Godwin, and the last of the so-called Saxon Kings; A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 8/ and now the whole parish, with the adjoining ones, may be compared to a rural city. Country scats, farm-houses, and cottages are so blended together, and the paths encompassed with trees and hedges are so delight- ful, that we are not surprised so many people choose to reside in this healthy spot. It contains the residences of many London citizens, who here retire from the scenes of business. EDMONTON Stands in Middlesex, but so near the borders of Essex, for which it has a railway station, that it demands some notice. The village is pleasantly situated on the high road to Hertford, along which it extends for more than a mile, comprising several ranges of respectable houses, and in detached situations many elegant mansions and handsome villas. The New River winds through the parish, producing a pleasing and picturesque effect in the pleasure grounds through which it flows. Edmonton, as everybody knows, was immortalized by Cowpcr in " The Diverting History of John Gilpin,^^ that citizen of " credit and renown," who met with such memorable adventures. The "Bell Inn" exhibits the sign of John Gilpin, and the house is commonly known as " Gilpin^s Bell," where weary travellers often refresh. We have often stopped there when visit- ing Edmonton, for there Charles Lamb, the author of " Elia," who lived in the village, was wont to accompany such friends as called on him, on their way to their own homes, and to take with them a stirrup cup at parting. Lamb is buried in the village churchyard, in a spot which, about a fortnight before his death, he had pointed out to his sister, in an after- noon walk, as the place where he wished to be interred. ENFIELD Is a parish (formerly a market town) in the Hundred of Edmonton. The town, which is situated to the west of the road from London to Ware, consists of two streets, in which are several handsome houses, and is well supplied with water from springs. The parish comprises the town, the Chase, Bull's Cross, Baker Street, and Green Street, with Ponder's End. Enfield is a liberty belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster, and the inhabi- tants appoint their own coroner. In 181G, a royal manufactory for small arms was established in this parish, and here the Enfield rifles were produced in large quantities by about 1,000 hands. WALTHAM ABBEY Is a small but ancient and interesting town, in the low lauds of the Lea. It is divided into four wards : Waltham, Ilolytield, Sewardstone, and Upshire, with Galley and Mangham Hills. The latter are occupied by 83 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND, the Govoi'nlneiit powder mills and magazines, which also extend in detached branches three or four miles along the little islands of the marsh lands. The name of King Harold has generally been associated with the establishment of Waltham, and he was the first who brought it into pros- perity and repute. He founded the Abbey ; and it was at its altar he knelt to offer up his last prayer when he went forth to meet his death at the hands of the Normans. It was in this spot that his body found a tomb when it was brought from the battle-field. But pioneers had been at work here before the time of Harold. In the early ages the Waters of the Lea and the tide flowing up from the Thames formed here a broad estuary; and in 876 some of the ships of the Danish spoilers lay at anchor in the waters which then covered the rich marsh and meadow lands where droves of cattle now graze. These vessels had sent forth hordes which were ravaging the country around, when King Alfred, by an adroit use of the spade, cut and diverted the feeding streams of the Lea, and left the ships upon dry land, thus compelling the crews to abandon their plunder and save themselves by an overland flight. Black- wall, too, was raised by the same monarch to shut out the inundating flow of the tide ; some of the lands were drained ; and about a century- and-a-half afterwards, Toor, a rich Saxon, standard bearer to the Danish King Canute, found it so fertile and fair a spot, with the forest around about so thickly stocked with deer, that he built a number of houses the nucleus of the future Waltham and settled a colony of sixty inhabitants upon it. He also founded a Church for two priests ; and, says the page of olden history, "^ committed to their keeping a miraculous cross said to have been discovered in a vision to a carpenter far westward, and brought hither in a manner unknown, which was reported to work many wonders ; and on account of that cross, the place attained the name of Holy Cross '' though, perhaps, some may be disposed to think the appellation was derived from the beautiful memorial cross, the defaced remnants of which still stand just over the border, in Hertfordshire, erected in 1 291, to mark one of the resting-places of the body of Queen Eleanor on its way from Lincoln. The son of Toor, however, had little of his father's thrift. By means akin to the gaming table and the turf he scattered his patrimony, and Waltham coming to the Crown, Edward the Confessor gave it to Earl Harold on condition that he should " build a monastery in the place whore was a little convent, subject to the canons and their rulers, and furnish it with all the necessary relics, dresses, and ornaments, in memory of Edward and his wife Edith.'' Accordingly, in 1062, a college for a dean and eleven secular canons was founded, and in time it became endowed with a large part of the property of the Hundred, with lands* A DESCRIPTION OP ESSEX. 80 advowsons, tithes^ and manors in various parts of this and other counties, though the Conqueror appears to have stripped them of most of the lands in Waltham given them by Harold. Its character of a college was main- tained for little more than a century. Rome at this period began to entertain some jealousy of the secular orders ; and branding them with irreligion and looseness of life, it was resolved to supplant them wherever possible by regular monks. Henry II. took advantage of this feeling. He had made a pious vow to build an abbey as an act of expiation for the murder of Thomas a Becket ; and he contrived to do it at a cheap rate, and compromise with his conscience and the Pope by changing the Dean of Waltham into an abbot, and replacing the secular canons by sixteen Augustine monks. This was in 1177. The Abbey, as rich in privileges as in possessions, continued to flourish till the Reformation. It had been from its foundation a chapel royal. It was independent of all bishops, and yielded obedience to none save the Pope and the King. The chief was one of the twenty-eight mitred abbots of the kingdom ; and had a house in London for his residence when he went to Court. He had often, too, the King for a neighbour or guest. Henry III., especially, often made Waltham his place of residence ; and to compensate the inhabitants for the high prices occasioned by his presence, he granted them a weekly market and a seven days^ fair. The abbey continued 362 years, under a succession of twenty-seven abbots ; and at last, close by its walls, tradition says a thought was hatched and presented to the mind t)f Henry VIII., which had a great influence in bringing about the Refor- mation, and with it the destruction of this and other conventual establish- ments. " The King," as runs the tale, " had a small house on Rome-land, a parcel of land near the abbey, so-called from having been granted by Henry II. to Pope Alexander, to which he occasionally resorted for his private amusement," as maybe inferred from Fuller, who says, " Waltham bells told no tales when the King came there." He took this place in his way when he commenced a journey to dissipate the chagrin he felt from the obstructions to his divorce from Queen Catherine. Stephen Gardiner, his Secretary of State, and Edward Fox, his Almoner, by whom he was accompanied, spent the evening at the house of ^Ir. Cressy, to whose sons Dr. Cranmer was precej)tor. As the divorce became the sul)ject of con- versation, Cranmer observed that the readiest way to quiet the King's conscience, (u* to extort the Pope's consent, would be to consult the universities of Europe on this controverted point. If they approved of his marriage with Catherine his remorse would naturally cease ; if they condemned it, the ]\ipe would find it difficult to resist the solicitations of so great a monarch, seconded by the opinion of all the learned men in Christendom. When the King Avas informed of this proposal, he was 00 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. delighted with it, and with more alacrity than delicacy swore that Cran- mer had got the right sow by the ear. He sent for that divine, adopted his opinion, and ever afterwards entertained for him the highest regard. Mr. Cressy^s house, where this transaction occurred, has long since been entirely unknown. Eobert Fuller, the last abbot, a man of some literary pretensions, wrote a history of the abbey. He surrendered his estate and trust to Henry VIII. in March, 1540, the revenues of the abbey then amounting to 1,079 12s. Id. showing it to have been the richest in Essex. The site of the monasteiy, Waltham Park, and much of the property of the house in the district, were granted to Sir Anthony Denny, a favourite gentleman of the King's Privy Chamber. It was afterwards sold to Sir William Jones, from whom it passed to the Wake family, and Sir Charles Wake is the present lord. The site of the abbey is now a market garden. Between Waltham and Cheshunt is a rich undulating country, park- like in its scenery, very picturesque when the sun glances on the green hill sides and throws long tremulous shadows of the trees on the rich pastures where the cattle browse. Cheshunt in recent times is most noticeable for the college for the education of young Nonconformist preachers which the old Countess of Huntingdon so liberally endowed. ROYDON Is a parish in the Hundred of Waltham, but chiefly in that of Harlow, County of Essex. The River Stort divides the parish from Hertfordshire. The ground above the river is very elevated, and commands extensive views over the Rye House and for many miles beyond it. Roydon is an extensive parish, but the village is a small straggling place, there being few houses in it. The Church (St. Peter) is an ancient edifice. East of the church, on the village green, stands Temple Roydon House. The manor of the hall now belongs to Earl Momiugton, and T. A. Houblin, Esq., is lord of Downes and Nether Halls. BROXBOUENE Is pleasantly situated on the Lea in Hertfordshire, but close to the county of Essex, and near the railway station. The parish is extensive, and its inhabitants are nearly all engaged in agricultural pursuits. The Church is a handsome edifice, and comprises a nave, aisle, and chancel ; at the west end there is a tower with a plain spire and beacon turret. There are several good houses in the village, which lies along the high road. The River Lea here retains its ancient piscatory fame, and " Want's Inn " is still much frequented by London anglers. Many fish of various kinds A DESCRIPTION Ot ESSEX. 91 are preserved here, which have been stuffed on account of their extra- ordinary size. HARLOW, Wliich lies on the high road to Cambridge and Newmarket, at about twenty-three miles from London, and gives name to the Hundred, is a parish of some extent, and an ancient market town, though changing circumstances and the shifting allegiance of trade have reduced it to the quietude and dimensions of a large village. Its market, held on Satur- days, was, in the early part of the last century, of considerable impor- tance. The woollen manufacture which was carried on here largely at that period gav an air of activity to the place and employment to the poor. The factories, however, are closed ; the manufacture departed ; the market decayed; the wool fair, which long survived, was at last discontinued ; the rail came and robbed the town of its through traffic, and it is now a clean little country town, with its spindles and looms almost forgotten, and little to distinguish it from an ordinary Essex village, save that it is the capital of the Hundred, and has a neat little police-station, which was built and presented to the county by J. PeiTy Watlington, Esq. An attempt made some years ago to revive its market was a failure ; but its cattle fairs yet command considerable trade. They are held on Bush Common, near the hamlet of Potter Street, which takes its name from the potteries formerly carried on there, and is two miles from the town. From the many coins of that people found in the parish and neighbourhood, it appears that the Romans had a halting or dwelling place hero while they held the land ; and many families of note lorded it over the serfs of Harlow in Saxon and Norman times. Harlow Bury was given to the abbey of Bury St, Edmund's by Thurston, son of Wina, in the time of Edward the Confessor ; and the lordly abbot of that house appears to have made it a halting-place, where he feasted and sojourned for a time as ho travelled to and fro in attending Parliament. The ecclesiastical owner had peculiar concessions made to him in respect to this manor. "King Stephen remitted to him the assarts of Harlow. King John granted that the woods here should be exempt from the regarders of the forest, hunting only excepted ; that they might assart the wood of Rokoy, belonging to this manor ; and that they might make their land wainable that is, turn it to tillage without being subject to the regarders." The abbot and his retinue, however, appear to have eaten up the estate on these periodical visits ; as we find that Pope Boniface IX. appropriated the proceeds to the abbot's table. But if not a place of fasting, it was occasionally one of prayer. A large Chapel was built close to the mansion partly it is probable for the use of the 92 IIISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. tenants and partly that the abbot and his followers might there chant the mass and sing the vesper hymn during their stay. This Chapel still remains^ with its fine circular-headed door and its small antique windows ; but Mr. Barnard^ the owner and occupier of the estate, uses it, as it has been used for a number of years, for the purpose of a granary. Sacks occupy the site of the altar, and the aisles and the chancel receives the produce of the neighbouring fields. SDTTON Adjoins the parish of Harlow in fact, it includes that part popularly known as Harlow Bush Common, and it extends to the river Stort, which is the county boundary. The name of the parish implies that it was once large enough to be dignified with the title of a town or place freshly redeemed from the forest. We see here, in the ruins of the ancient priory, all that is left by the religious revolution of the sixteenth century. The old manor house of Merks, the home of once powerful families stood here for ages. The dark heavy rooms and rude gables of the old house have been transformed by modern taste into an elegant mansion, one of the ornaments of the county, which is now the residence of the Rev. J. Arkwright, who is lord of the neighbouring domain. The mansion and manor of Marks Hall took their name from Adeloff de Merc, who held them under the Earl of Boulogne. The old house was demolished and the present mansion erected in the last century by Sir William Lushington, who expended 30,000 upon it, and afterwards sold it to Montagu Burgoyne, Esq., who, fifty years ago, was a county politician. The estate was purchased in 1819 for 100,000 guineas by Eichard Arkwright, Esq., father of the present proprietor. The part of the Hundred to the north-west of Harlow, running towards Bishop Stortford, still retains its forestal character to some extent. Starting on our pilgrimage in this direction, we leave Mutching, which runs up to Ongar Hundred, about four miles on the right. J. T. Selwin, Esq., is lord of the hall, the chief manor, and Wesham, once a hamlet, in which in former times, stood a Chapel, endowed with twenty. one acres of land. Sheering, long the pro- perty of the Fitz-Walter family, is situated in this neighbourhood, and yonder is Dorrington Hall, delightfully placed in the vale of the Stort. T. C. Glyn, Esq., is there lord of the manor. Gilston Park is the property of J. Hodgson, Esq. The mansion is the meet home of a country gentleman, and it is approached by two entrances in the park, one on the west side, and one on the east. The route from the west entrance to the mansion is a mile-and-a-half in length through a beautiful road, the whole A DESCRIPTION OP ESSEX. 93 distance on each side being flanked with oak trees. The park is well stocked with game of every description, and there is in the centre a sheet of water full of fish. Gilston village is a straggling place of about a mile in length, near the railway station. Terlings Park is the property of J. Hill, Esq., and faces the river Stort near the railway station. A sheet of water leading from the river passes through the estate ; the house stands in the centre of the park. Marks Hall, about a mile from the station on the Harlow-road, is the property of L. Arkwright, Esq. The Hall stands in the centre of a largo park the owner keeps a fine pack of hounds, which afford sport to the district. BISHOP STORTFORD Takes its name from its situation on each side of a ford on the river Stort, now crossed by two bridges. The parish is in the county of Hertford, but still on the borders of Essex, near the railway-station. The town extends up the slope of a hill from the river, and consists of four streets, or properly two lines of streets, in the form of a cross. There are some good inns, and many houses of the better class. The Church stands in a commanding position upon rising ground, and it is dedicated to St. Michael. It was partly re-built in 1820, and now accommodates 2000 persons. The living is a vicarage in the gift of the precentor of St. Paul's. At Thaxtod, an adjoining parish in the hundred of Dunmow, Essex, there is a Church of great beauty, considered to be the most noble and costly in the county so costly indeed that people wonder whence all the money came. Horliam Hall, in the parish of Thaxted, the most ancient and interesting of the remaining manor houses, stands about two miles south-Avest of the town. It was originally built by Sir John Cutts, who obtained the lordship of Thaxted from Queen Catherine. This mansion was celebrated for its splendour and hospitality during several reigns of succeeding sovereigns. STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET Is a pai'ish partly in the hundred of Clavering, but chiefly in that of Uttlesford (Essex), distant 35^ mil(>s from Ijondon. This is one of the largest parishes in the county, being nearly forty miles in cMivumference, containing within its boundaries a good village, the remains of an ancient tower, and slight traces of the great castle of the ^lountfichets. This was the head of the barony of the great Norman family, which after the conquest secured 18 lordships in the county, but it continued so for only a short period. The last of the house died without issue in 1258, and 94 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. the estates were divided. The village consists of a straggling street. The name Stansted is supposed to be corrupted from Stone-street, the name of a Roman way on or near which it stood. Montfitchet was the surname of William Gernon, to whose father the lordship was granted by William the Conqueror, and who built a castle here. The artificial mound on which the keep stood yet remains, and is called Castle Hill. We must slightly notice this and adjoining parishes, as we do not feel justified in pausing to describe little villages where we find nothing beyond the ordinary run of parish history. ELSENHAM Is a pleasant village in the Hundred of Uttlesford, distant thirty-seven miles from London, close to a railway-station. The Hall is an embattled mansion built of brick, with delightful grounds and gardens, adorned by a fine sheet of water, the residence of the widow of the late George Ruch, Esq., who was the lord. About five miles south-east of this is Eaton Lodge, the seat of Viscount Maynard, a noble mansion and beautiful park. During the summer season many persons visit the park for the purpose of holding pic-nic parties, whom the honoured peer is happy to see. The adjoining parish is named Ugley, where may be seen, according to an old couplet : An ugly cliurcli and an ugly steeple, An ugly place and an ugly people. This is a gross libel on the pretty women and fair maids for which the place is remarkable, as we can testify. Further on is Henham, in a high and healthy situation, near the chief source of the river Cam. Henham Hall was the residence of the noble family of the FitzWalters for centuries. It is now a farm-house. QUENDEN Is a village where the river Cam rises, and that classic stream flows by the large village of Newport, then at the foot of the commanding eminence occupied by Shortgrove Hall, and lower down through the highly-orna- mented grounds of Audley End, where the clear waters form a wide stream in front of the house. The river leaves the county of Essex in the neighbourhood of Chesterton, and gives the name to the adjoining county. Quenden Hall is a handsome mansion in the Elizabethan style, standing in a finely-wooded park, and is occupied by Captain Byng, whose first wife was niece to the late Mrs. Cranmer. The house was built by Thomas Newman, Esq., who obtained the estate in 1533, but it was re-built in the A DESCRIPTION OP ESSEX. 95 seventeenth century by Thomas Turner, Esq., who formed the park around it, and in 1741 it was sold to Joseph Cranmer, Esq., of the Six Clerks Office. NEWPORT Is in the hundred of Uttlesford, county of Essex, near a railway station, forty-two miles from London. The village is at least as old as the time of the conquest. There is a fine old house presenting some quaint gable ends and windows, and in this house one of the " Merry Monarch's " many mistresses resided for some time, to wit, Nell Gwynn, ancestress of the hereditary Grand Falconer of England, the Duke of St. Alban's, who enjoyed 1200 a-ycar from Government on account of Nelly's easy virtue. Some good traits in her character may serve to reconcile us to the absurd pension received by her descendants. The house where she was visited by her royal lover is an antique building, with a carved wood front, and a shell canopy over the door, surmounted by a crown. When we inspected it some years since the hall and the different apartments were lined with wainscotting, but the interior presented a more modem appearance than the exterior. SAFFRON WALDON (ST. MARy), An incorporated market town and parish, possessing separate jurisdiction, and the head of a Union, locally in the Hundred of Uttlesford, northern division of the county of Essex, twenty-seven miles (north-north-west) from Chelmsford, and forty (north north-east) from London. The name of Waldon is said to bo derived from the Saxon words Weald and Den, signifying a woody valley. At a later period the place was called Waldenburgh ; and in the reign of Stephen, when Geoffery de Mandoville, Earl of Essex, procured from the Empress Maud the grant of a market, previously held at Newport, the town took the appellation of Cheping Walden. The present designation owes its origin to the culture of saffron in the neighbourhood, which is supposed to have been introduced into England in the time of Edward III., but has long since been discon- tinued : the device of the seal of the Corporation is a rebus on the name, being three saffron flowers walled in. The Earl of Essex, above men- tioned, who was grandson of Geoffery do !Mandevillc, a Norman chief, and one of the most distiuguished followers of William I., founded a Bene- dictine priory near the south-western extremity of the ])arish, which was richly endowed, and, in 1190, converted into an Abbey; its revenue at the time of its suppression, amounted, according to speed, to ii40C 5s. lid. In 1537 the Abbey was surrendered with all its possessions, to the King, who granted them to Sir Thomas Audley, K.G., afterwards Lord Chan- cellor, and created Baron Audley, of Waldon. Upon the site of the 96 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. monastic buildings, and partly out of the ruins, Thomas, first Earl of Suffolk, in 1603, erected the first stately fabric, which he called Audley End, in honour of his maternal grandfather, the Chancellor ; but of this magnificent house, which occupied thirteen years in completing, and was considered the largest mansion within the realm, one court only remains, and even this comparatively small portion of the original building forms a splendid residence. Upon the death of Henry, tenth Earl of Suffolk, in 1745, without issue, the Audley End estate was divided between George William, Earl of Bristol (who had a half-share), and Elizabeth, Countess of Portsmouth, and Ann Griffin, wife of William Whitwell, Esq. (who had a quarter share each) as representatives of the daughters and co-heirs of James, third Earl of Suffolk. Lady Portsmouth gave her share of the property, together with the house, in 1762, to her nephew. Sir John Griffin Griffin, K.B., who, in 1784, established his claim, in the female line, to the ancient barony of Howard de Walden; and, dying in 1797, bequeathed his estates to Richard Aldworth Griffin, Lord Braybrooke, father of the late possessor of Audley End, who has greatly improved the estate. The town is beautifully situated in a district abounding with interesting scenery, contains several good streets, and a spacious Market Place, in which is a neat Town Hall. The old houses are principally built of lath and plaster, and some of them fire very ancient ; but the more modern ones are of brick, and the recent improvements have materially altered the general appearance of the place. A bridge has been built over the Slade, and the railway has generally benefited the town. A Scientific and Literary Institution has been established, and there are Horticultural and other societies. The situation of the town is thus emphatically described by Dr. Stukely : '^ A narrow tongue of land shoots itself out like a promontory, encompassed with a valley in the form of a horse-shoe, enclosed by distant and delightful hills. On the bottom of the tongue, towards the east, stands the ruins of the castle, and on the top or extremity, the Church, the greater part of which is seen above the surrounding houses." The trade in malt and barley is very considerable. The ]\Iarket is on Saturday ; Fairs are held on Mid-Lent- Saturday and November 1st., and a Fair for sheep and lambs takes place on the 3rd and 4th of August, which is much frequented. By a charter granted in 1549, the control of the town was vested in twenty persons; but the government was remodeled by William and Mary, and under the Act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76, the Corporation at present consists of a Mayor, four Aldermen, and twelve Councillors; the number of Magistrates is two, besides the Mayor, late Mayor, and Eecorder. The Sessions are held quarterly, and a Court of Eecord occurs every three weeks, for the recovery of debts and the determination of pleas to any A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 97 amount, at which the Recorder presides. The Courts leet and baron for the manors of Brooke and Chipping-Walden, belonging to the owner of Audley End, take place at stated times, and the Magistrates for the Division have their Sessions in the town once a fortnight. The living is a vicarage, valued in the King's books at 33 6s. 8d. ; net income, 237 ; patron and impropriator. Lord Braybrooke. The Church, which was erected in the reigns of Henry VI. and VII., is a spacious and elegant structure, in the later English style, with a lofty square embattled tower, strengthened by double buttresses of five stages, ter- minating in minarets rising above the battlements, and surmounted by a lofty, crocketed spire. The western front is of imposing grandeur, having over the central doorway a handsome window of three, and at the extremities of the side aisles windows of five lights of rich and elegant design, and at the angles of the building enriched buttresses terminating in crocketed pinnacles. The interior of the Church is beautifully arranged ; the nave is lighted by a range of clerestory windows, and separated from the aisles by clustered columns supporting the roof, which, like that of the chancel and aisles, is richly grained ; and the altar is embellished with a fine painting of the Holy Family, after Correggio ; the middle and south chancels were erected by Chancellor Audley, and the north by the inhabitants, aided by John Leche, who was vicar from 1489 to 1521, and whose tomb may be seen near the north chancel door. There are places of worship for General Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyans, and Unitarians. The School, in which the classics were formerly taught, owed its foundation to John Leche, and his sister, Johane Bradbury. The learned Sir Thomas Smith, Secretary to Edward VI., a native of Walden, is said to have received his early education here, and through his interest the school was advanced to a r(iyal foundation. A Wmrity School, now on the national plan, was estab- lished by subscription, and subsequently endowed with benefactions producing 1 00 per annum ; there is a school for girls, similarly con- ducted, near the eastern end of the Church, adjoining the Buiy or Castle Hill ; and a school for boys, upon the plan of the British and Foreign School Society, has been erected in East Street. A range of Almshouses was built in 1829 at the south-west end of the town, to re-place some founded by Edward VI., for the I'cception of sixteen decayed housekeepers of each sex. The elevation of the buildings, which cost nearly 5000, i.s handsome and appropriate, and adds much to the general appearance of the town, as well as to the comforts of the inmates. The income of this charity exceeds 900 per annum, and the number of inmates is about thirty. This was the first town in which the system of allotments for the poor and working-classes was introduced, and about 40 acres are thus Q 98 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. appropriated, much to the benefit of nearly 800 of the population. It is the head of a Union, comprising twenty-four parishes. A commodious Workhouse has been erected. Between the town and Audley End Park are the remains of an old embankment called " The Battle Ditches/^ respecting which there is no clear or satisfactory tradi- tion. Dr. Stukely found the south bank to be 730 feet long, 20 high, 50 broad at the base, and 8 at the top ; the length of the western bank is 588 feet ; both banks and ditches are well preserved and extremely bold. The ruins of the Castle, erected soon after the Conquest by Geoffrey de Mandeville, are only remarkable for the thickness of the walls and the' rude character of the building. The remains, and the hill on which they stand, are held by trustees, under lease from Lord Braybrooke, for the benefit of the town. A Museum was erected in 1835 within the grounds, which contain many rare specimens of zoology and other departments of natural history ; and a spacious hall has been added to the building by Lord Braybrooke for the agricultural society of the town and vicinity. Lord Howard de Walden takes the title of Baron from the town. AUDLEY END, THE SEAT OP LORD BRAYBROOKE. Scarcely a mile to the west of the town stands the princely mansion of Audley End, in the midst of tastefully laid-out grounds, lawns, and gardens. The fine wood and spacious park are diversified by hill and dale, and from some of the higher points, views are presented in many counties. On one side is the town of Safii'on Walden, partly hid in the intervening valley ; below is the silvery Cam, winding its way through the grounds and g-rassy vale ; while further away are the dark woodlands and game preserves. Lord Howard (Baron Howard of Walden), who took part in the destruction of the Spanish Armada, built Audley House on the site of an ancient monastery, which had been granted to Mr. Thomas Audley at the time of the dissolution of religious houses. Lord Howard being Lord Treasurer, determined to erect a mansion that should surpass any other in the country in size and magnificence. He procured a model in wood from Italy at a cost of 500, and having chosen, an architect, he began the building in 1G03, and finished it in 1611, at a cost of 200,000 ! Lord Braybrooke, in his " History of Audley End,^' says : " When the house was completed, it consisted, besides the offices, of various ranges of buildings, surrounding two spacious quadrangular courts ; that to the westward was the largest, and was approached over a bridge across the Cam, through a double avenue of limes, terminating with a grand entrance gateway, flanked by four circular towers. The apartments in the north and south sides of the principal courts were erected over an open cloister and supported by pillars of alabaster, and on the eastern side a flight of A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 90 steps led to the entrance porches placed on a terrace running parallel to the great Hall, which formed the centre of the building ; beyond the Hall was the inner court, three sides of which only remain, and constitute the present house/' An estimate of the magnitude of the building may be formed from the dimensions of the principal gallery, which measured 226 feet in length, 32 feet in width, and 24 feet in height. The present building contains three sides of the smaller of the two original quadrangles. The grand entrance is from the west, where two corresponding porches project from each side, and are ornamented with handsome pillars. The family chapel stands at the north end corner of the house ; it is fitted up in the most elegant style of English architecture. The gallery appro- priated to the family is at one end, and its roof is decorated with the family arms. The house is elegantly furnished ; the saloon and gallery contain a large collection of valuable paintings, and in the library there is a judicious selection of books. Audley End is the name of one of the finest estates in Essex, an estate covering a vast extent of highly-cultivated land. The Park is five miles in extent, and presents that magnificence of English park scenery so well de- scribed by Washington Irving : " Vast lawns, that extend like sheets of vivid green, with hero and there clumps of gigantic trees heaping up rich piles of foliage. The solemn pomp of groves and woodland glades, with the deer trooping in silent herds across them ; the hare bounding away to the covert, or the pheasant suddenly bursting on the wing. The brook taught to wend in natural meanderings, or expand into a glassy lake, the seques- tered pool reflecting the quivering trees, with the yellow leaf sleeping on its bosom, and the trout roaming fearlessly about its limpid waters, while some rustic temple or sylvan statue grown grey and dark with age, give an air of classic sanctity to the seclusion.^' "The Sketch Book." Lord Braybrooko permits any picnic parties to ramble in the Park. Some years since we spent a pleasant summer day there, and the keeper very kindly accompanied us over the grounds to hear The gladsome voices of uniuuuhored birds, Tlie moan of dovos in inniiemorial elms, And murmuring of innumerable bees. There is a mound over the railway tunnel, and on the summit there is a circular fence enclosing an extensive aviary. A temple and Gothic cottage stand on the top of the mound, and a lawn in front, on which are placed large cages containing eagles, hawks of various kinds, kites, parrots and parroquets, Cornish crows, canaries, goldfinches, bullfinches, linnets, red poles, with many other kinds of birds, of which the most remarkable are some hundreds of gold and silver pheasants quite tame so tame that ther come at the call of their keeper for food scattered about. 100 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. The temple before-mentioned stands on the highest part of the mound. It is a stone building in the classic or Grecian style of architecture, sur- mounted with a dome, and was built to commemorate the peace of 1763. The following inscription is placed over the entrance : " Sacred to Victory, eminently triumphant in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, by the glorious and unparalleled success of the British Armies in the war com- menced 1 755, and concluded 1 763 ; when France and Spain making overtures to the Crown of Great Britain, and yielding to the superiority of her arms, peace was restored.^^ CHESTERrORD, Which is situated on the eastern bank of the River Granta, though now a small village, was anciently a town of considerable importance. It is by most antiquaries identified with the Camborecum of Antoninus, and the foundation of walls inclosing a quadrangular area of fifty acres was till lately traceable. That it was a Roman station is certain, not only from its name and the numerous coins and other Roman antiquities discovered at various times, but also from its contiguity to several Roman roads, of which the Icknield and Ermyn Streets intersect each other in the imme- diate vicinity. Roman bricks and coins of the earlier and later emperors have been found in great quantities, of which, in 1769, a large number in good preservation were found in an earthen pot, by some workmen who were digging up the foundation of the walls for materials to mend the road. In 1730 many coins and entire skeletons were discovered, besides a small urn of red clay containing written scrolls of parchment, which were destroyed before they were deciphered. Besides the larger camp or station, there are several smaller camps ; one near the Church, in the grounds between which and the ruins are traces of an amphitheatre. At the distance of half-a-mile from the larger camp is another, called Hingiston Burrows, and a third on the opposite side of the river. On an eminence near the Roman road from Inckleton towards Newmarket is Fleamsdyke, where is a small fort, probably the castra exjploratorum, in the centre of which are traces of a building. The Roman road to Grandchester may be plainly traced, forming a ridge of 200 yards in a direction towards the river above Cambridge. In 1 786 a bronze bust, fibula, gold and brass instruments and utensils of various kinds, were found, of which one of gold, in the form of a staple, and weighing eight pounds, lay buried under a rude mass of bronze. A stone trough in the form of half an octagon, of which the four compartments were ornamented with human figures in relievo, was for a considerable time used as a reservoir in a smithes shop. It was subsequently in the possession of Dr. Girver, of Chelmsford, who referred it to that class of receptacles of ashes called Quietiria. A DESCRIPTION OF ESSEX. 101 Soon after the Norman survey in 1086, the manor belonged to the Mareschals, Earls of Pembroke. At the commencement of the 16th century it was given by its proprietors, the Berkeleys, to the abbey of St. Peter at Westminster, and on the dissolution of Monasteries was granted by Henry VIII. to Audley, Lord Chancellor, from whom it descended to the Marquess of Bristol, and subsequently to others. The parish comprises 2811 acres, of which 200 are woodland; the soil in the more elevated is a thin dry loam, resting on a substratum of chalk, and in the valleys is a rich loam on a dry bottom. The village is pleasantly situated, and commands an uninterrupted prospect extending to the County of Cambridge. The Market has been discontinued, but a Fair is held for horses. ESSEX CASTLES AND FORTS. These are twenty in number, and some of them of great antiquity. They are situated as follows : Bemfleet Castle (Barstable), Blunts Walls Fortress (Barstable), Bures Mount (Lexden), Canfield Castle (Dunmow), Canute's Camp (Canewdon), Clavering Castle (Clavering), Colchester Castle (Colchester), Great Horkesley Earthworks, Hadleigh Castle (Roch- ford), Harwich Castle (Harwich), Hedingham Castle (Hinckford), Land- guard Fort (near Harwich), Newport Castle (Newport), Shoebury Fortress (Rochford), Stansted Castle (Stansted), Tilbury Fort, Uphall Earthworks, Walden Castle (Saffron Walden). ABBEYS AND OTHER MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS IN ESSEX. Barking Abbey, Bicknacre Priory, Beclcigh Abbey, Berden Priory, Blackmore Priory, Carmelite Friary (Maldon), Coggeshall Abbey, Colne Priory, Crossing Temple, Crouched Friars (Colchester), Dunmow Priory, Friary (Chelmsford), Grey Friars (Colchester), Halsted College, Harlow Bury, Hatfield Priory (Pevcrol), Hatfield Priory (Broad Oak), Hedingham Hospital (New Abbey), Hedingham Nunnery, Horkesley Priory, Latton Priory, Le Hospital (Maplestcad), Lcighs Hermitage, Leighs Priory, Newport Hospital, Parndon Monastery, Panficld Priory, Pleshey College, Prittlewell Pi-iory, St. Giles' Hospital (Maldon), St. Osyth Priory, St. John's Abbey (Colchester), St. Botolph's Priory, St. James Hermitage, Stansgate l^riory, Stratford Abbey, Takeley Priory, Tlioby Priory, Throiiihall 1^-iory, Tilty Abbey, Tiptree Prior^^, Walden Abbey, Waltham Abbey, Wix Nunnery. All these buildings are now in ruins. 'Slnia is tlic matin Iji'U wliose early call. AVaviu'd tlio <;voy fathers from tlieir luimbU! beds ; Ko midiiij^'lit taper fleams aldnj:^ tlie wall, Ur rouiul the scul])tureil saiul a radiance sliods. CHAPTER II. A DESCEIPTION OF CAMBKIDGESHIKE. af! AMBRIDGE SHIRE is an inland county, bounded on the south by (fA^ the counties of Essex and Hertford, on the north by Lincolnshire, on the east by Suffolk, on the north-east by Norfolk, and on the west by the counties of Bedford, Huntingdon, and Northampton. It extends from 52 deg. 2 miu. to 52 deg. 45 min., north latitude, and from 28 min. east longitude to 18 min. west longitude, and contains 858 square miles, or 549,120 statute acres. The whole county is in the fen district, and presents a very flat aspect, but the eastern parts are varied by gently rising hills. Geologists have explored the whole of the fen district with especial interest, in consequence of the evidence it affords of changes of level and the action of water. Land and water appear to have been in conflict for ages. Now the sea has triumphed, rolling its waves over the northern region ; now a marine current, flowing steadily in one direction, has prevailed, bringing white silty clay, gravel, flints, boulders, bones, and shells. Next in order appear signs of the sluggish action of freshwater; of forests growing during long periods, until overwhelmed by the sea. Then another forest grew above the former, and produced oaks with stems ten feet in diameter. These in turn perished, and the whole region became a vast expanse of marsh and fen. The substrata of the county are chalk, which extends through the hilly part, from Royston to Newmarket ; cluncli, a calcareous substance found in large masses, but neither so white nor so soft as chalk, chiefly abound- ing in the parishes of Bunnell and Isleham, and much used for lime and fire stones ; gault, a stiff blue clay, prevailing in the eastern and western parts of the county ; sand, which crossing Bedfordshire, begins in this county in the parish of Gamlingay ; silt, a sea sand, finely pulverised by the agitation of the waters, and found in the marsh lajids ; peat earth, extending through the whole of the fen district ; and gravel. A DESCRIPTION OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 103 Cambridgeshire, including the Isle of Ely, forms part of the great level of the fens, which is based upon a bed of clay of great thickness, consist- ing of the gault, the Oxford clay, and the Kinimeridgo clay. These, by the almost total absence of the strata of stone that usually separate them, have become only disthiguishable by their imbedded fossils. Above the clay there is a deposit of peat of variable thickness, but usually of many feet. In those parts which formerly constituted the fen islands, there are great masses of gravel, sand, and drift clay. The soil is chiefly arable, and produces abundant crops of corn, more particularly in the fen district. It has been estimated that about one- fourth of the fen lands actually in cultivation is so^\ti with cole seed, the plant being mostly eaten off by sheep. Hemp and flax are cultivated to a considerable extent in the parishes of Up well, Welney, Outwell, Elm, and Wisbech. The parishes of Chatteris, Mepal, Sutton, Swavesey, Over, Wellinghani, Cottenham, Hampton, Landbeach, Waterbeach, Stretham, Ijittlcport, Ely, Sohaiu, and Fordham, constitute the principal dairy district, a great quantity of the butter produced in which is sent to London. Between Chesterford and Cambridge the land is in a high state of cultivation, the sui-face is varied and undulating, and aftbrds a pleasing prospect to the eye. All the beauties of English landscape scenery are presented in the wild copse, the mossy dell, the russet grove, the meadow in which the fragrant clover, or the gay buttercup, or the blooming heath, or the modest daisy, mingle with the bright green of the grassy sod, and form one of rural nature's verdant scenes grateful to every sense. Gog Magog Hills, near Cambridge, are the highest in the county, ranging to the south-east, and commanding an extensive prospect. Thirty-three Churches may be seen from their summit, scattered through a great extent of country in Essex, Hertfordshire, and Cambridgeshire, and adorning the landscape with their antique architecture, their gothic towers, and their spires that "point to heaven." There is a triple entrenchment on the summit of these hills, with two rude circular ditches, which some nnti(|uarii's su])pose to be remains of a Roman camp. Roman coins have been found there. At the time (jf the Roman invasion (a.d. 4o), this ct)unty formed part of the country of the Iceni, being, according to A\niittaker, inhabited by a tribe of that people called the Cenomanni. In the first division of this island by the Romans, it was included in Britannia Superior, in tho second in Britannia Prima, and in the last in Flavia Ca\5ariensis. The Romans seem to have thickly populated the district of the fen?. Numerous remains of their roads and villas, as well as many coins and much pottcM-y, have been found. Several of these great lines of road passed thrtmgh the level land now called Canibridgeshii-e, and may still 104 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. be traced. Two of tliese crossed each other in the Roman station at Cambridge, and are usually called by antiquaries, " The Akeman Street " and " The Via Devann.^^ Another traversed the fens from Denver in Norfolk to a place near Peterborough. The " Erming Street " and " Icknield Way " pass for some distance through Cambridgeshire, but they were probably tracks made by the Iceni. The Romans formed great embankments against the sea, along the shore of the Wash, from Lynn by Wisbech into Lincolnshire, which are still very conspicuous, although now at a considerable distance from the coast. They also seem to have had a navigable canal along the edge of the fens, in continuation south- wards of the '' Car Dyke." Wliile mentioning Roman antiquities in the fens, we should notice the four great boundary ditches, each of which extends for several miles, across the open chalk district from the fens to the ancient woodland. Of these, the "DeviFs Ditch,'' upon the Newmarket Heath, is the best known. It is also the largest, although one of the others is longer. Its length is about seven miles, and it consists of a ditch with a rampart on one side formed of the excavated soil. The height of the bank is about eighteen feet above the level of the county, thirty feet above the bottom of the ditch, and twelve feet in width at the top. The whole of the upper district, or county proper, of Cambridgeshire is traversed by numerous brooks, which combine to form the River Cam. One of the chief tributaries of this river (called the Ree) rises on the boarders of Hertford, Bedford, and Cambridgeshires ; the other, named the Granta, has its source in Essex. These waters combine at a short distance from Cambridge, and flowing by Ely to Littleport, in the ancient channel of the Great Ouse, are thence conducted by a cut into the Little Ouse, and, together with that stream, reach the sea at Lynn. The Great Ouse rises at a spring called Ousewell, near Brackley, in Northamptonshire, passes through Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, and descending by Huntingdon, enters Cambridgeshire at a place called the Hermitage, in the parish of Haddcnham, near Earitli, where it formerly divided into two branches by falling by Earith, below Stretham Mere, where it received the River Granta from Cambridge, passing on to Ely and Prickwillow, where the Mildcnhall river falls in ; united with this, it runs to Littleport, Chayre, Wclney, and Sprewsnest Point, and so on to Downhara and Lynn, below which port it falls into the sea. The River None, which has its head near Catesby, in Northamptonshire, flows through Peterborough and on to Wisbech, below which town jt divides the counties of Norfolk and Lincoln, and falls into the Cross Keys Wash, or Metaris Estuarium, which is in the jurisdiction of the Port of Wisbech. A DESCRIPTION OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 105 Norfolk is separated from Cambridgeshire on tlie south-west by the Wisbech Canal and the Well river, which flows through the two parishes of Out well and Up well, parts of which are in the two counties. '' The Fens " include a district that extends into the six counties of Cam- bridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Huntingdonshire, and North- amptonshire. The fen district is bounded on the north-east by the German Ocean, and on all the other sides by high lands, which encompass it in the form of a horseshoe. Its area by actual survey has been found to be 400,000 acres. The Isle of Ely is included in the '' Bedford Level." This tract of land was once a forest, then a morass ; and now, by the industry of man, large portions of it are converted into rich pastures and fertile corn fields. In this fen land, which spreads over parts of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, there are accumulations of silt, drifted matter, and bog earth, carried to their present position by the old courses of the river, and some of which accumulations began before the Christian era. Geolo- gists inform us that after removing these accumulations by artificial means, they found below gravel beds, sand banks, stumps of trees, masses of drifted wood, and sometimes skulls and skeletons of wild animals, no longer inhabitants of this island. No doubt the fens included forests where in times of peace the Britons resorted to be instructed in the Druids' lore, and where, after the Romans invaded the island, they sought for shelter and protection. The Romans made roads through marshes to facilitate the march of troops and the intercourse between one part of the island and the other. Civilisation followed the formation of roads, and Henry of Huntingdon, writing in the middle of the 12th century, describes the country as being "very pleasant and agreeable to the eye, watered by many rivers which run through, diversified with many large and small lakes, and adorned with many woods and islands." William of Malmcsbury, who lived about the same period, says : " The Lordship of Thorney abounded in lofty trees, fi'uitful vines; and productive orchards, and that it had no waste land in any part. It was also adorned by many handsome edifices. * * * What shall I say," exclaims the old historian, " of the beautiful buildings of which it is so wonderful to see the ground amidst those fens to bear ? " No doubt large numbers of the Anglo-Saxons settled in Cambridgeshire at an early period, and built all the towns. The district contains many traces to prove that towns and villages which anciently existed on the level had been suddenly overwhelmed by some violent cause, and their place covered with water. Repeated attempts were made to drain it ; the first on record was in M3G ; but nothing effectual was done till the then Earl of Bedford and some other parties, in lG3t, at an expense of 100,000, partially accom- plished the drainage of the Isle of Thorney, which, with the exception of 106 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. a hillock where an abbey had been built, was all under water. It was out of compliment to this nobleman that the tract of land was called "The Bedford Level." His son and successor carried the work of draining still further, and in 1664 he obtained a Royal Charter, incor- porating the undertakers for the drainage (to whom 95,000 acres were granted), and framing regulations for the management of the land reclaimed. This Corporation is still kept up, and consists of a governor, six bailiffs, twenty conservators, and a commonalty, who have power to impose and levy rates for keeping up all the works erected and made through the fens. For a considerable distance between Cambridge and Ely, the fen land has been much benefited by the gault or blue clay being dug up and spread over the surface. Large portions of the reclaimed land afford fine pasture fields for the various breeds of cattle that are to be found in every parish. Great numbers of sheep are also kept in the fens, the breed preferred being a cross between the Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. Between Cambridge and Ely there is a wide expanse of pasture land covered with flocks. The pastures are intersected by rows of trees, rendering the country picturesque. The poet Tennyson has described a scene in the fen country, simply and faithfully, though some people think it the quintessence of the prosaic : Upon the middle of the night, Waking she heard the night-fowl crow ; The cock sung out an hour ere light. From the dark fen the oxen's low Came to her, without hope of change. In sleep she seemed to walk forlorn, Till cold winds woke the gray-eyed morn About the lonely moated grange. ****** About a stone cast from the wall A sluice with blackened waters slept, And o'er it many round and small, The clustered marish mosses crept. Hard by a poplar shook alway, All silver green with gnarled bark ; For leagues no other tree did mark The level waste, the rounding grey." The Isle of Ely, and some portion of the other lands, form a part of the great level of the fens called the Bedford Level, from the efforts made by the last Earl and the successive Dukes of Bedford to promote its drainage. During the Roman dominion in Britain, this extensive district seems to have consisted chiefly of wet forests, intersected by stagnant rivers and marshes. That it was not altogether a inoniss nt that time is proved by the great rrads made through it A DESCRIPTION OF CAMBRIDGESHIRi;. 107 by the Romans. These are now covered in some places by many feet of peat soil, so that they are only to be seen when deep di'ains are cut in the mosses. Afterwards, during the Saxon, and more especially during the Norman, period the whole was flooded by the silting up of the outfall of the rivers. This state of things became worse and worse till, in the seventeenth century, the whole district had become a number of islands, surrounded by an almost constant flood of water. Since that time, great efforts have been made continuously to reclaim the flooded lands ; and this has been nearly effected by embanking the rivers and other streams that convey the upland waters, and pumping the fen water into them by the aid of steam power, which has superseded windmills. The singular changes which took place in this district during its neg- lected state may be illustrated by the fact that at one period the rivers Neno, Ouse, and Cum, which poured their waters on to the level, all found their way to the sea at Wisbech ; that subsequently, by the formation of a cut, which still conveys the latter two, conjointly by the Little Ouse, to Lynn, the three took their course to that last-mentioned town, and the None became so sluggish as to have no definite channel, but found its way through vari(jus tortuous drains. At the present time the None alone flows by an artificial course to AVisbech ; and the old channel of the great Ouse, from Littleport to Wisbech, is so completely filled up as to be only traceable by a bed of silt, and a slight but broad depression of the land. The Ouse formerly flowed from Earith, near which place it enters this county, to a spot some miles to the south of Ely, to be joined by the Cam ; but is now conducted by a great artificial cut, called the Bedford river, in a direct course of more than twenty miles to Denver in Norfolk, thus leaving many miles of its ancient channel nearly dry. The county for civil purposes is divided into the Hundreds of Arming- ford, Chestei'ton, Chcveley, Chilford, Ely, Fiendish, Longstow, North- stow, Papwortli, EuJfield, Staiue, Staploe, Thriplow, Whitterley, \Vliittlesford, Wisbech, North Witchford and South. It contains the city of Ely, the town and University of Cambridge, the towns of Linton, iMarch, Thorney, and Wisbech, and part of Newmarket and Royston. Three knights are returned to Parlianuuit for the shire ami two repre- sentatives each for the borough and University of Cambridge. At an early period the Isle of Ely was made a separate district with an inde- pendent jurisdiction. The county is in the Norfolk Circuit, and with the Isle of Ely is in the jurisdicti(m of the London Court of Bankruptcy. For Parliamentiiry purposes, the two divisions form one district, returning three members to Parliament, liaving the place of election at Cambridg'", .and polling-places 108 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. at Cambridge, Caxton, Chatteris, Ely, Linton, Long Stanton, March, Newmarket, Royston, Soham, Whittlesea, and Wisbech. The greater part of both districts is in the diocese of Ely, except a few parishes in the diocese of Norwich. There are 165 parishes in the diocese. The following is a list of the Hundreds in the comity, with the parishes ie each Hundred : Hundred of Armingford : Abington in the Clay or Abington Pigotts, Bassingbourne, Croyden-cum- Clapton, East Hutley, Guilden Morden, Litlington, Melbourn, Meldreth, Royston, Shingay, Steeple Morden, Tadlow, Wendy, and Whaddon. Hundred of Chesterton : Chesterton, Childerley, Cottenham, Dry Drayton, and Histon. Hundred of Cheveley : Ashley-cum-Silverley, Cheveley, Kirtling, Newmarket, All Saints, and Wood Ditton. Hundred of Chilford : Babraham, Castle Camps, Great Abington, Great Bartlow, Hildersham, Horseheatli, Linton, Little Abington, Pampisford, Shudy Camps, and West Wickham. Hundred of Ely : Downham and Littleport. Hundred of Fiendish : Cherry Hinton, Fen Ditton, Fulbourn All Saints, Horningsea, and Feversham. Hundred of Longstow : Bourn, Caldecote, Caxton, Croxton, Eltisley, Gamlingay, Great Eversden, Hardwicke, Hatley St. George, Kingston, Little Eversden, Little Gransden, Longstow, and Toft. Hundred of North Witchford : Chatteris, Doddington, March St. Mary and St. Andrew, Whittlesley. Hundred of Northstow : Girton, Impington, Landbeach, Lolworth, Long Stanton All Saints, Long Stanton St. Michael, Marlingley, Milton, Oakington, Rampton, and Waterbeach. Hundred of Papworth : Boxworth, Conington, Elsworth, Fen Drayton, Grancley, Knapwell, Over, Papworth St. Agnes, Papworth St. Everard, Swavesea, and Willingham. Hundred of Rudfield : Balsham, Brinkley, Burrough Green, Carlton- cum-Willingham, Dullingham, Stetchworth, West Wratting, Westley Waterless, and Weston Colville. Hundred of South Witchford : Coveney, Grunty Fen, Haddenham, Manea Chapelry, Mepal, Sutton, Stretham, "Vv^elches Dam, Wentworth, Wilburton, Witcham, and Witchford. Hundred of Staine : Bottisham, Great Wilbraham, Little Wilbraham, Swaffham Bulbeck, Swaffham Prior, and Stow -cum-Quy. Hundred of Staploe : Burwell, Chippenham, Fordham, Isleham, Kennett, Landwade, Snailwell, Soham, and Wicken. Hundred of Triplow : Foulmere, Foxton, Great Shelford, Harston, A DESCRIPTION OP CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 109 Hanxton, Little Shelford, Newton, Stapleford, Thriplow, and Trunap- ington. Hundred of Wetherley : Arrington, Barrington, Barton, Comberton, Coton, Grantchester, Harleton, Haslingfield, Orwell, Shepreth, and Wimpole. Hundred of Whittlesford : Duxford, Hinxton, Ickleton, Sawston, and Whittlesford. Hundred of Wisbeach : Elm, Leverington, Newton Outwell, Parson Drove Chapelrv, Thorney, Tydd St. Giles, Upwell, Wisbeach St. Mary, and Wisbeach St. Peter. City of Ely : Ely College, Ely St. Mary, Ely Trinity, and Ely West- moor Fen. Borough of Cambridge : All Saints, Holy Sepulchre, Holy Trinity, St. Andrew the Great, St. Andrew the Less, St. Benedict, St. Botolph, St. Clement, St. Edward, St. Giles, St. Mary the Great, St. Mary the Less, St. Michael, and St. Peter. The County Lunatic Asylum, situated at Fulbourn, is a handsome building in the Elizabethan style, erected at a cost of 40,000. It will accommodate about 310 inmates. The County Prison and House of Correction is situated on Castle Hill, in the parish of Chesterton, and was erected in 1804 on the site of the old Castle. The Jails for the Isle of Ely are at Ely and Wisbech. That at Ely was built in 1843, on the model of Pentonville Prison. THE TOWN OF CAMBRIDGE. Cambridge is a University, Borough, and Market Town, having separate jurisdiction, and forming a Union and Hundred of itself in the County of Cambridge, on the river Cam, 51 miles (north by east) of London. As it is situated in a fenny district, it owes its chief attractions to the number, variety, and magnitude of the buildings connected with the University. The town, which is about a mile in length, and nearly a mile in breadth, lies chiefly on the south-eastern side of the River Cam. The streets aro generally narrow and crooked, but on the whole the town has been much improved by the erection of new buildings. The town of Cambridge obviously derives its name from the River Cam, anciently the Granta, which name is still preferred by old Cantabs. In the Domesday Book the town is called Grente Bridge. It stands on level ground, chiefly on the right side of the river, Avhich is crossed by an iron bridge of one arch, erected by public subscription in 1823. There are few pubhc buildings here of much interest independently of the University and the Churches. The University Church is St. Mary's, near 110 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. the centre of the town. It was begun in 1478^ and not completed till 1608. The Anglo-Saxons appear to have built the town of Cambridge at an early period, and many of them settled there in the seventh century. The first well authenticated fact stated by historians is the burning of the town by the Danes in 871. The desolated site was chosen by the invaders as one of their principal stations. In 875 three of their generals wintered here with an army, and they occupied this station occasionally till 921. In 1010 the town was again destroyed by its old enemies, the Danes, who left few people in it. Whilst some of the English nobility held the Isle of Ely against William I., that king built a castle on the site, as is supposed, of the Danish fortress ; but if so, it appears to have been on a more extended scale, for it is stated in Domesday Book that twenty-seven houses were destroyed for the purpose. The town, though a borough by prescription, was first incorporated by Henry I. in the early part of his reign ; and twenty -four charters, none of which, however, with the exception of that of the 5th of Eichard II., caused any material change in the municipal government, were granted previously to the charter of the 7th of Charles I., under which the officers of the corporation consisted of a Mayor, four Bailiffs, tw^elve Aldermen, twenty-four Common Councillors, and two Treasurers ; others, not named in the charter, were a High Steward, a Recorder, a Deputy- Recorder, four Councillors, two Coroners, a Town Clerk, Deputy-Town Clerk, and subordinate officers. The Government is now, under the Act of the 5tli and 6th William IV., c. 76, vested in a Mayor, ten Aldermen, and thirty Councillors. The town is a polling-place for the election of knights of the shire, for which it is also the principal place of election. The borough has returned members to Parliament since the twenty-third of Edward I. The right of election was formerly vested in the freemen not receiving alms ; but by the Act of the 2nd of William IV., c. 45, the non-resident freemen were disfranchised, and the privilege was extended to the 10 householders of the borough, and by the Reform Act of 1867, to all householders. The privilege of sending two representatives was conferred on the University by charter of James I. The right of election is vested in the members of the Senate, and the Vice-Chancellor is the returniug-officer. At Cambridge, the religious houses were numerous. The most ancient was that of Augustine Canons, founded near the Castle in 1092 by Picot, the Sheriff', and augmented on its removal to Barnwell by Payne Peverel, standard bearer to Robert, Duke of Normandy ; its revenue at the dis- solution was valued at 351 15s. 4d. Some remains of the conventual building's have been converted into farm offices. The Benedictine A DESCRIPTION OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE. Ill Nunnery of St. Rhudegund appears to have been founded about the year 1130. It was originally dedicated to Mary, but was re-dedicated to St. Rhudegund by Malcolm IV., King of Scotland, who augmented its revenues, and rebuilt the Conventual Church about the year 1160, the remaining portion of which forms the Chapel of Jesus' College. For the purpose of founding this College, Henry VII. granted it to Bishop Alcock, having escheated to the Crown, in consequence of its being deserted by the nuns. The Monastery of the Grey Friars, or Franciscans, the site of which is occupied by Sidney Sussex College, was founded about 1224, and was very flourishing. The Bethlemite Friars settled in Cambridge in 1257 in a house in Trumpington Street, of which they had procured a grant. The Friars de sacco, or penetentia Jesii Chnsti, settled in the same street in 1258, and the order was suppi-essed in 1307. The brethren of St. Mary settled in the parish of All Saints, near the Castle, about 1274. The Priory of the Black Friars, the site of which is now occupied by Emanuel College, was founded before 1275. The Augustine Friars are supposed to have settled here about 1290. Their Convent was founded by Sir Geoffry Pitchford, in the parish of St. Edward. The White Friars, or Carmelites, the site of whose Convent is occupied by the garden of the Provost of King's College, settled first at Chesterton, then at Newenham, about 1249, from which they removed in 1316 to a spot of ground just within the walls, given them by Edward II. Bishop Fitzwaltor, in 1291, founded a small Priory of Gilbertines, who occupied the old Chapel of St. Edmund, opposite to Peterhouse. The town is divided into four distinct wards, named respectively Bridge Ward, Market Ward, High Ward, and Preacher's Ward ; and comprises the fourteen parishes before named, containing as many churches. There are meeting-houses for Primitive and Weslcyan Methodists, Baptists, Independents, and the Society of Friends. The Free Grammar School, situated near Corpus Christi College, was established in pursuance of the will of Stephen Perse, M.D., senior Fellow of Caius College, who in 1615 bequeathed property producing 180 per annum for its erection and en- d(jwnicnt. There are several day schools for the children of the poor. The General Hospital or Infirmary, commonly called Addenbrooke's Hospital, situat(^d at the entrance into the town fi-om London, was fonnded by John Addenbrooke, M.D., F(41ow of Catharine Hall, who in 1719 bequeathed about 4000 to erect and maintain a small physical hospital. ^Ir. John Bowtell, of Cambridge, by will dated in 1813, bequeathed to the institution 7000 Consolidated Bank Annuities, and abont 1000 have been expended in the erection of two extensive wings. The annual income from rents, stock, and contributions is upwards of 3000. There are almshouses for upwards of fifty-four persons, founded and endowed by different individuals. 112 ' HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. The Castle, built in the reign of William I. on the site of a Roman station, afterwards occupied as a Danish fortress, was in early times an occasional residence of our kings. When it ceased to be so occupied, the buildings, which were extensive, fell into decay. During the Civil War it was made a garrison for the Parliament, Cambridge being head- quarters. In 1660, the county was in possession of it, subject to a fee farm rent ; and the Quarter Sessions were held in it from that time till after the building of the Shirehall. The remains of the ancient building, consisting of a gate-house, which was long used as a prison, were lately demolished to afford space for the erection of a new County Court. Amongst eminent natives of Cambridge were Sir John Cheke, tutor, and afterwards Secretary of State to Edward VI. ; Dr. Thirllbye, first and only Bishop of Norwich and Ely ; Bishop Jeremy Taylor ; Dr. Goldis- bourne. Bishop of Gloucester ; Dr. Townson, Bishop of Salisbury ; Dr. Love, Dean of Ely ; Thomas Bennett, who suffered martyrdom at Exeter in 1530 ; and Richard Cumberland, the dramatist. Prince Adolphus Frederick^ fifth and youngest son of King George III., was created Duke of Cambridge, November 27th, 1801. Cambridge is famous for its University, of which the following account is abridged from a topographical dictionary by Samuel Lewis : CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY. The origin of the University is enveloped in great obscurity ; it is, how- ever, probable that Cambridge first became a seat of learning in the seventh century, when, as Bede in his Ecclesiastical History informs us, Segebert, King of the East Angles, with the assistance of Bishop Felix, constituted within his dominions a school in imitation of some that he had seen in France, and this is thought to have been established here. It is certain that at a very early period the town was the resort of numerous students, who at first resided in private apartments, and afterwards in inns, where they lived in community under a principal at their own charge. Several of these houses were at length deserted, and fell into decay ; others were purchased in succession by patrons of literature, and, obtaining incorpora- tion with rights of mortmain, received permanent rich endowments. It is believed that a regular system of academical education was first intro- duced in 1109, when the Abbot of Crowland having sent some monks, well versed in philosophy and other sciences, to his manor of Cottenham, they proceeded to the neighbouring town of Cambridge, w^hither a great number of scholars repaired to their lectures, which were arranged after the manner of the University of Orleans. The first charter known to have been granted to the University is that in the tenth of Henry III., conferring the privilege of appointing certain officers called taxors A DESCRIPTION OF CAMBEIDGESHIRE. 113 to regulate the rate of lodgings for students, which had been raised exorbitantly by the townsmen. This was about fifty years before the foundation of Peter House, the first endowed College. In 1249, the dis- cord between the scholars and the townsmen had arrived at such a pitch as to require the interference of the civil power; and in 1261, dissensions arose in the University between the northern and southern men, which were attended with such serious consequences, that a great number of scholars, in order to pursue their studios without interruption, withdrew to Northampton, where a University was established and continued four years. In 1270, Prince Edward came to (vambridge, and caused an agreement to be drawn up, by virtue of which certain persons were ap- pointed by the town and the University to preserve the peace between the students and the inhabitants. In 1383, Edward III. granted some im- portant privileges to the University, making its authority pai'amount to that of the borough, and ordaining that the Mayor, Bailiffs, and Aldermen should swear to maintain its rights and privileges. These eminent favours caused the townsmen to be more than ever jealous of its authority ; their discontents broke out into open violence in the succeeding reign, when, taking advantage of the temporary success of the rebels of Kent and Essex in 1381, the principal townsmen, at the head of a tumultuous assemblage, plundered Benedict College, and compelled the Chancellor and other members of the University to renounce their chai-tered privi- leges, and to promise submission to the usurped authority of the bui'gesses. These lawless procecMlings wei'o terminated by the arrival of tlie l^ishop of Norwich with an armed force ; and the King soon after punished the burgesses by depriving them of their charter, and bestowing all the privileges which they had enjoyed upon the University, together with a grant that no action should be brought against any scholar or scholar's servant, by a townsman, in any other than the Chancellor's court. In 1 130, l\)])e ^Martin V. decided, from the testimony of ancient evidence, that the members of the University were exclusively possessed of all ecclesiastical and s})iritual jurisdiction over their own scholai-s. liichard 11. restored to the burgesses their charter, with such an abridge- ment of th(Mr ])rivileges as rendered them more subordinate to the University than they previously had been. On the first syinptonis of an a])proaching war between King Charles and the Parliament, the University stood forward to demonstrate its loyalty by t(Muleringthe College ])late to be melted for his Majesty's use. In 1043, the Earl of Manchester, at that time Chancellor of the University, came to Cambridge, and after a general visitation of the Colleges, expelled all tlu> nieml)ers that w(M-e known to be zealously attached to the King and to the Church discipline. In March, lGl-7, Sir Thomas Fairfax visited the H 114 lITSTOr.Y OF EASTER^^ ENGLAND. University, and was received with all tlie honours of royalty at Trinity College; on the 11th of June he kept a public fast at the place. Queen Elizabeth visited Cambridge on August 5th, 1564, and stayed five days, during which she resided at the Provost^s lodge, King^s College, and was entertained with plays, orations, and academical exercises. On the 7th of March, 1615, James I., with his son Henry Prince of Wales, was here, and was lodged at Trinity College, which has ever since, on the occasion of royal visits, been the residence of the Sovereign, King James honoured the University with another visit in 1625 ; and Charles I. and the Queen were there in 1682, when they were entertained with dramatic exhibitions. It has also been visited by Charles II., October 14th, 1671, and September 27th, 1681 ; by William III., October 4th, 1689 ; by Queen Anne and the Prince of Denmark, April 16th, 1705 ; by George I., October 6th, 1717; and by George II., in April, 1728. On all these occasions the royal guests were entertained by the University in the hall of Trinity College ; and it was customary for the Corporation of the town to present them with fifty broad pieces of gold. The University of Cam- bridge is a society of students in all the liberal arts and sciences, incor- porated in the 13th of Elizabeth, by the name of the " Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Cambridge.'^ It is formed by the union of seventeen Colleges, or societies, devoted to the pursuit of learning and knowledge and for the better service of the Church and State. Each College is a body corporate, and bound by its own statutes, but is likewise controlled by the paramount laws of the University. The pre- sent University statutes were given by Queen Elizabeth, and, with former privileges, were sanctioned by Parliament. Each of the seventeen de- partments, or Colleges, in this literary republic, furnishes members both for the executive and the legislative branch of its government ; the place of assembly is the Senate Hoviso. All persons who are Masters of Art, or Doctors in one of the three faculties, viz., divinity, civil laws, and physic, having their names upon the College boards, holding any University office, or being resident in the town, have votes in the assembly. The Senate is divided into two classes or houses ; and according to this arrangement they are denominated Regents, or Non-Regents, Avith a view to some particular offices allotted by the statutes to the junior division. Masters of Art of less than five years standing, and Doctors of less than two, compose the Regent or Upper House, or, as it is otherwise called, the " White Hood House,^^ from its members wearing hoods lined with white silk. All the rest constitute the Non-Regent or Lower House, otherwise called the "Black Hood House,^' its members wearing black silk hoods. But Doctors of more than two years^ standing, and the Public Orator of the University, may vote in either house according to their pleasure. Besides A DESCRIPTION OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 115 the two houses, there is a Council called the Caput, chosen upon October 12th, by which every University grace must be approved before it can be introduced to the Senate. This Council consists of a Vice-Chancellor a Doctor in each of the three faculties, and two Masters of Arts, the last representing the Kegent and Non-Eegent houses. No degree is ever conferred without a grace for that purpose; qjfter the grace has passed, the Vice-Chancellor is at liberty to confer the degree. The University confers no degree whatever, unless the candidate has previously sub- scribed a declaration that he is bona fiJe a member of the Church of England as by law established. For all other degrees, except those of B.A., M.B., and B.C.L., it is necessary that persons should subscribe to the 3Gth Canon of the Church of England, inserted in the Registrar's book. The executive branch of the University government is com- mitted to the following officers : A Chancellor, who is the head of the whole University, and presides over all cases relative to that body ; his office is biennial, or tenable for such a length of time beyond two years as the tacit consent of the University chooses to allow. A High Steward is elected by a grace of the Senate, who has special power to try scholars impeached of felony within the limits of the University (the jurisdiction of which extends a mile each way from any part of the suburbs), and to hold a Court Leet, according to the established charter and custom ; he has power by letters patent to appoint a deputy. A Vice-Chancellor is elected on November 4th by the Senate ; his office, in the absence of the Chancellor, embraces the government of the University, according to the statutes; he acts as a Magistrate both for the University and the County, and must, by an order made in 1587, be the head of some College. A Commissary is appointed by letters patent under the signature and seal of the Chancellor ; he holds a Court of Record for all privileged per- sons, and scholars under the degree of M.A. A Public Orat(jr is elected by the Senate, and is the oracle of that body on all public occasions ; he writes, reads, and records the letters to and from the Senate, and presents to all honorary degrees with an appropriate speech. This is esteemed one of the most honourable offices in the gift of the University. The Assessor is nn officer specially appointed, by the grace of the Senate, to assist the Vice-Chancellor in his Court, in cmtsis foyrnsihus et doiHCi*ttc!,'<. Two Proctors, who are peace officers, arc elected annually on October 10th, by the Regents only, and are chosen from the different Colleges in rota- tion, according to a fixed cycle. A Librarian, Library Keeper, and Assis- tant Library Keeper, are chosen by the Seriate, to whom the management of the University Lil)rary is confided. 116 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. A Registrar, elected also by the Senate, is obliged, either by himself or deputy, to attend all congregations, to give requisite directions for the due form of such graces as are to be propounded, and to receive them when passed into both houses. Two Taxors are elected on October 10th by the Regents only, whomu.st be Masters of Arts, and are Regents by virtue of their office ; they are appointed to regulate the markets, and to lay the abuses thereof before the Commissary. Two Scrutators are chosen at the same time by the Non-Regents only ; they are ex-officio Non-Regents, and attend all congre- gations, read the graces in the lower house, gather the votes, and pro- nounce the assent and dissent. Two Moderators, nominated by the Proc- tors, and appointed by a grace of the Senate, officiate in the absence of the Proctors. Two Pro-Proctors are appointed to assist the Proctors in that part of their duty which relates to the preservation of the public morals. This office was instituted by a grace of the Senate, April 29th, 1818, and Bachelors in Divinity, as well as Masters of Arts, are eligible. The Classical Examiners are nominated by the several Colleges, accord- ing to the cycle of Proctors, and the election takes place at the first con- gregation after October 4th. There are three Esquire Bedells, whose duty is to attend the Vice- Chancellor. The University Printer, the Library Keeper and Under-Library Keeper, and the School Keeper are elected by the body at large. The Yeoman Bedell is appointed by letters patent under the signature and seal of the Chancellor. The University Marshal is appointed by letters patent under the signature and seal of the Vice- Chancellor. The Syndics are members of the Senate chosen to transact all special affairs relating to the University. The Professors have stipends allowed from various sources : some fi^om the University chest, and others from Her Majesty ^s Government, or from estates left for the purpose. Lady Margaret's Professorship of Divinity was founded in 1502, by Margaret Countess of Richmond, mother of Ilc^nry VIE., the election to be every two years. The Regius Professorship of Divinity was founded by Henry VIII. in 1540 ; the candidates must be either Bachelors or Doctors in Di-\dnity. The Regius Professorship of Civil Law was also founded by Henry VIII. in 1540; the professor is appointed by the Queen, and continues in office during her Majesty's pleasure. The Regius Professorship of Physic, founded at the same time, may be held for life. The appointment is by the Queen. The Regius Professorship of Hebrew was founded also at the same time. A candidate must not be under the standing of M.A. or B.D., but Doctors of all faculties are excluded, A DESCRIPTION OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 117 A Professorsliip of Arabic was founded by Sir Thomas Adams, Bart., in 1632. The Lord Almoner's Reader and Professorship of Arabic is in the gift of the Lord Almoner, and the stipend is paid out of the almony bounty. The Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics was founded in 1663, by Henry Lucas, Esq., M.P. for the University. A candidate must be a Master of Aits at least, and well skilled in mathematical science. The Professorship of Casuistry was founded in 1683, by John Knight- bridge, t).D., Fellow of St. Peter's. A candidate must be a Bachelor or Doctor in Divinity, and not less than forty years of age. The Professorship of Music was founded by the University in 1684. The Professorship of Chemistry was founded by the University, in 1702. The Professorship of Astronomy and Experimental I'hilosophy was founded in 1704, by Dr. Plume, Archdeacon of Rochester. The Profes- sorship of Anatomy was foimded by the University in 1707. The Professorship of Modern History was founded by George I. in 1724. The Professor is appointed by the Queen, and holds the office during Her Majesty's pleasure. Ho must be either a Master of Arts, or Bachelor in Civil Law, of a superior degree. The Professorship of Botany was founded by the University in 1724, and has since been made a pntent office. The Professorship of Geology was founded by Dr. Woodward, in 1727. Only unmarried men are eligible. The Professorship of Astronomy and Geometry was founded by Thomas Lowndes, Esq., in 1749. The Norrisian Professorship of Divinity was founded by John Norris, Esq., of Whitton, in the county of Norfolk, in 1768. The Professor cannot continue in office longer than five years, but may be re-elected. He may be a member of either University, may be lay or clerical, but cannot he elected under his thirtieth, nor re-elected after his sixtieth year. The Professorship of Natural and Experimental Philosophy was founded in 1 783, by the Rev. Richard Jackson, M.A. A member of Trinity College is to be preferred, and next a candidate from the counties of Stafford, Warwick, Derby, or Chester. The Downing Profcssorshi]) of the Laws of England, and the Downing Professorship of Medicine, were founded in pursuance of the will of Sir (u>orge Downing, Bai-t., K.H., in 1800. The Professoi-sliip of Mineralogy was founded by the University in 1808, and afterwards endowed by Her Majesty's Government. The title of Professor of Political Economy was conferred by a grace of the Senate in May, 1828, on George Pryme, Escj., ISLA., late Fellow of Trinity College, and is to be a permanent professorship. Lady Margaret's Preachership was founded in 1503; Doctors, lnce]itors, and Bachelors of Divinity are alone eligible, one of Christ's College bc^ng preferred. The 118 History of eastern England. Barnaby Lecturesliips, four in number, viz., in mathematics, philosophy, rhetoric, and logic, are so called from the election taking place on St. Barnabas' day, June 11th; the mathematical lecture was founded at a very early period by the University, and the other three were endowed in 1524, by Sir Eobert Rede, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in the reign of Henry VIII. The Sadlerian Lectureships in Algebra, 1 7 in number, were founded by Lady Sadler, and the lectures commenced in 1710; the lecturers were required to be Bachelors of Arts at least; the lectureships are tenable only for ten years, and no one can be elected unless previously examined and approved by the Mathematical Professor. The Rev. John Hulse, who was educated at St. John's College, and died in 1 789, bequeathed his estates in Cheshire to the University for the advancement and reward of religious learning. The purposes to which he appropriated the income are, first, the maintenance of two scholars at St. John's College ; secondly, to recompense the exertions of the Hulsean prizemen ; thirdly, to found and support the office of Christian Advocate ; and fourthly, that of the Hulsean Lecturer or Christian Preacher, The Christian Advocate must be a learned and ingenious person, of the degree of Master of Arts, or of Bachelor or Doctor of Divinity, of thirty years of age, and resident in the University; he has to compose yearly, while in office, some answer in English to objections brought against the Christian religion, or the religion of Nature, by notorious infidels. The office of the Hulsean Lecturer, or Christian Preacher, is annual ; but the same in- dividual may, under certain circumstances, be re-elected for any number of successive years not exceeding six; the preacher is afterwards ineligible to the office of Christian Advocate ; his duty is to preach and print twenty sermons in each year, the subject of them being to show the evidences of revealed religion, or to explain some of the most obscure parts of the Holy Scriptures. William Worts, M.A., of Caius College, formerly one of the Esquire Bedells of the University, gave two pensions of 100 per annum each to two junior Bachelors of Arts, who are required to visit foreign countries, to take different routes, and to write during their travels two Latin letters each, descriptive of customs, curiosities, &c. The annuity is continued for three years, that Being the period they are required to be absent. The prizes for the encouragement , of literature, the competition for which is open to the University at large, amount to nearly 1200 in value, three-fourths of which are given for the classics and English composition, and the remainder for mathematics. The amount of the annual prizes in the different Colleges is upwards of 300, two-thirds of which are given for the encouragement of classical literature. Two gold medals, value A DESCKIPTIOX OF (AMIilUDGESHIRE. 119 15 15s. Od. eacli^ are given annually by the Chancellor to two commen- cing Bachelors of Art, who having obtained senior optimes at least, show the greatest proficiency in classical learning. These prizes were estab- lished in 1751 by the Duke of Newcastle, then Chancellor of the University. The University scholarships are as follow : John Lord Craven founded two classical scholarships, tenable for fourteen years, of 25 per annum each ; by a decree of the Court of Chancery, in 1819, the income of the scholars has been augmented to 50, and three additional scholarships founded, which are tenable for seven years only. William Battle, M.D., left an estate producing 18 per annum, to endow a scholarship similar to the preceding-. Sir William Browne, Knt., M.D., left a rent charge of 21 for endowing a scholarship tenable for seven years. The Eev. J. Davies D.D., Provost of Eton College, bequeathed in July, 1804, the sum of 1000 Three per Cents, to found a scholarship similar to Lord Craven's, for the greatest proficient in classical learning. The Rev. William Bell^ D.D., late Fellow of Magdalene College, in 1 810, transferred 15,200 Three per Cents, to found eight new scholarships for sons or orphans of clergy- men of the Church of England whose circumstances prevent them bear- ing the whole expense of sending them to the University. By a grace of the Senate, December 9th, 1818, it was directed that the sum of 1000 given by the subscribers to Mr. Pitt's statue, for the purpose of founding the Pitt Scholarship, and afterwards augmented by a donation of 500 from the Pitt Club, should be placed in the public funds until the syndics wero able to vest it in land, the clear annual income to be paid to the Pitt scholar. ^1ie Rev. Robert Tyrwhitt, INT. A., Fellow of Jesus College, who died in 1817, l)equeathed 1 1000 Navy Five per Cents, for the encourage- ment of lli'brew learning; and in the following year the Senate decreec? the foundation of three Hebrew scholarships, which number, in 1820, was increased to six, a scholar of the first class receiving an annual stipend of o0, and ()n(! of the second class a stij)end of 20, for three years. The annual income of the University chest is about 1(5,000, including about 18000 of floating ca))ital ; this arises from stock in the funds, manors, lands, houses, fees for (U^grees, Covernment annuity (t\)r the surrender of the privilege of printing almanacs), profits of the ])rinting-office, etc. The animal ('xjK'nditure is about 12,000, disbursed to tlie various otficers, the professors, the library and schools, the Ujiiversity press, and in taxes, donations to charities, &c. The whole is numagiHl by the \'ice-Chancellor for the year, and the accounts are examined by three auditors, appointed annually by the Senate. There are two courts of law in the University the Consistory Court of the Chancellor, and the Consistory Court of the C'immissary. In the for- 120 HISTORY OF EASTERN ElNGLAND, mer, the Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor^ assisted by some of the heads of the Colleges, and one Doctor, or more, of the civil law, administers justice in all personal pleas and actions arising within the limits of the Univer- sity wherein a member of the University is a party, which, excepting only such as concern mayhem and felony, are to be here solely heard and decided ; the proceedings are according to the course of the civil law. From the judgment of this Court, an appeal lies to the Senate. In the Commissary's Court, the Commissary, by authority under the seal of the Chancellor, sits both in the University and at Midsummer and Stourbridge fairs, to proceed in all cases, excepting- those of mayhem and felony, wherein one of the parties is a member of the University, excepting that within the University all causes and suits to which one of the Proctors or Taxors, or a Master of Arts, or any one of superior degree, is a party, are reserved to the sole jurisdiction of the Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor ; the manner of proceeding is the same as in the Chancellor's Court, to which an appeal lies, and thence to the Senate. The terms, three in numbei", are fixed: October or Michaelmas term begins on October 10th, and ends on December 16th ; Lent or January term begins on January 13th, and ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday ; and Easter or Midsummer term begins on the 11 th day after Easter-day, and ends on the Friday after Commencement day, which last is always on the first Tuesday in July. The several orders in the dift'erent Colleges are as follow : A Head of a College or House, who is generally a Doctor in Divinity ; Fellows, who generally are Doctors in Divinity, Civil Law, or Physic ; Bachelors in Divinity j Masters or Bachelors of Arts. The total number of the Fellow- ships is 408. Noblemen Graduates, Doctors in the several faculties, Bachelors in Divinity (who have been Masters of Arts), and Masters of Arts, who are not on the foundation, but whose names are kept on the boards for the purpose of being members of the Senate. Graduates who are neither members of the Senate nor /;// statu /nipillari, are Bachelors in Divinity denominated four-and -twenty men, or ten year men ; they are allowed by the 9th statute of Queen Elizabeth, which, permits persons who are admitted to any College twenty-four years of age and upwards to take the degree of Bachelors in Divinity, when their names have remained on the boards ten years. Bachelors in Civil Law and in Physic, who sometimes keep their names upon the boards until they become Doctors. Bachelors of Arts, who are i)i statu pii/piUar!, and pay for tuition whether resident or not, and generally keep their names on the boards, either to show their desire to become candidates for Fellowships, or members of the Senate. Fellow Commoners, who are generally the younger sons of the nobility, or young men of fortune, and A DESCRIPTION OP CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 121 have the privilege of dining at the Fellows' table ; they are hero equivalent to gentlemen commoners at Oxford. Pensioners and Scholars, who pay for their respective commons, rooms, &c., but the latter are on the foundation, and, from the enjoyment of scholarships, read the graces in Hall, the lessons in Chapel, &c. The number of scholarships and exhibitions in the University is upwards of 700. Sizars are generally men of inferior fortune, who usually have their commons free, and receive various emoluments. The terms required by- the statutes to be kept for the several degi'ees are as follow : A Bachelor of Arts must reside the greater part of twelve several terms, the first and last excepted. A Master of Arts must be a Bachelor of three years' standing. A Bachelor in Divinity must be a Master of Arts of seven years' standing. A Bachelor in Divinity (ten-year man) is aUowcd, by the 9th statute of Queen Elizabeth, to take the degree of B.D. at the end of ten years, without having taken any other. A Doctor in Divinity must be a Bachelor in Divinity of live years', or a Master of Avts of twelve years' standing. A Bachelor in Civil Law must be of six years' standing complete, and must reside the greater part of nine several terms. A Bachelor of Arts of four years' standing may be admitted to this degree. A Doctor in Civil Law must be of live years' standing from the degree of D.C.L., or Master of Arts of seven years' standing. A Bachelor in Physic must reside the greater part of nine several terms, and may be admitted any time in his sixth year. A Doctor in Physic is bound by the same regulations as a Doctor in Civil Law. A Licentiate in Physic is required to be M.A. or ^L.B. of two years standing. A Bachelor in Music nuist enter his name at some College, and compose and perform a solemn piece of music as an exercise before the University. A Doctor in Music is generally a Bachelor in iMusic, and his exercise is the same. Tlu> ordinary course of study preparatory to the degree of Bacheloi* of Arts may be con- sidered under the three heads of Natural Philosophy, Theology, and floral l^liiloso])hy and the Belles Lettres. On these subjects, besides the public lectures delivered by the several Professors, the students attend the lectures of the tutors of their res})ective Colleges. In addition to a constant attendance on lectures, the undergraduates are ex- amined in their respective Colleges, yearly or half yearly, on those sub- jects which have engaged their studies ; and according to the manner in which they acquit themselves in these examinations, their names arc arranged in classes, and those who obtain the honour of a place in the first class receive prizes of books, differing in value, according to their respective merits. By this course the students are j)repared for those public examinations and exercises which the University requires of all 122 biSTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. candidates for degrees. The first of these takes place in the second Lent Term after the commencement of academical residence, at the general public examination held annually in the Senate House, in the last week of that term, and continues four days. Two classes, each arranged alphabeti- cally, are formed out of those examined, the first consisting of those who have passed their examination with credit, and the second of those to whom the examiners have only not refused their certificate of approval. Those who are not approved by the examiners are required to attend the examination of the following year, and so on; and no degree of B.A., M.B., or B.C.L. is granted unless a certificate be presented to the Caput that the candidate for such degree has passed to the satisfaction of the examiners some one of these examinations. The student having passed this preparatory step, has next to perform the exercises required by the statutes for the degree which he has in view. The principal public buildings belonging to the University are the Senate House, and the Public Schools and Library ; the former of these forms the north, and the latter the west side of a grand quadrangle, which has Great St. Mary's Church on the east, and King's College Chapel on the south. The Senate House is an elegant building of Portland stone, erected from a design by Sir James Burrough, at the expense of the University, aided by an extensive subscription. The foundation was laid in 1722, but it was not entirely completed until 1766; the exterior is of the Corinthian order, and the interior of the Doric, capable of accommo- dating 1000 persons ; near the centre of one side of the room is a marble statue of George I., by Rysbrach, executed at the expense of Lord \"iscount Townshend ; and opposite to it is that of George II., by Wilton, executed in 1766 at the expense of the Duke of Newcastle, then Chan- cellor of the University ; at the east end, on one side of the entrance, is a statue of the Duke of Somerset, by Rysbrach ; and on the other that of William Pitt, by Nollekins, erected by a subscription among the members of the University, amoitnting to upwards of 7000. The Public Schools, in which disputations are held and exercises performed, were commenced on their present site in 1443, at the expense of the University, aided by liberal benefactions ; they form three sides of a small court, the Philosophy School being on the west, the Divinity School on the north, and the schools for Civil Law and Physic on the south ; on the east is a lecture room for the Professors, fitted up in 1795; connected with the north end of the Philosophy School is an apartment containing the valuable mineralogical collection presented to the University by Dr. Woodward in 1727. The Public Library occupies the whole quadrangle of apartments over the schools, and consists of four large and commodious rooms, containing upwards of 100,000 volumes. At the commencement it A DESCRIPTION OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 123 occupied only the apartment on the cast side, but was afterwards extended to the north side also ; its most important acquisition was in the early part of the last century, when George I., having purchased of the exe- cutors of Dr. Moore, Bishop of Ely, that prelate's collection of books, amounting to upwards of 30,000 volumes, for 6000, gave them to this University, at the same time contributing the sum of 2000 towards fitting up rooms for their reception. The upper part of a mutilated colossal statue from the temple of Ceres at Eleusis, the gift of Messrs. Clarke and Cripps, of Jesus College, by whom it was brought to England, is placed in the vestibule. The rents of the University's estate at Ovington, in the county of Norfolk, arc appropriated for the purchase of books for the library, that estate having been bought with money given to the University in IGOG, by Tobias llustat, Esq., to be so applied. William Worts, M.A., Fellow of Caius College, bequeathed the annual surplus of the produce of his estate at Landbeach, in this county, to be applied to the use of the public library. A quarterly contribution of one shilling and sixpence from each member of the University, excepting sizars, is also made towards its support. This is one of the eleven libraries entitled by Act of Parliament to a copy of every new publication. The superintendence of the University press is committed by the Senate to syndics, who meet to transact business in the parlour of the printing office, and cannot act unless live are present, the Vice-Chancellor being one. Ifichard, Viscount Fitz- Avilliam, formei-ly of Trinity Hall, who died in 181G, bequeathed to the University his splendid collection of books, paintings, drawings, en- gravings, &c., together with 100,000 South Sea Annuities, for the erection of a Museum to contain them. The collection has since been augmented by many valuable donations of paintings, prints, books, &c. Tlie building was commenced in 1838, from the designs of Mr. G. Basevi, and forms nearly a square of IGO feet ; the principal or east front is a rich composition, with fourteen columns of the Corinthian order, surmounted by a pediment. The ground floor contains three rooms for libraries, extending along the west front, and communicating with two others, one to the south for medals and that to the north for terra cottas, &c. The upper hall is 70 feet by 10 feet, and contains casts from the antique &c. There are also three ])icture galleries, the floors of which, and also those of the libraries, are of Dutch oak. The Botanical Carden occupies between three and four acres on the south-east side of the town, conveniently disposed and well-watered ; this piece of ground, with a large old building that f(rmerly belonged to the Augustine friars, was purchased for 1000 by the late llichard Walker, \ ice-Chancellor of Trinity College. The old l)uilding having been sold, a new one has been erected hn- the use of the lecturers iu cliymistiy and 124 HISTORY OF EASTEEN ENGLAND. botany. The garden is under the government of the Vice-Chancellor, the Provost of King's College, the Masters of Trinity and St. John's Col- leges, and the Professor of Physic. The Anatomical School, situated near Catherine Hall, contains a large collection of rare and valuable preparations, including the museum of the late Professor, Sir B. Harwood, and a set of models beautifully wrought in wax, recently imported from Naples ; it' is a small building conveniently fitted up, with a theatre for the lectures on anatomy and medicine, which are delivered in Lent term. Measures for the establish- ment of the Observatory were first adopted in 1820, when a sum of 6000 was subscribed by the members of the University, to which 5000 were added out of the public chest by a grace of the Senate. The building was commenced in the year 1822, and completed at an expense of 18,115 ; it stands on an eminence, about a mile from the College walks, on the road to Madingley, and is in the Grecian style ; the centre, sur- mounted by a dome, is appropriated to astronomical purposes, and the wings for the residence of the observers. The superintendence is vested in the Plumian Professor, under whose direction are placed two assistants, who must be graduates of the University, and are elected for three years, being capable of re-election at the expiration of that term. The Philosophical Society was instituted November 15th, 1819, for the purpose of promoting scientific inquiries, and of facilitating the com- munication of facts connected with the advancement of philosophy and natural history ; it consists of Fellows and honorary members, the for- mer being elected from such persons only as are graduates of the Univer- sity, and no graduate or member of the University can be admitted an honorary member ; attached to the Society is a reading-room, supplied with the principal literary and scientific journals, and the daily newspapers. The University comprises seventeen Colleges, namely, St. Peter's, Clare Hall, Pembroke, Gronville, Trinity Hall, Corpus Christi, King's, Queen's, Catherine Hall, Jesus', Christ's, St. John's, Magdalene, Trinity, Emanuel, Sidney, and Downing ; Avhich Avere all founded at different times after the twelfth century. An account of them is given in our historical narrative in the order of time ; also of the eminent members of each College. The principal buildings of the toAvn belong to the University, and the most admired are King's, Trinity, St. John's, and Jesus colleges. NEWMARKET. A market-town, and the head of a union, comprising the parish of St. Mary, in the Hundred of Lackford, West Division of the county of Suffolk, and the parish of All Saints, in the Hundred of Cheveley, county A DESCRIPTION OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 125 of Cambridge, and sixty-one miles (north-north-east) from London, and thirteen miles (north-east-by-east) fi'om Cambridgeshire. The earliest account of this town has reference to the year 1227, when it is supposed to have derived its name from a market then recently established, which is said to have been removed hither on account of the plague raging at Exning, a village about two miles distant, where was probably the parochial church ; and in the time of Edward III. it gave name to Thomas Merks, or de novo Mercatu, Bishop of Carlisle, who was probably a native of the place. A house, called the King's house, was originally built here by James I., for the purpose of enjoying the diversion of hunting; and the subsequent reputation of the town for horse-racing seems to have arisen from the spirit and SAviftness of some Spanish horses, which, having been wrecked with the vessels of the Armada, were thrown ashore on the coast of Galloway, and brought hither. Its celebrity greatly increased in the reign of Charles II., who re-built the King's house, which had fallen into decay during the Civil AVar, and frequently honoured the races with his presence. On the 22nd of March, 1G83, being the time of the races, the King, Queen, and Duke of York were present, but a sudden conflagration compelled them to return hastily to London, to which event some writers have attributed the defeat of the Rye-house ]?lot. By this disaster a great part of the town was destroyed, and the damage was estimated at 20,000. A second fire happened about tlie beginning of the last century. At the close of the Civil AVar, Charles I. was removed, on the 9th of June, 1(547, from the house of Lady Cutts, of Childerley, to Newmarket, where he remained about ten days. The town consists principally of one street, the north side of which is in the county of Suffolk, and the south in that of Cambridge. The houses are modern and well built. Coffee-houses, billiard-rooms, and others, furnish appropriate accommodotion for all meetings pre- liminary to the races. The race-course and training grounds are the finest in the kingdom ; the former is on a grassy heath near the town, and in the county of Cambridge, extending in length four miles. The training ground is more tlian a mile-and-a-half long, on a very gentle acclivity, admirably adapted to keep the horses in wind. The new rooms for the use of the Jockey Club are in the centre of the town. The races are held seven times in the year, and are distinguished as the Craven Meeting, commencing on the Monday in Easter week ; the first and second Spring Meetings, the former on the Monday fortnight following, and the latter a fortnight afterwards; the July fleeting; the first and second October Meetings ; and the third October or Houghton Meeting, the first of these commencing on the first Monday preceding the first Thursday in that month. The great races arc those in Easter week and 126 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. October. The training of race-liorses is a source of extensive profit, several of tliein_, among wliicli are some of the finest horses in the world, being constantly exported at exceedingly high prices. About four hundred are here during the greater part of the year, and it is computed that the weekly consumption of oats, in the town alone, amounts to the amazing quantity of five hundred quarters. The Queen gives two plates annually. Millions of money have been lost and won at these race meetings by betting, and hundreds of turfites make betting a regular profession or trade by which they live. The palace erected by King James has been sold, and part of it converted into shops. The additional structure by King Charles is standing, and part of it was the residence of the late Duke of York during the meetings, and is now occupied by the Duke of Rutland ; the remainder, with its exten- sive stables, is held under the authority of the Crown. The Market, which was granted or confirmed in 1227, is held on Tues- day, and there are Fairs on Whit Tuesday, and November 8th, the lattf^r being extensively supplied with cattle, horses, corn, butter, cheese, hops, etc. The county magistrates hold Petty Sessions here every Tuesday, and a Court Leet is held occasionally. The parishes of St. Mary and All Saints are in the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, and diocese of Norwich ; the former is a discharged rectory, con- solidated with the vicarage of Wood Ditton, in the patronage of the Duke of Rutland. The Church is a handsome structure, with a fine tower and spire. The latter is a perpetual curacy, endowed with 400 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Bishop of Norwich. There is a place of wor- ship for Independents, Free schools are supported by a donation of 50 per annum, which is equally divided, after the deduction of fees of the Exchequer, between the master and the mistress, for which they are re- quired to teach twenty-one boys and twenty-one girls. A National School having been established some years since, the twenty-one boys on Queen Anne's foundation are instructed there as free scholars ; the remainder, being about one hundred and ten, are paid for by the subscribers ; the girls, instructed by the schoolmistress, are provided with cloaks and bon- nets. About a mile and a-half from the town is a remarkable excavation called the " Devil's Dyke," extending nearly in a straight line for seven miles, and being in some places above a hundred feet in width. This work, unquestionably of vei-y remote antiquity, has been attributed to the Britons anterior to the time of Ctesar, and by some to Uffa, the first king of the East Angles ; but notwithstanding that much pains have been taken in the search, no authentic account has ever yet appeared of this remarkable monument of human industry and perseverance. It serves for the boundary between the dioceses of Norwich and Ely. A DESCRIPTION OP CAMnRIDGESHIRE. 127 Several Eoman coins were found near Newmarket Heath in the year 1750, and in 1836 three urns of Roman workmanship, containing the ashes of the dead, were discovered. LINTON (ST. MARY.) A market town and parish of Chilford, County of Cambridge, distant 48 miles (north by east) from London. This town, which is situated on the road from Cambridge to Colchester, has been much improved of late years. The Market, granted in 1245 to William de Lay, is on Thursday, and there is a Fair on July 30th for sheep. An Act for enclosing waste lands was passed in 1838. Courts Leet are held occasionally by the lords of the manors. The living is a discharged vicarage ; patron. Bishop of Ely ; the appropriate tithes, belonging to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, have been commuted for a rent charge of 780, and the vicarial for 260 ; the appropriate glebe comprises eighty-four acres, valued at 75, and the vicarial, nine years, valued at 8 per annum. The Church has a fine embattled tower, and a gallery has been lately built, containing one hun- dred and twenty free sittings. There is a place of worship for Indepen- dents. The Poor Law Union of Linton comprises twenty-two parishes or villages, twenty of which are in the county of Cambridge, and two in that of Essex, and contains a population of 12,958; the Union Workhouse cost 6500, and is capable of accommodating two hundred paupers. WATERBEACH Is a large ill-built straggling town, about seventy miles distant from London. It lies in the Hundred of North Stow, and deanery of Chester- ton, and is a place of some antiquity. Denny Abbey stood in the parish of Waterbeach. It was originally a cell of Benedictine monks, and after- wards an important convent for inins. Passing from the Benedictines to the Templars, on the dissolution of that order, it came into the hands of Mary de St. Pjuilj Countess of Pembroke. That lady converted it in 1338 into an Abbey for manoresses, and under the King's license brought there a number of nuns who had been previously located in an Abbey founded by the Ijady Dionysi de Mountchensi, A.D. 1293, There were twenty-five nuns in this Abbey at the time of the dissolution. On the site of the old Abbey a dwelling-house has been built, and the Abbey demesne is converted into a farm, one of the largest in the county. Many of the houses in Waterbeach are of recent erection, and there is a great contrast between them and the old houses, the latter being built without any attempt at regularity or arrangement. There is nothing in the town to interest a visitor. As the traveller approaches the city of Ely, he obtains a fine view of 128 HISTOEY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. its magnificent cathedral, which is a splendid object in itself, and is ren- dered still more imposing from its fine situation, on a lofty hill, whose sides are clothed with verdure and covered with trees. The country in the immediate neighbourhood of Ely assumes an appearance of rural rich- ness, being highly cultivated and extremely productive. THE CITY OP ELY. Ely is a city and the head of a Union, in the Isle of Ely, County of Cambridge, 67 miles (north by east) from Ijondon. This place, which is the capital of an extensive district in the Fens, is supposed to have derived its name Eleg either from the British Helyg, a willow, or from Elc/e, an eel, for which fish it was remarkable. The city is situated on elevated ground, nearly at the southern extremity of the Isle and the River Ouse, which is navigable from Lynn for barges. It consists of a long street, with smaller streets diverging from it, both in the lower and upper parts of the to\NTi, in the centre of which is a spacious Market Place. The ground in the vicinity, though flat and low, is extremely fertile, producing excellent herbage, and a considerable portion of it is cultivated by market gardeners, who supply the neighbouring towns with vegetables. From the great improvement in the drainage of the Fens, the air of the city of Ely, and indeed of the whole Isle, has become as salubrious as in any part of the county. There is a good market on Thursday weekly, and the Fairs arc on Ascension Day and October 29tli, for horses, cattle, hops, and Cottenham cheese, and last for eight days each. Of late years, the appearance of the town has been much improved by new buildings, and it is well paved and lighted with gas. The city, exclusively of the liberty of the College, which is extra parochial, comprises the parishes of St. Mary and the Holy Trinity, and both benefices are in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter. The Church of St. Mary is an interesting structure, partly Norman and partly in the early English style of architecture, Avith a handsome tower sur- mounted by a spire. The Church of the Holy Trinity was formerly the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral, now fitted up for the parishioners. The King's Grammar School was founded in 1541 by Henry VIII. on the establishment of the Cathedral, and it is under the Dean and Chapter, who appoint the master. The town of Eh', like some others in the Eastern Counties, arose round a Monastery. Ethelreda, daughter of Anna, King of the East Angles, founded a Monastery here in 673 for monks and nuns, dedicating the building to the Virgin Mary ; and though married to Egfred, King of Northmnborland, she devoted herself to a monastic life, and became the chief Abbess. A great part of the Monastery was destroyed by the A DESCRIPTION OF CAMBRIDQESHIEB. 129 Danes in 870, but it was partially restored by some of the monks who escaped the massacre^ and who established themselves as secular priests, under the government of provosts, for nearly a century. In 970, Ethel wold, Bishop of Winchester, having purchased from Edgar the whole of the Isle of Ely, repaired or rebuilt and munificently endowed the Monastery, placing in it an abbot and regular monks, to whom Edgar granted the secular jurisdiction of two Hundreds within and five without the fens, with many important privileges, which were subse- quently confirmed by Canute, and increased by Edward the Confessor, who here received part of his education. In the reign of Henry I., the tenth and last abbot, Richard, obtained from that King permission to establish an episcopal see at Ely, and this was soon after carried into effect, and the diocese included the county of Cambridge. At the disso- lution of the monastery, Henry VIII. altered the ecclesiastical establish- ment of the see, and by charter converted the Conventual into a Cathedral Church, which was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. He endowed with the site and a portion of the revenue of the dissolved priory. Under his charter, as re-modelled by Charles II., the establishment consists of a Dean, eight Canons or Prebendaries, five minor Canons, eight lay Clerks, a Schoolmaster, Ushers, and twenty-four King's Scholars. Ely Cathedral, beg-un in 1081 and never entirely completed, is a splendid cruciform structure, displaying through almost imperceptible gradations the various changes of ecclesiastical architecture from the Norman till the latest period. The plan differs from other Cathedrals in the length of the nave, which is continued through an extended range of twelve arches, and in the shortness of the transepts, which have only a projection of three arches. The nave and transepts are in tlie Norman style ; the choir is partly in the Early English and partly in the Decorated style. The interior of the Cathedral is singularly elegant, and derives a simple grandeur of effect from the judicious arrangement by which the various styles of its architecture are made to harmonise. The choir, partly in the Early and partly in the Decorated English style, is separated from the nave by three of the western arches, which were originally part of it, and now form an ante-choir ; the eastern part, or present choir, consisting of a range of six arches, is lighted by a double range of windows, and forms one of the richest specimens of the Early English style extant. The roof is beautifully gi'oined, and the inter- sections embellished with flowers and foliage of elejifant desisrn. The exterior of the Cathedral, with its lofty tower, presents a gi*andly- imposing appearance when viewed from a distance. The west front, though incomplete fi-oni the want of the south wing of the fa9ade, is strikingly niagnific(nit; the lower part is in the Norman style, with a I 130 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. handsome octagonal turret at the southern extremity, a projecting porch of early English architecture, a lofty, massive, and highly-enriched tower with angular turrets of Norman character, in its lower stages, and in the upper of Early English. From the intersection of the nave and transepts rises a noble octagonal lantern, which is considered one of the finest compositions in the Decorated English style. The Lady Chapel is an elegant edifice in the later Decorated style; the groining of the roof and the series of niches surrounding the interior are of exquisite beauty. The Chapels of Bishops Alcock and West are elaborately decorated with a profusion of architectural embellishments, but inferior in general effect to other portions of this beautiful structure. The length of the Cathedral is 535 feet from east to west, and the breadth 190 feet from the extremity of the north to that of the south transept. There are scanty remains of the cloisters and chapter-house, and the refectory has been converted into a residence for the Dean. We walked through the silent streets of the old city, so dull and deserted, past the old ivy-grown Deanery, and reached the glorious fane. We entered reverently, for the faith of a past age is embalmed there, a faith active in old times when tyranny or rapine drove timid souls to look up to a higher justice, and seek refuge in the tranquil cloister. The ancient temple is growing young again with a new beauty revived by modern taste and skill. As we looked up to the beautiful octagonal lantern which replaced the fallen spire, we thought of the legend of the pious Etheldreda, whose virgin life is there emblematised in sculpture. She was a maiden of royal race, who lived in the 7th century. Twice she was wedded, but only in name ; first with Tombert, a noble of the East Angles, she lived a maiden wife for three years ; and when he died. Prince Egford sought her hand. With him she lived a maiden wife for twelve years. Then she was again a virgin widow. She passed the rest of her life in devotion, and when she died she was buried in the common ceme- tery of the nuns of Ely, Sixteen years after she was re-interred in a fine marble tomb in the Cathedral. No signs of decay were visible in her pure body, and from the spot where she had lain a fountain sprung up as a memorial to later ages. Ely contains about 7000 inhabitants, most of whom live in houses of a very inferior description. The road from the railway- station leads through the worst part of the city, presenting long streets and rows of mean houses that impress the mind with the idea of squalid poverty, contrasting strangely with the grandeur of the Cathedral and the Palace. The vicinity of the railway, and the bustle it has introduced into the formerly quiet city, have been the means of improving the condition of the in- habitants. Many of the better houses are built of stone, but the town A DESCRIPTION OP CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 131 presents few architectural ornaments, except the Cathedral. Seen from the railway-station by daylight, Ely is an amphibious -looking place houses, meadows, and water strangely intermingled, and masked and fringed by willows. Cobbctt, in his " Eastern Tour," says : " I was particularly desirous to have a little political preaching at Ely, the place where the flogging of the English local Militia, under a guard of German bayonets, cost me so dear " a thousand pounds fine and imprisonment in Newgate. To us, in these days of penny newspapers and free discussion, it seems hardly possible that such an incident could take place in the present century. LITTLEPORT Is a large village and parish on the banks of the river Ouse, five miles (north) from Ely. The area is 16,136 acres, about 800 of which are high land, and the remainder fen. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, and beans. The Church is a fine specimen of Early English architecture ; the lofty tower is remarkable for the beauty of its outline. In 1857 the Church Avas enlarged by the addition of a doublc-navo and aisle on the north side ; it now seats a thousand people. The living is a vicarage, yearly value 1907, with house, in the gift of the Bishop of Ely. There are Chapels for Baptists, Methodists, and other Dissenters. There is a Church Sunday School and other schools. Population, 3728. MARCH, A market-town and chapclry, in the parish of Doddington, Union and Hundred of North Witchford, Isle of Ely, county of Cambridge, 31 miles (north by west) from Cambridge, 80 (north) from London. Tlie town is situated on the banks of the navigable river None, by which communica- tion is obtained with Cambridge, Lynn, Peterborough, and other places. The market, granted to Sir Alexander Peyton in 1671, is on Friday, chiefly for butcher's meat ; and there are two fairs, each of which lasts three days, commencing on the Monday before AVhitsuntide, and on the second Tuesday in October. Manorial courts are held in the Guildhall, a modern and commodious edifice, situated in the High-street ; and the place is within the jurisdiction of the Court of Requests for the recovery of debts under 40s. throughout the Isle of Ely, held here once a month. The Chapel, dedicated to St. Wendreda, a very ancient structure, with a spire ;it tlu^ west end, was erected about the year 131-3, at which period an indulgence was granted by the Pope to all who should contribute to it ; in the interior arc several monuments. A school was founded in 1696, by William Neale, Esq., and endowed with 33^, acres of land in "^^^lite^s Fen; and National Schools were erected in 1827. There are charities for 132 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. the poor yielding a rental o 470^ of wliich part is applied to purposes of instruction. Between this town and Wisbeach, urns enclosing burnt bones, and a vessel containing 160 Roman denarii of different Emperors, were discovered in the year 1 730. WISBEACH (St. Peter and St. Paul), a seaport, borough, market town, and parish, and the head of a union, in the Hundred of Wisbeach, Isle of Ely, county of Cambridge, 43 miles (north) from Cambridge, and 94 (north by east) from London. This place is of great antiquity, and is noticed in a charter by which in 664, Walfhere, son of Penda, King of the Mercians, granted to the Abbey of Medehamstead, now Peterborough, " the lands from Rug- well, five miles to the main river that goeth to Elm and to Wisbeach." In the Norman survey, it is mentioned under the same appellation, which it retained till the reign of Edward I., from which period till the time of Henry VI. it was invariably written " Wysebeche." The name is sup- posed to be derived from the river Ouse, then called the Wise, and from the Saxon " bee," signifying either a running stream, or a tongue of land at the confluence of two rivers, which, previously to the diversion of their streams, was descriptive of its situation at the confluence of the Ouse with the river Nene. From the date of Walfhere^s charter, little is recorded of the history of this place till the year 1000, when the manor is said to have been given to the Abbot and Convent of Ely by Oswi and Leoflede, daughter of Brithnod the first Abbot, on the admission into that Monastery of their son Ailwin, afterwards Bishop of Elmham. A\^illiam the Con- queror in the last year of his reign expected a strong castle here, which he placed under the command of a governor, styled a constable, with a strong garrison, to keep the refractory barons in submission, and to check the ravages of the outlaws, who made frequent incursions from the neigh- bouring fens into the upland parts of the county. In 1190, Richard I. granted to the tenants of Wisbeach Barton Manor exemption from toll in all towns or markets throughout England, which jorivilege was confirmed by King John, who in 1216 visited the town, and is supposed to have taken up his residence in the Castle, on leaving which that monarch, attempting to cross the Wash at an improper time, lost all his carriages, treasure, and regalia. The greater part of the town, together with the Castle, was destroyed in 1236 by an inundation of the sea, but was soon afterwards restored ; and the Castle subsequently falling into dilapidation Bishop Morton, towards the close of the fifteenth century, erected on its site another of brick, which became an episcopal palace of the Bishops of Ely. In the reign of Elizabeth, the Castle was appropriated to the con- finement of State prisoners, and during the protectorate of Cromwell it A DESCRIPTION OP CAMBEIDOESHIEE. 133 was purchased by Thurloe, afterwards his secretary, who made it his occasional residence. After the Restoration, it again reverted to the Bishops of Ely, and was sold in 1793 ; all remains of it have disappeared in the recent improvements of the town, which is at present the most flourishing place in the Isle of Ely. The town is situated on both sides of the river now called the Nene, over which is a massive iron bridge of large span; the streets are regularly formed, the houses are in general well built, and on the site of the ancient Castle, which was purchased by an architect and taken down in 1816, a handsome crescent of more than fifty houses has been erected . the town is well paved and lighted with gas. From the late improvement in the system of draining, a great portion of previously unproductive land in the vicinity has been brought into a high state of cultivation, and on every side are seen fertile corn-fields and luxuriant pastures. A per- manent Literary Society was established in 1781, who have a library containing more than 3000 volumes ; and there is also a Theological Library, in which are many valuable works of the most eminent of the old divines. There are a Reading-room and a neat Theatre; Assemblies are held in rooms appropriately fitted up ; and a commodious building has been erected, in which are hot, cold, and sea-water baths, furnished with dressing-rooms and every requisite appendage. About a century since, the principal articles of trade were oil (for the preparation of which there were seven mills in the town) and butter, of which not less than 8000 firkins were sent annually to London. The importance of the place as a seaport has much increased of late years, and the trade has been greatly augmented; the principal exports are corn, rape seed, long wool (of which great quantities arc sent to the clothing districts in Yorkshire), and timber, which is brought to this place from the county of Northampton, and it is now one of the principal places of export for wheat in the kingdom ; the chief imports are wine, deals, and coal. The navigation of the river above the town was many years since greatly improved by a straight cut from Peterborough, forming a communication with the upland country, and su})plying Peterborough, Oundle, and Northampton with various commodities ; and below the town very extensive works have been Dxecuted by the Commissioners of the None Outfall, wliich have greatly benefited largo tracts of land in the neighbourhood, and made the naviga- tion to the sea perfect ; vessels of large burden now a])))roach the town, and load and unload at the quay and granaries. In 1839, the tonnage duties were paid on 97,119 tons ; the number of vessels above fifty tons registered at the port was fifty-six, and their aggregate burden 5200 tons. In ] 794, a canal was cut from the river at Wisbeach to the Old Nene at Outwoll, and thence to the Ouse at Salter's Lode Sluice, opening lo4 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. a way to Norf olk^ Suffolk, and the Eastern Counties. A packet arrives from Peterborougli every Tuesday and Friday, and departs every Wednesday and Sunday morning. The Market is on Saturday ; there are Fairs, held on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, and the Saturday before Lady-day^ for hemp and flax ; a considerable Horse Fair on the Thursday before Whit- Sunday, numerously attended by the London dealers ; and a large Cattle Fair on August 12th, at which 3000 head of cattle have been brought for sale ; the Market and Fairs are held by the Corporation on lease from the Bishop of Ely, who is lord of the manor. The Market Place is a spacious open area. In the year ending September 1st, 1845, the quantity of corn sold was 250,000 quarters. Vessels of 400 tons enter the port, and 37,410 registered tons of shipping cleared inwards in 1867. The number of vessels entered inwards was 133 from foreign ports; tonnage, 24,615. Coast vessels, 228; tonnage, 12,795. The guild of the Holy Trinity, established in 1379, being found at the time of the dissolution to have supported a Grammar School, and main- tained certain piers, jetties, and banks, " against the rage of the sea," was in 1549 restored by Edward VI., who also gave the inhabitants a charter of incorporation, which was renewed by James I. in 1611, and confirmed by Charles II. in 1669. The Corporation at present consists of a Mayor, six Aldermen, and eighteen Councillors, under the Act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76. The borough is divided into two wards. The Mayor and late Mayor are Justices of the Peace, and the number of other magistrates is three. The Quarter Sessions for the Isle of Ely take place hero and at Ely alternately ; Petty Sessions for the division are held here ; and there is a Court of Eequests for debts under 40s., at which the number of suits determined annually is 600. The Town Hall is em- bellished with the town arms, a painting of Ed^vard VI., and portraits of Dr. Jobson, the late vicar, who was a considerable benefactor to the town, and Thomas Clarkson, the strenuous advocate of negro emancipation. The Shirehall is annexed to the gaol, which was re-built in 1807. The parish comprises 5750a. 3r. 12p., of which about 2887 acres are arable and 2792 pasture. The living is a vicarage, with Wisbech St. Mary annexed, valued in the King's books at 26 13s. 4d. ; patron. Bishop of Ely; impropriators. Dean and Chapter of Ely; the great tithes of both parishes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 1840, and the vicarial for one of 2175; the appropriated glebe contains 15^ acres, valued at 28 per annum, and the Vicar's, 51^, worth 120 a-year. The Church is a spacious ancient structure, partly Norman, but chiefly in the Decorated English style, with a lofty square embattled tower in the later style ; it has two naves under one roof, divided in the centre by a beautiful range of light clustered pillars, with pointed arches, and from their A DESCRIPTION OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 13-5 respective aisles by low massive pillars and circular Norman arches. The north aisle of the chancel is in the Decorated style, and there is a fine window of the same character at the west end of the south aisle of the nave. A handsome Chapel of Ease, of octagonal form, was erected in 1828, on the opposite side of the river, in the Old Market, at a cost of 9364, raif^cd by subscription among the inhabitants, to meet a liberal offer of Dr. Jobson, who conveyed in fee a real estate of more than 5000 in value as an endowment to the minister, to whom the rents and profits are given in perpetuity. The Chapel was opened for divine service on the 13th of January, 1831, and contains about 1100 sittings, of which 300 are free ; the preferment is in the gift of trustees, and the net income is 200. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Johnsonians, Wesleyans, Presbyterians, and Unitarians. The Free Grammar School is of very ancient foundation, and the appoint- ment of a master in 1446 by the guild of the Holy Trinity is still on record; its original endowment has been altered considerably, tUl the master's stipend now amounts to 200 per annum. There are four by- followships of 10 per annum each, belonging to the school, founded at Peter House, Cambridge, by T. Parke, Esq., in 1628, and two scholar- ships for youths of Wisbeach, worth 70 per annum. Archbishop Herring, the present Bishop of Kildare, was educated at this school. There is a National School endowed with lands, the produce of which amounts to 55 per annum. A fund for lending money to tradesmen, free of interest, was bequeathed by Mr. John Crane, of Cambridge, in 1652, which was increased by a gift of 300 from Mr. William Holmes. There are several almshouses and many valuable charities. The Poor Law Union comprises twenty-two parishes, thirteen being ic Norfolk and nine in Cambridgeshire. TIIORNEY ABBEY (ST. BOTOLPH), A market town and ])arish in the hundred of Wisbeach, Isle of Ely, distant eighty-six miles (north) from London. This place derived its original name of Ankoridgc fi'om a monastery for hermits founded here 662 by Saxulphus, Abbot of Peterborough, who became its first prior. The edifice having been dcsti'oyed by the Danes, the site lay waste until 972, when Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, established upon it a Benedictine Abbey in honour of the Virgin. The only remains of this Abbey are portions of the parochial Church, a gateway, and some frag- ments of the old walls. The Church, built about 1 128, is partly in the Norman style, with portions of later English. The Market, granted in 1638, is on Thursday, and Fairs are held on July 1st and September 21pt for horses and cattle. Upwards of 3000 136 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. sheep are sent annually from this district to the London Market. There is a canal navigation to the River Nene. A colony of French refugees settled here about the middle of the 16th century, having been employed by the Earl of Bedford in draining the fens. A school-house was erected by a member of the house of Russell. The present Duke of Bedford allows the master a salary of 20, and his Grace supports about a dozen families in alms houses. WHITTLESEY, A village (once a market town) containing the parishes of St. Andrew and St. Mary, forming a union of itself, in the Hundred of North Witch- ford, Isle of Ely, distant six miles from Peterborough. This place, called Witesie in Domesday book, is supposed to have been a Roman station, from the traces of a military way and the numerous relics of antiquity discovered in the neighbourhood. The village, which is bounded on the north and south by branches of the River Nene, is a large place, but its former market has been long since discontinued. There is a Public Library and News Room, supported by subscription. The living of St. Andrew's is a discharged vicarage, in the patronage of the Crown. The Church is a fine handsome structure, with a stately tower crowned with turrets. The living of St. Mary's is a discharged vicarage. The Church is a fine edifice, with a lofty tower of peculiar elegance, surmounted by a slender enriched spire of good proportions. Another Church has been erected, at an expense of 1400, by grant of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, on a site given by the Childers' family. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Calvinistic Methodists, also two endowed Schools. BEDFORD LEVEL, The name given to a flat expanse on the eastern side of England, amounting to 450,000 acres, comprising the greater part of the marshy district called the Fens, the whole Isle of Ely, a portion of the south of Cambridgeshire, 80,000 acres of Suff'olk, 63,000 acres of Norfolk, 57,000 of Huntingdon, about 8000 of Northamptonshire, and the south-eastern portion of Lincolnshire. The extent of the whole district is sixty miles in length, and about forty miles in breadth. The boundary on three sides is of an irregular form, something like a horse shoe, with the opening termi- nated by the sea on the north. This district has, within historic periods, undergone remarkable changes. In the time of the Romans, a.d. 45, it was a dense forest, which, as a stronghold of the Britons, those invaders destroyed. It then became a swamp, through which the lazy waters of the Ouse, the Nene, and the Welland, crept to the sea. In the thirteenth A DESCRIPTION OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 137 century, the sea licrc, as in otlier parts of north-west Europe, burst its boundaries, and the inundated land became a swamp. The first attempt to drain this morass seems to have been made in the year 1436, when ditches and embankments were formed at great expense. These, however, were swept away during the ensuing winter by the flooding of the river Ouse. Another partial attempt at drainage was made by Bishop Moreton in the reign of Henry VII., but this also proved a failure. An Act was passed in the forty-fourth year of Queen Elizabeth for efiecting its reclamation ; but the first effectual attempt at reclaiming the land was not made until 1034, when many embankments and canals were constructed at a cost of one million sterling. Francis Earl of Bedford, the principal owner, and thirteen others, entered into an agreement with Charles I. to drain the Level, on condition of receiving 95,000 acres of the reclaimed land. Three years after the agreement of the Earl of Bedford andliis partners, after an outlay of 100,000 on the part of the company, the contract was annulled on the fraudulent plea that the works were insufficient ; and an offer was made by King Charles to undertake its completion, on condition of receiving 57,000 acres in addition to the amount originally agreed on. This unjust attempt was frustrated by the breaking out of the Civil War, and no further attempt at drainage was made till 1G49, when the Parliament reinstated the Earl of Bedford's successor in his father's rights. After an addi- tional outlay of 300,000, the adventurers received 05,000 acres of re- claimed laud, according to the contract, which, however, fell far short of re-paying the expense of the undertaking. In 1664 a royal charter was obtained to incorporate the Company, which still exists, and carries on the concern under a governor, six bailiffs, twenty conservators, and a Commonalty, each of whom must possess one hundred acres of laud in the Level, and has a voice in the election of officers. The conservators must each possess not less than 280 acres, the governor and bailiffs each lOO acres. The original ndveuturcrs had allotments of land according to their interest in the original 95,000 acres ; but Charles II. , on granting the charter, took care to secure to the Crown a lot of 12,000 acres out of the 95,000, which, however, is held under the directors, whereas the allotments are not held in common, though subject to the laws of the Corporatio7i. The Level was divided in 1697 into three parts, called the North, South, and Middle Levels, comprising respectively the tracts between the Welland and the None, the Nene and old Bedford rivers, and the third between old Bedford river and the southern limit of the level. Since then, extensive works have been carried on at different times to complete the drainage of the district, but the most effectual are the Acts of 1827 and 1829, for " improving the outfall of the Nene," "the Navi- \'SS HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. gation of the Wisbeach," and the embanking of the Salt Marshes between the canal called " Kinderley Cut and the Sea." Vessels of sixty tons burthen can now come up to the town of Wisbeach at all tides, and those of 100 or 200 tons at spring tides. The drainage of the lower lands, which are below low water mark, was carried on by windmills, but now by steam power. In the North Level, the drainage is effected by sluices with- out either windmills or steam engines. In August, 1844, an Act of Par- liament was obtained for draining the Middle Level of the Fens, by means of a new cut 100 feet broad and 12 miles long, extending in a direct line from the upper end of the Eau Brink Cut southward to the sixteen feet river. This work was finished in 1847, but it and all the other drains be- longing to the Middle Level Commissioners were afterwards deepened, the total cost of the works being about 650,000 ! As the result of these extensive operations in the Fens, the Level now abounds in rich pasture and corn lands, which are of more value per annum than they originally cost. No drainage works of such magnitude have ever been constructed in any other part of England. The Estuary of the Wash is an indentation on the north-eastern coast of England, bounded by Hunstanton Point on the Norfolk coast, and Wainfleet Point on the Lincolnshire coast, being nearly seventeen miles long and thirteen wide, and having a superficial area of about 220 square miles. A little more than two-thirds of this extent is dry at low water of spring tides, and the remainder varies from five to sixteen fathoms deep. A very large portion is covered with comparatively still water, and the shores for the most part consist of a soil that is easily abraded or scoured away by the currents ; and this, combined with the alluvial matter brought down by the rivers from the interior of the country, forms together a mass held in mechanical suspension, varying in quantity from 1 to 150 to 1 in 600. This alluvial matter is only held in suspension so long as it experiences a certain degree of motion, and as soon as a period of still water occurs, it is precipitated to the bottom, the quantity, of course, being greatest where the water is the most stagnant. Adjoining the mouths of the Ouse and the None, at the upper end of the Estuary, an extensive district of deposit has accumulated, comprising several thousand acres, a very large portion of which is covered only for a few feet at spring tides. No doubt the greater part of this waste land will be ultimately enclosed. CHAPTEE III. A DESCEIPTION OF NOEFOLK. 4p HE maritime county of Norfolk is bounded on tlie north and east by ^\ tlio Gorman Ocean or North Sea; on the south by the county of Suffolk, from which it is divided by the river Waveney and the Lesser Ouso ; on the west by Cambridgeshire and part of Lincolnshire, from which it is separated by the Greater Ousc and Nene rivers. It extends from 52 deg. 22 min. to 52 deg. 58 min. (north latitude), and from deg. 10 min. to 1 deg. 41 min. (east longitude), and includes an area of 2092 square miles, or 1,338,880 statute acres, being precisely sixty-six miles in extent from the meridian of Yarmouth to that of Wisbeach, and about forty miles in breadth from the parallel of Billingford to that of Wells. The county is in shape of an oval form, and so surrounded by water, that except a small meadow at Lopham it is an island of itself. It contains numerous woods and plantations, which are computed to occupy not less than 10,000 acres, for the preservation of game. The principal rivers are the Greater Ouse, the Lesser Ouse, the Wensum, the Wavencj, the Yare, and Bure, which afford the means of inland navigation. Norfolk and Suffolk, millions of ages ago, must have formed part of the continent of Eui'ope, as appears from the great similarity of tlic strata on the opposite shores, and the recent discoveiy of the remains of extensive forests and the bones of huge animals all along the coast for one liundred miles. The present bed of the North Sea must have been dry land at some far distant period, and by volcanic or other agency the waters of the Atlantic broke through the Straits of Dover, and flowing northward over the formerly dry land, submerged the. forests and drowned the wild animals which then ranged the woods. The great bulge which East Anglia makes towards the opposite shores begins to fall off at Winterton, and at Eccles the coast line trends rapidly towards the north-west all the 140 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. way to Hunstanton. The great tidal wave sweeping down from the north is so much checked by the shoals of sand along the Norfolk coast, that its speed is lessened by two-thirds, and many currents are produced which grind away the cliffs at Cromer, Trimiugham, Eccles, and other places. A great part of the coast consists of a low sandy beach, covered with gravel and shingle, which by the force of the waves are frequently thrown up in vast heaps, and by the constant accumulation of sand, are formed into banks, held together by the matted roots of " sea reed grass." Numerous banks of the same kind have been raised off the coast, far out at sea, and being only discoverable at ebb or quarter tides, are frequently fatal to coasting vessels. The most remarkable is the large bank running parallel with the coast near Yarmouth, between which and the shore there is a deep channel, named Yarmouth roads. The forest bed commencing near Hunstanton, and stretching along the Eastern coast for sixty miles, is the great feature in the natural history of the whole eastern district, it being the unmistakable indication of a terrestrial surface antecedent to the period of the vast accumulations of the glacial drift. This old land surface near Cromer is exposed at the sea level, but it extends inland, and has been met with at considerable depths in the Offing. The arboreal vegetation buried in these beds comprises the Norway spruce, the Scotch fir, yew, oak, and alder, all of them com- mon European trees. This bed is to be seen at the foot of Cromer cliffs, when a storm has cleared away part of the beach. Standing, with their roots still embedded in the soil, are the stumps of firs, oaks, and other trees, which millions of years ago flourished here ; and strangest of all, we find buried with them the bones and the teeth of the monsters whose feeding ground it was. The remains of the elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus have been found in it. Immense herds of ten different kinds of deer must have sought the shelter of these ancient groves. Bears and tigers and many other animals have left their bones or teeth in these beds containing the remains of a former world. Remains of trees and of the bones of extinct animals have been discovered all along the Norfolk coast; and as trees do not grow at the bottom of the sea, nor huge animals run under the waters, it is clear that they must have walked across the land before it was covered by the waves. This immense forest- bed proves that for myriads of ages dry land must have existed all across the space where the North Sea now rolls from shore to shore, and that this little island, long before man appeared on the earth, was a part of the great continent of Europe. A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 141 NORFOLK COAST. Sir Charles Lyell in his great work '^Principles of Geology" (1853), gives the following description of the coast : " The decay of tho cliffs of Norfolk and Suffolk is incessant. At Hunstanton, on the north, the undermining of the lower arenaceous beds at the foot of the cliff causes masses of red and white chalk to be precipitated from above. Between Hunstanton and Weybourne, low hills or dunes of blown sand are formed along the shore from fifty to sixty feet high. They are composed of dry sand, bound in a compact mass by the long creeping roots of the plant called Marram fArundo arcnaria.J Such is the present set of the tides that the harbours of Cley, Wells, and other places are securely defended by these barriers ; affording a clear proof that it is not the strength of the material at particular points that determines whether the sea shall be progressive or stationary, but the general contour of the coast. The waves constantly undermine the low chalk cliffs, covered with sand and clay, between Weybourne and Sherringham, a certain portion of them being annually removed. At the latter town, I ascertained, in 1829, some facts which throw light on the rate at which the sea gains upon the land. It was computed, when the present inn was built, in 1805, that it would require seventy years for the sea to reach the spot ; the mean loss of land being calculated, from previous observations, to be somewhat less than one yard annually. Tho distance between the house and the sea was fifty yards ; but no allowance was made for the slope of the ground being from the sea, in consequence of which the waste was naturally accelerated every year, as the cliff grew lower, there being at each succeeding period less matter to remove when portions of equal area fell down. Between the years 1824 and 1829, no less than seventeen yards were swept away, and only a small garden was then left between tho building and the sea. There was in 1829 a depth of twenty feet (sufficient to float a frigate) at one time in the liarbour of that part, whore, only forty-eight years before, there stood a cliff fifty feet high, with houses upon it ! If once in half a century an equal amount of change was produced suddenly \)y the momentary shock of an earthquake, history would be filled with records of such wonderful revolutions of the earth's surface ; but if the conversion of high land into deep sea be gradual, it excites only local attention. The flagstaff of the. Preventive Service Station, on the south side of this harbour, was thrice removed inland between the years 1814 and 1829, in consequence of the advance of the sea. 142 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Further to the south we find cliffs composed, Hke those of Holderness before mentioned, of alternating strata of blue clay, gravel, loam, and fine sand. Although they sometimes exceed three hundred feet in height, the havoc made on the coast is most formidable. The whole site of ancient Cromer now forms part of the German Ocean, the inhabitants having gradually retreated inland to their present situation, from whence the sea still threatens to dislodge them. In the winter of 1825, a fallen mass was precipitated from near the lighthouse, which covered twelve acres, extending far into the sea, the cliffs being two hundred and fifty feet in height. The undermining by springs has sometimes caused large portions of the upper parts of the cliffs, with houses still standing upon them, to give way, so that it is impossible, by erecting breakwaters at the base of the cliffs, permanently to ward off the danger. M. E. de Beaumont has suggested that sand-dunes in Holland and other countries may serve as material chronomoters by which the date of the existing continents may be ascertained. The sands, he says, are con- tinually blown inland by the force of the winds, and by observing the rate of their march we may calculate the period when the movement com- menced. But the example just given will satisfy every geologist that we cannot ascertain the starting point of dunes, all coasts being liable to waste, and the shores of the Low Countries in particular being not only exposed to inroads of the sea, but, as M, de Beauuiont himself has well shown, having even in historical times undergone a change of level. The dunes may indeed, in some cases, be made use of as chronometers to enable us to assign a minimum of antiquity to existing coast lines ; but this test must be applied with great caution, so variable is the rate at which the sands may advance into the interior. Hills of blown sand, between Eccles and Winterton, have barred up and excluded the tide for many hundred years from the mouths of several small estuaries ; but there are records of nine breaches, from twenty to one hundred and twenty yards wide, having been made through these, by which immense damage was done to the low grounds in the interior. A few miles south of Happisburgh also are hills of blown sands, which extend to Yarmouth. These dunes afford a temporary protection to the coast, and an inland cliff about a mile long, at Winterton, shows clearly that at that point the sea must have penetrated formerly further than at present. At Yarmouth the sea has not advanced upon the sands in the slightest degree since the reign of Elizabeth. In the time of the Saxons a great estuary extended as far as Norwich, which city is represented, even in the 13th and 14th centuries, as " situated on the banks of an arm of the sea." The sands whereon Yarmouth is built first became firm and A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 143 habitable ground about the year 1008, from which time a line of dunes has gradually increased in height and breadth, stretching across the whole entrance of the ancient estuary and obstructing the ingress of the tides so completely that they are only admitted by the narrow passage which the river keeps open, and which has gradually shifted several miles to the south. The ordinary tides at the river^s mouth rise, at present, only to a height of three or four feet, the spring tides to about eight ornine. By the exclusion of the sea thousands of acres in the interior have become cultivated lands ; and, exclusive of smaller pools, upwards of sixty fresh water lakes have been formed, varying in depth from fifteen to thirty feet, and in extent from one acre to twelve hundred. The Yare and other rivers frequently communicate with these sheets of water; and thus they are liable to be filled up gradually with lacustrine and fluviatile deposits, and to be converted into land covered with forests. Yet it must not be imagined that the acquisition of new land fit for culti- vation in Norfolk and Suffolk indicates any permanent growth of the eastern limits of our island to compensate its reiterated losses. No delta can form on such a shore. Immediately off" Yarmouth, and parallel to the shore, is a great range of sand banks, the shape of which varies slowly from year to year, and often suddenly after great storms. Captain Hewitt, R.N., found in these banks, in I80G, a broad channel 65 feet deep, where there was only a depth of four feet during a prior survey in 1822. The sea had excavated to tlie depth of sixty feet in the course of fourteen years, or perhaps a shorter period. The new channel thus formed serves at present (1838) for the entrance of ships into Yarmouth Roads, and the magnitude of this change shows how easily a new set of the waves and currents might endanger the submergence of the land gained within the ancient estuary of the Yare. That great banks should be thrown across the mouths of estuaries on our eastern coast, where there is not a largo body of river water to main- tain an open channel, is pcu-fectly intelligible, when we bear in mind that the marine current, sweeping along the coast, is charged with tlie materials of wasting clilfs, and ready to form a bar anywhere the instant its course is interrupted or cheeked by any opposing streams. The mouth of the Yaro has been, within the last five centuries, diverted about four miles to the south. In like manner it is evident that, at some remote period, the Ilivcr Aide entered the sea at Aldborough, until its ancient outlet was barred up, and at length transferred to a point no less than ten miles distant to the south-west. In this case ridges of sand and shingle, like those of Lowestoft Ness, which will be described by-and-bye, have been thrown up between the river and the sea ; and an ancient sea cliff is to be seen now inland. It may be asked 144 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. why the rivers on our east coast are always deflected southwards, although the tidal current flows alternately from the south and north. The cause is to be found in the superior force of what is commonly called ^ the flood tide from the north/ a tidal wave derived from the Atlantic, a small part of which passes eastward up the English Channel, and through the Straits of Dover, and then northwards, while the principal body of water, moving much more rapidly in a more open sea, on the western side of Britain, first passes the Orkneys, and then turning, flows down between Norway and Scotland, and sweeps with great velocity along our eastern coast. It is well known that the highest tides on this coast are occasioned by a powerful north-west wind, which raises the eastern part of the Atlantic, and causes it to pour a greater volume of water into the German Ocean. This circumstance of a violent ofl'-shore wind being attended with a rise of the waters, instead of a general retreat of the sea, naturally excites the wonder of the inhabitants of our coast. In many districts they look with confidence for a rich harvest of that valuable manure, the sea-weed, when the north-westerly gales prevail, and are rarely disappointed.^' Mr. R. C. Taylor in his Geology of East Norfolk, page 32, says : " On the same coast the ancient villages of Shipden, Whimpwell, and Eccles have disappeared ; several manors and large portions of neighbouring parishes having piece after piece been swallowed up ; nor has there been any intermission from time immemorial in the ravages of the sea along a line of coast, twenty miles in length, in which those places stood. Of Eccles, however, a monument still remains in the ruined tower of the old Church, which is half buried in the dunes of sand within a few paces of the sea beach. So early as 1605 the inhabitants petitioned James I. for a reduction of taxes, as 300 acres of land and all their houses save fourteen had been destroyed by the sea. '^Not one-half of that number of acres now remain in the parish, and hills of blown sand now occupy the site of the houses, which were still extant in 1605. When I visited the spot in 1839 the sea was fast encroaching on the sand hills, and on the beach had laid open the foundations of a house fourteen yards square, the upper part of which had evidently been pulled down before it had been buried under sand. The body of the Church has also been long buried, but the tower still remains visible. '^ In 1871 the sea surrounded the tower, the sand banks having been removed. The surface of the county has, perhaps, less variety of features than that of any other tract of land of equal extent in England, being for the most part flat ; yet this uniformity of appearance is sometimes varied, particularly in the northern part, where the ground rises in gentle elevations, and the hills and valleys are adorned with woods and A DESCliirXION OF NORFOLK. 145 plantations. On tho south side of the county is a fine rich tract, extending towards tho north and north-cast ; and these portions, being enclosed, well cultivated, and abounding in timber more than most maritime districts, exhibit a variety of pleasing prospects. i\lost of tho rivers rise in marshy lands, and running through a Tovel district, have a slow current, so that they contribute to keep the adjacent grounds in a swampy state, and to fill the atmosphere with noxious vapours. When swelled by land floods, their estuaries being for the most part choked with ^ilt driven up by the influx of the , tide, they often over- flow the low lands, and in their course eastward to the sea form numerous small shallow lakes or pools, provincially called " broads," which are plen- tifully stocked with lish and much frequented by aquatic birds. Charles II., when he visited Norfolk, said it was only fit to be cut up into roads for the rest of the country. It was then only half cultivated, and consisted in some parts of open heaths and commons, or marshes. A century and a-half since, the county was comparatively wild, bleak, and unproductive, more than half of it being sheep walks and rabbit Avarrens. Notwithstanding that so much has been effected towards bringmg the whole of the land into a state of cultivation, and although the commons have been much enclosed, and few left, yet the icasfc lands are still of great extent. Norfolk is naturally a bleak stei-ile County, but superior cultivation has rendered it one of the most productive counties in England. The aruhlc lands now form about two-thirds of its surface ; and the usual course of crops is first year, turnips ; second, barley ; third, seeds for hay ; fourth, seeds ; fifth, wheat or rye ; and sixth, barley ; the next most frequently practised is the old four-shift system of turnips, barley, seeds, and wheat in succession. A vast quantity of barley is raised in the lighter soils, and made into malt, which is the staple commodity in the county; and vast quantities are sent to London. The quantity of upland meadow and pasturage has been estimated at nearly 127,000 acres, and that of the marsh lands at upwards of 03,000. One of the richest grazing tracts in Norfolk is the marshy district lying to the south of Lynn and on tho eastern side of the Ouse. These lands, like all others in the county, are in general hired by the upland farmers and not regularly stocked, but only when convenience requires it. The exports of agricultural produce are greater coastwise than of any other county. The average number of fat cattle sent from Norfolk to London is estimated at 20,000 yearly, and the number of sheep fattened for jjoudon and other markets is not less than oO,000. According to the table of the soils furnished by Mr. Arthur Youug to the Board of Agriculture, before the end of last century there were K 146 'HISTOKY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. in the county 220 square miles of light suud, i20 of more valuable sand^ GO of marshland clay, 900 of various loams, 148 of rich loam, 82 of peat earth. The substrata, as far as had been then ascertained, consisted of cluncli or indurated chalk ; also chalk, in which flints were imbedded ; gault, gravel, silt, and peat earth. Of late years the substrata has been more explored. Norfolk and Suffolk have been always celebrated for game, and there is nowhere such partridge shooting to be found. But the over-preservation of game has retarded agricultural progress. Wing game, especially partridges, do the farmer very little harm, but hares and rabbits are very destructive to all crops. Good farming and the excessive preservation of foot game cainiot exist together, and though this is not so common as it was, still there are some estates in the county where the number of foot game is still very large. Norfolk and Suffolk enjoy a high reputation for breeding more turkeys than all the rest of the kingdom, and prodigious numbers of geese. There was one season in former days, not yet forgotten, when three hundred ffocks of turkeys, each comprising a few hundred, passed over Stratford Bridge on their way from East Anglia to London. The geese were driven up just after harvest, so that they might be fed in the stubble. Now the occupation of the goose-herd is gone, for the birds are conveyed to the metropolis by the Great Eastern liailway. In the Christmas week of 1871 about twenty thousand geese and as many turkeys arrived in hampers at Bishopgate Station. Norfolk is in the diocese of Norwich and province of Canterbury, and comprises the two archdeaconries of Norfolk and Norwich, in the formei- of which are the deaneries of Brooke, Burnham, Crauwich, Depwade, Fincham, Hingham, Hitcham, Humbleyard, Redonhall, Repps, Rockland, and Wacton ; and in the latter, those of Blofield, Breckles, Brisley, Flegg, Holt, Ingworth, Lynn, Norwich, Sparham, Taverham, Toft Trees, Wal- singham, and part of Thetford. There are in the county 75G parishes, some of them of large extent, and containing ancient spacious Churches. Cobbett, treating of the Eastern Counties in his "Rural Rides" (1821), remarks that " their great drawbacks are their ffatness and their want of line wo(xls." But he praises the farming and the Churches, and notices that the latter, with few exceptions, are built on the highest sites within the parishes. He argues, " These Churches prove that the people ol' Norfolk and Suffolk were always a superior people in point of wealth, while the size of them proves that the cotmtry parts were at one time a great deal more populous than they now arc*^ But we must remember that in former times the Churches were the only places of worship. ' Norfolk and Suffolk, without either hills, of mountains, or broad rivers. A DESGKIPTION OF NORFOLK. 147 or glassy lakes, being- highly-cultivated counties, arc like extensive gar- dens in the summer and autumn seasons. Both counties present every variety of rural scenery, and some of the toAvns are of no metiu importance, either in the past history or in the present social position of the kingdom. The district of the ancient Iceni offers many attractions for the historian and the anti(|uary. It abounds in relics of the olden time, and it is no less rich in the attractions which modern art, reiinement, and improve- ment have introduced. There are no counties more remarkable for the number of fine old Churches of mediaival architecture. HoAV hciUitiful they stand, Tliusi' ancient aUars of our native land 1 Aiuiil the ])a8tuve held.s, and dark f^reen -woods, Amid the nioinitain'.s clouds and solitudes ; 15y rivers l)road, that rush into the sea, I5y little brooks, that with a lispiuji; sound, Like jdayful children, run by copse and lea, Each in its little plot of holy jj;round. llow beautiful they stand. Those old grey churches of our nati^X' land ! .Many of these ancient edifices have been well restored. Norfolk and Suffolk are noted for their antit|uities of every period ancient Jiritish, lioman, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman ; and of these an account is given in the order of time in the following pages. Ancient Churches stand in all the parishes, about a thousand in number, in the two counties. To describe each Church, however briefly, would be to compose a treatise on ecclesiology, that few persons would care to read. Ancient halls, the seats of the nobility and gentry, stand in almost every Hundred in the two counties. 'I'lie families receiving titles from places in Norfolk are the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk; the Cordons, Earls of Norwich; Conways, Earls of Vannoulh. Thetford confers the title of V'^iscount in the Fit/;ruys. The Towiishcnds are Viscounts of liaynham and Barons of King's Jjynn; the De Ci'cys are Barons of Walsingham ; the Nelsons, Barons of llil- borough ; the Howards are Barons of Castle Jiising ; the Hol)arts, J5arons "if liiickling; tlie Calthorpes are Barons of Caltliorpo ; the Walpoles are JJarous of \Val|)ole and Wolterton ; the Harbords are Barons of Suflield ; :iud the \Vodehouses are Barons of Kimberley. f'or the purposes of civil government, Norfolk is divided into the lluiulreds of Bloiield, Brt)thercross, Claekclose, Clavering, Dep- wade, Hiss, Earsham, North Erpingham, South Erpinghani, Eyusford, I'List Flegg, West Flegg, Forelu)e, Freebi-idge Lynn, Freebridgo ^larsh- land, Callow, North (Jreenhoe, (irimshoe, Cuiltcross, Happing, Henstoad, 148 History of eastern englanI). Holt, Humblcyard, Loddoii, LauiKlitcli, Mitlord, Sliropham^ Smitlidon, Taverliain, Tunstead, Walsliam, and Wayland. It contains the city of Norwicli ; the seaports and market towns of Yarmouth, Lynn Regis, and Cley ; the borough of Thetford; the market towns of East Dereham, Diss, Downham, Fakenham, Foulsham, Harleston, East HarHng, Holt, Loddon, Reepham, S waff ham. North Walsham, Watton, and Wymond- ham. Having in our last chapter given a brief description of the whole fen region, we shall now proceed through the same district where it extends and terminates in Norfolk, noticing the physical features of the county from west to east, along the Norfolk line of railway. Wo shall then pro- coed along the line from south to north, or from Wymondham to Faken- ham and Wells, making a tour of the Western Division. HUNDREDS AND PARISHES IN WEST NORFOLK. This division of the county extends from Norwich forty miles in a straight line to Lynn in the west. It is watered by the Rivers Ouse, Lark, and Wensum, which latter stream flows through the county from Rudham for thirty miles eastward. It includes a good part of the fen district, which has been drained by the Eau J3rink Cut from Ely to Lynn. The principal roads are from Norwich, through Dereham and Swaffham to Lynn ; also from Norwich to Fakenham and Wells. The Norfolk Railway crosses the district from Brandon, passing Thetfbrd, Attle- borough, and Wymondham to Norwich. CLACKCLOSE HUNDRED Lies at the south-western end of the county, and is about seventeen miles in length from north to south, varying from ten to fifteen miles in breadth. It is watered by several streams, the Great Ouse intersecting it from north to south, the Wissey crossing it from cast to west, the Nar bounding' it on the north, and the Welney dividing it~ from the Isle of i'jly. It abounds in woods, seats, and large villages, and the upland parts are bold, fertile, and picturesque, but a large part is in low marshes and fens, which extend into several counties. Clackclose includes 88,500 acres, and thirty-three parishes with a population of 21,420. The parishes are Barton Bendish, Beechamwell, Bexwell, Roughton, Crimplesham, Denver, DoAvnham Market, Fincham, Fordhain, Hilgay, Holme-ncxt-Runcton, Marliam, Roxham, Ryston, Sliingham, Shouldham, Shouldham Thorpe, South Runcton, Southery, Stoke Ferry, Stow Bardolpli, Stradsett, Tottenhill, Wallingtou'cum-Thorpland, Wat- A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 149 li'ngton, Wolnoy, Wereham, West Dereham, Wimbotsham, Worraegay, Wretton . DOWNHAM MARKET (ST. KDMUND), A market town and parish in tlio Hundred of Clackclose, eighty-five miles (nortli by east) from London. In tho reign of Edgar, the town was gi'anted to the Abbey of Kamsey, in the county of Huntingdon ; of which establishment the Abbot, in the reign of Edward the Confessor, obtained for the inhabitants tho grant of a weekly market, and subse- (juently, in the reign of John, permission to hold an annual fair. Near the bridge was an ancient hermitage; and adjoining the Church there was in early times a Benedictine Priory, subordinate to the Abbey of Ramsey, to the Abbots of which Henry HI. granted very extensive privileges. The tow^l is pleasantly situated on an acclivity, about a mile to the east of the River Ouse, commanding an extensive view of the fens on tho Avest, with which it is connected by an old bridge, and consists of two ]n'incipal streets which are well paved and lighted. The market, which is nmply supplied with corn and provisions of all kinds, is on Saturday ; and fairs arc held on the 8rd of March for horses. May 8th for cattle, and November 13th for cattle and toys. The fair for horses is one of the largest in the kingdom, and is attended by many dealers from London nnd other towns, and owing to the great number of horses brought for sale, the show takes place for three or four days before the fair. The town is a polling-place for the election of candidates for the Western Division of the county. The parish comprises 2, IOOa. 2k. 2 ti'., of which 1,G00 are arable, G2G pasture, and G I woodland ; the soil near the town is light and sandy, in oilier parts a loamy clay, and in some marsh and fen. The living is a discharged rectory ; patron, W. Ei-anks, J]sq. The tithes have been comnnited for a rent-charge of 500, and the glebe comprises 29 i acres, with a good glebe-house. The Church is an ancient structur(> in the Early l']iiglisli style, with a low embattled tower surmounted by a spire. Bap- tists, Independents, Methodists, and the Society of Friends have cha])els in the town. (MflMSItOE inXDKED Is about fourteen miles in length, and from six to eight miles in breadth, bounded on tlie south by tho Little Ouse river; on the (>ast l)y Shropham and Wayland ; on the north by South Gn^enhoe ; and on tho west by Clackclose. It is watered by the river AVissey, which is navigable ^ov small craft, 'i'he soil is chieily sand, u])on a substratum of chalk and llint, and nuK.-li of it is o]K>n in sli'M^]i-walks and heaths, except the west 150 HISTOEY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. end running into tlie fcnp. The nciglibourhood abounds in rabbit warrens, and the ralibits are esteemed as of fine flavour. The Hundred comprises CC,C82 ncreSj sixteen parishes with a population of 7491. The parishes are Buckenham Parva, Colvestone, Cranwich, Croxton, Feltwell St. Mary and St. Nicholas, Ilockwold-cum- Wilton, Igborough, Lynford^ Methwold, Mundford, Northwold, Santon, Stanford, Starston, Weeting All Saints, and West Tofts, all rural parishes." THETFOKD. This borough and market-town is locally situated in the Hundred of Grimshoe, West Norfolk, but partly in the Hundred of Lackford, in the West Division of Suffolk, on each side of a river now called the Thet, which flows into the Lesser Ouse. The town is distant seventy-nine miles (north-north-east) from London, and is now a small place compared to its former extent, when it could boast of many streets, churches, and monasteries. The Romans took possession of the town during the first century, and occupied it till the year 4-35, when they left this island. The town is said to have been the Sitomagus of the Romans, but this is very doubtful. Julius Ca)sar, in his Commentaries, states that Sito- magus was a largo and populous city, but he does not mention where it was situated. As he did not adv^ance beyond the country of the Trino- bantes (Essex), the city of Sitomagus was probably near their territory, and not so far inland as Thetford. Where Danwich formerly a>tood on the sea coast is more likely to have been the Sitomagus. Thetford appears to have been a very important fortified town in the Roman period, judging from the number of coins that have been disco- vered there. It seems to have flourished most in the reigns of Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Domitian, Trajan, and Antoninus Pius, of all of whom many coins have been found there, but especially of the latter, in whose time it was probably nt its greatest height during the Roman occupation of the country. John Brame, a monk of Thetford, in his m.s. history in Bonnet College Library, in Cambridge, states that one f^ond, a valiant man of Thetford, who flourished in the time of King Vortigern, seeing the Roman forces withdrawn, and the remaining Romans sluggish and inactive, and per- ceiving Vortigern fully employed against the Scots and Picts, he there- upon usurped the supreme government of the city, and became King thereof. Probably the inhabitants were satisfied with it, especially if he were as popular as he seems valiant, for he did not continue idle when he became King, but endeavoured inrmediatoly either to subdue his neighbours or to bring them under his power. This was not bad policy in the then state of things, because by so doing he made himself and his people the A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 151 stronger to resist the approaching invasion of the Northern tribes. But ncnthcr native policy nor strength- were sufficient to withstand the grow- ing power and continual invasions of the Northern barbarians. They soon drove out the natives, took possession of the country, and made Thetford the chief seat of government. Thetford appears to have been a fortified town, and to have flourished exceedingly during the whole of the Anglo-Saxon period, for then many clnirehcs wore built, and many monasteries were established there. The Anglo-Saxon churches were St. Mary's, St. Peter's, St. John's, St. Mar- tin's, St. Margaret's, and some others mentioned in Domesday-book. The Danes took the town, and having retained possession of it for fifty years, totally destroyed it by fire in the ninth century. In 1004 it sustained a similar calamity from their king, Sweyn, who had invaded East Anglia, and in 1010 it became for the third time the scene of a conflagration by these marauders, into whose hands it again fell. In the reign of Canute, Thetford began to recover from the effects of these repeated calamities, the population incvoasod, and was far larger than in the modern period. Long before the Conquest there was a mint here, in which coins of Edmund the jMartyr and Canute were struck, and the place was the residence of Anglo-Saxon Kings. l^lomefield says : " It appears that there were in the Confessor's time thirteen parish churches, if not more (in Thetford), but in the time of I]dward III. I find there had been and there were no less than twenty, whereof thirteen stood on the Suffolk side, and seven on the Norfolk side of tlie river, of which St. Mary the Great, or the Mother Church, was without doubt the most ancient." There are now only three, in the parishes of St. Cnthbert, St. 1 Vtor, and St. Mary the Less, all in the diocese of Norwicli. According to th(^ survey made by William I., Thetford contained nearly 1000 burgesses, l)csi(les rillciii-'^, sockmen, borderers, or cottagers, and the common people, showing tliat the town must have been of Ci^nsidcrablo size and importance at that period. Many of the burgesses were persons of substance, some having mills, which appear to have been then impor- tant pro]icrty ; others were large farmers; others, merchants and tmdesmen. Th(> King derived considerable revenue from the town, and lu^ liad lands on l)oth sides of the river in Norfolk 1:500 acres, and in Suffolk 1100 acres. The land held by the burgesses paid a lieavy tax to the Treasury, both in money and in kind. The Abbot of Bury claimed a cliurch and a house fi-ee of tax(>s ; and the Abbot of Ely tlu'ee churches, one house tree of taxes, and two custom houses, t)7U of which was used as a dwell- inii'. Hishoji Stigand had twenty houses free, one mill, and five churches. I'oger I'igot had one free house, a monastery, and two bordars belonging to th(^ nionasterv. 152 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. According to statements of tlie old historians, such -was the ancient extent and importance of the place, that in the reign of Edward III. it comprised twenty-four streets, five market-places, twenty churches, six hospitals, eight monasteries, with other religious foundations of which few remains can now bo traced. After many explorations at different times, we could never discover where so many streets, market-places, churches, and other buildings could have been situated within any reasonable limits of the borough. A charter of incorporation granted by Elizabeth in 1573 was surrendered to the Crown in the 34th of Charles II., and a very imperfect one obtained in its stead, which in 1692 was annulled and the original restored by a decree in Chancery. The Mayor is chosen out of the Corporation, which now consists of four Aldermen and twelve Coun- cillors. The borough formerly sent two members to Parliament, but is now merged in the county. The County Assizes, held here from 1 1 76 till this centmy, were removed to Norwich, but Quarter Sessions are held in the borough. The religious houses in Thetford were the Priory of St. Sepulchre, founded by William Earl Warren in 1109; the Free Chapel College or Guild, founded by Mr. Gilbert de Pykenham in 1274; the Augustine Friars Convent, founded by John of Gaunt in 1387, and others, which covered a large space of ground in and near the town. Of late years archseologists have made many explorations, and uncovered some of the foundations of several monasteries. The ruins of the priory may be seen on the Suffolk side of the river. Thetford Abbey was one of the most important of all the religious institutions of the middle ages. Its temporalities and spiritualities were large, and its possessions enormous. The monks of the abbey had estates in 125 parishes in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Cambridgeshire, from which they derived a very large annual income, and their spiritualities were also considerable. The revenues of the canons of the Priories of St. George were proportionately large, so that the town was considered a centre of ecclesiastical power and wealth. But after the dissolution, its monastic institutions were divided and scattered, and fell into the hands of private individuals. The Duke of Norfolk became the proprietor of the Ab])ey and Manor of Thetford, and Kichard Fulmerston of the nunnery and its possessions. Several of the churches and chantries had already fallen into decay, and other parishes were united, so that only three chui'ches were preserved for future generations. The present town has been partly built out of the ruins of religious houses. The relics of antiquity consist chiefly of fragments of a nunnery founded in the reign of Canute by Urius, the first abbot of Bury St. Edmund's ; some of the walls, buttresses, and windows are still standing. The Conventual Church has been converted into a barn, and a farm-house A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 153 has been built with other portions of the ruins. Of the old abbey, only fragments of the church remain. The monastery o St. Sepulchre has been converted into a barn, and no ti*aces can be discovered of the site of St. Augustine^s Priory. The first idea that impresses the mind when glancing over the ruins of old buildings is the great antiquity of the place. It would seem that the very ashes of our forefathers are mingled with the dust at our feet ; and that many modern buildings are constructed in groat part out of the durable fragments of ancient churches and convents. The hill or mound at Thetford, with its surrounding ditches and ram- parts, bears a very strong resemblance to Avhat the hill at Norwich was before its outer works and parade ground had been used for building pur- poses. Thetford hill is about 100 feet high, and measures 784 feet in circumference at its base, and 81 feet on its summit. Its diameter at the base is 838 feet. The summit of the mound appears formerly to have been surrounded by a parapet of clunch, the centre being concave to the depth of twelve feet below the outer surface. The scene presented from this mound or hill is highly picturesque. Tlie summit of the hill is crowned with fine stately trees, whose thick foliage may be discerned for many miles on a clear day. A portion of the sur- rounding ramparts is also thickly studded with trees, and the southern side of the mound has been planted in a similar manner. From the sum- mit of the hill there is a fine view of the surrounding district, and of the valley of the River Thet, extensive plantations and warrens, cultivated fields and meandering rivulets. THE HUNDRED OP SIIROPHAM. Sliropham Hundred is about fourteen miles in length from east to west, and from six to eight in width, being bounded on tho west by Grimshoe, on the north by AVayland, on the east by DepAvade, and on tlie south by (luiltcross. The soil is various, but much of it is a light mud, watered by a, number of small rivulets, which. unite these streams on its southern boundary near Quidenham, where the River Thet flows westward to Thetford. Sliropham contains many small allotments for the poor, and comprises 47,585 acres, and 21 parishes with a population of 8500. Tho parishes are Attleborough, Besthorpe, Brettenham, Bridgham, East Wretham, lOccles, Great Bllingham, Hargham, Hockham, Illington, Kilvcrstonc^, Larliug, New Buckenhani, Old Buckcnham, Rockland All Saints, l^ockland St. Andrew, Roudham, Sliropham, Snetterton, West AVrethnm, Wilby. ATTLERrUGir, OR ATTLEBOTIOrriU (sT. MARY), A market town and pnvish, in the Hundred of Shro])ham, West Division 154 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. of the County of Norfolk, fifteen miles (south-west by west) from Norwich, and ninety-four (north-east by north) from London. In the reii^n of Richard II., Eobert de Mortimer founded a College for a warden and four secular priests in the Church of the Holy Cross, of which there are no remains. Though situated on the high road from Thetford to Norwich, it is now only a very incon- siderable to\m. The market is on Thursday ; and fairs are held on the Thursdays before Easter and Whitsuntide, and on the 15th of August. Attleborough formerly comprised two parishes Attlcborough Major, a rectory, valued in the King's books at 19 8s. 9d. ; and Attleborough Minor, a vicarage, valued at 8 2s. Cd. They are now united, and com- prise by measurement 5257 acres, constituting one rectory, in the pat- ronage of the Rev. Sir E. B. Smyth, Bart. ; the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 1500, and the glebe comprises 17 acres, valued at 25, 17s. per annum. The Church is a spacious cruciform struc- ture, in the Decorated style of English architecture, with a square embattled tower rising from the centre, and a fine porch ; the chancel, which had some portions in the Norman style, has been demolished ; there are several monuments to the memory of distinguished personages, of which the most prominent arc those of the Mortimers, Eatcliffbs, and Blockleys. Her Majesty's Commissioners have made a conditional grant for the erection of a new church. There are places of worship for Bap- tists and Wesleyan Methodists ; and a school is endowed with nine acres of land, producing 16 10s. per annum. Two miles and a-half from the town, on the road to Wymondhain, said to have been the first tr.rnj^iko road constructed in England, and for which an Act was granted in the 7th of AVilliam III., are the remains of an obelisk erected by the county to the memory of Sir Edward Rich, who in 1G75 gave 200 towards repaii'ing the highways. GUJLTCKOSS IIUNDREI), Adjoining Sufi^olk, extends about fourteen miles from east to wost,"varv- ing from two to six miles in width, bounded on the south by the Little Ouse, on the north by the River Thet, so called, near Thetford, and on tlio east by Dis's. The western part near Thetford has a light, sandy soil, resting on chalk, but the other parts rise in gentle swells, and have a strong soil of clay and loam. The Rivers Waveney and Ouse have their sources here near Lopham, and flow from thence in opposite courses. The Hundred comprises 28,o 10 acres, twelve painshes, and a population of G,748. The parishes are Banham, Bio' Norton, East Harliug, Gnrboklisham, A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 155 Guntliorpe^ Konninghall^ North Loplmin, Quidenham, Ricldlesworth, South LophaiTij West Harling. EAST HARLING Is a small market town on the gcntlo acclivities above the vale of the rivulet now called the Thet, about four miles (south-south-east) of Harling railway station of the Great Eastern line, twenty-one miles (south-west) of Norwich. The market, held every Tuesday, is well supplied with corn, &c. There are three fairs for cattle held May 4th, first Tuesday after September 12th (a sheep fair), and October 24th. KENNINGHALL Is one of the most ancient places in Norfolk. It is usually stated that Queen Boadicea held her court there, and that the Royal Castle was the seat of the East-Anglian Kings ; but there is no evidence as to the connection of Boadicea or even of the Anglo-Saxon Kings with the place, though there is no doubt that it was inhabited as a settled residence by the Saxons. Blomefield observes that " Kenning " in Saxon signifies King, and Kenninghall King's house, so that he thought it had been the seat of the East-Anglian Kings, who were said to have had a castle there. Now Kenninghall simply means the hall of the Kennings, a Saxou family of that name. Thus it appears that there was a substantial dwelling at Kenninghall. That the Saxons dwelt there in considerable numl)ers has been proved by the field discovery of their graves. During the y(\ar 1 8(38, workmen were employed to dig, and found several graves cojitnining various antiquities, including iron bosses of shields, spear heads, bronz(> fibula?, amber and glass beads, buckles, &c. A mile and a-half east of this villag(> are the earthworks, which consist of double banks of considerable height, with a ditdi between them, nearly rectangular in shape, and enclosing a space of eight acres. Within these works, which more; resemble the Roman than the British in the shape, stood the old manor house of Kenninghall, called East Hall. This manor, which was in the hands of the Crown at the time of Edward the Confessor, was grant(>d by King William 1. to William (1(^ Albini, and East Hall remained the manor house, through all its changes, until it was pulled down by the third Duke of Norfolk, who built a nuich larger house, called the new ])alac(', a littl(> to the north-east. The new house, built about ir)25, was settled on the Princess Afary when the estate of the Duke of Norfolk b}- his attainder was seized by the King. It was here that Queen Mary occasionally resided, and from liero sho assertinl her title to the Crown. This magnificent ])alace contained apart- ments for the Duke and Duclu>ss of Norfolk, th(> Earl and Countess ]5G HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Surrey, the Children, the Master of the Children, the Duchess of Rich- mond, the Lord Thomas Howard, Mr. and Mrs. Holland, Mr. Adryan (physician of the household). Sir John Colborne, the Children of the Chapel, the Almoners, the Master of the Horse, Controller, &c. It was pulled down in 1G45. Numerous remains of the ornamental brickwork ni'e to be seen in the houses of the neighbouring villages. QUIDENHAM ST. ANDREW, A parish in the Hundred of Guiltcross, two miles (east by north) from East Harling, containing about 80 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory; net income, 636; patron, the Earl of Albemarle. There is a glebe of 55 acres, with a house. The Church, which is an ancient struc- ture, is the burial place of the Keppel family, one of whom was the cele- brated Admiral Keppel, ancestor of the present Earl of Albemarle, who has a seat here, situated in a small picturesque park. Quidenham Church is a good specimen of Norman work. The lower part of the tower and the tower arch, the north door of the nave, and probably the north wall, were built in the early part of the twelfth cen- tury ; all the walls of the rest of the edifice and the arches of the nave, at the beginning of the thirteenth century ; and the chancel and east windows of the aisle, about the middle or in the latter part of the thir- teenth century. Visitors are gratified at viewing the handsome doorway in the north side, the plain Norman arch in the belfry, the remains of windows in the lower part of the Norman tower, the fine specimens of flint design work in the buttresses, and part of an oak screen, which now shuts off on the north side what is supposed to have been a dormitory. WAYLAND HUNDRED Was anciently called Waneland, from the oozy nature of the soil, which is noAV well drained and cultivated, most of the commons having been enclosed during this century. It is about eight miles in length, and from four to eight in width. It is bounded on the south by Shroi:)liam, on the north by (Ireenlioo, on the east by Mitford, and on the west by Grimshoe. AVayland comprises 33,117 aci'es, and sixteen parishes with a popula- tion of 7,783. The parishes in this Hundred arc Ashill, Breckles, Carbrookc, Caston, Griston, Litlo Ellingham, Morton, Ovington, Rockland St. Peter, Saham Toncy, Scoulton, Stow Bedon, Thompson, Thrixton, Tottington, and Watt on. WATTON ST. MARY Is a market town, distant ninety-four miles (north-north-east) from London, A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. . 157 This place is of considerable antiquity, and appears to have had the gi-smt of a market prior to 1204, which during that year was suspended by writ of incjuiry, but soon after restored to Oliver de Vaux, lord of the manor, in IGOo an accidental fire destroyed a great part of the town, with pro- ])(n-ty to the amount of 10,000. The town is situated nearly in the centre of the Hundred, on the verge of that part of Norfolk called Filand or " the open country," and consists principally of one spacious street. There is some trade here, arising from the situation of the place on a public thoroughfare. The Market is on Wednesday, and chiefly for corn; the ancient Fairs are on July 10th, October 11th, and November 8th for cattle ; and others of more modern date are on the second Wednesday in July, and the first Wednesday after Old Michaelmas-day for sheep. A Manorial Court is held anmially, and a Court of Petty Sessions for the Hundred on the first Wednesday of the month. The ])arisli comprises 1807a. ou. olr., of which 11G7 are arable, 503 meadow and pasture, and 85 woodland. The living is a discharged vicarage. The Church was originally erected in the reign of Henry I. ; the present structure is of later date in the Early English style, with a circular tower, surmounted by a spire. There are Chapels for Independents, Baptists, and Methodists ; and a National School. MEKTOX (ST. J'ETEK) Is a parish in the Hundred of Wayland two and a-half miles from ^V^atton. The parish comprises 1o61a. Ik. 20r., of which 738 acres are arable, 101 pasture, and 80 woodland. The Hall is the seat of Lord Walsingham, and is a handsome mansion in the Eliza- bethan style, containing niaiiy stately apartments, some of which are hung Avitli ancient tapestry in good preservation. The Park is richly wooded, and much of the timber is of ancient and luxuriant growth. The Church, situated hi the Park, is an ancient structure, with a round tower; the chancel contains several brasses and monuments of the family ol' the De Creys. SOLTll GItEENHOE. This Hundred is ab(nit twelve miles in length and nine in breadth, bounded on the nortli l)y Freebi'idge Lynn and Jiaunditch, on the east by Mitb)nl and Wayland, on the s(.)utli by Crinishoe, and on the west by ("hickeldse. 'i'lie whole ilisjrict has generally a light sandy soil, except on the eastern side, where it has a rich loam, and its liighly cultivated li'.'lds are watered by a rivulet flowing southward to the Wissey or Stoke river. Area, 02,001 acres; po})ulation, 10,750. Parishes: Bodney, Bradenham (East), Jb-adenhani (AVest), Caldecot, Cockley Cley, Cressing- 158 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. hum (Great), Crcssingliain (Little), Didlingtoii, Foulden, Gdoderstonc, Hilborougli, Holme Hale, Houg-liton on the Hill, Laiigford, NarLurough, Narfoi-d, Nccton, Newton, Oxborough, Pickenhiwn (North), Pickenham (South), Sporle with Palgrave, S waff ham. SWAFEHAM (ST. PETEK AND ST. PAUL) A parish and market town in the Hundred of south Greenhoe, 95 miles (north-north-east) from London. This ancient town is situated on an eminence commanding an extensive view of the surrounding country. It consists of four principal and several other streets, lighted with gas at night. The houses are well built, and the inhabitants are supplied with water from wells. A charter was granted by King John for a Market and two annual Fairs. The Market is on Saturday ; and Fairs arc held on May 12th for sheep, July 21st and November 3rd for sheep and cattle. This is the chief town for the Western Division, and the election for members of the Division is held at the Shirehall. The parish comprises 75GoA. OK. 28p., of which 1524 are arable, 285o pasture, 55 woodland, and 131 roads, &c. The living is a vicarage, with the rectory of Threxton annexed; appropriators. Dean and Chapter of Westminster. The great tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 1125, and the vicarial for 533 10s.; the appropriate glebe contains 110 acres, and the vicarial 53. The Church is approached by a line avenue of lime trees, is a spacious cruciform structure in the later English style, with a stately embattled tower, crowned with turrets, and surmovmted by a well-proportioned spire. The nave is separated from the aisles by lofty ranges of slender clustered columiis, supporting the roof, which is richly ornamented with figures of angels, carved in chesnut wood. There was anciently a Free Chapel, dedicated to St. Mary, and about half-a-mile distant in a hamlet, formerly called Guthluc's Stow, now called Goodluck^s Close, stood another Chapel dedicated to St. Guthluc. There are Chapels for Baptists and Wesleyans. The Free School here was founded in 1724, by Nicholas Hamond, Fscp, who bequeathed 500 for erecting a School-house, and 500 for the instruction of twenty boys. A National School, built in 1838, is supported by subscription. FOPEHOE HUNDRED Is twelve miles in length, and from six to eight in breadth, bounded on the west by Wayland and Mitford, on the east by Humbloyard^ and on the north by Fynesford. It is divided from the latter by the River Wensuni, and is intersected by the Yarc, and several smaller streams. Forehoe has its name from four hills, where the Hundred Court was formerly held. It is an extensive district of fertile and highly -improved land, nearly all the A DESCUllTIOX OF NORFOLK. 150 coininons luivinj^ been enclosed during the lust and present century. The llinidred includes twenty-four parishes^ covering o9,8G!3 acres. Popula- tion, 1 JJIG. The parishes are J3arnliani Broom, liarford, Bawburg-h, Bovvthorpej Brandon Parva, Carlton Forehoe, Colton, Costessey or Cossey, Caston, Crovvnthorpe, Deophani, Easton, llackford, Hinghani, Honiugham, Kindjerley, Mai-lingford, Murley St. Botolph, ]\Iorley St. Peter, Runhall, Welborne, Wicklewood, Wraniplingham, and Wyinondhani. WYMONDUAM (oii WINDJIAM ST. MAKY THE VIKUIX), A parish in the Incorporatiozi and Hundred of Forehoe, nine miles (west- south-"\vest) from Norwich, and 100 (noi'th-east by north) from London, Cduiprising the market town of Wymondham, which forms the in-soken, and the divisions of IJo^'nham, Market Street, Silfield, Serton, Town- green, and Wattleheld, that constitute the out-soken. This town, Avhich derives its name from the Saxon Winde Munde Ham, signifying " a pleasant village on a mount,'^ is indebted for its im])ortance to the foundation of a priory of Black Monks, at iirst a cell to the Abbey of St. Alban's, founded by William d'Albini, or Daubeny, in UoO. Henry I. endowed the monastery with lands, and with the privilege of a])propriating all wrecks between Ecclcs, Happisburgh, and Tunstead, and witli an annual rent in kind of 2000 eels from the village of Hilgay. About II' 18, it was elevated to the rank of an Abbey, and continued to ilourish till the dissolution, when its revenue was returned at 72 5s. Id., and grunted by lleniy \'1I1. to the JOarl of Surrey; there are some slight remains of the Church and conventuul buildings ; und some years since two leaden colhns were found near the site of the chancel of the Abbev, one supposed to contain the remains of the founder's lady, and which was deposited in the branch Church. The two Ketts, who disturbed tlu* county in the reign were dt'stroyed l>y lire; and in lOGl the j)l:igue raged with great fury among the inhabi- laiii^. The town, which is situated on the road from Norwich through Thetiord to London, is cif considerable extent, and consists i-liiefly of five sti'i'ets, diverging li'om the Market Place, and containing many ancient and several well-built modern houses. Of latt' years it lias been greatly improved, and the iniial)itants are wi-U su])plii'd with water. The manu- t'actnve of wooden spindles, spoons, and other .irtieles of turnery ware was formerly carried on to a veiy great extent, but is nowaliu ost extinct 160 IIlriTOKY OF EASTEllK ENGLAND. being superseded by the weaving of bombazine, crape, and other articles introduced many years since, and in the manufacture of which 1200 persons were employed ; tliere is also an extensive brewery and malting establishment. The Market, granted by charter of King John in 120o, is on Friday; there are Fairs on February 14th, May 17th, and September 7th, principally for cattle, horses, and pcdlery; and Statute Fairs for hiring servants are held occasionally ; when these days happen on the Saturday, the Fairs are held on the following Monday, so as not to interfere with the Norwich Market. In the Market Place is an ancient Cross, erected in 1G16, and covered with an octagonal roof supported on wooden pillars at the angles. A Court Leet takes place ammally for the appointment of Constables. Manorial Courts occur as occasion requires, and Petty Sessions on the third Tuesday in the jnonth ; the inhabitants are exempt from serving on juries at Assizes and Sessions. The House of Correction, for females only, contains three wards, with day rooms, and two airing yards. The parish comprises by measurement 10,559 acres, chiefly arable; the surface is varied, and the scenery in some parts pleasingly picturesque. Stanfield Hall, a handsome Elizabethan mansion, surrounded with a moat ; Burfield Hall and Wattlefield House are in the parish. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the King's books at dblO 14s. 4id., patron and appropriator. Bishop of Ely ; the great tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 2192 12s. Od., and the vicarial for 799. The Church, which comprises the nave of the Abbey Church, is a handsome structure in various styles ; the interior contains many interesting and elegant details, among which ai'e some richly-decorated Norman arches ; the roof is elaborately groined, and ornamented with sculptured figures of angels and various devices. On the south side of the chancel, which has been formed out of the nave to supply the place of the ancient choir, is a splendid monument to the late Abbot of the Monastery ; one of the windows in the north aisle was embellished in 1840 with paintings of the Nativity, Crucifixion, and Ascension of our Saviour, and with a figure of the Virgin and Infant, in modern stained glass ; the font is richly sculptured ; and there are several neat monuments. , There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyans. A Free Grammar School was founded in the reign of Eliza- beth, and endowed with a moiety of the property belonging to guilds in the town, producing 100 per annum, which are paid to the master, who has also a house left by Robert Day, in 1678 ; a Scholarship in Corpus Christi, Cambridge, was attached to it in 1574, by Archbishop Parker ; another in 1580, by John Parker, Esq.; and in 1659 a share in an ex- hibition for scholarships to the same College was given by Edward Colman, Esq. The School is kept in an ancient Chapel dedicated to A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 161 Thomas a Becket. A School for Girls is partly supported by endowment. The late Rev. William Papillion, in 1834, built a school room for two hundred children of both sexes, and also gave twenty acres of land for their endowment and for the support of an evening lectureship'; the land yields 00 per annum. The Rev. John Hendry, in 1722, bequeathed 400 to bo vested in the purchase of land, and the rental to be given to the vicnr for an afternoon sermon in the Church every Sunday ; also a rent-charge of 3 10s. for a sermon every Friday in Lent; also a small estate for the use of the Charity Schools ; and on the inclosure of the parish in 180G, about forty acres of land were allotted to the poor for fuel. KIMBERLEY, A small village near Wymondham, is part of the estate of the Earl of Kimberley, son of the late Lord Wodehouse, descendant of a very ancient family in Norfolk. Tlie first seat here belonged to the Fastolff family, and stood on the west side of the village imtil Sir John Wodehouse, who married the heiress of Sir John Fastolff, demolished it and erected a moated hall with a tower at the west end of the Park. The mansion became dilapidated in the seventeenth century, and at the beginning of the eighteenth century Sir John Wodehouse built the present house, which stands on the east side of the Park in the parish of Wymondham, and was afterwards enlarged and beautified by Sir Armine Wodehouse, who added four towers at the angles. It is a large and handsome brick mansion, with many convenient rooms and some fine paintings, one of which is a portrait of Vandyck, painted by himself when young. The Park is richly ornament(;d with wood and water, and stocked with deer. The rivulet on the west side of the Hall divides the parishes, and is expanded into a lake surrounding a wood of venerable oaks, below which the serpentine stream bounds a fine lawn. iiiNGHAM (sT. Andrew's), A parish in the hundred of Forehoe, ninety-eight miles (north-east by north) from London. This place is situated near the source of the River Yare, and was formerly a market town. The market has fallen into disuse in consequence of its being on the same day as the Market of Norwich. The Fairs are held on jVlarch 7th, Whit Tuesday, and October 2nd ; the first is chiefly for horses, and the last for different kinds of live stock. General Courts Baron and Customary Courts for the Manors of Hiughnm, Hingham Gurney, and Hingham Rectory are held on the 25th of October. The parish comprises 3783 acres. The living is a rectory ; net income 020 ; patron. Earl of Kimberley. The Church is a 162 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. fine structure, with a handsome tower of flint nnd stone, formerly sur- mounted by a lofty spire. MITFORD HUNDRED Is the most central division of Norfolk, extending* about ten miles in length and six in breadth ; bounded on the north by Eynesford, on the east by Forehoe, on the north by Wayland, and on the west by Lnunditch. It formerly abounded in extensive commons, nearly the whole of which linve been enclosed during this century. At the Domesday survey it belonged to the Monastery founded in the Isle of Ely by Ethelfreda, a Princess of East Anglia, from which it passed to the See of Ely, with which it re- mained till granted to the Ci'own in the reign of Elizabeth. Area, 33,572 acres, divided into eighteen parishes, with a population of 11,485. This Hundred includes the parishes of Cranworth, East Dereham (part). East Tuddenham, Garvestone, Hardinghani, Hockering, Letton, Mattishnll, Mattishall Burgh, North Tuddenham, Reymerstone, Shipdham, South Burgh, Thuxton, Westfield, Whinbergh, Woodrising, Yaxliam. DEREHAM, EAST (ST. NICHOLAS), A market town and parish, in the Union of Mitford and Launditch, Hundred of Mitford, Western Division of the County of Norfolk, sixteen miles (west-north-west) from Norwich, and one hundred and one (north- east by north) from London. This place, anciently called Deerham, from the number of deer by which it was fi-equented, and distinguished by its adjunct from a village of the same name, is of very remote antiquity. During the Heptarchy, Withburga, youngest daughter of Anna, King of the East Angles, founded a Monastery here, of which she became prioress, and which establishment was subject to the Abbey founded by Ethelfreda, daughter of King Anna, in the Isle of Ely. Withburga was buried in the Churchyard, and her remains in 798 were removed into the Conventual Church, whence, after the destruction of the ]\fonastery by the Danes, they were in 974 translated to Ely, where they were enshrined, with those of her sisters, in the Cathedral Church of that city. A spring, to which miraculous cures were attributed, is said to have risen up in that part of the Churchyard where she was first interred, which in 1752 was converted into a bath, and in 1793 enclosed in a brick building by subscription. In 1581 the toAvn suffered severely from fire, and in 1G79 the greater part of it was by a similar calamity reduced to ashes. It is pleasantly situated, nearly in the centre of the county, and was formerly the meanest town in Norfolk ; but within the present century it has been so materially improved, by widening and levelling the streets, as to render it a handsome town. The houses are in general neatly built, and of modern A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 163 appearance, and the inhabitants are amply supplied with excellent water. The town is lighted with gas, for which pui*pose works were constructed in 1836. The Theatre, a small but neat building of brick, was used every alternate year by a regular company of performers. A Book Club, established under good regulations, is patronized by the most respectable iuhabitants of the town and neighbourhood ; and on the site of the ancient market cross a handsome Assembly Room has been erected by subscription. The trade formerly carried on in worsted is now discontinued. There are two iron-foundries and two breweries in the town, and a large brewery nnd malting establishment at South Green. The Market is on Friday, for corn, general provisions, cattle, and pigs, for which last and for corn it is the most considerable mart in the county. The trade of the town has greatly increased since the opening of the railway. A new Com Hall has been built, and the market is well attended by corn merchants. The Fairs are on the Thursday and Friday before Old Midsummer-day, and on the Thursday and Friday before Old Michaelmas-day, for cattle, sheep, and toys. The County Magistrates for the Division hold Petty Sessions every alternate week ; and Courts Baron and Courts Leet are held by the Lord of the Manor of East Dereham, of the Queen, annually. The parish with the Hamlet of Dillington, comprises 5222a. 3r. 21 p., of which 3544 acres are arable, 625 meadow and pasture, 190 wood- land, and 1 50 common, the last being appropriated for fuel, &c. ; iu the immediate vicinity of the town are various orchards and gar- dens. The land is rich, and the surface is interspersed with several picturesque hamlets, and uumerous handsome mansions. One of the Manors annexed to the Crown, and called " East Dereham of the Queen," took its appellation from the circumstance of Queen Elizabeth having ol)tainod it from the liishop of Ely, whom she thi'eatened to " unfrock " if lie refused to give it in exchange for another estate. Quebec House, three-qnarters of a mile north of the town, is a spacious and handsome mansion with a beautiful park and pleasure grounds. The living is a reriory and a vicarage, with Hoe annexed; the rectory is a sinecure, valued in the King's books at 11 3s. Hd., and held on lease from the Crown ; and the vicarage is valued at 1 7 3s. 4d., and in the patronage of the Rector. Hie vicarial tithes have been commuted for a rent charge of 113 Os. 8d. ; and the rectorial for 826 13s. 4d. ; the vicar's glebe consists of 43 r^ acres and a good house, and the rectorial two and a-quarter acres, with a rectorial manor. The Church, formerly the Conventual Church of the Monastery of St. AVMthburga, and made parochial in 798, is a spa- cious cruciform structure, partly in the Norman and partly in theEnglisli style, with a tower rising from the intersection, and open for a con- 164 HISTOEY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. siderable heiefht to tlio interior of the Churcli ; connected with the transepts are the Chapels of the Holy Cross (over which was the treasnry of St. Withbnrga), St. Mary, and St. Edmund, and on the south side of the chancel are three stone stalls, with a double piscina of elegant design; the font, supported on an octangular pedestal, is beautifully sculptured with representations of the four Evangelists, eight of the Apostles, the Crucifixion, and the seven Sacraments of the Romish Church; and on the south transept is an antique oak chest, richly carved, taken: from Buckeu- ham Castle. Among the monuments is a white marble tablet to the memory of Cowper the poet, who resided in this place for the last- nine years of his life, and was interred in the north transept of the Church ; and in the same tomb are deposited the remains of his two friends, Mrs. Unwin and Miss Perowne. The bells, which from their weight were supposd to endanger the tower of the Church, were removed into a massive tower, built for their reception in the reign of Henry A^II., on a site detached from the rest of the building. There are places of worship for Particular Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans. A National School for three hundred children was built in 1840, by subscription, on a site given by the Crown; the cost was about 1000, A British and Foreign School was built, chiefly at the expense of W. W. Lee- Warner, Esq., in 1841. Several charitable bequests, amounting to about 170 per annum, are distributed amongst the poor. The infamous Bishop Bonner was rector of the parish from 1534' to 1540; and Lady Fenn, well known under the name of Mrs. Lovechild, 8 are ai-able, 202 ])asture, and 2()5 woodhuid. The Hall, the seat of 'l\ Herney, l']s Afanor, with 130 others, was given by William I., and it was made the head of all his lordships in Norfolk. It was probably enlarged by his descendant, who in 1297 entertained Edward I. as his guest. CASTLE RISING, A parish in the Hundred of Freebridge Lynn, four miles north-east from Lynn Regis, is an ancient place. It was formerly a Sea Port inferior only to Lynn, a Borough and i\[arket town, but the liarbour being choked up with sand, its trade declined, and the Market ceased. The Borough for- merly returned two members to Parliament, but it was disfranchised by the Reform Act of 1832. The government of the town was originally vested in a ^fayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses, but the Coqioration has fallen into decay. J'l-ior to the year 1 1 7G, a Castle was built here b}' William de Albini, the fli"st Earl of Sussex, and of this fortress an 174 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. account is given in our historical narrative. The principal remains aro the shell of the keep^ a square tower^ with some doorways and window^s of Norman work. HILLINGTON (ST. MARY) Is a parish in the Hundred of Froebridge Lynn_, seven and a-half miles north-east by east from the town of Lynn. Tlie parish comprises 2529 acres, of which 1833 are arable, 537 pasture, and 12G woodland. The lower grounds are watered by a stream which rises in the parish, and the scenery is richly diversified. Hillington Hall, the seat of the Lord of the Manor, is a stately mansion, beautifully situated in a richly-wooded Park. It was originally erected in 1627, but it was much improved hj tho late proprietor. Sir W. I. H. B. Folkes, Lord of the Manor, who added a noble hall, staircase, and library. The structure, which presents a, handsome specimen of castellated architecture, is surrounded by grounds tastefully laid out, and the rivulet which flows through the Park was diverted into a serpentine course, forming a picturesque lake. SANDRINGHAM Is a parish comprising 1172 acres of land, seven and a-half miles north- north-east of Lynn, and takes its name from its deep sandy soil, of wdiich more than 200 acres are on an extensive heath stretching hence to Wolferton, where there is a station on the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway. In 1 8G2, H.P.H. the Prince of Wales purchased the Sandringham Estate of the Hon. Charles Spencer Cooper for the sum of 220,000. Subse- quently a splendid mansion was erected for the Prince, who occasionally resides there in the shooting season. The mansion stands in a jDark of 300 acres, sheltered by extensive plantations. The celebrated " Norwich Gates " stand at one of the entrances to the park. The estate now consists of about 8000 acres, and includes the parishes of Babingley, West Newton, and Wolferton, with part of Dersingham. It is rich marsh land, where it joins the sea near AVolferton ; black sand upon car stone towards the middle of the estate, and light loam upon chalk, adapted for barley and oats, at the east end towards Anmer. A considerable number of new model cottages have been built on the estate for the laborers, and the population has increased in the villages around. THE .HUNDREr) OF FREEBRIDGE MARSHLAND Forms a level district of rich alluvial marshes and fens at the western end of the county, and is fourteen miles in length from north to south, twelve miles in breadth from east to west, comprising 54,500 acres quite insulated, l)eing bounded on the north by the Wash, on the east by the Groat Ouse rivoi*, on the west by the Eiver None, and on the south by A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 175 Podike, which divides it from the fens of Clackclose. The soil consists of alternate layers of moor and silt, with a subsoil of blue clay. The Hundred comprises seventeen marshes, with a population of 14,421. The parishes in this Hundred are St. Edmund (North Lynn), St. Peter (West Lynn), Wi^genhall St. Germans, Wiggenhall St. Mary Magdalen, Wiggcnhall St. Mary the Virgin, and Wiggenhall St. Peter. A DESCRIPTION OF LYNN REGIS. Lynn, anciently Lynn Regis, is a seaport, borough, and market town in the Western Division of Norfolk, situated on the east bank of the gi'eat Ouse, at its confluence with the River Nar, which is here of con- siderable breadth. The town is distant ninety-seven miles (north-by-east) from London, and a few miles from the North Sea. It extends a mile and a-half in length, and half-a-mile in breadth, and comprises some well- built streets, ancient churches, and public buildings. It is intersected by four rivulets called fleets, across which there are many bridges. Tho T3orougli of Lynn is supposed to be of Anglo Saxon origin. Sir Henry Spelman is of opinion that the name is Saxon, derived from the word Lean, signifying a tenure in fee, or farm. It was anciently called Lm E'phcojn, or Bishop's Lynn, from having been under the jurisdiction, both temporal and spiritual, of the Bishops of Norwich, who had a palace where Gay wood Hall now stands; but this authority was surrendered to Henry VIIL, and from that time the town assumed the name of LjTin Regis, or King's Lynn. Nor is the name of Lynn the only proof of its antiquity, for the principal lordship of the town confirms it, which was in the reign of Edward the Confessor, in the See of Elmham or East Angles. Wliat king gave it to that See does not appear, but it is highly probable that Felix, the first liishop of East Anglia, was in possession of it and of Elmham about the year G30, and Bedwin was Bishop of Elmham in G73. From the time of the Conquest, lOGG, we can date with more certainty; the most ancient account is from the record called Domesday Book, Avhich was begun in 1 080, and finished in 1 08G, when this t()\vn with West, North, and South Lynn were all included under the general name of Lenn, or Lun. King's Lynn was a, place of importance during the Anglo-Saxon period, as itp])enrs from its enjoying the privilege of certain dues and customs, with a tolbooth in the toAvn, payable on tho arrival of any goods or merchan- dise^, by sea or land ; and before the Norman Conquest the Bishop was then in full possession of a moiety, which tho ConqucM'or on his depriva- tion seized on, and gave it to his bi'other Odo, Bishop of Baycux, in Normandy, and on his rebellion against King William II., that King granted it to AVilliam de Albiui, his brother, as shown in Blomiield's Historv. 176 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. The Convent was subject to tho Abbey founded by Ethelfreda, the legitimate daughter of King Anna, in the Isle of Ely. The Nunnery liaving been destroyed by the Danes, its Church was made parochial in 701, though the Convent was subsequentlj refounded as an Abbey, and at the dissolution Roger Jarmy, the last Abbott, had a pension allowed him of 66 13s. 4d., so that its annual revenue must have been consider- able. Bishop Herbert, in 1100, founded a Church and Priory, dedicated to St, Mary IMagdalene, St. Margaret, and other Saints, on the festival of which Henry I. granted liberty to the Prior of Norwich to hold a Fair and other privileges. In 1204, during the contest between King John and the barons, Lynn contimied loyal to that despot, who seems to have had a great affection for the town, and remained here for some time. On the petition of John Grey, Bishop of Norwich, the King made the town a free borough. There is a local tradition that he presented to the inhabitants a silver cup and cover, which are still preserved by the Corporation, also his own sword, to be carried before the Mayor on public occasions. But antiquaries assign a later period to the cup, and as it has been repaired on four several dates, as is recorded on the foot, who shall decide how much remains of the original ? The sword, a long, straight-bladed weapon, has a Latin inscription on one side of the hilt, stating that John took it from his side and gave it to the town ; but the genuineness of this inscription is at least doubtful. John was frequently here during the war, and from this place ho departed on his last fatal journey, just before the disaster which befcl him in crossing the Wash. Edward III. and several of his successors visited tho town. In the Parliamentary war of the seventeenth century, the inhabitants embraced the royal cause, and the town was besieged by the Puritan forces under the command of the Earl of Manchester, to whom it surrendered after a vigorous resistance, as detailed in our historical narrative in the proper place : reign of Charles I. The town is situated on the east bank of the Great Ouse, which is here of considerable breadth, and at a distance of ten miles from the sea. It was in former times defended on the east side by a wall, in which were nine bastions, and by a broad and deep fosse, over which Avere three drawbridges, leading to the principal gates. Tho limits of the port extend in a northerly direction from the promontory on which Hunstanton lighthouse stands in a supposed right line north-north-west to fourteen fathoms of water, and likewise from this line toAvards the east until it falls into fourteen fathoms of water at a point northward from the eastern end of the sand hills commonly called Burnham Meales, southerly to a place in the channel of the harbour of Lynn called White Friar's Fleet, and to Gibbon's Point, opposite thereto, thence down the river on the k DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 177 western side and round the coast of Marshland to a point called Sutton Corner. The harbour is deep, and sufficient to accommodate three hundred vessels, but the entrance is somewhat dangerous, from the frequent sliifting of the channel and the numerous sand banks. The anchorage is rendered difficult from tlie nature of the soil and the i-apidity of the tide, which rises to the height of twenty feet. A considerable part of Old Lynn, including the Church at North Lynn, has been engulphed in the sea. After the sluices at Denver and Salters had been constructed for the purpose of draining the Bedford Level, the navigation of the River Ouse was much impeded and the harbour obstructed by the accumulation of silt, to remedy which the Eau Brink Cut was commenced in 1818 and completed in 1820, avoiding a bend in the river. Three jetties, composed of timber, were constructed at stated distances with a view to divert the stream to the eastern or harbour side. Near the north end of this cut, a handsome wooden bridge was built, over which a new road leads into Marshland ; and a bridge over the River None, and an embankment at Cross Keys Wash was finished in 18ol, affording a direct road from Norfolk and Suffolk through Lynn into Lincolnshire. The PurHeet and Common Staithe Quays are the principal places for landing merchandise. On the former, where all wines are landed, the Custom-house and Exchange stands, occupying the site of the hall of the ancient guild of the Holy Trinity. It is a handsome building of free- stone, ornamented with two tiers of })ilasters, the lower of the Doric and the upper of the L)nic order, and surmounted by a small turret. In a niche is a statue of the Merry IMonarch Charles IL Li the High Street is the Excise OlKce, in which a collector, supervisor, and other officers in are employed. The Cuiklliall is an ancient structure of stone and flint, in the later style of English architecture, and here public meetings are generally held. Tlie town owes its origin and importance to its river, and the people of Jjyuu, by means of their inland navigation, formerly carried on com- mercial intercourse with the interior of the country. As far back as the time ot" Edward the Confessor, the trade of Ijynn appears to have been consitlerabie ; and at the beginning of the thirteenth century the town had risen to such a height of coniiuereial importance that the revenue it paid to the Crown is saiil to have been two-thirds of that arising from the port of London. Then it must have been a very thi'iving ])lace. An old accouyt of Lynn states that the inhabitants were formerly grcat nierehants : that, l)y means of several rivers whieh fell into tlie sea, they suj)plied six counties entirely, and three other with most commodities, and particularly with wine aiul coals, and that they dealt more in those goods than the traders of any other town, except London, Bristol, and New- H 178 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. castle. How great has been the change since then^ as now to those three exceptions must be added Liverpool, Hull, Sunderland^ and Ipswich, and a score of other ports. A writer of the reign of llichard I. calls Lynn a city of note for its trade and commerce. Benjamin Maokerell, who pub- lished his elaborate but somewhat antiquarian History of Lynn in 1732, says : '^ Its situation affords great advantage to traffic and commerce, having a commodious large harbour capable of containing 200 sail of ships, and several navigable rivers falling into it out of various counties, by which means divers capital cities and towns, Ely, Peterborough, Stamford, Bedford, St. Ives, Huntingdon, Cambridge, St. Neots, Northampton, Bury St. Edmund^s, and Thetford, are served with all sorts of heavy commodities." King John first incorporated the town by a chartoi-, and since his reign no less than nineteen chai'tcrs have been granted to Lynn. The charter of the sixth King John granted fi free borough to the burgesses to have " soke, sac, toll, theme, infang-tlieft, and outfang-theft," to bo quit of toll, lastage, passage, freeage, pointage, stallage, and of lien and daiiegeld, and not to be impleaded out of Lynn. In former times there were many kinds of taxes on trade ; tolls on goods bought or sold, lastage, or dues on goods bought or sold by the last; jiassayc dues for a way through a town ; frcccKjc dues for a passage by water ; stallage due for erecting stalls ; tonnage dues for weighing wool ; poundage dues of one shilling in the pound on all goods imported or exported ; licii, any charge by statute or judgment ; dancfjdd, a tax of two shillings on every hide of land ; and from these the burgesses of Lynn were exempted by various charters. By the charter of Henry VIII., the Mayor and burgesses were incorporated, and made quit of all vexatious tolls, pointage, freeage, stallage, tollagc, and all other customs. Another charter of King Henry VIII. granted two fairs or marts yearly, and two markets weekly. The charter of King James granted to the Mayor and burgesses the admiralty of the port and harbour of Lynn, cmd gave them various and complete powers for the government of the town. The other charters confirmed and enlarged these privileges. At various periods the inha- bitants have obtained thirty local Acts, some of them i-elating to trade and the improvement of the navigation, drainage, markets, &c. Eight of them are Eau Brink Acts for improving the harbour and the drainage of the fens. The carrying out of this drainage to a certain extent has increased the production of the surrounding country, and at the same time augmented the trade of the town. Lord William Bentinck, in 1837, first originated a scheme for reclaim- ing 150,000 acres of land from the Wash. A company was formed, and an Act obtained in 1839, to carry out the project, but the company were A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 179 uiiablo to proceed on account of the want of funds. After some negociu- tions, the Lynn merchants offered G0,000 to the Company, and they in 18^9 obtained another Act, by which the proprietors of the Bedford Level were forced to contribute towards a less extensive scheme, by which it was proposed to enclose o2,000 acres of land, and make a deep straight and safe channel to the sea, instead of the old shallow and circuitous channel. By the new cut it was expected that vessels inward and outward would save two hours every tide, and that the harbour would accommodate 1000 vessels. The number of vessels belonging to the port is about 122 of 15,308 tons, with 750 seamen. The number of vessels inwards are about 15(> foreign, and 2000 coasters yearly. The number entered outwards is much less. The trade inwards is in coals, lime, wine, &c. TMie wine trade is as ancient as the time of Henry IIL, and has been 1000 tons yearly. The trade outwards is in corn and wool to English ports, and manufactured goods to foreign ports. The Customs Dues amount to from 50,000 to 00,000 yearly, ticcording to the state of trade, which has greatly declined of late years, owing to want of enter- prise among the merchants, and the excessive port charges. We shall now give some returns of the shipping business of the port, which has been of late years confined chiefly to timber, corn, and coals, 'lliese have formed the bulk of the imports and exports. The following is an account of the exports of corn from Lynn for various periods : The average export for the three years ending in 1795 was 180,158 quarters ; in the year 1801, the export was 195,000 (juarters ; in tlie year 1811, it was 212,500 quarters; in 1817, it was 273,830 quarters; the average export for three years preceding 1821 was 100,008 quarters; since then the exports have diminished. The ([uantity of coal landed at this port in 1811 was 255,703 tons, and the duties })ai(l at the Custom-house amounted to tO 1,359 ; the number of vessels that entered inwards, 30 1 from foreign parts; aggregate tonnage, 29,111 ; and of coasting vessels, 2229, of 208,137 tons aggregate burden; and the number that cleared outwards was 1159, of the aggi-e- gato buj-den of ('>8,920 tons. The Bill repealing the Navigation Laws came into operation on January 1 st, 1 850, and the i-epeal appears to have had but little effect on the trade of the port. The decrease may be easily accounted for without any reference to legislative measures. Within our memory, several thousand (]uarters ef barley were yearly exported from Lynn to Scotland. Indeed, it was no umisual thing to see eight or ten Lynn vessels discharging their cargoes at Leilh near Edinburgh, and also at Grangcn worth at one time, besides a number of smaller craft that passed through the Forth and Clyde Canal to unload their cargoes at Port Dundee. Now a solitary 180 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. sloop or schooner may be seen loading at Lynn for Scotland, us if in mockery of former trade. The population of Lynn is about 20,000, nearly all engaged in trade, chiefly retail trade. Inhere are many shipowners, merchants, and traders, in the town, and the transactions in timber, coal, corn, cattle, and pro- visions are of considerable amount. There are several large maltsters and brewers in the town, also wine and spirit merchants. Lynn markets are held on Tuesday and Saturday, fairs on St. Valentine's-day for a fortnight, a cheese and horse fair on October, 1 7tli, and cattle fairs on the second Monday in November, at which fairs much business is done. There is a Tuesday market-house, a Saturday market -house with a market-place, a cattle market, and a fish market. The Tuesday market is principally for corn, and was formerly held in a spacious paved area of about three acres, surrounded by some well-built houses. It contains a handsome but dilapidated Market Cross of freestone, erected in 1710. The lower part of the building is surrounded by a peri- style of sixteen Ionic columns, above which is a walk defended by iron palisades, and in the centre is an octagonal room, in the exterior aisles of which are carved figures facing the cardinal points, the whole being sur- rounded by a cupola. A new market-place and a market-house were finished a few years since. The latter is a fine building, with a range of six Doric columns, the upper part containing spacious rooms. There has always been a considerable corn business carried on at Lynn, it being the market town for a great part of West Norfolk and the Fen district. From 160,000 to 170,000 quarters of corn are sold yearly in the market. The Tuesday cattle market has been increasing of late years, and 7000 sheep, 000 beasts, and 1200 pigs, have been offered for sale in one day. The increase is attributed to the reduction of the tolls on sheep, being now only one-half of the former amount. At the great sheep and cattle fair here, 15,000 sheep, 2000 beasts, besides pigs, have been offered for sale in one day. King^s Lynn comprises the parishes of All Saints and St. Margaret, in the Diocese of Norwich. The living of All Saints is a vicarage in the patronage of the 15isliop ot Ely. The Church is an ancient cruciform struc- ture. The tower, which fell down in 1 7Go, and demolished part of the body of the Church, has not Ijeen re-built. The hving of St. Fdmund^s, North End, is a sinecure rectory, 'flic Church is supposed to have been swept away by the river. The living of St. Margaret's is a perjietual curacy, with the curacy of St. Nicholas annexed, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich. The Church is a spacious structure, combining the early, the decorated, and the later styles of English architecture, with two western towers, and an east front of singularly -beautiful design, with A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 181 two octagonal turrets rising from the flanking buttresses. The chancel is in the early English style^ with a fine circular east window. The south porch is highly ornamented with canopied niches and shields, and the roof finely groined. The Chapel of St. Nicholas is a large structure, con- ])ining the decorated with the later style of English architecture. The original roof of beautifully-carved oak is carefully preserved. The Free Grammar School was founded in the reign of Henry VII., by Thomas niioresby, who endowed it. The town consists of three principal streets nearly parallel, from which several smaller streets diverge, and is well paved, lighted with gas at night, and amply supplied with water. The houses are in general old and irregularly built, though interspersed with several respectable man- sions. In the more modern parts of the town, there are several ranges of handsome buildings. The Theatre, a neat structure, was erected by a company in 1814, and is open yearly for about six weeks, commencing at the great mart iu February. Assemblies are held in a suite of commodious rooms iu the Town Hall. The Subscription Library was established in 1 707, and is supported by 200 members. Tliere is also a public Readiug-Eoom and News-Room in the Market Place. The Athenseum is a new building, containing a library, and rooms for lectures, concerts, &c. The town, though apparently dull in some parts, contains much to interest a visitor, tliere being a few foreign -looking features ; here and there a high peaked roof ; a Town Hall curiously chequered in front with flint and stone ; a Custom House that might have been imported bodily from Flanders ; besides relics of old religious houses, of domestic architecture, and stubborn ramparts which embody much of local history, l)ack even to the days of tradition. The south gate at the end of London Road, a solid brick structure of the fifteenth century, marks the extent of gi'ound enclosed by the town walls. It forms a spacious arch flanked by turrets, but is not the original gate built in the days of King John. Froiu this we uiay walk to the Grey Friars' Tower, which on a near \'iew appears to be also a gateway, for all that remains is an isolated mass of brick and stone pierced by a tall pointed ai'ch, strongly buttressed and gabled, from which rises the lofty lantern with graceful eftect. Passing on, we may enter the Mall, and be made aware by agreeable experience that Lynn possesses a public ground which, for tasteful laying out, for smooth green lawns, charming avenues of noble trees, may compare with the beautiful precincts of Cambridge. And here is a further attmction the Chapel of Our Lady iu the Mount, a small octagonal building of brick and stone, with buttresses at the angles. The interior comprises two stories, the lower being a crypt, the upper a Chapel less than twenty feet in length, but which, with its slender columns, groins, fair tracery, niches, 182 HISTOEY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. and quartre-foil windows, was manifestly a labour of love to the architect of the fifteenth century. Below the town is the Long Straight Cut, through which the River Ouse, burdened with the waters of seven counties, flows in a direct channel to the sea. Seen in the distance, its further end appears lost in a great waste of mud, uninviting in prospect, but attractive to engineers. No wonder that the county historian describes Lynn as " on a great level, and flat, filthy, rich soil," when from all the fen country the mud finds its way hither, and makes the shallow Wash still shallower. On that waste of mud, great works are in progress which may some day, not far distant, accomplish the ambitious scheme of reclaiming a new county from the sea. By the cutting of that straight channel the outfall of the Ouse has been lowered. twelve feet, whereby some hundreds of thousands of acres in the fen comitry are better drained than ever before ; and districts which could be relieved only by machinery now discharge their superabundant water by a natural outflow, and far back as the borders of Northamptonshire, back to Wisbeach and Ely, the pastures and fields are benefited by divert- ing the River Ouse from its old circuitous channel below Lynn. HUNDREDS AND PARISHES IN EAST NORFOLK. This Division of the county is by far the largest and most populous, extending along the coast for forty miles. It is divided into north and south for Parliamentary purposes. It is watered by the rivers Waveney, Yare, and Bure, diversified by numerous broads or inland lakes at Wroxham, Surlingham, Filby, Hickling, Ormesby, and Rollesby. The chief roads are from Yarmouth to Acle, Blofield, and Norwich ; also from Yarmouth to Ormesby, Rollesby, and Martham, and from Norwich to Aylshaui and Cromer. Nearly all the towns and villages in East Norfolk are of Anglo-Saxon origin, and most of them are built near rivers for the convenience of water transit. On the east coast Yarmouth stands at the mouth of the river Yare, from which the town takes its name. Norwich, which is a city and county of itself occupying a large area, stands on (\ach side of the river Wensum above its confluence with the Yare ; north- ward Aylsham and Coltishall are situated near the Bure which flows from Aylsham through a flat district into the Yare at Yarmouth. The Waveney passes the town of Diss, winds along between the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, and joins the Yare at Reedham. The Eastern Division of Norfolk includes the rural and picturesque Hundred of Blofield, near Norwich ; the highly-cultivated Hundreds of Tunstoad, Happing, and Walsham ; and the marshy Hundreds of East and West Flcgg, near the sea coast, the town of Yarmouth, and City of Norwich. A DESCRIPTION OV NORFOLK. 183 THE HUNDRED OP BLOFIELD Is bounded on the north-east by the Hundred of Walsham, on the north- west by Taverham, and on the south by the River Yare, which parts it from the Hundreds of Henstead and Clavering. The length of this Hundred, from the north-east to the south-east, where it is bounded by the Yare, is twelve miles, and its breadth about four miles, Blofield Hundred contains the following villages in the direction from Norwich eastward : Thorpe, Postwick, Plumstead (Great and Little), Blofield, Bradeston, Brundall, Burlingham North and South, Biirlingham St. Andrew, Bnckonham, Cantlcy, Freethorpe, Hasingham, Limpenhoe, Lingwood, Southwood, Witton, and Strumpshaw. THORPE bishop's (ST. ANDREW), A parish chiefly in the Hundred of Blofield, two miles east from Norwich, is very pleasantly situated in the vale of the Yare. The parish comprises 2592a. 2r. Up., of which 1520 acres are arable, 831 meadow, pasture, and common, 17t woodland, and 67 roads and waste. The village is delightfully situated on the acclivities of a hill, at the base of which flows the Bivers Wensum and Yare, which uniting their streams within this parish, flow on to Yarmouth. The living is a rectory ; the tithes have been commuted for n rent-charge of 612, and the glebe comprises twenty-six ncres. The County Lunntic Asylum stands in this parish. postwick (all saints), A parish in the Hundred of Blofield, four miles east from Norwich, is situated on the road from the city to Yarmouth, near the River Yai'e. The parish comprises about 1 100 acres, of which 400 are marsh. The village stamps in a picturesque dell, which expands into the vale of the Yare. The living is a rectory ; patron, the Earl of Roseberry. llie titluv^ have been commuted for a rent-charge of 475 ; the glebe com- prises i'orty-six acres, valued at 92 per annum. About eleven acres of land, of which live were allotted for inclosure, are appropriated for the benefit of the ]i<)or. liLO FIELD (ST. ANDREW) Is a parish seven miles east of Norwich, situated on the road to Yarmouth. This ])arish comprises about 2252 acres and 1100 inhabitants. The living is a rcH'tory; iu>t income 896 ; patrons. Master and Fellows of Gon\'iIle and Cains College, Cambridge. The glebe consists of about 62 acres, with a handsome parsonage house. The Church is in the later style, with a lofty square embattled tower, surmounted at each angle vnth a figure of one of the Fvangelists. The nave is lighted by clerestory windows, and 184 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. separated from tlie chancel by the remains of a carved screen, embellished with paintings of the Apostles. The Independents have a Chapel here. The village contains several Avell-built houses and pleasant gardens ; also a few good cottages. STRUMPSHAW (ST. PETEK), A parish near the village of Blofield, and in the Hundred of Blofield, and bounded on the south by the River Yarc. It comprises 1391a. Ok. 2Gi'., of which 851 acres are arable, 502 pasture, and the remainder water and roads. The village is seated on an eminence ; and there is a windmill standing on the highest ground in East Norfolk, and forming a con- spicuous landmark. The living is a discharged rectory, with that of l^radeston united ; net income, 474 ; the glebe contains about sixty-four acres, and there is a good parsonage house. The Church contains portions of the early and later styles of English architecture, with a lofty tower. The rent of ten acres of land is distributed in fuel to the poor. BRADESTON (ST. MICHAEL) Is a parish half-a-mile distant from Blofield, in the Hnndred of Blofield. The parish comprises about 700 acres, of which o7G acres are arable and 139 marsh land, and is bounded on the south by the Yare, from the valleys of which the land rises in gentle acclivities ; the soil varies from a fine bi'ick earth to a light sand. The view from the higher land over the vale of the Yare is much admired. The living is a discharged rectory, united to that of Strumpshaw. The Church, which is chiefly in the perpendicular style, consists of a nave and chancel. The ruins of another church, dedicated to St. Clement, were demolished fifty years ago, nURLINGHAM (ST. ANDREW), A parish in the Hundred of Blofield, situated on the road from Norwich to Yarmouth, near Aclc. The parish comprises 743 acres, of which 528 are arable and 214 pasture and plantation. The living is a discharged rectory, with that of Burlingham St. Edmund annexed.- The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 296 15s. ; and there is a good glebe-house, with about eleven acres of land, valued at 18 per annum. The Church has a square tower, and contains the remains of a carved screen, with representations of the Apostles; BUCKENHAM FERRY (ST. NICHOIAS), A parish in the Hundred of Blofield, nine miles (east) from Norwich. This parish comprises 908a. 1r. 14p., of which 133 are wood and water, and the remninder arable and pasture in equal proportions. The village A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 185 IS pleasantly situated on the River Yare, over which there is a ferry. The living is a discharged rectory, with that of Hassinghani consolidated ; patron. Sir W. B. Proctor Beauchamp, Bart. The tithes have been com- muted for a rent-charge of 130, and the glebe comprises thirty-seven acres, valued at \4 per annum. Hlie Chui'ch presents different styles of architecture, and consists of a nave, chancel, and ancient tower. Here is a farm-house built out of the remains of an old manor-house. f'ANTLEY (ST, MARGARET), A parish in the Hundred of Blofield, near the River Yare. This parisli comprises 1850a. Or. 26p., of which 877 acres are arable, and 000 pasture, heath, and wood. The village contains very few honses or inhabitants. The living is a rectory : patron, W. A. Gilbert, Esq. The tithes liave been commuted for a rent charge of 300 ; there is a good glebe house, with forty-three acres of land, valued at 36 per annum. The Church is chiefly in the later style, and has a square tower. The entrance to the Church is through a Norman doorway. The poor have the benefit of niueteen acres of land allotted at the enclosure. Their cottages are of the meanest description. TfTE HUNDRED OF WALSHAM Is bounded on the south-east by the River Yare ; and on the south and west by the Hundreds of Blofield and Taverham. It is of an in-egular figure, and spreads fifteen miles north-west from the confluence of tlic Rivers Yare and Bnre uear Yarmouth, varying from two to eight miles ill breadth. A great portion of the soil is low marshy land, and was often liable to inuudation, especially in the vale of the Bure, which extends the whole length of the Hundred, but the marshes have been well drained within the last century. Walsham Hundred comprises the parishes of Acle, lieighton, Halvergate, Hemblington, Moultoii, Reedham, Runworth with Panxworth, Tunstall, Upton with Fishley, Walsham St. Mary and St. Lawrence, WickJiampton, and Woodbastwidt. Reedliam is supposed to have derived its name from the great quantity of reeds growing in the marshes, and is noticed as being one of the seats of the East-Anglian Kings. There is a railway station at the junction of the branch line to Lowestoft, which port is twelve miles distant. ACLE Is a large parish, situated on the high road from Norwich to Yarmouth, and com])rises 310 ! acres, a large ])roportion of which is gmxing land, reclaimed from niarsh>^ ground ; the u])lands consist of a fine loamy soil, and are veiy fertile. The village is situated on a gentle slope, rising from 186 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. the banks of the river Bure, over which is a stone bridge of three arches and of great elevation, called Weybridge. River navigation is afforded by the Bure, Yare, and Waveney to all the towns near them. The living is a rectory ; patron. Lord Calthorpe. The tithes have been com- muted for 720 ; there are twenty acres of glebe, and a good rectory house. The Church is a handsome structure, in the decorated style. WALSHAM (south). In the Hundred of Walsham, three miles (north-west by west) from Acle, compi'ising the parishes of St. Lawrence and St. Mary. This district, which is bounded on the north by the river Bure, was anciently of more importance than at present, and during the pi-osperity of the Abbey of St. Benedict, on the opposite side of the river, the town was of much greater extent; but after the dissolution of that establish- ment it fell into decay, and has subsequently degenerated into a mere village. The parish of St. Lawrence comprises 1805a. Oji. 29p,, and that of St. Mary 1 250a. Or. 30r. The living of St. Lawrence is a rectory, valued in the King's books at 136 8s. ; patrons, President and Fellows of Queen's College, Cambridge ; the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 509 Gs., of which 22 6s. are payable to the Bishop of Ely, and 486 10s. to the rector; the glebe comprises fifty-seven and a-half acres, valued at 115, and the parsonage house has been greatly improved. The living of St. Mary's is a discharged vicarage, valued in the King's books at 5, and in the patronage of the Trustees of the Old Men's Hospital at NorAvich, who are impropriators. The great tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 270, and the vicarial for 159 16s, ; the glebe comprises thirty-six acres, with a small house ; and there are also rent-charges of 11 OS. and 2 ! 15s,, payable to the \'^icar of Upton, and the Rector of Burlingham St. Andrew's. The Church of St, Lawrence, which was in the same churchyard as that of St. Mary's, and which had been repaired at an expense of 850 in 1811, was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1 827; the chancel was repaired and enlarged in 1 832, and opened for divine service, but the lofty tower and nave are in ruins. The Church of St. Mary is a handsome structure, in tli( decorated and later English style, with a square embattled tower ; the nave is seiDarated from the chancel by the r(Mnains of a nicely-carved screen, and is lighted by a range of clerestory windows; there is a neat monument to William Jary, Esq. A school is supported by the rector and his family, Richard Harrold in 1718 be- (|neathed property, now let for about 20 per annum, for apprenticing children ; and 3 I a-year, the rental of some waste land, awarded under an Enclosure Act in the 41st of George III,, is expended among the poor. A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 187 TUNSTEAD HUNDRED Ts bounded on tlie north l)y tlie German Ocean, on the east by Happing, on the south by Walshani, on the Avest by South Erpingham. It extends about thirteen miles northward from tlie sea coast to the river Bure, averaging froiu five to six miles in width. It is generally a well-cultivated district of rich loamy land, highly productive in wheat and barley, and broken into a pleasing variety of hills, vales, and plains, interspersed with tracts of fertile marshes, and watered by several broads and rivulets. It contains twenty-six parishes, with an aggi'egate population of 10,325, and :34,987 acres. The parishes are Ashraanhaugh, Bacton, Barton Turf, Beeston St. Ijawrence, Bradfield, Crostwight, Dilham, Edingthorpe, Felmingham, Honing, Homing", Hoveton St. John, Hoveton St. Peter, Irstead, Neatishoad, Pnston, Eidlington, Sco' Euston, Sloley, Smallburgh, Swafield, l^unstead, North Wnlshnm, Westwick, Witton, Worstead. WESTWICK Is a fertile and richly-wooded parish within three miles of North Walsham, and comprises 1500 acres of land. It includes the beautiful and extensive ])ark of Westwick House, the seat of I. B. Petre, Esq. The house is a liandsome white mansion erected by John Berney, Esq., in the reign of (^ueen Anno. It is considered one of the most delightful seats in the county, standing on the northern declivity of a pictui*esquo valley, sur- i-onnded by ornamental woods and plantations, extending in sylvan undulations down to the margin of a rivulet which is expanded into a lake of thirty acres, from which an a(juoduct has been cut to another lake near the house. Tlu> late .lohn Berney, l']sf|., made a carriage drive of five miles through a plantation of five hundred acres, for planting which ho yocoWod a nu'dal from the Society of Arts. At a short distance from the house there is a look-out structure ninety feet high, with an octagonal a})artnu'nt at the summit, commanding on every side a remarkably fine ])i-ospect, terminated on the north and east by a large extent of sea coast. The turnj)ike I'oad from N of the pai'k, and its pinnacled tower fonns a ])ic'tui"es(iue object. XOKTir WALSHAM (ST. MAIJV), A market town and parish in the Hundred of Tunstead, fifteen miles (north-tiorth-east) from Norwich, and 12-1 (north-eti^t-by-north) from 188 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. London. In the year 1600, nearly the whole of this town was destroyed by fire, which, although it continued but three hours, consumed property to 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; it is paved and lighted with gas, and the inhabitants are well supplied with water. A neat Theatre was ei'ected, and was open for performance once in two years. A canal passes thi'ough the parish, a short distance north-east of the town, in its course from Autingham, and the River Ant is navigable to Yarmouth. The market, which is chiefly for corn, is on 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 I'eign of Edward VI., was repaired after the great fire in 1(300, by Bishop Redman. Two Courts Baron occur annually, one of the Bishop of Norwich and tlie other of Lord Suffield ; and the magistrates hold Petty Sessions every Thursday. The parish comprises 4-1 72a. Or. 37i'., of which about 400 acres are pasture and garden ground, 150 woodland and plantations, and the remainder arable, with the excep- tion 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 two 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, the 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 mural monument to the memory of Sir William Paston, Knt., a native of the town, and founder of the Grammar School ; it was erected during his life, and is surmounted by a recumbent statue in armour. There are places of worship for Wesleyans, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Primitive Methodists. The Free Grammar School was founded in 1606 by Sir William, for the education of forty sons of residents in cither of the Hundreds of North or South Erpinghani, Happing, Tunstead, and Flegg, and endowed by him with the rents f)f certain estates at Hoi'Sey and Walcot, to the amount of 250 per annum ; the school contains a good library, bequeathed by the Kev. Richard Berney in 1787; and a monthly lecturer receives 12 12s. per annum out of the funds of the charity. Archbishop Tenison, Bishop Headly, and Admiral Lord Nelson received the rudiments of their education in the institution. A National School is supported, and about 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 A DESCRIPTION OP NOEPOLK. 189 Spoiicer, Bishop of Norwich^ over some rebels, headed by a dyer named Litester. BACTON, A parish on the sea coast, five miles from North Walsham, comprises loGi acres of land and 486 inhabitants, residing chiefly in the hamlets of Bacton, Bacton Green, Keswick, and Bromholni, distant about half-a-mile from each other. The Church (St. Andrew) stands on a summit above the village of Bacton, half-a-mile from the sea, and is a fine edifice, com- prising nave, chancel, south porch, and square tower, with five bells. The ruins of Bromholm Priory are near the west end of Keswick. The Priory was founded in 1113 by William de Glanville for Cluniac monks. It became very famous, for there was preserved the most precious of relics, a cross made of a portion, as once believed, of the veiy cross of Calvary. No wonder that it possessed miraculous powers. According to Capgrave, it possessed such virtues that nineteen blind persons were restored to sight, and thirty-nine persons were raised from the dead by it. Believers at a distance invoked it. " Helpe holy cross of Bromholm,^^ cried the miller's wife, awaking in sudden fright, as we read in Chaucer. Piers Plowman, with quaint humor, sings And bid tluj Rood of Bromholni Bryug me out of Dettc. At the dissolution, this Priory and its adjacent estate were granted to Thomas Wodehouse, whose descendants have ever since possessed the property. At the end of a long wall, we come to a gateway, a great pointed arch, which has a })orter's lodge on each side, and thi'ough it we pass to the ruins of Bromholm Priory. Within is a farmyard ; and there is tlie Chapel and the east window, a grand, obtuse, empty arch. A narrow- ])ointed window, with the mouldings still in place, appears in each side wall and recesses to match. The charm of the old gray stones is enhanced by the Juasses of ivy that cling thereon, forming great cm-tains with frieze and cornice ; and in the north-east corner rises a thick stem that looks like a beautifully-twisted column. Tlie refectory is similarly adorned ; but thci-e is a want of harmony between these combinations of masonry and foliage, and stacks of old timber leaning against the walls, and carts and waggons, and l)ig hay ricks, and beds of nettles. The two great barns still stand to testify that gotxlly harvests were reaped in the olden time from the Priory fields. And tlie gatehouse remains, showing Norman and pointed arches, with good capitals to the shafts and deep window recesses all lapsed into base uses a shelter for rubbish and 190 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. lumber. Tlic rool' was blown oft' by a Whitsuntide gale, and has not been replaced. It is apparent that what is bad now may become worse from want of care. Surely something should be done to preserve such relics of anti(|uity, for worse than tlame, or steel, or ages slow, are the destroy- ing hands of brutal, ignorant rustics. HAl'I'ING HUNDRED Stretches about eleven miles along the sea shore from Winterton Ness to Walcott, and is bounded on the south by the West Flegg and Walsham Hundreds, and on the West by the Tunstead Hundred. The villages are mostly surrounded by low marshes, intersected by numerous broads or lakes, connected by rivulets and streams flowing southward in iwo channels to the Bure and the Thurne, and opening a direct navigation to Yarmouth for boats of fourteen tons from every part of the Hundred, which includes 20,780 acres, with a population of G99() in 1861. Happing includes the parishes of Brumstead, Catfield, Happisburgh, Hempstead with Eccles, Hickling, Horsey-next-the-Sea, Ingham, Lessingham, Lud- liam. Palling, Potter Heigham, Kuston (East), Stalham, Sutton, Walcott, Waxliam. INGHAM (holy TKlNriY), A parish in the Hundred of Happing, containing about 500 inhabitants. A large stock fair is held here on Trinity Monday. "^flie living is a dis- charged perpetual curacy, net income 80 ; patron. Bishop of Norwich. 'J^lie appropriate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 1'5G. The Church is in the decorated style with a lofty tower. Judging from the remains of a grand west window, of a carved stone screen, of venerable stalls and old fall setits, and the traces of noble bi-asses, and the stately tombs of Oliver de Ingham and other knights, this was at one time a proud edifice. The tombs are very interesting specimens of mediteval sculpture, with statuettes in niches along the aisle. Annexed to the Church there was a college or priory of the order of the Holy Trinity, for the redemption of Christians held captive by the Turks. It was founded in 1 360 by Sir Miles Stapleton, of Bedale in Yorkshire, who became lord of this place by marriage with J oanna, daugh- ter and sole heiress of Sir Oliver de Ingharn, a valiant knight and favourite of Edward III. Sir Miles rebuilt the Church and procured it to be made collegiate for a prior, sacrist, and six canons, whose revenue at the dissolution was 71 2s. 7d., and then the site of the Priory, with the impropriate rectory, came to the Bishopric of Norwich in exchange for other estates. A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 191 LUDHAM (ST. CATHERINE), A parish in the Hundred of Happing, is thirteen miles (north-east by cast) from Norwich. This place, after the dissolution of the Abbey of St. Bonnet at tlio Holme, to which the manor belonged, was given by Henry, VIII. to the Bishops of Norwich, when the King took possession of all their property. They converted the Grange into an episcopal resi- dence. During the prelacy of Bishop Jegon, an accidental fire, which broke out on August lOth, IGll, destroyed the greater part of the house, with many valuable writings and books belonging to the see. The palace was restored by Bishop Harsnctt, who built a Chapel of brick, which after the desertion of the place as an episcopal residence was converted into a granary, and the I'est of the edifice into a farm-house, now called Ludham Hall. The village is large and well built, and had formerly a market and a fair, granted to Bishop Kedman in the reign of Elizabeth ; the market is discontinued, but the fair is still held on the Thursday and Friday after Trinity. The parish, which is near the rivers Bure and Tlmrne, comprises 3000 acres. The living is a discharged vicanige, the Bishop Ix'ing patron and appropriator. The appropriate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of JbClO, and the vicarial for one of 300. The Church is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a sipiare embattled tower. About 100, arising from land given to the poor after the enclosure, are annually distributed among them. Near Lutlham, on a low meadow, once known as Cowholm, in 1020, King Canute erected a Benedictine Abbey, which, from the name of the place, became known as St. Bennet^s-at-Holme. Then followed the common liistory : seizure by the Normans, and treacherous surrender, then great increase of power and wealth, until in the height of prosperity it held more lands than could be seen from the tower, and bectime one of the stateliest of the Abbeys of East Anglia. The only remains of it an- a gate-huuse of brick and stone, with corner turrets, traversed by a pointed arcli thirty feet in height. The Abbey was formerly of great extent, and a favourite resort of the nobles. The Abbots had besides a residence at Ludham, whither they could betake themselves on occasion for change of soil and air. What comfortable fasts the monks nuist ]uivc> had where fish were always to be had for the catching, and wliat leasts of birds in their season ! In those days they could regale themselves with the bustard and savoury fowl of other kinds, now rare in the county. The buzzard too has disappeared, the kite, the marsh harrier, ami other birds, which then made excellent diver- sion whenever it pleased the Lord Abbot to entertain his guesta with the sport of falconry. 192 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. ECCLES (ST. MAKY), A parisli in the Hundred of Happing- on the sea coast. The parish is now defended l)y a ridge of sand hills, thrown up by the wind and surge. It comprises ol8 acres, of which 145 are arable, 112 pasture and meadoAV, and Gl waste. In 1 605, the land was reduced several hundred acres by a dreadful inundation of the sea, which swept away sixty-six houses from the village, and drowned the shrieking inhabitants, leaving only fourteen cottages. A similar calamity occurred in the reign of Charles I., but the sand hill now appears to oppose a sufficient barrier to any further encroach- ments of the sea. To the right and left stretches a broad sandy shore, backed by rough hills and drifts that look beautifully smooth and inviting to the foot, but if trodden on will swallow you leg deep. At the outer foot of the slope stands the old Church tower built of sea cobbles, circular at the base, but octagonal in the upper part. On its seaAvard side an old church nave and chancel are traceable by the remains of walls half buried in the sand. What a lonely relic, and withal melancholy, telling mutely of destruction in days of yore ! Of the two thousand acres that once formed part of Eccles, there are now only 250. The others, with fields and houses, have been devoured by the waves. HAITISBLRGH (commonly CALLED HAsBRo') Is a considerable village scattered on the summit and declivities of the sea bank, seven miles cast of North Walsham. The parish comprises 1053 acres. The Church (St. Michael) is a lofty pile of Hint and stone, consisting of nave, with aisle and clerestory, chancel, south porch, with parvise, and fine embattled tower, containing five bells, and rising to tlic; height of 112 feet. The height of the cliff here is about 80 feet, whereljy two lighthouses, built a quarter-of-a-mile apart, have a good elevation. Both are lighted with patent lamps and reflectors, and the lights may be seen at fifteen miles distance, 'fhey light mariners through Hasbro' Cat, and on a clear day about forty-five churches may be seen with the naked eye from the top of the highest. Lights are much needed here at night, for the coast is beset by shoals, and the Hasbro' lights shoot their warning gleam right across the restless waters. The village has a hotel, a bowling green, and one bathing machine, and looks somewhat pictu- resque with its old gabled cottages, and a steep road leading down to the green inland levels. Iliere are signs of sea encroachments, isolated liummocks of clay on the shore, and ugly gaps washed out of the cliffs Within the memory of man a hundred 3'ards of the cliff have been swal- lowed by the sea. The cliffs further north are from sixty to eighty feet in height, in some places forming a long broken slope, in others more or A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 193 less3 perpendicular, with grassy lodges whore slips have occurred, and of various colours, black, brown, blue, gray, yellow, and red. Beneath there is spread out a bolt of rough gray shingle, a smooth and widening margin of brown sand, and an over shifting belt of white foam. The whole line of coast from Happisburgh to Mundesley is in full view. EAST AND WEST PLEGG, Two of tho smallest Hundreds in Norfolk, are on the sea coast at the east side of the county, and are of nearly equal extent, containing together 1)000 inhabitants and 200,000 acres of land, stretching nearjy eleven miles north of Yarmouth. East Flegg extends about five miles along the coast noi'tli of Yarmouth, and about seven miles westward on the north side of the Bui'o, which divides it from Walsliam. West Flegg extends about three and a-half miles along the coast, and seven and a-half miles inland, and is nearly surrounded by marshes, but its interior rises in bold and well-cultivated swells. EAST PLEGG Contains the following parishes : Caistor-next- Yarmouth, Filby, Mautb}^, Scratby, Ormesby St. Michael, Ormesby St. Margaret, Kunham, Stokesby with Herri ngbj', and Thrigby. All these places ending with "by" are of Danish origin, this district having boon peopled by the Danes, and their descendants are a very rough race to this day. f'AISTER (near YARMOUTH) Is a pai'ish three miles north of that town, containing about 1000 inhabi- tants. It is a very ancient place, and the name is evidently a corrupted Saxonism of Castrum, it being clear from the visible remains of fortifica- tions and the discovery of numerous coins, that the Romans had a camp here, opposite to the Garianonum on the banks of the Wavoney. 'I'lie sea then flowed over all the land now dry between this place and Gorles- ton. Caistor was formerly divided into two parishes. Trinity and St. Fdmund's, which were consolidated September 22nd, 1008. The Church belonging to the former has been suttered to fall into ruins. The Church of St. Edmnnd^s is chiefly in the decorated style, and consists of a nave, chancel, and south aislo, with a square embattled tower. The living is a rectory ; net income, 87"). About two miles west of the ancient encampment are the ruins of Caistor Castle, (M'octed by Sir John Fastolff, who was born here in 1378, and ran a brilliant military career. The house was three hundred feet square, with a tower at each corner, and was one of the earliest brick houses in the county. There is a long range of old ird brick wall within N 194 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. a moat screened by tall trees, with the tall round tower, the only one standing. Opposite the tower at the bend o the road grows a noble ash, alluring you to tarry beneath it and survey the scene which thence appears. The long, dim vista of the moat, where sunbeams and leafy boughs, and brown stems, and the dark red wall intermingle and reflect surprising effects of color on the calm gleaming surface, seems a mysterious avenue along which one might glide to a more mysterious region beyond. And how picturesquely the tower fits into the scene with its encircling crest of rounded machicolations and pendants, and pigeons flying about the summit. Truly the builder had an eye for beauty, and know how to produce admir- able efl^ects with brickwork. The whole place is enclosed by the moat, and the gate is kept locked ; but the visitor may soon get the key at the farm-house. The gateway forms an obtuse ogee arch. You enter and discover that the long range of wall is a mere shell ; for the interior is a large grassy quadrangle, with fruit trees along the sunny side, and elder trees grouping here and there in roimded masses, and an old poultry coop, draped in places by ivy. The tower and turret fill the angle ; the gable mark in the wall preserves the outline of the roof of the great hall ; the row of windows above the gateway breaks the mass of red with lights and shadows ; the tower, in which the priest^s chamber was situated near the chapel, retains the old corbels and gurgoyles, so that while your mind reverts to historic scenes, there is enjoyment enough for your eyes. On the ground floor there is a small chamber with groined ceiling and a two-light foliated window ; but all above is hollow and empty, and in looking up you see the marks of old floors and fire-places, and a circle of blue sky. We may read in the Paston Letters, written 500 years ago, how Caister fell to the Fastens ; how it was claimed and besieged by the Duke of Norfolk ; how the Fastens' hope of recovering the place was fulfilled, though Edward IV. also disputed their title ; how certain pirates, after much havoc on other parts of the coast, were so bold as " to come up to the land, and played thom on Caister sands, as homely as if they were Englishmen ;" how loving and lowly messages were sent by the different members of the family, to and from Sir John's '' pore place of Castre," mingling news of the terrible battles of the Roses with approval or disapproval of marriage projects, &c., &c. ORMESBY (ST. MARGARET) Is a parish in the Hundred of East Flegg, five miles north of Yarmouth. This parish, which is situated near the coast, comprises, with Oimiesby St. Michael, 2400 acres. The village contains many handsome residences ; the surrounding country is richly wooded, and the scenery very pic- A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 195 turesquc. The living is a discharged vicarage with that of Ormesby St. Michael, and with Avhicli was united the vicarage of Scratby in 1548. The appi'opriato tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 772 14s., and the vicarial for 290 1 7s. ; the glebes respectively comprise fifty-one and fifty- six acres. The Church is a handsome structure, in the later English style, with a lofty square embattled tower; and on the south, there is a richly- embellished Norman doorway. STOKESBY (ST. ANDRE w), A parish in the Hundred of East Flegg, near the river Bure. The parish is chiefly marsh land, comprising 2000 acres. The whole region between this place and the sea is one great level of pastures. Thousands of cattle are always grazing in the summer season, and there are many fai'msteads, prettily embosomed in trees. The living of Stokesby is a rectory, with that of Ilerringby united ; the tithes have been commuted for a rent-chargo of 522 16s. ; and the globe contains forty-six acres, valued at 70 per annum. The Church is chiefly in the decorated style, with a square embattled tower ; and the chancel contains memorials of the Clere family. WEST FLEGG Includes the following parishes : Ashby, Billockby, Burgh St. Margaret, CHppesby, Hemsby, Martham, Kepps-cum-Bastwick, Rollesby, Somerton (East), Somerton (West), Winterton. ASTIRY, WITH OBY ST. MARY, Is a parish situated four miles from Acle. This parish was consolidated with those of lliorne and Oby in IGO-t, and comprises 1900 acres, of which 800 are marsh or meadow land. The three parishes form one rectory ; patron, the Bishop of Norwich. The tithes have been commuted for G90. Ashby consists of only one farm, and had formerly a church, of which there are very slight remains. The parsonage house is in that part of the parish called Oby, and has a glebe of about twenty-three acres. ROLLESBY Is a parish in the Hundred of West Flegg, comprising 1639 acres, of which 1226 are arable, 212 meadow and pasture, 25 woodland, and 26 water in the " Broad." The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the King's books at 17. The tithes have been cominuted for a rent charge of 61 \, and the glebe comprises seven acres, valued at 8 15s. Od. per annum. The Church is chiefly in the early English style, with a circular tower and octangular turret. The Baptists have a Chapel here. 196 HISTOKY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. " The Broad " is full of pike and other fish, and is much frequented by anglers in the summor months. The inland waters of East Norfolk, owing- to local conditions, are very remarkable. Within the level district, bounded by the coast lino from Happisburgh to Yarmouth, the sluggish waters in many places assert their ancient supremacy, spreading out in some instances to more than a square mile of surface, from the so-called '' Broads.^^ Some are traversed by the stream ; others are separated therefrom by a low swampy bank, or a breadth of reeds or meadow, crossed by one or more feeders or channels of communication, MARTHAM (ST. MARY), A parish in the Hundred of West Flegg, nine miles north of Yarmouth. The parish comprises 2526a. 2r. 20p., of which 1675 acres are arable, and 851 pasture. The surface is varied and of pleasing character, enlivened by an extensive lake interspersed by islets. The village is situated on an elevated site, and a pleasure fair is held on the last Tuesday and Wednesday in July. The living is a discharged vicarage in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich ; net income 247 ; the glebe comprises ten acres, with a glebe house. The Church is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a lofty embattled tower sur- mounted by a spire ; the windows contain some remains of ancient stained glass. SOMERTON EAST (ST. MARY), A parish in West Flegg, nine and a-half miles north of Yarmouth, com- prises 798 acres, of which 439 are arable, and the remainder pasture. The scenery is in general pleasing, and in some parts picturesque. The living is annexed to the rectory of Winterton, and the tithes have been com- muted for a rent charge of 270. The Church has been long since demolished. SOMERTON WEST (ST. MARy), A parish in West Flegg, comprises 1200 acres, of which 539 are pasture, and ten woodland. The village consists of several houses, situate at the foot of an eminence. The living is a perpetual curacy ; net income 56 ; the impropriate tithes have been commuted for a rent charge of 320. The Church has a circular tower, and was repaired in 1839. WINTERTON (ALL SAINTS) Is a parish in the Hundred of West Flegg, nine miles north from Yarmouth. The parish comprises 1266 acres, of which 450 are arable and the rest A DESClilPTION OF NOKFOLK. 197 pasture, .siiud hills, &c. The place is situated on the sea coast, and 200 persons are employed in the fishery. A lighthouse has been erected on an eminence, a hexagonal tower seventy feet high, lighted with patent argand lamps and reflectors. The living is a rectory, with that of East Somerton annexed. Net income, LL78. The glebe contains about thirty acres. The Church is chiefly in the later style, with a handsome tower MO feet high, which serves as a land-mark for mariners. The roof of the nave is supported by tiers of columns of chestnut wood in bases of brick. HUNDREDS AND PARISHES IN NORTH NORFOLK. Norfolk is by no means so flat a county as it is generally supposed to be, and this is owhig to the hasty manner in which some writers have viewed it. Every part on the north side is strongly marked by rising grounds, which, though ascending imperceptibly, end with a prospect of twenty or thirty miles. This kind of land is presented in the Hundreds of Taverham, Holt, North and South Erpingham, and in places near the, coast. TAVEUUAM HUNDltED Stretches seven miles northward from Norwich, and is about twelve miles in length from cast to west, being bounded on the south by the Wcnsum, on the east by Blofleld, on the north by the Bure, and on the west by Eynesford. A great portion of it has a light loamy soil, resting on beds of marl and chalk, having an undulated surface, highly cultivated and studded with handsome mansions ; but to the north of Thursford there is a sterile tract of sandy heath, now bearing thriving plantations. The Hun- dred contains eighteen parishes, comprising 82,1 5G acres. Population, 8,199 The parishes in this Hundred are Attlebridgc, Bccston St. Andrew, Cattou, Crostwick, Drayton, Felthorpe, Frettenham, Hainford, Hellesdon, Horsham, Newton St. Faith's, Horsford, Rackheath, Horstead with Stanninghall, Salhouse, Spixworth, S)3rowston, Taverham, Wroxham. ATTLEBRIDUE Is ;i ])!irisli in the Hundred of Taverham, eight miles (north-west) from Norwich. The living is a discharged vicarage united to the rectory of Aldei'I'ord, and valued in the King's books at \: Gs. I0.^d. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of .t70, and there are ten acres of glebe, valued at t7 los. 9d. per annum; and the impropriate tithes belonging to the Lord of the Manor have been commuted for a rent-char Is a highly-cultivated district, finely interspersed with woods, streams, villages, churches, and many handsome mansions. It is about sixteen miles in length, exclusive of a narrow strip at its northern extremity, and varices from five to ten miles in width. It is bounded on the south by Taverhani, on the west by Holt and Eynesford, on the north by North Ei-pinghani, and on the east by Tunstead. The river Bure flows through it from Corpusty to Belaugh, receiving in its course many tributary streams, and watering a fertile valley which is broken into bold and picturesque acclivities. There are thirty-eight parishes in the Hundred, which comprises 51,22o acres. Population, 1 1,979. The parishes are Alby, Aylsham, Baconsthorpe, Banningham, Barning- hani (liitth;), Ik'ckhani (West), Belaugh, BlickHng, Booton, Brampton, Burgh St. Mary, Buxton, Calthorpe, Cawston, Colb}'-, Coltishall, Corpusty, Erpinghani, Hautboys (Great), Hevingham, Heydon, Ingworth, Irming- land, Itteringham, Lammas, Mannington, Oulton, Oxnead, Saxthorpe, Scottow, Skcyton, Stratton Strawless, Swantou Abbot, Thwaite, Tutting- ton, Wickmere, Wolterton. AYLSHAM (ST. MICHAEL), A market town and parish in the Hundred of South Erpingham ; twelve and a-quarter miles (north-west) from Norwich, and 121 (north-cast by north) from London. 204 HlSTOliY OF EASTEKN ENGLAND. This placo, wliicli is situated on the high road from Norwich to Cromer, was, during the reigns of Edward II. and III., the chief seat in the county for the manufacture of linens, then distinguished by the appella- tion of " Aylsham Webs." This branch of manufacture was subsequently superseded by that of woollen cloths ; and in the reign of James I. the inhabitants were chiefly employed in the knitting of worsted hose, and in the manufacture of stocking pieces for breeches, and waistcoat pieces, which was carried on here till the introduction of machinery, since which these branches of manufacture have been discontinued. The town is pleasantly situated on a gentle acclivity, rising from the south bank of the river Bure, and is well built, containing many handsome houses. The trade consists principally in. coal, corn, and timber, for which its situation is ex- tremely favourable. The river Bure is navigable to Yarmouth for barges of forty tons burden, and a spacious basin and commodious wharf have been constructed here for the greater facility of trade, which is carried on to a considerable extent. The market, formerly on Saturday, is now held weekly on Tuesday, and is amply supplied with corn and provisions of all kinds ; and fairs, which are well attended, are held annually on March 2ord, and on the last Tuesdays in Septembei' and October, which last is a statute fair. The town was formerly governed by a bailiff, and had several privileges, of which exemption from serving on juries at the Assizes and Sessions is still remaining. The parish comprises i^llA. 2k. 4r., of which ooO acres are meadow, 100 woodland and plantations, and the remainder arable. The living is a vicarage endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, and valued in the King's books at 17 19s. 7d. ; patrons and appropriatoi's. Dean and Chapter of Canterbury ; the appi'opriate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 716, and the vicarial for 684; the glebe comprises four acres, with good glebe house. The Church, founded by John o' Gaunt, is a spacious and handsome cruciform structure in the decorated English style of architecture, with a square embattled tower surmounted by a spire ; the nave is lighted by a handsome range of clerestory windows, and separated from the choir by a richly ornamented screen, of which the lower portion is tsmbellished with figures, Avell painted and enriched with gilding; on the south side of the choir are three sedilia of stone, richly canopied, and a double piscina, opposite to which is a monument to Bishop Jegon j the font is elaborately sculptured, and in the north transept is the chapel of JSt. Peter, which had a guild in 1490 ; in the cemetery is the tomb of Humphrey Reptou^ author of a work on landscape gardening, who was buried here. There are places of Wofship for Baptists, I'rimitive Methodists, and Wesleyans. The Free Grammar (School, founded in 1517 by Eobert Jannys, Mayor of Norwich, who endowed it A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 205 with 10 per annum, and for which, in conjunction with that of Wymond- ham. Archbishop l^arker founded two scholarsln'ps in Corpus Christi College, Oxford, has been incorporated with the District National Society, which granted 350 towards the erection of the building, and 20 per annum to the master ; this scliool, aiid also an infant's school established in 1810, are supported by subscription. The Poor-law Union of Aylsham comprises forty-six parishes and places under the care of forty-seven Guardians. About half a mile from this town is a chalybeate spn'ng, now little noticed, which from its former efficacy in asthmatic and other chronic diseases, was much resorted to by invalids, and obtained the appellation of Aylsham Spa. On Stowe Heath, about two miles to the east of tlie town, are several largo tumuli, in some of which, in 1808, were found urns containing human bones and ashes. BUCKLING (ST. ANDREW) Is a parish in the Hundi'ed of South Erpingham, one and a-quarter miles (north-west by north) from Aylsham. Before the Norman Conquest the ancient Manor of Blickling was in the possession of Harold, afterwards King of luigland, but at the Domesday survey it was held in two moieties, one by the Crown, and the other by the Bishop of Thetford, and enjo3'ed all the privileges of a royal demesne. William I. settled the whole manor and advowson on the see ; and after the foundation of Norwich Cathedral, the Bishops held the demesne in their own hands and had here a palace. In 1431 it was the property of Sir Thomas Erpingham, who sold it to Sir John Falstoff, by whom it was sold in 1452 to Geoffrey Boleyne, who made it his country seat, and was Lord Mayor of London in 1457. From him it passed to Sir Thomas Boleyn, father of the unfortunate Anne Boleyn, Queen of Henry ^^III., who is supposed to have l:)een bom hero. From the Boleyns it came to the Cleres, one of whom sold it to Henry Hobart, Lord Chief Justice of the Common IMeas, who died in 1 G25. His son. Sir John, rebuilt Blickling Hall, which he completed in 1G20. Charles II. came here with liis Queen in 1G71, dunng a progress in which they visited other great houses in Norfolk, and fared sumptuously every day, as the following passage intimntes : Pa.ston and Ilohnrt did bring up tlie moat, Wlio iit the u(!xt (lay at thoir (nvn houses treat ; Paston to ( )xu(!a(l did ]iis so\(>n'ign ])i'inu, And liko Aranuali, oU'ercd as a king. lUickliiig two inonurchs and two (|\i('('ns has soon, ( )ii(' king fotcliod thonco, another l)roug]it a i|nooii ; (iroat Tciwnslu'nd of the tioats l)r(mght up tlio i-oar, And there is a handsome altar tomb to the memory of Erasmus Earle, an eminent lawyer and sergeant to Oliver Cromwell. W. E. L, Bulwer, Esq.', lives at the hall, and is Lord of the Manor and owner of nearly the whole parish, including 400 acres in the park. He is a gentleman highly esteemed for his amiable disposition and charity to the poor of the neighbourhood. The house, Heydon Hall, standing in the park, was built in 1581, and exhibits 208 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGIANI). the peculiarities of tlie Elizabethan ago ; gables and pediments and ranges of bay windows and oriels, all looking very picturesque amid the grand old elms and sycamores of the park. The village is built around a Green, with a handsome Church tower on one side, and on the other the Bulwer Arms, a tavern which, besides the sign, displays on its front a carved female figure canning a basket and staff. This is said to have been the figure-head of a ship in which one of the Earle's family, who preceded the Bulwers, used to sail. The member for Norwich in the Long- Parliament was Erasmus Earle, one of the ablest lawyers of the day. NORTH ERPINGHAM HUNDRED Is in the Liberty of the Duchy of Lancaster. It extends about twelve miles from east to west along the sea coast, and averages six miles in breadth from north to south, being bounded by Holt Hundred on the west, and by Tunstead on the east. The soil is generally a fertile loam, with substrata of marl, chalk, and lime, except at the east end, where a light sand prevails, but thrown up like the rest into picturesque successions of hills, some of which are covered with thriving plantations. Indeed, there is much timber in every direction, so that the whole presents a very pleasing, sylvan appearance. There are thirty-two parishes in this Hundred, which covers 36,788 acres. Population, 10,o29. The parishes are Aldborough, Antingham, Aylmerton, Barningham Norwood, Barningham Winter, Beeston Regis, Bessingham, Cromer, East Beckham, Felbrigg, Gimingham, Gresham, Gunton, Hanworth, Knaptou, Matlaske, Mitton, Mundesley, North Repps, Overstrand, Plum- stead, Boughton, Runton, Sherringham, Sidosti'and, Sufficld, Sustead, Thorpe Market, Thurgarton, Trimiugham, Trunch. In the northern part of this district we come to the locality celebrated by the old rhyming proverl) : Giiningliani, Trimingham, Knapton, and Tnincli, Xnrth Iie]>])s, and .South Kcpp.s, are all of n huncli, TRIMINGHAM Was formerly a much-neglected parish ; the laborers used to go round shouting "^ Largess! '' after harvest; but in 1850 the Buxtons restored the Church, built new cottages and a school, and celebrated the good work by such a harvest home as the parish had never witnessed before. MUNDESLEY (aLL SATNTS), A parish north -north-east from North Walsham, containing 454 inhabi- tants. It is situated on the coast of the North Sea, and comprises 550 A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 209 acres, of which 530 are arable and twenty pasture. The scenery here is wildly romantic; the coast is girt with lofty cragged cliffs, and indented by a deep ravine, throngh which a small rivulet flows into the sea. The beach at low water is a broad firm sand, affording good opportunities for bathing and a fine promenade. The place was miich improved under the auspices of F. Whcatley, Esq., who built a handsome residence on the cliff near the ravine and two massive sea-walls forming an upper and lower terrace to prevent the encroachments of the sea. Marine villas have been erected, and lodging-houses and a hotel for visitors. There is a small jetty projecting TOO feet from the beach. Mundesley was visited by the poet Cowper in August, 1795, and during his sojourn he made many excursions along this part of the coast. Few who love good poetry would willingly forget that the hapless bard journeyed hither to restore his health. The sound of the breakers soothed his melancholy spirit ; he walked much on the beach, till he could no longer bear the cold wind and the salt spray. In one of his letters he wrote : " My chamber commands a very near view of the ocean, and the ships at high water approach the coast so closely that a man furnished with better eyes than mine might, I doubt not, discern the sailors from the window. No situation, at least when the weather is clear and bright, can be pleasanter, which you will easily credit when I add, that it imparts something a little resembling pleasure 'even to me." SHERRINGHAM, A parish in the Hundred of North Erpingham, five miles west of Cromer, comprises 21 77 acres, of which 1 oOO arearable,and 700 woodland and heath. The surface is undulated, and th(^ scenery, richly embellished with wood, is in some parts very picturesque. Sherringhani Hall, the seat of H. R. Upcher, Esq., is a handsome mansion of white brick, erected by the late> A. Upcher, Esq., and is finely situated in a well-wooded park, command- ing some extensive views of the sea. The villages of Upper and Lower Sherringham are about a mile and a-half distant, and the Church is in tlu^ former ; and in the broad vale between us and the heights of fern and wood, lies the little village of Beeston Regis with its old Church, and mill, and ruins of a priory. Inhere are two village greens, populous Avith geese, and watered by a clear lively brook, to be crossed on the way back to the shore. With the primitive-looking cottages they form a pretty rustic scene, which changes as we approach the lower village to picturesqueness of another kind. We passed a little paper mill, so little that it whs worked by a man and a boy, and came to the low gray walls, the oblong inclosures, the rugged cots, the dusty road and lanes, the festoons of brown nets, th(> blue and tan coloured jinnpers and jerseys and thick rough wor- 210 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. stead stockings hanging to dry, the buckets, barrels, baskets, tubs, lob- ster pots, and women sitting at the doors mending nets, which strike the eye first as you descend the ravine into the rugged thoroughfares of lower- most Sherringham. We went down to the slope at which the street ter- minates, and had a talk with the numerous groups of weather-beaten fisher- men who lounged there apparently contemplating the fleet of boats and the furlongs of herring nets that looked like webs of bronze upon the blue shingle. They all had the Norfolk twang in perfection, and were ready in the use of local idioms. We noticed too that in common witli other parts of the county, they invariably used the word " likewise " in- stead of also. " Likewise herrin's we ketch," said one, when asked whe- ther they fished for anything besides lobsters and mackerel. SIDESTRAND Is situated on the northern slope of the coast, some parts of which have slipped into the sea. We passed the old Church, which, with its low round tower, stands on a lonely spot so near the sea that the worshippers hear the voice of the deep in its calm or angry moods. Some landslips appeared on our right, some newly -fallen, others fixed with a rough green coat, and here and there half-detached bluffs and pinnacles standing up between ; one great wild slope has the appearance of a glacier, and apart from the colour and the yellow sand blown into its many crevices, seems bright as metallic views. Then we came to Ovorstrand, and saw fresh signs of havoc, for the sea has climbed up towards the few houses and devoured the cliff in their front, till scarcely the road is left. Higher and higher rose the path to a rounded summit covered with bracken. We were trudging slowly across its flank, when a bright light shone in our eyes. It was the revolver of Cromer Lighthouse, and which minute by minjite darted its rays across the dusk. Far, far below us lay the sounding sea, as we took an easier pace along the brow, passing between a light and an old round tower, near the edge of the cliff, and came to the head of a rouo-h slope, and saw Cromer lying beneath in a great hollow curve. Alike strange and delightful was the sight of the prodigious numbers of wild flowers, among which we were presently walking. The ground seemed almost dazzling with the bright variety of colours, rivalling the charm of an Alpine pasture. CROMER (ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL), A parish (formerly a market town) in the Hundred of North Erpingham, twenty-one miles (north) from Norwich, and 130 (north north-east) from London, This place, originally of much greater extent, included the town of Shipden, which, with its Church and a considerable number of A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 211 houses, forming another parish, was destroyed by an inundation of the sea in the reign of Henry IV. Among the numerous ravages of the ocean in this place, at the last, which took took place in 1837, a large por- tion of the cliffs and houses, with part of the jetty, were washed away. In 1838, on the eastern side, a green of about 150 yards in length, running out from the cliff to the north, was laid down, which, aided by a sea wall there erected, it is expected, will prevent the recurrence of a similar catastrophe from that quarter; and the security of the cliffs immediately below the town has been provided for by a breastwork of stone and flint, with winding approaches to the beach and jetty. The town is situated on a high cliff, on the north-eastern coast of the North Sea, commanding a fine view of Cromer Bay, which, from its dangerous navigation, is by seamen called the '' Devil's Throat." The town was formerly inhabited only by a few fishermen, but, from the excellence of its beach, the salubrity of its air, and the beauty of its scenery, if has become a bathing place of some celebrity. A fort, and two half-moon batteries, were, during the last war, erected upon a commanding eminence for its defence ; many of the houses are badly built, but those near the sea are commodious and pleasantly situated, and there are several respect- able lodging houses and inns for the accommodation of visitors. There are a circulating Library and a Subscription News Room, and a Regatta is occasionally held. Many attempts have been made to construct a pier, but the works have invariably been carried away by the sea. The jetty, of wood, about 70 yards long, erected in 1822, forms an attractive promenade, as well as the fine beach at low water, which, on account of the firmness of the sand and its smooth surface, affords also an excellent drive for several miles. Cromer is within the limits of the jurisdiction of the port of Cley. Vessels of from GO to 100 tons burden dischai'ge their cai'goes of coal and timber on the beach, and there are eighteen largo vess(ls and twenty herring boats belonging to the place, besides about forty boats employed in the taking of lobsters and crabs, which arc abundant and of superior flavour. The market, formerly held on Saturday, has been discontinued ; but a fiiii-, chiefly for toys, is held on Whit- Monday. The Country Magistrates hold a meeting every alternate Monday. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the King's books at 9 4s. 9d.; patron and appropriator. Bishop of Ely. The Church was built in the reign of Henry IV., and was in ruins from the time of CroniAvell till about the commencement of this century, when it was newly roofed and repaired. It is a liandsome structure, in the later English style of architecture, with a lofty, square embattled tower. The western entrance, the north porches, and the chancel, though much dilapidated, are fine specimens. The other parts of the Church were 212 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. thoroughly restored in 1863^ and re-fitted with open oak seats, at a cost of about 5000. There is a place of Avorship for Wcsleyans. A Free Grammar School was endowed in 1505 by Sir Bartholomew Read, and further by the Goldsmith's Company in 1821 ; but no application having been made for classical instruction, it was remodelled by the company on the national plan. A Girls School is sitpported by Mrs. Birkbeck. Roger Bacon, a mariner of Cromer, is said to have discovered Iceland in the reign of Henry IV. Cromer is a pleasant watering-place in the summer months, greeting numerous visitors with prospects in which the only level is the North Sea, and hence contrasting favourably with other parts of the Norfolk coast. Foulness, the great bluff, crowned by the lighthouse more than 200 feet in height, is regarded by natives from the flat country as almost a moun- tain. Looking from its summit, we see on the landward side nothing but hill and vale, slopes of fern and gorsc, crests of wood, hollows of copse, and rolling fields a landscape suggestive of agreeable walks or drives. On the other side we look forth upon the broad blue waters, the scene of the sun's rising, and also of his setting, to the surprise of beholders, who forget how rapidly the coast beyond Cromer recedes to the west. This is the favourite resort of those who love to hear the voice of the sea, and to feel his quickening breath . HUNDREDS AND PARISHES IN SOUTH NORFOLK. This district is the Arcadia of Norfolk, extending for twenty miles from Norwich to Diss, a wide expanse of fertile undulating land, pre- senting highly cultiva'ted farms, interspersed with rich pastures, rural villages, quiet towns, p.ncient churches mantled with ivy, and mansions of the gentry. In this southern part of the county we see no wild wastes, no bogs nor swampy flats, but hills and dales, woods and groves, pastures and farms and fields, long lines of trees : whichever way we look, park- like scenery and ancient halls often suggestive of famous names and old homesteads that date from feudal times. There are delightful drives southv/ard from Norwich^ particularly along the roads to Ipswich and Newmarket, but nearly all the roads over which so many stage coaches were driven with four in hand seem now deserted and solitary. There arc picturesque spots, presenting woods and hills and dales within eas}' reach of the city, that only require to be better known to become popular places of resort. Prettier scenes and pleasanter landscapes may be seen about Cringloford, KesAvick, and Intwood than anywhere else in East Anglia. If we extend our range further, there are many green lanes and rural retreats in the sylvan districts of Henstead and Humbleyard, A DESCUIl'TION OF NOEFOLK. 213 THE HUNDKEI) OF HENSTEAD Is skirted on the north by the river Yare and on the west by the river Taas ; on the north by Blofield, on the east by Loddon, on the south by Dopwudu, on the west by Norwich. It is about nine miles in length, two from three to six miles in width. It includes the parishes of Arminghall, 15ixley, Bramerton, Caister, Framingham, Holverstone, Kirby Bedon, Poringland, Rockland St. Mary, Saxlingham, Shottesham, Stoke Holy Cross, Surlingluim, Trowse Newton, Whitlingham, and Yelverton ; with altogether 9199 acres and a total population of 5729 in 1861. AKMINGHALL, A parish three miles (south-east) from Norwich, comprises 109 acres of land, belongs to the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, the Lords of the Manor, appropriators of the tithes, and patrons of the perpetual curacy, which was certified at .i80, and augmented from 1780 to 1810 with 1000 of royal bounty. The tithes have been commuted for 229 a year. The Church (Virgin Mary) is a small dilapidated structure, comprising nave, chancel, and scpiare tower with one bell. The walls, the north and south doorways, and several windows, are early English, but the east window is a perpen- dicular insertion. The Manor-house, a large ancient building, is now a farm-house. WHITLINOHAM, A small parish, three miles (east-by-south) from Norwich, comprises 555 acres of land, all on the south side of the river Yare. It is all included in the Crown Point Estate, which belonged to the late Sir R. J. II. Harvey, who was im})ropriator of the tithes, and patron of the sinecure curacy. He built a spacious mansion on the estate. Here was formerly a well-known tavern called " Whitlingham White House," to which many ])arties resorted in the summer season to enjoy the romantic sceneiy ; but it was pulled down, and its site annexed to the estate. The Church (St. Andrew) was dilapidated about 1030, and now forms a picturesque ruin near the verge of a hill overlooking the river Yare. KIKUV BEDON, A village on an acclivity overlooking the vale of the Yare, four miles (south-east) from Norwich, comprises loOo acres of land. The late Sir Robert John Harvey Harvey was Lord of the Manor and owner of a greater part of the soil. The hall, which was the seat of Sir Hanson Berney, Bart., was taken down in 1811. The parish was formerly divided between two Churches, but that dedicated to St. Mary luis been in ruins for several ceuturies. St. Andrew's Church is a small, low, thatched edifice 214 HlSTOilY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. with nave, chancel^ south porch, and tower. The living is a discharger! rcctoiy, now worth 250 per annum, awarded in 1842 in lieu of tithes. The school is attended by about thirty children. BKAMERTON, A small village four and a-half miles (south-east by east) from Norwich, comprises 728 acres, belonging to several proprietors. The hall was the seat of the Corys from 1400 to the middle of the last century. Hill House is a pretty building in the Tudor style, situated on an eminence above the river Yare and commanding an extensive view of the valley. The Church (St. Peter) was rebuilt in 14G2 and is now in the decorated style. It comprises nave, chancel, north transept, south porch, and square tower with one bell. The discharged rectory, now worth 258 yearly, is in the patronage of Robert Fellowes, Esq. There are about twenty-two acres of glebe. SUKLINGHAM (ST. MAKy), A parish live and a-half miles (east-south-east by east) from Norwich. The parish is bounded on the north and oast by the river Yare, over which there is a ferry at Coldham Hall, a place much frequented by anglers. The parish comprises about 1750 acres, of which 100 acres are covered by a fine sheet of water, called " Surlingham Broad. ^^ The living is a vicarage with the perpetual curacy of St. Saviour's annexed ; net income 40 ; patron, the Bishop of Norwich. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 410, and the glebe comprises thirty -four acres. The Church is an ancient structure in the early English style, with a circular tower, and was thoroughly repaired in 1840. There arc some remains of the ancient Church of St. Saviour forming a picturesque ruin. CAiSTEK (sT. Edmund's), A parish three and a-half miles (south) from Norwich, comprises 1045 acres in the valley of the Taas, which flows into the Yare. The river Taas formerly filled the whole valley, but is now a small stream. The Romans advancing from the coast up the river landed here and built a station, supposed to be the Venta Iccnonoit by Camden and Horsley, Avliose arguments are not very conclusive. Sir Henry Spelman, Sir Francis Palgrave, Colonel Leake, and the late Hudson Gurney, Esq, be- lieved the site of NorAvich, before it was a city, to have been the Venta Ice no nun, but that name may have been applied to all the district, includ- ing the sites of Norwich and Caister, when a broad arm of the sea flowed up the valley. The walls of the ancient camp, which was deserted by the Romans, A.D. 44(3, were in the form of a parallelogram, inclosing an area A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 215 of about thirty-two acres^ within which foundations of the buildings may bo traced. The remains consist of a single fosse and vallum, and were surrounded by a strong wall as an additional rampart, built upon the vallum, the enclosed space being capable of containing 6000 men. On the north, east, and south sides there are large mounds raised from the fosse, and the west side has one formed on the margin of tlie river Taas, as are also the remains of the water gate. Within the area of the camp at the south-east angle stands the Church, the materials for building which were evidently taken from the ruins of the rampart. Mr. R. Fitch, in his essay on the Camp at Caister, gives the following description of it : *' The Camp is situated in the village of Caister St. Edmund, three miles from Norwich. It was on the left bank of the small river Taas or Taes, the waters of which, whatever may once have been their extent, are now confined to the breadth of a very narrow stream so confined, indeed, as to be little more than a rivulet. On the ancient importance of the river '^l^ios antiquaries are divided. Geologists assume that the waters covered the sui-face of the low meadows, which stretch between the gently rising grounds in which the camp is situated and the opposite ridge which ex- tends along the right side of this stream, and, flowing on towards the city, spi-ead into an estuary of considerable size. This might have been the case at a remote period ; indeed the nature of the geological deposits affirms the fact ; but it is, perhaps, doubtful whether this was the condi- tion of the stream at the time of the Roman occupation, and for this reason, that Roman or Romano-British remains have been exhumed upon adjacent sites, which must have formed the bed of the estuary to which allusion is made, if its waters were wide-spreading as affirmed. The question, however, is one of considerable difficulty, and is only to be settled by reference to a multitude of facts, which can have no place in this brief papcr.^' The form of the camp is a parallelogram, whoso sides nearly answer to the four points of the compass. The corners arc r(^unded ; and the side upon the west, which faces the stream of the Taes, extends beyond the line of the parallel and is of a depressed angular form. On the north side of the apex of this angle, stands one of two towers of Rcjinan masonry, of which some further notice will be taken. The camp contains thirty-four superficial acres. Along its eastern side runs the road from Norwich to IShottesham. In the south-east corner within the camp stands the parish Church. The whole outline is ])lainly distinguishable from the walls, a considerable portion of which is now covered with huge mounds of earth, not to aid in their preservation, but for the convenience of cultivation, Roman masonry may be seen at several points. On the north side a considerable portion of the wall is denuded of its earthy covering, and a close examination of its structure may be made. Tho 2 16 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. substiinco of the walls is faced with tiiiit^ in many places squared and prepared with a flat face. At the termination of each four courses of flints appears the old bonding tile of the Romans. There are slight dislocations of this arrangement, but the material and its use is described here as a whole. The wall is also exposed at points in the west or river side ; though here, as we approach the south, both wall and bank are in a very abraded condition. Here stands the tower, of which men- tion has already been made. Its situation is rather in advance of the line of wall ; but that it has been attached to the exterior wall is clear, because the part next the camp is flattened for the purpose of connection. The present height of this singular fragment is thii'teen feet, though its altitude was greater when perfect. The circumference above the ground is twenty-two feet eight inches. At present it is surmounted by an immense crown of ivy, which doubtless tends much to the preservation of the structure. Flint and bonding tile compose the exterior, and its interior is a core of solid rubble. By an examination of the tower in the month of July, 1857, the base now hidden beneath the surface of the earth was found to be of faced flints, and to project eighteen inches from the body. SHOTTESHAM (sT. MARY) A parish six miles (south) from Norwich, is bounded on the west by the small river Taas, and presents very pleasing scenery. The parish comprises 1615 acres of land, exclusive of 400 acres in the park, wherein is the seat of Robert Fellowes, Esq., Lord of the Manor and owner of the soil. The park is well wooded, and extends down to the river Taas. The house is a modern structure of brick, built on the site of the ancient hall, which was long a seat of the D^Oyley family. St. Mary^s Church is a plain structure, comprising nave, chancel, south porch, and square tower with one bell. The ancient Churches of St. Martinis and St. Botolph have been in ruins for several centuries. IJRACON ASH, Six miles (south-west) from Norwich, comprises 958 acres of fertile land, mostly the property of the Rev. Thomas Berney, M.A., who resides at the hall, a spacious brick mansion. He is Lord of the Manor, and patron and incumbent of the rectory, which was valued in the King's books at tlO, and has now a yearly rent-cliai-ge of 243 8s. Od., awarded in 1842, in lieu of tithes. The Berney family is of great antiquity, having originally come from Berney in Normandy, and prior to the conquest settled in Norfolk. The Church (St. Nicholas) is a neat structure, com- prising nave, chancel, south aisle, north porch, and bell cot with one bell. A DESCiai'TlON OF NORFOLK. 217 HUMBLEYAKD HUNDKED Is a fertile uiid well wooded district, bounded ou the north by Norwich, on the west by Forehoe, on the south by Depwade, and on the east by llenstead. It contains nineteen parishes, namely, Bracon Ash, Carlton (East), Colney, Cringleford, Dunston, Flordon, Hethel, Hethersett, Intwood, Keswick, Ketteringhara, Markshall, Melton (Great), Melton (Little), Mulbarton, Newton Flotman, SAvainsthorpe, Swardestone, and Wreningham ; altogether comprising 21,521 acres, with a population of 5620. EAST CAKLTON Comprises the united parishes of St. Mary and St. Peter, live miles (south) IVom Norwich. The area is 850 acres. The Coi-poration of Norwich purchased the principal manor, and held it on condition of carrying yearly to the King's house, wherever he might be, twenty four herring-pies or pasties, containing lOO herrings, which the town of Yarmouth was bound to supply ; this curious custom was observed till the early part of last century. The living is a discharged rectory ; income 176. St. Peter's is a discharged sinecure rectory, in the patronage of the Crown. The two Churches formerly stood within hf ty yards- of each other ; that of St. I'eter has fallen into ruins. St. Mary's is a small edifice, chiefly in the early English style, and has a low square towei\ KESWICK (ST. MAKY), A parish three miles (south-south-west) from Norwich. This parish, which is situated on the south bank of a river, comprises about 700 acres of land, which were the })roperty of the late Hudson Curney, Es(j., who was Lord of the Manor, and lived here the greater part of his long life, and died here in his mansion. The lands are in good cultivation, and the scenery is very pleasing and aiversified. The living is a rectory, con- solidated in 1597 with that of Intwood. The Church, iu ruins, appears to have been a small edifice of great antiquity. MULUAUTON (sT. MAUY MAGDALL^e), A })arish distant five miles (south-south-west) from Norwich. It was consolidated with Kenningham in the year 1452, and comprises lo 18a. Ou. 26r., of which 967 acres are arable, 284 pasture, 38 woodland, and 48 connuon, as yet not enclosed. The village is pleasantly situated on the road to New Puckenham, and contains 500 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, with Kenningham ; net income, 606 : the glebe comprises 80 acres, with a house. The Church was erected by Sir William Hoo, and is a handsome structure, partly in the early and partly iu the later EngUsh 218 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. style, with a square embattled tower. The windows of the Church are filled with stained glass. Sir Thomas Richardson, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, was born here in 1G26. HETHERSETT (ST. REMIGIUS), A parish five miles (south) from Norwich on the road to London. It comprises 2635a, Ik. 7r. of land, of which 2165 acres are arable, 415 pasture, and 54 woodland. The scenery along the high road through this parish is sylvan and picturesque. The living is a rectory in medieties with the rectory of Canteclose, annexed in 1897 ; net income, 651 ; patrons. Master and Fellows of Caius College, Cambridge. The Church, which is chiefly in the early style, consists of a nave and side aisles, with a lofty embattled tower, surmounted by a small spire ; the nave is lighted by clerestory windows, and the Church contains several ancient monuments. KETTERINGHAM PARISH Six and a-half miles (south-west) from Norwich, comprises 1580 acres of land, nearly all the property of the late Sir John P. Boileau, Bart., who lived at the Hall. He was descended from an illustrious French house, one of whom fled from persecution and settled at Southampton. This was Charles Boileau, Baron of Castlenau and St. Croix, a lineal descen- dant in an unbroken line from Etienne Boileau, the first Grand Provost of Paris in 1250, whose descendants held honourable civil and military appointments till the time Avhen they became Protestants. The son of Charles Boileau removed to Dublin, and was the father of the late John Peter Boileau, Esq., who went to India with his relative. General Caillard, and after filling the highest offices in the Presidency of Madras, returned to England with an ample fortune in 1 780, and settled at Tacolnestone in Norfolk. In 1836 Ketteringham was conveyed to him, and in 1838 he was created a baronet. In 1825 he married Lady Catherine S. Elliott, youngest daughter of the first Earl of Minto, and his son and heir, Francis George Manningham Boileau, was born in 1830. Sir John was a Fellow of the Royal Society and member of other associations. The hall is a large and handsome castellated Tudor structure of ancient foundation, and was greatly improved by the late baronet by the erection of a spacious Gothic hall, fit for the hospitalities of the middle ages. The living is a discharged vicarage ; net income 196 ; the glebe con- tains thirty-five acres. The Church is pleasantly situated in the park, and is chiefly in the earlier and later English styles, with a square embattled tower. In 1737 it was thoroughly repaired, and the windows were ornamented with ancient and modern stained glass at a cost of 300. A DBSCKIPTION OF NOKFOLK. 219 The chancel,, on the south side of which a piscina was discovered, contains monuments to the ancient family of Heveningham, and there are also monuments to the families of Atkins and Peech ; three of the former were Barons of the Exchequer in the reigns of Charles II. and William III. A neat school was erected at the cost of the late Sir J. P. Boileau, Bart. CLAVEKING HUNDRED Lies at the south-east extremity of the county, being bounded on the west by Loddon Hundred, on the north by the river Yare, and on the south and east by the river Waveney, which divides it from Sufiblk. It is from six to eight miles in length and breadth, except at the north-east end, where it terminates in a narrow slip, ending at the confluence of the rivers Waveney and Yare. The soil is rich and fertile, though a great deal of it is wet marshes. The Hundred comprises 30, 143 acres, with a population of (5074. Clavering includes the following parishes : Aldeby, Brooke, Burgh Apton, Burgh St. Peter, Ellingham, Gcldeston, Gillingham All Saints and St. Mary, Haddiscoe, Hales, Heckingham, Howe, Kirby Cane, Norton Subcourse, Eaveningham, Stockton, Thorpc-next-Had- discoe, Thurlton, Toft Monks, and Wheatacre. ALDEBY (ST. MAKY) Is a parish three miles (north-east) from Beccles ; bounded on the south l)y the river Waveney, which separates it from the county of Suffolk, and comprises 3043 acres. The living is a perpetual curacy, net income 120; patrons and appropriators. Dean and Chapter of Norwich. Hero was a small priory, a cell to the Benedictine Abbey of Norwich, which at the dissolution was given by Henry VIII., as part of the endowment of the Dean and Prebendaries of that Cathedral. The Church is a cruciform structure with a south chapel, and is partly in the early and partly in the perpendicular styles ; the entrance to the west is through a rich Norman doorway ; the tower rises between the luive and chancel. In 1840, a National School for one hundred children was erected; it is supported by subscription. 10, the rental of land, is annually distributed among the poor. BROOKE (ST. 1'ETER), A parish seven miles (smith-east by east) from Norwich, is situated between the Rivers Yare and Waveney, and comprises 2110a. 2r. 111'., of which about 1387 are arable, 488 pasture, and 232 wood. The soil varies from a mixed loam to a tenacious clay, and has been much improved by draining. The surface is boldly undulated, and there is an extensive range of rich meadow land, watered by a stream called the Beck. Tlicre 220 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. are also two lakes or meres^ the shores of which are beautifully wooded. The great road fi-oui Norwich to Bungay runs through the village, in which there are several handsome residences. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the King's books at 5, and in the patronage of the Crown. The tithes, have been commuted for a rent-charge of 552 8s., of which 390 are paid to the impropriator, 240 to the vicar, o 14s. to the Rector of Kirstead, and 4 14s. 6d. to the Hector of Howe. There is a good glebe house, which was considerably improved by the llev. William Castell. The Church is a very ancient structure, with a circular tower, the upper part of which is octagonal, and is supposed to have been erected about the year 1000. It consists of nave, chancel, and north aisle, and has the remains of an ancient carved screen, and a font elaborately sculptured with emblems of the seven Roman sacraments. The nave, wliich is spacious and lofty, is covered with reeds grown in the marshes. There is a place of worship for Baptists. In 18o8, there was erected by subscription a National Infants' School for the children of Brooke and Kirkstead. The proceeds of a Church estate, amounting to 'about 80 per annum, are appropriated to the repairs of the Church and the general purposes of the parish. Sir Astley Fasten was born here in 1768. 13UKGH (sT. peter), OR WHKATACKE BUliGli, Is a parish six and three-quarter miles (east-north-east) from Bcccles. This parish comprises 860 acres, of which 5So are low marshy grazing hind, about fifteen wood, and the remainder arable. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the King's books at 7 6s. 8d. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 370, and the glebe comprises fifteen and a-half acres, valued at 23 7s. per annum, out of which a rent-charge of 3 is payable to the Rector of Monk's Toft. ELLINGHAM (ST. MARy), A parish situated on the river Waveney, near Bungay, contains about 400 inhabitants. The living is a rectory; net income, 411 ; patron. Lord Braybrook. The tithes have been commuted for a rent charge of i339 13s. 2d., and the glebe comprises ninety-one acres. The Church is an ancient structure, in the early English style, with a square embattled tower. There is a National School. GELDESTONE (ST. MICHAEL), A parish bounded on the south by the river Waveney, near Beccles, comprises 820a. 2r. 2r., of which lUl are arable, 400 pasture, and fourteen woodland. There are here an extensive brewerv and a malting A DESCKIPTION 01" NORFOLK. ' 221 establishment, from which is a small cut to tlio Waveney. The hall is a handsome mansion, and was the residence of John Kerrick, Esq; The living is a discharged rectory, in the patronage of the Crown. The tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 1G8, and the glebe comprises fourteen aci'es,valucd at 14 5s. lOd. per annum. The Church is chiefly in the later English stylo, v/ith a circular tower of earlier date. GILLTNGHAM, Comprising the united parishes of All Saints and St. Mary, is situated on the road from Norwich and Beccles, and is bounded on the south by t\w river Waveney. The livings are discharged rectories united; patron. Lord G. Beresford. The tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 4G2 10s. Od.; and the glebe comprises sixty acres, valued at 21. per annum, with a glebe house. The Church (St. Mary) is principally of Norman architecture, with a tower rising from the centre. The west and north entrances are under enriched Norman arches, and the chancel contains a handsome monument to Sir Nicholas Bains, Bart., and several others. The Chui'ch of All Saints was demolished in 1748, but the round tower still remains, and being overgrown with ivy presents an interesting and venerabl(! appearance. Two schools are chiefly supported by subscription ; and there are town lands producing 50 per annum for parochial purposes. TTADDISCOE (ST. MARY) Is a parish bounded on the north-east by the river Waveney, on the road from Yarmouth to Beccles. l^lie manor house here is a good modern residence on the banks of the Waveney, and is the seat of Septimus Grimmer, VjH(\., Lord of the j\Ionor. The living is a discharged rectory, with that of ^Foft Monks annexed; patrons. Provost and Fellows of King's College, Cambridge. The tithes have l)een commuted for a rent-charge of '311 10s. Od. The glebe contains about twenty-two acres, valued at 33, to which there is a gl(4)e house. The Church is chiefly in the later l']nglish style, has a round tower, and the entrances are through richly- decorated Norman doorways. KIR BY CANK, A ])arish in the south-eastern border of the county, named originally Kirby Camp, of which the modern ap])ellation is a corruption. There was an ancient camp at Pewter's Hill, where, about the year 1815, several skelc>tons, celts, and various weajions were turned u]) by the plough. The hall is a handsome mansion, and was the residence of Lord IJcrners, who is patron of the living, a discharged rectory. The tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 425, and the glebe comprises forty-one acres, valued 222 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. at 60. The Church is an ancient structure in the early Enghsh style, with a circular tower. There is a Wesleyan Chapel and a National School. HALES (ST. MARGARET), A parish two miles (south-east by south) from Loddon, and comprises 909a. 3r. Up., of which 761a. 1r. 18p. are arable, 59a. 2r. 21p. woodland, and 89a. 3r. 12p. pasture. The living is a perpetual curacy. Patron and impropriator. Sir W. B. Smyth, Bart. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 246. The Church is chiefly in the Norman style', and has a circular tower. HOWE (ST. MARy), A parish six and a-half miles (south-south-east) from Norwich, compinses 757 acres, the chief part of which is arable. The living is a discharged rectory, with the rectory of Little Poringland, united in 1 782, valued in the King's books at 8 13s. 4d. The tithes of the united parishes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 350 6d,; and the glebe consists of 55 acres. There is also a rent-charge of 42, payable to the rector of Bixley with Framingham Earl. Elizabeth Hastings, in 1 838, left per annum for instruction. LODDON HUNDRED Extends about ten miles south of the river Tare, and is from five to six miles in breadth, being bounded on the north by Blofield, on the east by Clavering, on the south by Earsham, and on the west by Henstead. It has generally a fertile soil, is well cultivated, and abounds with wood and water. Near the Yare it has a rich but watery tract of marshes, Avith several rivulets and broads. It comprises twenty-one parishes, covering 38,495 acres, with a population of 7,520. The parishes in this Hundred are Alpington, Asliby, Bedingham, Broome, Carleton St. Peter, Chedgrave, Claxton, Ditchingham, Hardley, Hedenham, Hillington, Kirstead, Langley, Loddon, Mundham, Seething, Sisland, Thurton, Thwaite St. Mary, Top- croft, Woodton. The whole Hundred is in the Loddon and Clavering Union, which was incorporated under an Act passed in 1765, but is now managed in accordance with the provisions of the New Poor Law Acts. LANGLEY. This parish extends from the river Yare to Loddon, and comprises 2700 acres of land. The owner of the soil and Lord of the Manor, Sir Thos. Wm. Brograve Proctor Beauchamp, Bart., is also impropriator of the tithes, and resides at Langley Hall, a large and very elegant mansion in a beautiful park of 800 acres. The hall was erected about the year 1740 A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 223 by Mr. Recorder Berney, of Norwich, and finished by George Proctor, Esq. It was afterwards enlarged by Sir W. B. Proctor, who was created a baronet in 1744 and made a Knight of the Bath. Additions were made to its Avings some years ago. DITCHINGHAM Is a largo scattered village extending southward to the river Waveney, thirteen miles (south-south-east) from Norwich. The parish comprises 2084 acres of land. The largo heath in this and Broome parish was enclosed in 1812. The Duke of Norfolk is Lord of the Manor of Ditchingham, and J. L. Bedingfield, Esq., is Loi'd of the adjoining Manor of Pirnhow, which was anciently a parish. The rectory is now in the patronage of George Shaw, Esq. The tithes were commuted in 1839 for 5G0 per annum ; and there arc thirty acres of glebe. The Church (St. Mary) stands on an eminence, and is a fine building in the perpendicular style, comprising nave, chancel, north and south porches, and lofty square tower containing six bells. Ditchingham Hall is situated near the high road from Norwich to Bungay, and is well worthy of observation. It was the elegant seat of Philip Bedingfeld, Esq., who made many improvements Avith much judgment and taste. John Longueville Bedingfeld is now owner of the Hall. Ditchingham House, a substantial brick structure on a large lawn, is now the seat of Captain John Margetson. The Lodge is occupied by Colonel Wilson. Holly Hill Lodge a neat modern residence with pleasant ground, is the seat and property of Robert White, Esq. LODDON Is pleasantly situated on the banks of a river, which rises in this Hundred and (Mnptios itself into the Yare at Hardley Cross. It is ten miles from Norwich, five from Beccles and six from Bungay, and has a weekly market on Friday, and two annual fairs, viz., April 5th, and November 11th. The present Church was built by Sir James Hobart in the reign of Henry VIL, and is a beautiful building. In the North Chapel by the chancel, on a marble altar, are several brass plates, with the arms and two iignrcs now disrobed, " in memory of Henry Hobart, Esq." Near to tins, on a grave stone with brass plates, there is tlic eflRgy of a woman, and the following inscription : "Ann Hobart, late wife of Henry Hobart, I]sq., daughter of Sir John Fyneaux, Knt., Chief Judge of England, which Ann departed this life the last day of October, 1530." Also the arms of Hobart and Fyneaux. DEPWADE HUNDRED Is about ten miles in length from cast to west, and six in breadth, bounded on the east by Loddon, on the west by Shropham, on the north by 224 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. Forelioe, and south by Earsliam. It is a fertile and well wooded district, crossed by good roads and by several small streams, which give rise to the river Taas, which was formerly a larger stream, crossed by a deep ford near Tnsburgh. This deep ford gave its name to the Hundred, which contains 30,491 acres, twenty-one parishes, and 961 G inhabitants, nearly all engaged in agricultural pursuits. The parishes in this Hundred are Ashwellthorpe, Aslacton, Bunwell, Carlton Rode, Forncett St. Mary, Forncett St. Peter, Fritton, Fundenhall, Hapton, Hardwick, Hempnall, Morningthorpe, Moulton (Great), Shelton, Stratton St. Mary, Stratton St. Michael, Tacolnestone, Tasburgh, Tharston, Tibbenham and Wacton. These are all rural parishes, whose inhabitants are nearly all engaged in agricultural pursuits. There is litttle to notice in any of the parishes except the Churches, which are nearly all fine edifices, similar in the style of architecture. OTRATTON, LONG (ST. MARy), A market town and parish, ten miles (south) from Norwich, is built on each side of the high road from the city to London. It consists of one long street of well-built houses. A fair was granted by King John to Koger de Stratton in 1 207, but it is now disused. The parish comprises 1517 acres of land, of which 1097 are arable, 361 pasture, and 32 Avood and waste. The living is a rectory ; patrons. Master and Fellows of Gonville and Cains CoTlege. The tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 413 10s. Od. The Church, built about 1330, is chiefly in the decorated and later styles, with a circular tower, surmounted by a low spire. There is a Chapel for Independents. Part of the ancient manor house, now a farm-house, still remains. STRATTON (ST. MTCHAEL), A parish adjoining, comprises 1050 acres of land, of which about 120 are pasture and the rest arable. The living is a rectory, with that of St. Peter consolidated ; patrons. Warden and Fellovv's of New College, Oxford. The tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 330, and there is a good glebe house; the glebe contains twenty-six acres. The Church of St. Peter was demolished long ago ; that of St. Michael consists of a nave and chancel, with a low embattled tower. The Wcsloyans have a Chapel here, as well as in most of the villages in Norfolk. TASBURGH (ST. MARy), A parish situated on the road from Norwich to London, is supposed to have been the Ad Tiiam of the Pomans, who had a camp here on the banks of th:^ River Taas, The parish comprises 881 acres of land, of / A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 225 which G37 are arable and the remainder meadows and gardens. The surface is in some parts boldly undulated, and very fine views are obtained from the churchyard and its vicinity of an extensive range of beautifully- varied scenery. The living is a rectory ; the tithes were commuted for a I'cnt-chargo of 287 ; the glebe contains three acres, valued at 4 per annum, l^ho Cliurch is a very ancient edifice, with a circular tower, and stands on elevated ground in the area of a square entrenchment com- prising twenty-four acres. SHELTON (ST. MARY), NEAR LONG STRATTON, Comprises 1301a. 2r. Gp., of which 1024 are arable and 267 pasture. This parish was formerly the property of the Shelton family, of whom Sir Ralph Shelton built the ancient Hall, a spacious castellated mansion, moated round, and which is now a farm-house. The living is a rectory, with that of Hard wick annexed. The tithes were commuted for a rent- charge of 640. The glebe comprises 42 acres, valued at 52 10s= per annum. The Church, built by Sir Ralph Shelton, is an elegant structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower, and contains many ancient monuments, and some fine windows embellished with Bible subjects in stained glass. In the chancel there is a handsome cenotaph to Sir Robert Houghton, Chief Justice of the King's Bench. MORNINGTHORPE (ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST), A parish cloven miles (south) from Norwich, comprises 1001a. Or. ]3p., of which 1)70 ncros arc well cultivated land, with a moderate portion of wood- land. Boylaiid Hall is a handsome mansion in the Elizabethan style, the s(>at of th(^ Hon. Admiral Irby. The living is a discharged rectory in the pati'onage of the Crown. The tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 300, and the globe comprises eight acres, valued at 10 10s. per nnnum. The Church is a fine structure, chiefly in the later English style. The chancel was beautified by the Rector, and the altar enriched Nvith carved oak. A parochial school was erected in 1841. CARLTON RODE (ALL SATNTS), A parish five miles (south-east by east) from Attleborough, is said to have taken its distinguishing appellation from its ancient Lord, Walter do Rode, who lived in tlu^ reign of Henry III. The parish comprises 2600 acres. The living is a discharged rectory; patron. Sir R. J. Buxton, Bart. The tit1i(>s were commuted for a rent charge of 021, and the glebe consists of forty-nine acres, valued at 72 per annum, with an excellent glebe house The Church is a handsome structure, chiefly in the later English style, and 226 HISTOEY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. has a low square tower. The nave is lighted by clerestory windows, and is separated from the chancel by the remains of a carved screen on which are painted figures of the Twelve Apostles. EAESHAM HUNDRED Is a fertile district, bounded on the west by Di^ Hundred, on the north by Loddon, and on the east by the river Waveney, which divides it from Suffolk. It is about thirteen miles in length along the river, and averages from three to five miles in breadth. It is all in the liberty of the Duke of Norfolk, contains 24,564 acres, fourteen parishes, and 8484 inhabitants. Harlcston is the market town, where a new Corn Hall has been built, and much business is done there on Wednesdays. This Hundred includes the rural parishes of Alburgh, Billingford, Brockdish, Denton, Earsham, Mendham (part), Needham, Pulham St. Mary Magdalen, Pulham St. Mary the Virgin, Eedenhall, Harleston, Rushall, Starston, Thorpe Abbotts, Wortwell. Billingford was originally named Preleston, or the " Town of the Battle," in all probability so called from some remarkable battle fought here when the Romans possessed the land. Its present name first occurred in the time of Henry III., when the inhabitants began to settle near the ford, for Billingford signifies the dwelling at the ford near a low meadow, EARSHAM Was the chief Manor of the Hundred of Earsham, and belonged to Stigand, the Archbishop, at the survey of Edward the Confessor, when it was worth 11, being then a mile and a-half long, a mile broad, and paid 6d. to the gelt or tax. At the Conquest it belonged to the King, William I., who committed the management of it to William de Noicrs. The soc and sac belonged to it, and the whole was raised to 40 value. From the time it was granted to the Norfolk family, along with the half hundred from the Crown, it passed with the Manor of Forncett, the Duke of Norfolk being Lord of the Manor and owner of the park here, which is now disparked ; but in the 35th of Edward I. it was well stocked, and belonged to the lodge or manor house, which had 28G acres in demesne, sixteen aci'es in meadow and the hall dykes or fisheiy, a Avater mill and many woods and fens, all of which were kept for the use of Roger Bigod, then lord, who resided chiefly at his adjacent castle of Bungay, in Suffolk. The estate passed to the Throgmorton^s, then to the Gooch's, then to the Buxton's, when John Buxton, Esq., built the present house, called Earsham Lodge or Hall, which became the seat of the Windliams. The great statesmau, William Windham, resided here at the close of the last century. A DESCRIPTION OP NORFOLK. 227 DENTON Takes its name from the Saxon word den, a cave, or hollow place between two hills, which exactly answers to the situation. The present Church stands on a hill, and the parsonage house on the north side of the church- yard, in the very den or hollow from which the village is named. The supe- rior jurisdiction over divers freemen of this place passed vath the Hundred of Earsham ; but the chief manor of Denton was held of Bishop Stigand by Alfriz, in the reign of Edward the Confessor ; and by Eudo, son of Spiruwin at the survey in 108G, when it was worth 4 per annum, the town being a mile long and four furlongs mde, and paid Is. Gd. gelt or tax. The estate came to William de Albany, who joined it to the Castle at Buckenham, with which it passed for many ages. Another part, which formerly belonged to the Abbey of Bury St. Edmund's, was held by Tarmoht, and then by the said Eudo. This constituted that manor called Pay one's in Denton. The manor of Donton-cum-Topcroft passed with the Albanys, and at the division of the estate of that family among female heiresses, was allotted among others to Sir Robert do Tatestale, Knight, in whose family it continued till the failure of male issue. MENDHAM Includes Needham, Shotford, and Metfield. Needham adjoins east to Brockdish, on the high road, and was originally a hamlet and chapelrj'^ to Mendham, which is a very extensive place. The parish church stands just over the river in Suffi^lk ; but this hamk^t and the adjacent part between it and the parisli church on the Norfolk side Avere no k^ss than two miles and five furlongs in length, and seven furlongs in width, at the survey in 1 08G, and paid sevenpence to tlie gelt or tax. The part on the Norfolk side (exclusive of the bounds of this ancient hamlet) was called Shotford or the ]>art of the ford (over which there was a good brick bridge), and for many ages had a rector presented to it, by the name of the rector of Shotford portion, in IVIendham. Part of Herolveston or Ilarloston then belonged to Mendham ; and now that part opposite the south side of the chapel. Mendham Church is a good building, with a square tower and live bells, having a nave, two aisles, and south porch leaded, and chancel tiled, in which are several memorials of persons long siuce dead and forgotten. This parish church is dedicated to All Saints, and was originally a rectory, one turn in which was in Sir William de Iluntingfield, founder of the Priory here, to which he gave it, and the other in Sir Thomas de Needham, who gave it to the Prior and Convent of the Holy Trinity at Ipswich, to which it was appropriated by Thomas de Blandevnlle, Bishop 228 ' HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. of Norwich, in 1227, when the vicarage was settled, and the first vicar here was presented by the Prior of Ipswich. The Chapel of St. Peter at Needham was in all probability founded by Sir Thomas de Needham for his own tenants, and being so far from the mother Church of Mendham was made parochial and had separate bounds, officers, administration of sacraments, and burial. This Hamlet originally belonged to the Abbot of Bury St. Edmund's, and was infeoffed by Froslo at the conquest, and his descendants took the surname of Needham, and, contrary to common rule, gave their name to the place instead of taking their name from the place. Medefield, or Metfield, or the field by the meadows, is another Hamlet or parochial Chapel of Mendham, the great tithes of which belonged to the impropriator there, who nominated and paid the stipendiary chaplain at the close of last century. The Chapel is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and has a square clock tower and three bells ; the south porch, nave, and chancel are leaded. This Hamlet was the ancient seat of the Jermys. Medefield, or Metfield, was anciently of the fee of the Abbot of St. Bennett at Holme, near Dilliam, of whom it was held in the time of Hichard I. at half-a-fee by Hugh Bard, after which it was escheated to the Cro^vn, and was granted to Thomas de Brothorton, son to Edward I., who married Alice, daughter of Sir Eoger Hales, of Harwich, Knight, whose sister, Joan, marrried Sir John Jenny, Knight, and in 1325, the said Thomas conveyed to his brother-in-law. Sir John Jermy, Knight, two parts of this manor, and the third part to his wife for assignment of her dower. In 1428, Sir John Jermy, Knight, owned this manor and rebuilt the Church and manor house, where he placed the matches of his family in the windows, and his own arms are carved several times in the timber of the roof, and are still in several windows and in stone in the front. He died in 1487, and was buried at the north-east corner of the chancel. His inscription was cut in old-text letters on his tombstone, but it is so worn and broken that little of it remains. From the younger branch descended the Jc-rmys of Bayfield in Holt Hundred ; and John Jermy, Esq., of the eldest, continued the family at Metfield, and lies buried in the chancel near his grandfather, with a brass plate on his stone, o?/// January 14, 1504, with the arms of Jermy and Hopton. Sir John Jermy, of Metfield and Brightwell, Knight of the Bath, was his grands'on. An altar tomb at the north-east corner of this chancel, with the arms of Jermy, shows this inscription : " Thomas Jarmy, Esq., Sonne and heire of Sir Thomas Jarmy, Knight of the Honourable Order of the Bath, December 21, 1652." The manor was afterwards sold and passed to Walter Plominer, Esq. A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 229 PULHAM (or PULLAHAM) Signifies the village of pools or standing waters. According to the earliest account^ it belonged to Waldcliist^ a Saxon, who forfeited all that ho had to King Bdniund_, who was lord of it, and left it to King Etheldred or Edred his brother, and at his death it went to King Edwy, and after him to King Edgar, his brother, who sold it to Wolstan, and at his death to Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, for 40, and he gave it to the Abbey of St. Etheldred, or Andrey, at Ely, who was in possession at the time of the Norman Conquest. The village was then two miles long and a mile broad, and paid 30 to the gelt or tax. Money in the same coin was then worth ten times more than the present value. The Church of St. Mary the Virgin is the mother Church, and has a square tower with a spire on its top and six bells. The nave, south aisle, chancel, and porch are covered with lead. In the porch chamber lay many court rolls and evidences of the manor, with armour, a broken organ, and several brass plates reeved off the stones in the Church. Thei-e arc monu- ments to the families of the Aslacks, the Langs, the Jennys, and the Sayers. The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalen is a good structure with a large square tower, a clock and six bells, a handsome north porch, two aisles and nave all covered with lead. It is a very handsome edifice. REDENHALL Takes its name from lluda, the dean, who was lord in the time oj Edward the Confessor, and held it of Edric, the predecessor of Robert Mulct, lord of the honour of Eye. Its value was then 3 per annum, but it rose to 8 value, and was a mile and a-half long and three perches broad, and paid lOd. to the Dane gelt or tax. It extended into Alburgh and Starston, and it contained twenty -three freemen, whose rents were 4 per annum, but they were afterwards separated from the manor and added to Earl Half's Hundred of Earsham. The Church is situated in the middle of the parish, so that it niiglit be cqui-distant for the tenants of the several manors and to the Hamlets of Ilarlcston and Wort well. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and is a good regular building, having its north porch, nave, and two aisles leaded, and chancel tiled. It was rebuilt of freestone by Thomas Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk, and the chancel by William Neuport, rector, but the noble square tower, which is very large and lofty, is of a much later foundation. It was begun about 14G0, and was carried on as the legacies and benefactions came in. HARLESTON, A market town in the parish of Redcnhall, nineteen miles (south) from Norwich, and ninctynine and a-half (north-cast) from London. The 230 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. original appellation of Herolfstone, or Herolvcston, of wliicli the present is a corruption, was derived from Herolf, one of the Danish leaders, who came over with Sweyn, and settled in this part of the kingdom. In the centre of the town stands a stone, formerly called Herolf^s stone, whence probably originated the name of a family to which belonged Sir John Herolveston, who in the reign of Richard II. quelled a formidable disturbance in Norfolk and the neighbouring county. The town is situate on the road from Bury St. Edmund's to Yarmouth, about one mile from the river Waveney, over which is a bridge ; it is lighted with gas, and well supplied with water from springs. The manufacture of bombazines was carried on here to a limited extent. The market, which is chiefly for corn, is held on Wednesdays in a new hall, and well attended ; fairs are held on July 15th and September 9th and 10th; the latter, which is still a large sheejD and cattle fair, was originally continued eight days. On the first of December was formerly a fair for Scotch cattle, which continued one month, and which was removed hither many years since from Hoxne, in Suffolk ; but it has fallen into disuse in consequence of the preference given to the cattle market at Norwich. A portion of the town is under the superior jurisdiction of the Duke of Norfolk, Avho is lord of the manor, and has the tolls of the markets and fairs, holding courts for the manor occasionally. Petty Sessions are held on the first and third Fridays in the month. In the centre of the town is a Chapel of Ease, dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It is a free chapel, founded probably by Sir John de Herofston for his own use. It never had an institution, but was always dependent upon its mother church at Redenhall, the rector of which served hero one part of the day every Sunday. In 1G88, being almost useless, and deserted for want of fit endowments, that pious prelate, William Sandcroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, settled on the master, fellows, and scholars of Emmanuel College, in Cambridge, .t54 per annum, payable quarterly out of the hereditary revenues of the excise, in trust and special confidence that they will receive it, and nominate a chaplain and schoolmaster here, and pay it so received to him, " provided he perform divine service in the chapel daily except on Sundays.^' The chapel was rebuilt in 1726, and enlarged in 1819, by taking in the site of the market cross, which stood at the east end. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. The rents of an estate in the adjoining parish, of Rushall, purchased with 200, the gift of Mr. John Dove, who died in 1712, are paid to the National School, which is also supported by subscriptions. THE HUNDRED OF DISS Is SO called from its thriving market town, and is nearly a square district, A DESCKII^ION OP NORFOLK. 231 about seven miles in length and breadth, bounded on the east by Earsham, on the west by Guiltcross, on the north by Depwade, and on the south by the river Wavoney, which divides it from Suffolk. It is a well-wooded and fertile district, generally level, but rising in some places in gentle undulations. It is crossed by the railway from Norwich to Ipswich, called the Eastern Union line. It contains 23,915 acres, sixteen parishes, and 9851 inhabitants. The parishes are Bressingham, Burston, Dickleburgh with Langmere, Diss, Ferslield, Frenze, Gissing, Roydon, Scole, Shelfauger, Shimpling, Thclveton, Thorpe Parva, Tivetshall St. Margaret, Tivetshall St. Mary, Win farthing. SCOLE, Oli OSMONDISTON (ST. ANDliEW), A parish twenty miles (south-south-west) from Norwich, bounded on the south by the river Waveney, comprising about 800 acres. The village was a great thoroughfare on the road from Ipswich to Norwich, and about forty coaches passed through there daily before the opening of railways. There was a very large inn built in the seventeenth century, and it had a large sign across the road. There is a fair for cattle on Easter Monday. The living is a discharged rectory ; patron. Sir E. Kerrison, Bart. The tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 250, and the glebe contains twenty-five acres. The Church is an ancient structure in the decorated style, with a square embattled tower. TIVETSHALL (ST. MARy), A large parish, fifteen miles (south) from Norwich, on the road from the city to London, close to the Eastern Union Railway. There is a branch iiue from this place to Harleston, and through the valley of the Wavoney to JJungay and Beccles. The living here is a rectory, with that of Tivets- hall St. Margaret annexed; net income, 700; patron. Lord Orford. The tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of Jb 175 3s. Id. There is a glebe of twenty-three acres, and a good glebe-house. The Church is partly in the early, and partly in the decorated style, and has an ancient square tower at the west end. FERSFIELD (ST. ANUREVV) A parish near Diss, comprising 1110 acres, chiefly the property of the Puke of Norfolk, who is lord of the manor. It belonged in ancient time to the family of Du Bois, the supposed founders of the Church. The common was enclosed in 1799. The source of the river Waveney is near the village. The living is a rectory, and the tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 4300 ; the glebe comprises fifty-nine acres, valued at 232 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. 74 7s. 6d, per annum. The Church, is an ancient structure, in the decorated English style, with a square embattled tower. The Church lands comprise twenty acres, producing 32 per annum. The llev. Francis Blomefield, the Norfolk historian, was born and buried here. He pub- lished two volumes of his " History of Norfolk " between 1836 and 1843. He did not live to finish it, and it was continued by the Rev. J. Parker, who did not live to finish it, and it was never completed. ROYSTON (ST. REMIGIUS), A parish near Diss, situated on the road to Thetford, is bounded on the south by the river Waveney. It comprises 1135a. Ik. 38p., chiefly arable, with a moderate proportion of meadow and pasture. The living is a rec- tory ; patron, the Right Hon. J. H. Frere. The tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 440 ; and the glebe comprises forty-six acres, with a good house. The Church is an ancient structure, chiefly in the decorated style, with a circular tower. Mrs. M. Blowers left 1000 to the poor; and Miss Frere, in 1839, bequeathed 400 for clothing six married persons. About twenty acres of land are let in small lots to the poor. DISS (ST. MARY), A market town and parish in the Hundred of Diss, twenty-two miles (south-south-west) from Norwich, and ninety-two (north-east) from London. This place (formerly Dixe, or Dice) was held in Royal demesne in the reign of Henry I., and in that of Edward I. became the property of Robert FitzWalter, who obtained for it the privilege of a market. The town is pleasantly situated near the river Waveney, by which it is separated on the south from the county of Suflblk, and consists of several streets, of which the principal are spacious, and are macadamized and lighted with gas. The houses are in general well built, and have a neat and handsome appearance -, and the inhabitants are well supplied with water. A Book Society has been established for nearly a century, and it is supported by subscription ; the collection exceeds 4000 volumes. There is also a Subscription Library ; and a Literary and Scientific Institution was established in 1828. At the extremity of the town, and nearly in the centre of the parish, is a mere, five acres in extent, which abounds with eels. The principal branch of manufacture is the weaving of coarse cloth and sacking, and there are several breweries in the town. The market is on Friday, and is chiefly for corn. A fair for lambs, on the first Friday in July, has been established ; a statute fair is held on the third Friday in September ; and a fair for cattle and toys on the 8th of November. The Petty Sessions are held here on the second and fourth A DESCRIPTION OF NORFOLK. 233 Monday in the month. The parish, which is bounded on the south by the river Wavoney, comprises 3625a. Ok. 22p., of which about 3283 acres are under cultivation, and about fifteen are in plantation. The soil is various, Init in general fertile ; the surface is gently undulated, and the low grounds are watered by the river Frenzc, which flows through the parish into the Waveney. The living is a rectory, valued in the King's books at 33 6s. 8d. ; the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 900 ; and the glebe comprises eleven acres, valued at 16 10s. per annum, to which there is a glebe-house. The Church is an ancient structure in the early and decorated English styles, with a square embattled tower. The nave is lighted by a fine range of double clerestory windows ; and the south porch has a semi-circular headed doorway, over which is a large window of seven lights. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends, and Particular Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Unitarians, and a Roman Catholic Chapel at Thelton. There is a School of Industry for girls, supported by the Misses Taylor, and there is a house in the church- yard, the rent of which (25) is given to four poor widows. 100, the produce of a farm, is applied to the repair of the Church and other parochial uses. Ralph de Dicete, Dean of St. FauFs in the reign of Henry II., and Walter, a Carlemite monk of Norwich, confessor to John o' Gaunt, were natives of this parish, of which also John Skelton, poet-laureate to Henry VIII., was rector, and styled by Erasmus " the light and orna- ment of English scholars." Thomas Lombc Taylor, Esq., Lord of the Manor of Diss in 1851, erected a new Corn Hall, tit a cost of 10,000, and made a present of it to the town. It is an elegant building in the Corinthian style of archi- tecture, with a double glass roof, from which the interior is lighted. It contains an entrance-hull lighted from above ; a Corn Exchange, seventy- seven feet long, forty-two wide, and twenty-seven high, and two rooms each thirty-three feet by twenty feet, tlie lower of which is used for magistrates' meetings, and the upper is a public library and reading-room. This rare act of generosity on the part of Mr. Taylor excited the grati- tude of the inhabitants, who raised a subscription for his portrait, which was painted by Boxall, and now hangs in the Hall. Miss Taylor pre- sented an excellent organ, which is used here at concerts. We have so far given a pretty full description of all the toAvns and the most important villages in Norfolk and seats of the gentry, as an intro- duction to our historical narrative of leading events, and memoirs of eminent men of every period. We may here mention some of the most eminent characters the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk, the Warrens, the Bigods, the Le Stranges, the Jerninghams, the Pastons, the Fitz Walters, 234 HlSTOKV OF EASTERN ENGLAND. the Lucys, the Mortimers, the Wodehouses, the Walpoles, the Townshends, the Windhams, and the Cokes, all whose families flourished for many ages. Most famous of all was Nelson, the Norfolk hero. POPULATION OF NORFOLK. The population of Norfolk in 1801 amounted to 273,479; in 1811 to 291,947; in 1821 to 344,368; in 1831 to 390,054; in 1841 to 412,664; in 1851 to 442,714; showing a gradual increase every decade. But in 1861 the population decreased to 434,791, consisting of 209,005 males and 225,793 females. There was consequently a decrease of 7916 per- sons during the decade preceding 1861. During that period there were registered in Norfolk 32,709 marriages and 137,594 births, but only 91,632 deaths. It is, therefore, apparent that 60,000 of the inhabitants must have left the county to seek employment elsewhere. The population continued to decrease iu the rural districts till 1871. This decrease is attributed to the emigration of agricultural laborers to America, &c., and the colonies, the migration of young persons to the manufacturing dis- tricts ; the depression of the shipping trade, owing to the transit of coals and heavy goods by railways ; the discontinuance of hand-loom hemp cloth weaving, the introduction of machinery for agricultural purposes, and the want of a sufficient number of cottages in almost all parishes. Norwich and Yarmouth are the only towns in Norfolk in which there luis been any considerable increase, the former on account of its manufactures, and the latter on account of its fisheries. In considering the condition of the common people, we must keep in mind their gradual increase, and the proportion in counties and towns. Down to the 18th century, the rural population was far greater than in all the towns, and increased in every period till 1851. Since then the population has decreased, while the production of food, value of land, and rents have increased. The condition of the present rural labourers is very little improved as regards dwellings, clothing, or food; and certainly not at all improved as regards their education or intelligence. The Norfolk dialect is so peculiar that it might well interest a phi- lologist. Prince Lucien has included it among his collection, and by way of specimen here is a passage from his version of " The Song of Solomon : '^ 1. The Song o' songs as is Sorlomun's. 2. Lerr 'um kiss me Avi' the kisses of his mouth ; for yar love is better au' wine. 3. ]>ecaze o' the smell o' yar good intcmeuts yar name is as intcmeuts pored nut, therefore du the mawtliers love ye. 1. 1 )ror me, we'll run arter ye ; the king he ha' browt me into liis chambers ; we'll })e glad and rejoice in ye : we'll remahmber yar love more 'an Avine ; the right-u}) love ye. CHAPTER IV. A DESCEIPTION OF NOEWICH. f^HE capital of East Aiiglia is on the east side of the oval forming ^\ the shape of the county of Norfolk. It stands on each side of the navigable river Wensuni, just above the conlluence with the Yare. It is situated twenty miles west of the sea coast at Yarmouth, forty-eight and a-quarter east-by-south from Lynn, fifty-thi'ee and three-quarters from Ely, sixty-eight and a-half from Cambridge, and llo^ miles from London. It is a city and county of itself, the seat of a bishopric, a municipal and Parliamentary borough, assize town of the shire, place of election, and railway station. The Great Eastern Railway system connects the city with all other towns in England. It has a railway station at Thorpe for the Norfolk line from Yarmouth to Ely ; another station at St. Stephen's dates for the Suffolk lines to Ipswich and Bury St. Edmund's. It has two channels to the sea, by the river Yare to Yarmouth, and by the river VVaveney to Lowestoft, from which ports steamers and sea-borne vessels come up to Norwich. The city and county of Norwich occupies so large a space in the I^jistern Division that it may be regarded as a separate district. It stands lor the most part on the sloping sides of a rising ground, running parallel with the river Wensum, on the southern side, above its confluence with the Yare. The greatest extent, from St. Clement's Hill (north) to Hartford Bridges (south), is four and a-({uarter miles; and following the zig-z:ig line of the boundary, it is about seventeen miles in circumference, comprising 0630 acres of land. Within its jurisdiction it includes the ])icturesc|ue hamlets of Lakenham and Bracondalc on the south, of Catton on the north, of Thorpe on the east, and of lleigham on the west. The city is partly built on a plain on the banks of the river Wensum, and partly on the gentle acclivity of a hill. The ancient walls, of which few fragments remain, enclosed a length of a mile and a-half from noi-th to south, and a mile and a-quarter from east to west. The modern suburbs, 236 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLANl). however, have long out-grown these limits. The chief features of the city are its Castle, crowning the summit of a sugar-loaf hill or moiind in the centi'e of the town ; its noble Cathedral ; its multitude of Churches, nearly all built of flint ; its quaint Guildhall ; its spacious Market Place, and narrow winding streets branching off from open spaces or plains. We shall first give a brief sketch of the rise and progress of the city (reserving modern events for our historical narrative), then a description of the place, its antiquities. Castle, Cathedral, public buildings ; then an account of charities, schools, manufactures, trades, and navigation. The original sources of information respecting any city or county are to some extent legendary and fictitious, but not on that account to be entirely discarded. The rise of any great city is owing to such a variety of causes that it is often difficult to point out the principal one ; but with respect to Norwich, there is good reason for the belief that its origin may be traced to the erection of a British stronghold at the head of an estuary on the eastern coast of the Iccii'i, who inhabited the eastern district. Assuming then that the place called Cacr Guntiuii by the lecni was the Veiita Iceiioruhi of the Romans, we may believe that it was of some extent, partly founded on the shoulder of a premonitory, overlooking the Wensum, towards the great estuary which formed a natural stronghold for many successsive races of inhabitants. WTiilst the Romans fixing their permanent camp at Caister on the Taas, where that river joined the estuary, would command the passage into the interior of the country. Making Caister the Ad Taitm, we will find the distances agree with the Roman Itineraries. Sir Henry Spelman in his *' Icenia " states that Norwich was the capital of the Iccid in British, Caer Gwynt situated on the river Wensum ; the Britons using the " w,'^ which the Romans turned into "v," Veiita ; but whether Norwich was the Veiifa Iccitor ant of the Romans he leaves in doubt. Antiquaries are now generally of opinion that the site of the present city must have been the Veiita Icciiunim, and that it was originally a British stronghold, that the Angles built a castle there, that the Danes destroyed this castle and the city, and subsequently rebuilt both the city and castle. According to Spelman, Norwich was a residence of East Anglian kings, who established a mint here for coining money, and some of their coins have been preserved. Uffa, first king of the East Angles, is stated to have built a castle here in 575, and made it his residence. In 61-2 Anna, another king of the East Angles, kept his court at the castle, and succeeding kings did the same, sometimes residing at Thetford. The city being often an object of contention between the Angles and the A DESCRIPTION OP NORWICH. 287 Danes, it was alternately in the possession of each party, and was repaired and fortified by Alfred the Great against the Danes, to whom, after a treaty of peace, that monarch finally conceded it. They settled in it, built a new castle, and made it a Danish city. In 952 Edred made it a borough governed by an officer, who was appointed by the King to keep his Courts and collect his revenues. The Danes being subsequently driven out, it remained in the possession of the Angles till 1004, when the Danish invaders being stimulated by the weakness of Etheldred II. and the treachery of Afric, Earl of Mercia, landed on the coast of Essex under Sweyn, then King, advanced into Norfolk, burnt and plundered the city, and left it in a state of desola- tion till their return in 1018, when they again took possession of it under Canute, by whom it was re-built, and the fortifications of the castle were restored. From this time the city began rapidly to increase, and it was a great fishing town, the principal staithe being where St. Lawrence's . Church now stands, but it appears that about this period the waters silted up, or receded, so much as to leave the lower parts on the north side of the river dry grounds, which from their low situations were called marshes, and were soon after drained and built upon. The river gradually assumed its present appearance all the way from Norwich to the sea at Yarmouth. In 1049 Edward the Confessor gave the Earldom of Norwich to Harold, afterwards King, but on his rebellion with his father Godwin, it was seized by the King and given to Algar, son of Leofric, Earl of Chester, after whose death it fell again to the King. From Domesday Book we leani that the city contained 1320 burgesses, with their families residing therein, and besides the now burgh westward, there were three manors in the city ; this proves that it must have flourished greatly after it had been ro-built by the Danes. It is to be observed here that though wo have carried on the succession of Kings of East Anglia to this period, it ended, strictly speaking, with Edmund the Martyr, as did the Heptarchy twenty- two years before (828), when Egbert ascended the throne of all England. In the Domesday survey of Edward the Confessor (1041 10();i) the entries point to the probability of the same relative position of the inhabitants of Norwich to the Kinj? havin": existed there as at Leicester and elsewhere. The usage was to pay to the Monarch certain dues, and to enjoy local independence in return for the payment. The Norwich burgesses paid 20 to the King, and 10 to the Earl, besides 20s. in the shape of aids, six sextaries of honey, and a bear with six dogs to bait him. When these tributes were paid to the King's officers, the citizens were left fi'ce to manngo their own local affairs, but they were ruled by other local lords of the soil, for while 1238 of them were amenable to the jurisdiction of the King and the Earl, fifty others lived within the soke 238 HTSTOEY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. of Stigand, and thirty-two wore settled on the land of Earl Harold, afterwards King, and were under his authority. But the Sheriff had no power of interference within the city, which constituted a Hundred of itself. The burgesses owed suit and service only to their respective liords in their Court Leet. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, William I. bestowed the city on Ralph Guader, who, with the Earls of Northumberland and Hereford, at a festive meeting in the Castle, entered into a conspiracy against the King, who had gone to Normandy ; but being frustrated in his design by the vigilance of the Bishop of Worcester, the Sheriff of that county, and AValter Lucy, Baron of Hereford, he withdrew into Brittany, leaving in the Castle a garrison of Britons under the command of his wife, who heroically sustained a prolonged siege till, being reduced by famine, she surrendered to the King on condition of being allowed to leave the country with all her forces in security. During this siege, the city was much injured, but it gradually recovered from the severe calamity. After the settlement of the Normans in England, a survey was made of the whole kingdom in 108G, and recorded in a volume called '^Domes- day Book,^' a most important document. In it we find full particulars of the area, the owners, and the wealth of all the land in all the counties and towns. Norwich then contained 13G4 burgesses, hundreds of houses, and ninety-eight houses in the occupation of the Castle. These it seemed were either pulled down to cnlai'ge the outworks, or were occupied by the garrison, or were assigned to lie under the jurisdiction of the Constable of the Castle. On the death of the Conqueror, Roger Bigod held the Castle at Norwich for Robert Carthose, Duke of Normandy, elder brother of William Rufus, wasting the city and county, and plundering all those who refused to join him. The dispute was compromised, and Roger Bigod remained in possession of the Castle, and held it peaceably during that King's reign. The county was for a short time free from the factious contentions of the nobles, who lorded it over the district. Henry I., on his accession to the crown a.d. 1100, w^s opposed by many of the nobles, who wei-e in the interest of Robert his elder broth ei', but Roger Bigod strongly espousing his cause, became a great favourite. In 1100 the King gave him Framlingham Castle, in Suffolk, and continued him constable of Norwich Castle till his death. He was succeeded by his son William Bigod, and at his death his brother, Hugh Bigod, inherited the honour and estate, and was appointed constable of the Castle and governor of the city, and he continued so till 1 1 22, when the King kept his Chi'istmas in Norwich ; and granted the citizens a charter, containing the same franchises and priveleges as the citizens of London enjoyed. A DESCRIPTION OP NORWICH. 239 ' From this time the city was governed by a provost or portreve chosen by the King, part of whose office was to collect all the King's dues. The government of the city was thus severed from that of the Castle, the con- stable of which had been previously the sole governor. The city was re-built in the reign of King Stephen, who incorporated the inhabitants, and gave the town as an appanage to his third son William, from whom it was afterwards taken by Henry II., whose son gave it to Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, in order to secure his interest in his rebellion against his father. The earl having repaia'cd the fortifications and placed a strong garrison of French and Flemings in the Castle, held it for some time against the King, but after a vigorous defence he was compelled to surrender it and to purchase peace by the payment of 1000 marks. In the reign of King John, the Dauphin of France, whom the con- federated barons against the King invited to their assistance, besieged and took possession of the Castle, plundered the citizens, and committed many depredations. After the city had recovered from the great injury it had sustained, it was for protection surrounded by high stone walls, having forty towers and twelve gates. Some vestiges of the walls and towers yet remain. Henry III. appointed Roger Bigod (1216) constable of Noi-wich Castle, which he held till his death in 1220. In 1223 the citizens obtained a grant that the government of the city should be vested in four bailiffs instead of a provost ; but it does not appear that they had any charter for it. In 1228 the citizens obtained a new charter, with a fcAV more privileges. In 12o9 the King came to Norwich for the purpose of settling the disputes between the monks and citizens, and decided that in conse- (|ueuco of the liberties of the monks having been granted prior to those of the citizens, the monks shonld use and exercise the rights which they possessed ; that the citizens should not molest them in such exercise, and that both ])arties should enjoy their rights and privileges as before. Acconlingly in 12 14 the tenants of the Prior were taxed in one-fifth of tlie foliage of the city; so that though the l^rior carried his point, the citizens also carri(Ml theirs. Subsecjuently, however, there were frequent broils between th(> monks and the citizens, and sometimes people were killed in affrays. Norwich snff'ered severely from the continued discord between the monks and the citizens; the latter assaulted and set fire to the Monastery, which was burnt down, with the exception of the chapel. The King bt'ing informed of this outrage, visited the city, and, after due investigation, caused thirty young men to be executed. In 1 440, another assault on the monks was r(>straiiuHl by the activity of the Duke of Norfolk, who seized 240 HISTOEY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. and punished the ringleaders, displaced the Mayor from his office, and appointed Sir John Clifton governor of the place, till the King might be pleased to restore its forfeited privileges. In the reign of Elizabeth, the Dutch and Walloons, fleeing from the persecution of the Duke of Alva in the Netherlands, found an asylum in this country, especially in the Eastern Counties. That Queen, by the encouragement which she gave to the emigrants who introduced their manufactures here, laid the foundation of the industrial and commercial prosperity of the city, but the working classes were very averse to the strangers, whom they persecuted for a long time. In the reign of Edward VI., the brothers Robert and William Kett, of Wymondham, under the pretence of resisting the inclosure of waste lands, excited a formidable rebellion, and advanced with 20,000 followers to Mousehold Heath, where ihej encamped ; but after much fighting, they were at length defeated by the Earl of Warwick, who commanded a numerous army. About 3000 of the rebels were killed, and the two brothers being taken prisoners, were hanged in chains, one on Norwich Castle and the other on the steeple of Wymondham Church. During the Civil War in the reign of Charles I., the city was held by the Parliamentary forces, who defaced the Cathedral, stripped it of all its ornaments and plate, burnt the pictures, damaged the episcopal palace, and turned Bishop Hall out of it. The citizens were among the first to hail the restoi'ation of monarchy in the person of Charles II., who was proclaimed hei'e on May 10th, 1G60, and the sum of 1000 was presented to his Majesty on behalf of the city by the Mayor. Norwich extended, increased, and flourished exceedingly during the eighteenth century. The population amounted to 40,000 persons, chiefly employed in manufactures. The merchants wei*e numerous, and traded in all parts of Europe. Mr. Arthur Young, in 1 770, estimated the value of the textile fabrics produced at 1,200,000 ! largo quantities behig exported to France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Russia, and other countries. The East India Company gave orders for goods to a largo extent, but that old trade is entirely at an end. For GOO years the city has been represented in Parliament by two members, whose election from time to time has occasioned many a contest which sometimes lasted for weeks, attended by an expenditure of hundreds of thousands of pounds, till at last Norwich became quite notorious for bribery, especially in the present century. More than twenty chartei-s had been granted to Norwich previous to that of Charles II., under Avhich the city was governed till the passing of the Municipal Reform Act. The government since then has been vested in a Mavor, sixteen Aldermen, and forty-one Councillors. The A DESCRIPTION OF NORWICH. ^ 241 Mayor and Sheriff are elected yearly by the Council ; the municipal boundaries are co-extensive with those for Parliamentary purposes ; and the city is divided into eight wards. The income of the Corporation, including the Board of Henlth, has been increased from 4,500 to 45,000 yearly, and the city is about 200,000 in debt ? The local taxation is 8s. Gd. in the pound, caused by the vast expenditure of the Board of Health for public improvements, such as drainage, widening streets, o])cning new streets, extension of the cattle market, &c. l^he old Paving Commissioners expended 300,000 in forty years, and left Norwich the worst-paved city in Europe. The new Board of Health has expended 500,000 in twenty years, and borrowed 160,000, most of the money being buried in sewers. The management of the poor is regulated under the new Poor Law Act, Avhich extends over forty-five incorporated parishes, including the hamlets of Heigham, Eaton, Lakenham, ^Phorpe, Catton, Trowse, Carrow, and liracondale. The gross rental of the city is estimated at 201,280, and the rateable value at 218,595. The Board of Guardians on their assessment raise about 30,000 yearly for the relief of the poor. The out-door relief far exceeds in amount that of the inmates of the new WorklK)use, about 000 in number. About 3000 persons are recipients of out-door relief weekly. The following retm-ns show the gradual increase of the population in Ihe present century: In 180], 30^,832; 1811, 37,250; 1821, 50,288; 1831, 01,110; 1811,02,201.; 1851, 08,713; 1801,74,414; 1871, 80,300. Ill 18:>1, the number of houses was 13,150; in 1835, it was 14,201; in 1811, 11,080; in 1801, 17,112; in 1871,21,000. Poor rates in 1832, 25,511, in 1838, 10,505; in 1803, 37,11 1; in 1800, 32,1 14, of which Sinn 1'500 was for the first time a])plied to the borough fund. Norwich is well su])])lied witli water from the new works, completed and ojKMied in Sept(>ml)er, 1851. Tlie source of supply is the river AVensum, about a mile abov(> the tr)wn in Heigham, on the north side. This is a clialk stream, very little polluted except by land drainage, and when fil- tei-ed tlK> water is of good quality. It is pumped into a subsiding resen'oir on th(> l)anks of tlie i-iv(>r, fi-om which it descends into filter beds, being llien forc(>d by (>ngin(^-powi>r u]) to an elevated store reservoir two and a-half miles distant on the other sid(^ of the city. The high water line of this reservoir is 120 fe(>t above th(> river, and fi-om this reservoir the whole city is sn])plied with water by gravitation. Th(> Company's Act incor- porated the \V'ater AVorks Clauses Act of 1817, which bound them by section )5 to give a constant su])ply of water, with the onh' limitation that the watcM* need not be constantly laid on under a pressure greater than the height of their new reservoirs would give. On the completion Q 242 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. of the works this condition was complied with, but difficulties soon arose. The first was from the bursting of the old mains, which were too weak to stand the increased pressure. At length new and stronger mains were laid throughout the whole city. The total expenditure on the works has been about 138,000, including 30,000 for the purchase of the old works, which were qnite useless to the Company. The total capital they are empowered to raise, including debenture stock, is fixed at 160,000. The dividend is limited to six per cent. The number of houses taking water from the Company is ll,oOO, estimated to contain 57,000 inhabitants, out of a total population of 81,000. It increases from year to year. The quantity of water supplied on the average of the year is about fourteen and a-half gallons per head per diem. Ilie increased supply of pure water has been very beneficial to the health of the inhabitants. A considerable trade in agricultural produce arises from the situation of the city in the centre of an extensive district, remarkable for its fertility and the greatly improved mode of its cultivation. There is much business done in cattle, corn, malt, artificial food for cattle, artificial manures, &c. A very extensive market is held every Saturday on the Castle Hill for horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. The market is well attended, and the transactions are on a great scale, more in amount per annum than all other trades put together. The great cattle markets of Eastern England are Norwich on Satur- days, and Bury on Wednesdays, and the former takes the first rank, as it should do in the capital of East Anglia. The market was extended a few years since by the Corporation at a cost of 52,000 ; and notwith- standing the competition of other places, there is reason to believe that a fair return will be secured on the capital expended. The market has greatly increased, and the Hill on Saturdays presents a busy, animated scene, being attended by graziers, farmers, and dealers from all parts of the country. On Saturdays there is a considerable mai-ket for corn, and it is well attended by merchants and farmers. It is the most important market in the eastern counties, and since the opening of railways has greatly increased. In 1868 the sales of barley amounted to 166,796 quarters, of wheat to 65,903 quarters. The Corn Exchange in Exchange Street is a large commodious building of great height, lighted from the roof, which is formed of iron and glass. On Saturdays it is open from 1 p.m. till 4 p.m., when the market is closed. Norwich, with its 80,000 inhabitants, is said to occupy more ground than any other town of equal population in the country. To build small houses side by side instead of high houses with storeys one above the other should be favourable to public health ; but the dirt and squalor in A DESCRIPTION OP NORWICH. 243 some parts of the old city neutralizes the structural advantage, while the great number of low mean houses imparts a poverty of aspect. A city, however, which contains a Castle, a Cathedral, forty Churches, and some remarkable buildings, cannot fail to be interesting. But the visitor feels bewildered when he plunges into its confusion of narrow crooked streets, now discovering half-a-dozen churches within hail of each other, now emerging into some open spaces called plains, as St. Paul's Plain, St. Andrew's Plain, Bank Plain, Theatre Plain, and so forth, where he pauses a few moments, after many ins and outs or ups and downs, and catches a few perspective effects along the narrow ways. Now he is among weavers and shoemakers ; now in a crowd of " factory mawthers," to whom suc- ceed dignitaries of the Church and gentlefolks from hall and manor-house for miles around, and groups of chubby-cheeked rustics talking in their queer dialect. The most cheerful part of the city is the spacious Market Place. The X)ld Guildhall, standing in one corner, still wears the aspect of the days when workmen could be pressed, and contrasts strangely with the new Fish Market built near it, covering valuable space that might be better occupied. We may fancy how the old Market Place looked in the days when pilgrims passed through on their way to Walsingham, when most of the houses were thatched and the spacious area was covered with gravel. Here fierce battles have been fought in ci'ude struggles for liberty. Here martyrs have been burnt alive, and with lasting results. Here Arthur Young, the agricultural reformer, was burnt in effigy. The Gentleman's Walk is on the east side ; why so named is more than we can tell, cer- tainly not because only gentlemen walk there, but possibly because the merchants there are gentlemanly in their deportment. In the centre there is a fine bronze statue of the Duke of Wellington, which would be far more appropriately placed on the south side of the Green, opposite the statue of Nelson, in the Close. The Market Place is a spacious area of irregular outline, much improved of late years by the erection of new warehouses and shops. But many gable-ended roofs, lingering above the wooden shop fronts and quaint projecting storeys, impart a picturesque aspect to the scene, which is very animated on market days. The market is entirely surrounded by well- stocked shops or inns and taverns, and is abundantly supplied with provisions of every kind. Meat, poultry, fruit, and vegetables are supplied in quantities unlimited, and in summer there is a great display of fruits, plants, and flowers. Formerly, some of the streets near the Market Place were named from the trades of those who occupied them. Thus there were Saddlers' Gate, now White Lion Street ; Wastelgate, now Red Lion Street ; Cor^wainers' 244 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. Row, now part of the Walk ; Goldsmiths* Row, north side of the Market ; Hosiers' Row, in jiart of Loudon Street; Cutler's Roav, in part of London Sti'cet ; Hatters' Row, now St. Giles' Street ; Dyers' Row, in St. Lawrence Strec't. Potterpfate Street is still so called. The Cloth Hall stood in the Hayniarkot ; and on the west side were the Butchery, the Fishniarket, and various rows whore articles of food were sold. THE RISHOPRIC. Nor^\^ch was raised into an episcopal see by Herbert de Losinga, who, ha%nng been made Bishop of Thetford, transferred the seat of the diocese to this city in 109 t, where, having purchased a large plot of ground near the Castle, he erected a Cathedral, an Episcopal Palace, and a Monastery for Benedictine Monks, the revenue of which at the dissolution was ilOoO 17s. Gd. The diocese comprises 897 benefices, and comprehends the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and eleven parishes in the. county of Cambridge ; but by the new ecclesiastical arrangements under the Act of William IV., cap. 77, the Deaneries of Lynn and Fincham, in Norfolk, the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, and the eleven parishes in Cambridgeshire, were transferred to the diocese of Ely. The ecclesiastical establishment consists of the Bishop, the Dean, four Archdeacons, six Prebendaries, six Minor Canons (one of whom is Pre- centor), an Epistoler, a Gospeller, eight Lay Clerks, ten Choristers, an Organist, and other officers. The Bishop is a suffragan of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and besides being entitled by his episcopal dignity, he sits in the House of l^eers as titular Abbot of St. Bennet at Holme, being the only abbot in England. He possesses the patronage of the Arch- deaconries, the Chancellorship, and forty-two benefices, A^nth the alter- native patronage of five others, and has an income of f 445G. The Dean and Clinpter consist of six canons residentiary (in the patronage of tiie Chancellor, with one exception), and have the patronage of six minor canonries and forty-two benefices, Avith an income of 5245. THE C'ATHi;ni!.\T,, Begun by Herbert de Losinga, first Bishop of Norwich, in 1096, is one of the finest specimens of Norman architecture existing in this country. The lower is quite unrivahed for its proportions and the beauty of its details. Tlie Transepts and west fronts have been restored, but not thereby improved in beauty. The chief entrance on the west is a vaulted portal of pointed architecture, above which is a well-proportioned window, recently iilled in with stained glass. The nave within is grand and imposing, divided ill kmgth by fourteen semi-circular arches, of great solidity and depth, su])ported by massive piers. The triforium is composed of similar arches. A DESciarTioN OF noewich:. 2-45 The side aisles are low, and the vaultings plain. The roof is elaborately decorated with sculptured bosses. Two of the arches of the south aisle of the nave are perpendicular, the vaulting being of the latest florid style, strangely out of harmony with the simplicity of the Norman style which prevails around. The nave and aisles are seventy-two feet in width and 204 feet in length. The choir, which is 183 feet in length, extends west- ward considerably beyond the tower, is of unusual length, and imposing in its effect. The transepts have been thrown open to the choir, much increas- ing the accommodation for sittings and improving the general effect. The chancel terminates with an apsis, in recesses of which formerly were the stalls of the Bishop and clergy. The decorating of both nave and choir is peculiarly beautiful ; the lantern of the tower, which rises in the semi- circular arches, suppported by four massive piers, is handsome, but dis- ffgured by painted medallions in the ceiling. A curious oriel for watching at Easter remains in the north wall of the chancel. There are only two tombs with statues ; one to Bishop GoldAvell, and the other to Bishop Ixithurst, by Chantry. Mural monuments are numerous. Bishop Herbert lies in the centre of the chancel. Bishop Stanley lies in the middle of the nave. Sir William Boleyn, great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth, is buried on the south side of the choir. The cloisters are situated in the south of the nave, and form one of the largest quadrangles in England, being 1 71 feet in length on each side. They were 133 years in progress of erection, ;ind are in excellent preservation. Elaborately-sculptured bosses ornament the vaulted roofs. Two lavatories are at the south-west corner. Several chapels yet remain, but only one is fitted up for use. The Bishop's Palace is a small building, of different dates, the cellars being the most ancient parts. Some ruins exist of an ancient refectory, now overgrown with ivy. The Balace garden is extensive, and contains some choice bits of anticpiity standing on the north side of the- Cathedral, consisting of the ivmains of the Great Hall. l>y a venerable gatehouse we enter the Cathedral Close. ()n our left is the Granmiar School ; on our right, rows of trees adorn a broad walk, and ovxM'shadow a statue of Nelson that stands looking towards the school Avhere he was educated, liefore us rises the western front of the Cathedral, and this disappoints any highly-wrought expectations. But as we saunter round the edifice, seeking the best ])oints of view, v\-e find one that gratifies us at the south-west corner of the cloisters, looking diagonally across the court towards the tower. Pausing here, we see that the opposite angle appears to form an arched basement, suj)porting rows of arcaded recesses and the lights of the transept and aislo, all black with age and smoke, and seeming thereby the more solid. As if borne up by all this, there comes 246' HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. above a portion of the clerestory, seeming clear and bright by contrast ; and brighter still a-nd brighter does the masonry become as it rises higher into the air, attracting our eye up the ornamented tower to the light pinnacles and tall crocketted spire. Seen when the shadows darken as the sun drops low, this is one of the views that will constrain us to linger until we can carry away the picture thereof in our memory. We have the authority of architects for stating that the original Norman plan of the Cathedral has been but little disturbed, which is somewhat remarkable, as its erection extended over a period of 133 years. Its peculiarities are striking, great length imparting an appearance of unusual narrowness, and the transepts answering by the boldness of their projection to the prolongation of the nave. Cockerell, the Royal Academician, speaks of the admirable vaulted ceiling of the Cathedral " as the most beautiful in its structure, order, tracery, and sculpture in England ;" and says that '' the ceiling and its sculptures were justly accounted a peculiar glory to the Cathedral Church." He adds, however, " that not only the beauty but the meaning of this remarkable series appears to have been equally veiled from modern eyes." This reproach has been removed by a work now published by Messrs. Sawyer and Bird, of Norwich, in which every bay of the roof of the nave is photographed, whilst the more important bosses are illustrated on a larger scale. The work also contains photographs of the principal architectural features of the edifice. The Very Rev. the Dean has written descriptions of the bosses to accompany the illustrations, which are in the highest style of photographic art. Norwich formerly contained nineteen monastic institutions, of which Kirkpatrick wrote a full account, first published in 1848 by the late Hudson Gurney, Esq., edited by Dawson Turner, Esq. The following were the principal buildings, of which some vestiges are still visible : The Priory and Church of St. Leonard at Thorpe-wood, near the city, in which Bishop Herbert placed several monks ; also an Hospital for Lepers en- dowed by him ; the Hospital of St. Paul, founded in 1121, by the prior and convent of Norwich ; a Nunnery dedicated to St. Mary and St. John, and endowed for sisters of the Benedictine Order by King Stephen, who in 1146 established a Convent at Carrow; St. Edward's Hospital, instituted in 1200 by Hildcbrand de Mercer, a citizen of Norwich; the Monastery of the Blackfriars, built by Sir Thomas Erpingham in the reign of Edward 11., of which the ancient Church is now much altered, and named St. Andrew's Hall ; the Monastery of the Grey Friars, erected in 1226 by John de Hastingford, the site of which is now occupied by Cook's Hospital, near Rose Lane ; the Monastery of White Friars, founded in 1256 by Philip Congate, merchant, which remained near White Friar's Bridge till the dissolution j the Convent of Augustine A DESCEIPTION OF NORWICH. 2 t7 Friars, near King Street, established in the reign of Edward I. by one of the bishops ; a Convent of Friars of the Order of " do pocnitentia Jesu," instituted in 1266, and which, after the suppression of that Order, was annexed to the Convent of Black Friars ; the' College of St. Mary-in-tho Field, originally a Chapel-in-the-Field, founded in 1250 by Sir John de Brun, or Broun, on the site of the present Assembly Rooms, and at the time of the dissolution consisting of a Dean, four prebendaries, and others, with a revenue of 86 16s. The last Dean obtained a grant of the College from Henry VIII,, and then sold the estate to the Duke of Norfolk, who also obtained possession of most of the other monasteries. Vestiges of several old hospitals have been traced in various parts of the city. There are many crypts underground in King Street and other streets. In King Street, to the south of St. Faith's Lane, were the Austin Friars, and to the north of St. Faith's Lane the Grey Friars. Both these monastic communities were said to have encroached on the adjacent streets, churchyards, &c., by extending their precincts. The Carmelites occupied the whole angle of the city between the river, the walls, and Bargate Street. But few traces of these establishments now remain. The case of the Black Friars is very different. Their magnificent Church (now St. Andrew's Hall) is almost entire. THE PARISHES AND CHURCHES. The parishes are forty-five in number, including the hamlets, and may bo divided into western, eastern, northern, and southern. They are all intersected by streets in every direction, most of the streets consisting of small houses, inhabited by poor people. The parishes crossed by the best streets are central, and several of these streets present good houses and shops, but these are few in number. Some of the parishes are very large, others very small; and three or four churches within hail of each other may bo seen in one street. Norwich contains more churches than any other city in England, except London. Most of them arc built of square Hints. Many of them are fine specimens of ancient architecture. Besides the Cathedral, there are two or three sjiecimens of the Norman style, and there are also some examples of the decorated or florid, of the transition style, and also of the perpendicular. This later English or perpendicular style, which ])rovailed during the fifteenth and sixteenth centui-ies, is the chief charac- teristic of the city churches. Therefore it is unnecessaji'y to describe them all. The churches of St. Peter Mancroft, St. Ciles', St. Andrew, St. George Colegate, St. Savioui', and several others, arc all iu the later English style. 21 8 HlSTOkY Oi' EASTERN ENGLAKD. The western district coinprises the parishes nnd churches of St. Veter at Mancroft, St. Giles', St. Gregory, St. John's Maddermarket, St. Benedict, St. Swithin, and St Lawrence. Nearly all the public buildings are situated in this part of the town: the Gu'ldhall, the Corn Hall in Exchange Street, the Post Office, the Museum, the Free Library, and the Literary Institution. The Post Office is a large building in Post Office Street, near the Market Place. There are two deliveries from London daily, and mails daily to all parts of the kingdom. The Church of St. Peter Mancroft is the largest in the city, and one of the finest in the kingdom. It is a cruciform building in the later pointed style, commenced upon the site of an older edifice in 14o0, and completed in 1455. It is 212 feet in length, 70 in breadth, and GO in height. Ilie west tower is covered with panelling of Hint and stone, is 1)8 feet in height, and contains a splendid peal of twelve bells; the tenor alone weighs two tons, and the entire weight of the peal is 9 tons I cwt. 24 lbs. The best view of the exterior may be obtained from the south side, which presents a view of the entire length of the edifice. The interior is remarkably light and elegant ; the intervals between the arches of the nave are ornamented with windows of exquisite design ; the windows are large, and filled with excellent tracery; the east Avindow is embel- lished with stained glass, and has a magnificent effect. The west window is remarkably fine, and the interior altogether is imposing. The clerestory displays on each side seventeen obtusely-arched windows, filled with rich ])erpendicular tracery. The windows of the aisles are large and light. The roof is supported by fourteen slender clustered columns and lofty arches. The vaulting shafts, which are brought down to the bottom of the clerestory windows, have niches under them. In the vestry are some ancient paintings of the saints. At the west end of the north aisle there is a painting of the Delivery of St. Peter from Prison. Sir Thomas' Browne, who lived in the parish, lies buried in the church, which contains numerous ancient monuments. St. Andrew's Church is next in importance, and was founded before the Conquest. The present structure Avas erected in 1500 ; it is in the later pointed style, and consists of a nave and two side aisles. Slender clustered columns and noble arches support the roof, and the whole is enlightened by large windows with characteristic tracery. The clerestory windows are light and obtuse arched. The tower is of great height, and contains ten bells. There are several monuments in the church, which has been recently restored and furnished with open benches. St, John's Maddermarket is one of the most ancient churches in the city, having been founded prior to the time of Edward the Confessor. The present edifice was erected at the end of the fifteenth century, and A DESCRIPTION OF NORWICH. 249 the east end luis been lately re-built. It has a battlemonted tower. The interior of the elmrch lias been recently restored and beautified^ at a cost of 1,200. St. Gregory's Church is an ancient building; its precise date is uneertain. The chancel was re-built in 1394. The structure consists ol' a nave, with two aisles, and ehapels at their east ends. The interior has a light effect, the arches being supported by slender pillars. The altar, which has a wide passage under it, is adorned with curiously-carved work on eaeh side. A line fresco painting of St. George and the Dragon was discovered at the north-west corner. The tower contains a peal of six bells. St. Giles' Church is another fine edifice of early foundation, and was re-built in the reign of Richard II. The chancel was demolished by Dean (jardiner in 1051, but has been reeently re-built, and the Chureh restored. The nave is eighty-one feet in length. The roof is supported by slender pillars ; the s(_)nth-west porcn is groined with fan-like work, the onh' instance of the kind in the eity. The fine s(piare tower is 120 feet high, and has a dome or eupola surrounded by a battlement. St. Lawrence Church stands upon the very spot which, before the retreat of the river, was the quay for landing lisli. There is positive evidence of this; for in 1018, Alfric, Bishop of East Anglia, having bestowed his " Hngh " in Norwich (the very ground on Avliieh the Church was aftei-wards built), on the Abbey of St. Edmundsbury, it paid a yearly ground-rent of a last of herrings to that monastery. The Church was founded in the time of the Confessor, but the present structure was not erected till 1400. It is a line regular building, with a noble tower 112 feet high, surmounted by a battlement and pinnacles. Tim eastern district comprises the parishes and churches of St. VcUiV ])er Mountergate, St. Etheldred, St. Julian, St. Peter Southgate, St. Helen, St. George Tombland, St. Peter Hungate, St. Michael-at-PIea, St. Martin-at-Palace. Ilie four first-named parishes are crossed by King Street, which is of great hMigth, and inhabited by very poor people, who live in yards and alleys, near two hirge breweries. The Church of St. IVter ])er Mountergate was originally founded by Roger Bigod, but the ]n-esent edifice was erected in 1100. It consists of a nave and chancel, with embattled west tower. In the chancel are twenty-four stalls, with singular carvings, which belonged to a college of secular priests, situated at the north-west corner of the churchyard. This eastern side of the city has been much improved by the formation of a new road called Prince of Wales's Road, from the Castle llill to the Foundry Bridge, near the Railway Station. Handsome houses have been built on each side of the new road, and broad pavements laid down. 250 HISTOKY or EASTERN ENGLANt). This is now the thoroughfare to and from the Railway Station at Thorpe. The Railway Station here occupies an area of about fifty acres ; the buildings are merely a series of sheds. The northern district extends from the north-west to the north east side of the river Wensum, comprising the parishes and churches of St. Michael- at-Coslany, St. Martin-at-Oak, St. Augustine's, St. Mary's, St. George's Golegate, St. Clement, St. Saviour, St. Paul, St. Edmund, and St. James. On this north side we enter the oldest part of the city, which seems to have been always chosen by the poorest portion of the population. All the parishes are crossed by streets and lanes in every direction, and most of the streets present very humble dwellings, many of them in narrow courts and alleys. The greatest improvement in this part of the city would be effected by the demolition of old houses in courts and alleys which are the haunts of disease. St. Michael-at-Coslany (commonly called St. Miles) is a spacious Church with a lofty square tower and eight musical bells. The nave was re-built by John and Stephen Stallon, who were Sheriffs in 1511 and 1512. The south aisle was begun by Gregory Clark, and was finished by his son. At the east end of the south aisle there is a Chapel founded by Robert Thorp in the reign of Henry VII., encrusted with black flints like inlaid work. The altar piece by Heins represents the Resurrection and the four Evangelists ; and the floor is paved with black and white marble, brought from the domestic chapel at Oxnead, in Norfolk. The southern district is extensive and populous, and includes the parishes and churches of St. Stephen's, St. John's Timberhill, St. John Sepulchre, St. Michael at Thorn, St. Mark's in Lakenham, and the Old Church in Lakenham. The principal streets are Rampant Horse Street, Theatre Street, St. Stephen's Street, Surrey Street, and Ber Street, one of the oldest in the city. The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital is at the top of St. Stephen's Street. The far-famed Norwich Union Fire and Life Insurance Office is in Surrey Street. Chapel Field, in this quarter, is an open space of eight acres, well planted with trees and enclosed by an iron palisade. The Drill Hall, for the use of the Volunteer Rifle Corps, stands in. the north- west corner of the field. It is a spacious building, often used for civil as well as military purposes. It is no ornament to the locality in an architectural point of view, having more the appearance of a large shed than anything else. St. Stephen's Church was founded before the Norman Conquest, but has been all re-built at different periods ; the chancel in 1520, and the nave in 1550. It is one of the most modern of the city churches, and is an edifice in the late perpendicular style of the sixteenth century, with a nave and clerestory, two side aisles, and a square tower. The windows A DESCEIPTION OF l^OEWICH. 2^1 are large and numerous; some of them are new. In 1859, the interior was thoroughly restored at a cost of 1500, and a new carved pulpit and reading desk were put up at the same time. Five new windows were lately inserted in each side of the Church, and one over the south door of the chancel. Nonconformists are numerous in the city, and have many chapels, several being of large size. Independents have the Old Meeting House in St. George's Colegate, Prince's Street Chapel, and the Chapel in the Field. Baptists have St. Mary's Chapel, St. Clement's Chapel, and several others. United Free Methodists have Calvert Street Chapel ; Wesleyans, St. Peter's Chapel and a new one in Ber Street. Primitive Methodists, Dereham Road Chapel. The Presbyterian Church is in Theatre Street. The Unitarians have the Octagon Chapel in St. George's Colegate. The Free Church is in the chancel of St. Andrew's Hall. The Apostolic Church is in Queen Street. The Tabernacle is in St. Martin's at Palace. The Roman Catholics have a Chapel in St. John's Maddermarket and another in Willow Lane. The Jews have a Synagogue in St. Faith's Lane. NOEWICH CASTLE. Alexander Neville, who published his book called " Norwicus," soon after the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, gives an account of an ancient British castle, built on a mound, partly the work of nature and partly of art. He says this stronghold was founded by Gurguntus, the twenty-fourth King of Britain after Brutus, and it was called Kaer Guntum, or the Castle of Guntus. However, the founder of it died before it was finished. But Guthelinus's successor completed the work which ho had begun, and fortified it with a wall, bank, and double ditches. Moreover, he made certain subterranean vaults to the castle, and changed its name to Kaer Guthelm, or the Castle of Guthelmen. This account appears to bo only ti'aditional, but a castle was certainly built in the Anglo-Saxon period, probably by tho first King of the East Angles. Sir Henry Spelman, in his " Icenia," wrote that if the city was called Northwic or Norwich from tho Castle, then tho Castle is very ancient, and perhaps older than the city where it is built. Though ho believed the present structure 1;o bo the work of tho Danes or Normans, lie adduces evidence that there was a more ancient Castle, for a charter proved that guai'd service was due to it about a.d. C77 by Tombert, Prince of tho Girvy. Mr. John Kirkpatrick, in his "Notes," says that tho Castlo of Nor\vich was also of ample extent before tho coming of the Normans, appears from hence, that in Domesday we read, " there wero eighty-one mansions empty in the occupation of tho Castle." Also " this Castle of Norwich seems then to have been noble, and as the metropolis O.V> HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. of the province of the Iceiii, to which that famous Prince of the Girvy (Tonibert), and so considerable a guard of the Isle of Ely, if not the whole, were to do service, and to have first of all belonged to the East Angle Kings, afterwards to the governors, called aldermen, dukes, or earls." After alluding to cases of castle guard service, the learned antiquary before quoted continues : " So that it seems all the land in the nation was either assigned to bear, or was upon occasion chargeable with, the castle guard of some castle or other in ancient timers. The Castle of Dover had a garrison of 1000 men, and other castles in England were defended in like manner as that of Norwich by the knights who held so many fees, on condition to ward a certain number of weeks, which services were at length generally turned to contributions in money. '^ Mr. John Kirkpatrick adduces ample evidence that this Castle of Norwich was often repaired by order of the Kings of England. There- fore, he infers that it was a Royal Castle, and that Camden is mistaken in supposing it to have been built by Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk. Camden, indeed, conjectured that Hugh Bigod was the founder from the lions cait in the stonework of the Castle, and he took those lions for arms, but the only lions to be seen were on each side of the entrance, and if designed for arms they may have been in allusion to the King's arms, which were two lions only in ancient times. The style of architecture has been a matter of dispute, as to whether it is Saxon, ]3anish, or Norman. Mr. Boid in his history and analysis of the principal styles of architecture, ventures to challenge any one to prove the existence of any building in this country exhibiting real Saxon skill, but the terms Saxon or Norman are only applied to certain periods. Mr. Wilkins, of Norwich, who has described both the ancient and modern states of the fortress in volume twelve of the "Archteologia," believed, how- ever, that the part which yet remains might have been constructed in the reign of Canute, but that it is, notwithstanding, in the style of architec- ture practised by the Saxons long before England became subject to the Danes, and is the best exterior specimen of the kind. Other and later writers, with much better evidence, believe the whole- keep to be Norman work of the time of William Rufus, for it is similar in style to Castle Rising, built in the reign of that King by Albini. The earthworks and stoneworks are very similar of both castles. The whole of the exterior of the keep of Norwich Castle has been re-faced, the original style being- preserved, but not the aspect of hoar anticjuity. ]\lr. Wilkins supposed that the Castle was surrounded by three ditches, which were crosed by three bridges, but no remains have been traced of the two outer ditches, and of course, if there was only one ditch to cross, the present bridge was the only one that ever existed. Mr. Harrod A DESCRIPTION OF NORWICH. 253 proved that ancient buildings always stood on the sites of the supposed outer ditches^ and that there was only one ditch and one bridge, which still exist. At the termination of this bridge, upon the upper ballium, are the remains of two circular towers, fourteen feet in diameter, which aix' supposed to have flanked the portal of the ballium wall. The county prison stands on the mound on the east side of the keep, and consists of a range of buildings erected between 1824 and 1828 at a cost of 15,000. It comprises a governor's house, and three radiating wings, and cells for 224 male prisoners. From the prison, there is a shaft descending to the bottom of the mound, whence there is a passage to the Crown Court, and prisoners are brought down the shaft for trial. High on a central mound the Castle stands overlooking all Ihe city. Blanchflower its admirei's delighted to call it in the Norman iron age. From the Castle Walk we survey the old city, and are at once struck by the depth of tlie basin in Avhich Norwich is built, and by the height of the hills which hem it in on the north and east, their green slopes and fringe of trees contrasting pleasantly with the crowded mass of toAvers, churches, tall chimneys, and houses. We take our position on the eastern side, and sui-vey the broad vale of the Yaro where the Romans came up in their galleys and landed on that side of the river, then a broad arm of the sea. We see where the first street (King Street) extends for a mile southward the whole length of the city, with tall chimneys of great breweries sending forth volumes of smoke, and the Churches of St. Fetor per Mountorgate, St. Etheldred, St. Julian, and St. Feter Southgate. Northward the same street extends to an open space called Tombland, once a, burial ground, beyond Avhich Wensum Street and Magdalen Street lead in a straight line to Catton. More eastward we se(> Mousehokl Heath, a wild ri'creation groifnd for the citizens, rising high from the valley , and the circle of vision includes the Hamlet of 'I'horpe, with its wooded heights, the Cathedral, and several churches. Walking i-ound to the west side we have before us the spacious Market Flace and the noble Church of St. J^eter Mancroft, with a mass of i)uildings. Here in the foreground the old Guildhall is a con- spicuous object. More to the north the princi})al objects in view are St. AndrcAv's Hall, the Church towers of St. Michael Coslany, St. Martin-at- Oak, St. Mary, St. Augustine, St. (leorge's Colegate, St. Clement, and others. THK SniKEHALL, On the Castk^^leadow, was erected from apian by William Wilkin, j']sq. It was commenced on Se])tember 9th, 1822, and opened September 27th, 1 800, and is ;i poor imitation of the Tudor style of architecture. It stands 254 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. on the north-east side of the Castle, and is a substantial brick edifice, af- fording all the usual accommodations : Crown Court, Nisi Prius Court, and rooms for witnesses and others. The County Assizes and Sessions are held in these Courts. The Grand Jury room is a large apart- ment, and the walls are adorned with fine portraits of the late Lord Lei- cester and Lord Wodehouse, painted by Sir T. Lawrence. There is also a portrait of the late Henry Dover, Esq., for many years Chairman of tho Quarter Sessions. ST. Andrew's hall Stands in the centre of the city. It was built by the famous Sir Thomas Erpingham, and is a fine old ecclesiastical structure, originally the Church of the Blackfriars monastery. At the reformation and suppression of religious houses, the city Corporation obtained the transfer of this hand- some edifice for the sum of 80 ! Since then it has been used as a public hall for all kinds of meetings, and for the celebrated Musical Festivals. The Hall is of perpendicular architecture, and has been recently restored and beautified. The roof is of open timber, and is supported by two rows of graceful pillars which divide the nave and aisles. The walls are adorned with many portraits of the city worthies, attired in their ancient civic robes. Portraits by famous painters Lawrence, Gainsborough, Opie hang all around ; and among them the place of honour is assigned to that of Nelson by Sir William Beechey. Whatever be tho merits of the other paintings, this is the one most admired by the natives of Norfolk. What to them arc civic functionaries and kings and queens, by the side of such a hero ? In all her roll of worthies, Nelson's is the name which Norfolk most delights to honour, THE GUILDHALL, An ancient specimen of flint work, stands in the north-west comer of the spacious Market-place. The Council Chamber is a handsome room fitted up with furniture of the period of Henry VIII. A glass case encloses a naval trophy in honour of Lord Nelson, being the sword of tho Spanish Admiral, Xavier Winthuysen, presented by the Norfolk hero to the Cor- poration. The original letter accompanying the sword is enclosed in the case. The City Assizes and Sessions are held in the Court below. The magistrates hold Petty Sessions daily in their room. THE NORWICH PUBLIC LIBRARY Was founded in 1 784, and is now located in a spacious room, built for the purpose in 1837, at the end of an avenue opposite the Guildhall. The A DESCRIPTION OF NORWICH. 255 library contains about 30,000 volumes. The yearly subscription is twentj- one shillings paid by shareholders, and twenty-six shillings paid by others. THE NORFOLK AND NORWICH MUSEUM Is located in a building erected in 1839 in Broad Street, St. Andrew's. It has been much enlarged, and the institution is in a veiy flourishing con- dition, containing numerous specimens in geology, zoology, and ornitho- logy. A large new room in the adjoining building is filled with specimens of British birds, contributed by J. H. Gurney, Esq., whose portrait adorns the room. THE NORFOLK AND NORWICH LITERARY INSTITUTION Is located in the upper part of the same building as the Museum. In 1 822 it was established, and the rooms contain more than 20,000 volumes in the various departments of literature. The annual subscription oi" shareholders is a guinea-and-a-half, and of others two guineas. THE FREE LIBRARY Is a largo building at the corner of St. Andrew's Broad Street, erected in 1856 and opened in 1857, under the Free Libraries and Museum Act, by the Corporation, at a cost of 10,000. It includes rooms for the Free Library, the Literary Institution, and the School of Art. The Free Library in the lower room contains about 4000 volumes, and the old collection called the City Library. THE THEATRE ROYAL, A small building tastefully fitted up, was opened in 182G, under the direction of the Norwich Company, and it was well patronised for a long time ; but of late years it has been almost forsaken by the gentry. Near it is an extensive and elegant suite of Assembly Booms, wherein balls and concerts were formerly given, but for some time the rooms have been occupied by the fraternity of Free Masons. A new Assembly Boom has been built in the same locality. BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS Are numerous in Norwich. St. Giles' Hospital, commonly called the Old Man's Hospital, was established in 12-19 for aged persons. The ancient Church of St. Helen was appropriated to its use, and new ranges of build- ings have been added. Doughty's Hospital in Calvert^ Street was founded in 1087 by i\Ir. William Doughty, who bequeathed 0000 for its erection and endowment. Great additions have been lately made to this Hospital. 256 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Thomas and T?obovt Cook founded tlieir Hospital prior to 1 701 and endowed it for ton women. The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, in St. Stephen's, a large bnilding- of red brick, was erected in 1 771 at a cost of 13,323 8s. lid. It has been ninch enlarged of late years, and is the noblest institntion in the comity. Bethel Hospital in Bethel Street was bnilt in 1713 hj Mrs. .Mary Chapman, and is snpported by donations and subscriptions. The Institution for the Relief of the Indigent Blind, in Magdalen Street, was originated by Thomas Tawell, Esq., one of its chief benefactors. It is snpported by donations and subscriptions, and it comprises a school for blind children, who are tanght to read and sing and make various articles. Th(>re have been many charitable bequests of benevolent persons for distribution amongst the indigent poor. Among later charities may be mentioned the Stanley Institution in St. Paul's for Poor Females, the Jenny Lind Infirmary for Sick Children, and many others. There are many ])nrochia,l charities, having benefiictions belonging exclusively to the respective parishes. SCHOOLS. The Free Grammar School, originally built by l^ishop Salmon, was established by Edward VI., under whose charter it is suppoi-ted out of the revenues of St. Giles' or the Great Hospital in Bishopgate Street. Many eminent men were educated at the Grammar School in the Close, including Nelson, the Noi^folk hero, whose statue stands opposite the school. I^'he Commercial School, close to St. Andrew's Hall, was built some years since ;is a middle-class institution. The National Central School and nine other National Schools of the Church of England afF(n-d instruction to some thousands of boys and girls. There are several British Scliools and others' connected with the Chapels of Nonconformists. TIere are Church of I'higland jNIodel Schools for boys and girls in Princes' Street, attended l)y GOO children. About 10,000 children are very imperfectly instructed in the Day and Sunday Schools. Under the Elementary Education Act a School l^oard has been elected and some expense incurred, but as yet nothing has been done hei-e to extend or improve elementary instruction. New schools arc not so much wanted as the improvement of those already existing by the appointment of more efficient masters. TTTE CITY SUBURBS. I'he environs of Norwich are pleasantly situated, and the new roads and streets of new houses have been greatly extended, foi'ining a new city, con- tnining nl)out hnlf the population. Most of the city gentry and traders have residences in the hamlets, in which are some first-class houses and villas, surrounded by gardens. The working people, forming three-fourths of the A DESCETPTTON OP NORWICH. 257 population^ uot being able to find houses in the old city, are obliged to live in the suburbs, occupying tenements, small, indeed, but healthy far more so than the pent-up rookeries of the lanes, courts, and alleys within the old walls. The Hamlet of Heigham is of great extent on the western side of the city, and includes three parishes, St. Bartholomew (the original parish), also St. IMiilip, and Holy Trinity. Here are many new roads and streets three Churches, three Chapels, and a population of 1G,000. Here are the City Jail, the new Waterworks, the new Workhouse, and the new Cemetery, wherein 20,000 bodies already lie buried. This burial ground includes twenty-four acres of land, well planted with trees and shrubs. Here are many beautiful monuments erected as memorials of the dead. The Cemetery being of recent formation, much that will be beautiful here is yet only in the course of growth. The yews, the willows, the evergreens, the azaleas, the rhododendrons, the magnolias, and other vigorous exotics have not yet appeared. Still the Cemetery delights the eye and soothes the heart with masses of exquisite blossoms, whose perfumes shed a world of sweetness over the quiet sleepers under the green sward. Here the rich and the poor are laid together, at least not far apart. A scene like this reminds us that " the days of num are as a shadow that passeth away." Earlham Road may be called the "west end" of the city, many new roads and streets branching from it right and left. About 1200 families reside in comfortable houses in new streets on the right. We see long lines of rund villas, with pleasant gardens, on the left. Walking onwards, we pass the new Cemetery, and soon arrive at Earlham Park, where in the old mansion not long ago resided the philanthropist, J. J. Gurncy, Esq., where ho had often large meetings of the Friends around him, where he often entertained the rich and never forgot the poor, and where he wrote some of his best religious works. We pass a long plantation, through an arborial avenue, aud dcscendiug the hill reach the small ivy-mantled Church, standing in enclosed grounds, AVluMi! the I'lulc turci'atheis of llie liuiulct sicop. Unthank's Koad, more south, extends for a mile from the city to Eaton, tlii'ough a rural locality, wherein many handsome liouses have been built of late years. On the cast side there are long Jines of new streets in a pleasant part of the hamlet. Newmarket Road has been underdrained and planted with trees on the east side, adding greatly to the sylvan appearance of this picturesque approach to the city. Many large handsome houses have been built on each side of the road, and they are much admired for their handsome proportions. All these villas are adorned by beautiful g-ardens, which 258 niBTOEY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. make very agreeable residences, especially in the summer months. Mr. Daws, of Dereham Road, was the builder, and he deserves much credit for the greatly improved style of these and other rural residences in the suburbs of the city. Ipswich Road, more eastward, is a beautiful drive from the city, for twenty miles through long avenues of trees. There are many rural residences surrounded by gardens on each side of the road. The Hamlet of Eaton lies two miles south of the city, in the vale of the Taas. The manor is about 1300 acres, and belongs to the Dean and Chapter, but the soil is let to a number of lessees. The Church (St. Andrew), is an ancient edifice covered with thatch, and having an emljattled tower with three bells. It was originally a Norman structure, bit it appears to have been re-built in the Early English period ; and to have been much altered in the loth century. The village contains several long rows of small houses, inhabited by working people. The Hamlet of Lakenham is of great extent on the south-east side of the city, and includes the Peafield, in which are many long lines of houses, inhabited by poor working people. St. Mark's Church is a small elegant structure, consisting of a nave and square tower, with turrets, pinnacles, and three bells. It was finished at a cost of 1000, and contains 900 sittings, most of which are free. The old Church stands on an acclivity above the river, and is a small structure with a tower and three bells. The benefice is a vicarage, united to Trowse Newton, and with it valued at 361, ill the patronage of the Dean and Chapter. Bracondale, Carrow, and Trowse form one hamlet on the east side of the city, containing some well-built houses, the residences of the gentry. Miss Martineau is the owner of the greater part of the land here, and resides at Bracondale Lodge, a handsome mansion with well-laid-out plefisure grounds. The late P. M. Martineau collected here many remnants of Gothic architecture in 1804, and used them in the erection of a lofty arch, and an edifice representing a small priory, with windows filled with stained glass. A Nunnery formerly existed at Carrow Abbey, dedicated to St. Mary and St. John. It was founded in the year 1140 by two ladies, named Leftelina and Seyna. It was richly endowed by King Stephen, and consisted of a prioress and nine Benedictine nuns, which number was increased to twelve. The site within the walls contained about ten acres of land, and the revenues were great. At the dissolution, the Abbey and lauds became private property. J. H. Tillett, Esq., ia the present occupier of the Abbey. The Hamlet of Thorpe lies on the south-east side of the city, and con- tains the Rosary burial ground and many handsome villas. This hamlet A DESCEIPTION Ot NORWICH. 259 is considered the Richmond of Norfolkj and seems to have been chosen by the city gentry for their places of residence. Many new roads have been laid out, and new villas built, surrounded by gardens. The pictu- resque road to the old gardens is a favourite walk of the citizens. Thorpe Lodge was the rural residence of the late John Harvey, Esq., " a fine old English gentleman," who was a great promoter of aquatic sports. The Old Hall, the name by which the manor house is now known, stands at the entrance of the village, where a new Church was lately built close to the old one. Mousehold Heath is a hill not yet all enclosed, near Thorpe. Part of it is yet covered with furze in a state of nature, and it is associated with historical events. On this height the rebel Ketts encamped their rude army in tents of turf and boughs ; here grew the Oak of Reformation under which the Tanner held his Court, and multitudes listened to the sennous of preachers who were encouraged to visit the camp. Down this steep slope the sturdy rustics rushed to light for the waste lands which they i*e- garded as their own. Here they defeated Lord Northampton and his Italian mercenaries, but they in turn were beaten by the Earl of Warwick, and in a terrible rout 3000 of them were slain. Mousehold House, on the side of the heath next Thorpe, was the residence of General Harvey during the latter part of his life. He was familiarly called ^ir Robert Harvey before his last promotion, and he was highly respected as a citizen. He was the sou of John Hai-vey, Esq., and he entered tJie army early in life, and soon distinguished himself in active service. 8ir Robert Harvey served as Assistant-Quartermaster- General of the British and of the Portuguese armies in Portugal, Spain, and Franco from 1809 to the close of the war in 181 1, and was present at the battles of the passage of the Douro and Busaco, second siege of Badajoz, siege and storm of Cindad Rodrigo and Badajoz, battle of Salamanca, siege of Burgos, battles of Vittoria, Pyrenees (slightly wounded), Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, and Toulouse, besides numerous minor ailairs. From 1809 to 1811, he was employed in procuring intelligence of the enemy in advance of the army, in organising nine Portuguese guerilla corps, the officers of which presented him with an elegant sword in testimony of his services with them, and in resisting the attempt of the enemy's passage of the Tagus at Chamusca. From 1811 to 1814 he was the organ of communication between the Duke of Wellington and the Portuguese troops. Sir Robert received the gold medal for the battlo of Orthes, and the silver war medal with nine clasps. Sir Robert John Harvey, C.B,, Ensign, October 8tli, 1803; Lieutenant, March 24th, 1804; Captain, Januaiy 2nd, 1800 ; Major, July 25th, 1811; Lieutenant- Colonel, June 21st, 1813 ; Colonel, Jttly 22nd, 1830; Major-Geueral, November 260 HISTORY OP EAfSTERN ENGLAND. 23rd, 1841; Lieutenant-General, November 11th, 1851; General, July 17tli, 1859; Colonel 2ud West India Regiment of Foot, June 15tli, 1818. The late General was President of tlie Norwich Union Fire and Life Insurance Offices ; also a County and City Magistrate. He died June 18th, 18G0. Among eminent citizens may be mentioned William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich in the fourteenth century, and founder of Trinity Hall, Cam- bridge ; Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury ; Dr. John Kaye, or Caius, founder of Caius College ; Robert Green, a popular writer in the reign of Elizabeth ; Dr. John Cosin, Bishop of Durham in the reign of Charles 11. ; the learned Dr. Samuel Clarke, the son of an Alderman of Norwich; Edward King, F.R.S. and F.S.A., an erudite antiquary; the Rev. William Beloe, translator of " Herodotus ; " and Sir James Edward Smith, M.D., founder and first President of the Linna3an Society, and author of the " Flora Britannica.'' He resided at a house in Surrey Street during the latter part of his life. Among the distinguished residents in the city were Sir Thomas Erpingluim, Chauiberlain to Henry IV., who built the beautiful gate facing the western end of the Cathedral, which is still called Erpingham Gate, and who had a house in the neighbourhood ; Sir John Fastolf, a renowned warrior avIio signalised himself in the wars Avitli France in the reigns of Henry IV., V ., and VI., and who had a house opposite the Erpingham Gate ; Sir Thomas Brown, author of many works, who lived in a house on the site of the present Savings' J3ank in the Market Place. The Dukes of Norfolk occasionally resided at the palace formerly standing on the sites of the present Museum and Free Library, and the ground occupied by the Palace extended down to the river Wensum. Norwich can boast of some excellent artists avIio had eyes to discern the beauties of their county. No one could survey the old gray ruins of Castles and Moiuistcries, the ivy-mantled Churches of the olden time, the leafy nooks, and woodland slopes, and pastures and corn fields tJiat seemed to wave beneath the summer breeze, with an impression that Norfolk was a tame county. And the flat marshy levels of East Norfolk have been found rich in another kinil of beauty : reedy lakes in a broad bluish green expanse tluit look boundless as the ocean ; and strange elfects of cloud and mist ; and windmills and cattle in wet pastures ; and here and there the wonderful charm and glow of sunset only to be seen in the flat lands. John Crome, son of a journeyman weaver, was born here in a poor public-house in 1 769. He commenced his Avorking life as errand boy to Dr. Rigby, but with small success, and while still in his boyhood, he apprenticed himself to a house and sign painter. He shared a garret A DESCRIPTION OP NORWICH. 261 lodging with a printer's apprentice, and the two began to draw and paint in their spare hours. Ho was so pinched in circumstances after lie married, that he painted sugar ornaments for confectioners, and had ut times to ch'p the material of his brushes froni the cat's tail, and to use ji~i (?anvas pieces of his mother's bed tick or his own apron. But his courage never failed; he applied himself to etchings and water colours as well as to oil painting, and exhibited great originality in his local land- scapes, for which he got little, but they are now worth their weight in gold. The walls and gates which formerly environed the old city are nearly all demolished. Seven of the twelve city gates were taken down in 1702, and the other five were all removed befoi^e 1809, but some pieces of the wall still remain to show its ancient form and strength. The ditches have boon filled up, and the houses built upon them are considered to be within the ambit of the city, though on the outside of the walls. The Dungeon Tower, on the west bank of the Wensum, at the eastern side of the city, is a circular building, about fifty-two feet in height and twenty- fonr foot in diameter, with the remains of a spiral staircase reaching to the top. It was re-built in 1G90, at the expense of the city. The Governor's Tower, on the height in the parish of St. Peter per Southgate, is the finest and largest of the towers. It is faced with flint, and occu- pies a commanding situation. The Boom Towers, near Carrow Bridge, stnnd on opposite sides of the river, and between them the boom or chain was formerly hung tf) prevent the entrance of hostile vessels. These boom towers are round and built of flint, and form picturesque ruins. Mr. n. Ninham has lately pi>l:)lishod etchings of the gates from Kirkpatrick's ^ketches of the gates in their original state. CITY IMPROVEMENTS, ScC. Improvements in the city have been extensive during the last fifty years; bur there are many narrow crooked streets and houses, with projecting gables, and quaint, half-timl)ered fronts. iMany new streets and handsome rows of houses have been built beyond the city walls. The approaches to 1 lie Market Place have been improved by the widening of old, or the construction of new, streets. Among other improvements may be men- tioned the formation of the Prince of Wales' Road, from the Castle Hill to Thorpe Railway Station. The east side of the Castle Hill has been lowered so as to allow easier gradients to the new road. On the same side of the Hill a new range of houses has been built, including the extensive works of Messrs. Holmes and Sons, agricultural machine makers, "^riie area of the Cattle Market has been so much enlarged that it is now the largest iii England. In the Market Place, the large drapoy ware- 262 HISTOBY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. house of Messrs. Cliamberlin is a splendid specimen of the Palladian style of architecture. The new warehouse of Messrs. Barnard^ Bishop, and Barnards is a fine specimen of the Italian style, with ornamental iron work. Messrs. Gurney and Co. have made extensive additions to the Bank, the public room being nearly doubled in size, with new offices on the west side. The whole building is heated by a new apparatus similar to that of some London banks. The whole of the new work was carried out under the superintendence of Mr. Boardman, architect. Queen Street. The National Provincial Bank, in London Street, is a new buildnig, with a handsome front. Messrs. Fletcher and Son have recently erected extensive printing offices, in a handsome wliite brick building, at the top of Davey Place. The basement forms a square of fifty-seven feet by sixty-seven feet, with six storeys above, comprising machine rooms, com- posing rooms, and binding rooms. Two of the floors are fireproof, formed with iron girders and brick arches. Mr. Boardman was the architect, and deserves much credit for the design, which is very superior to any other in this city. THE '^EASTERN DAILY PRESS." An important feature was introduced into the city in October, 1870, when the proprietors of the NorfoJh Nens, the most extensively-circulated of the county papers, started a daily journal, called the Daily Press. This constitutes the first effort in this direction ever made in the Eastern Counties, and as we write (1872), its increasing circulation and the general approval of the public, many of whom feel the great convenience of having a daily local organ, giving the latest news on their breakfast tables some hours in advance of the metropolitan journals, may be accepted as an augury of success. To this may be added that the advantage of prompt announcements, in a commercial centre like Norwich, of sales and other events past and to come, is one of no ordinary mo- ment, and is deeply appreciated by all men of business. NORWICH MANUFACTURES AND TRADES. The production of textile fabrics has been, till lately, the great source of the wealth of the city, and by employing an immense capital, exciting industry and remunerating skilled labor, its commercial importance has been raised and its population doubled in the present century. Norwich formerly made a very distinguished figure in the weaving trade. That the art of making cloth from wool was exercised here from a very early period may be inferred from thQ simple mode of spinning from a distaff being continued here long after it was disused in other manufacturing districts, A DE8CEIPTI0N OF NORWICH. 263 From tlio days of tlie great Flemish immigration, St. Blaise has immbered many followers in Norwich. Fugitive weavers first settling at Worstead, a village near the north-eastern marshes, originated the name of a familiar article which soon figured largely in our exports. Blome- field, the Norfolk historian, tells us that in the reign of Henry VIII. the yearly sale of Norwich stuffs alone amounted to 200,000, and of stock- ings to 00,000! In 1770, Arthur Young estimated the amount at 1,200,000. But that old trade to the Continent and India is nearly all gone, and a new home trade has arisen in mixed textile fabrics. At the commencoment of the present century the chief textile fabrics produced here were bombazines, camlets, crapes, and mixed fabrics. Pai'amattas were next introduced, and in the course of time superseded bombazines for mourning. Poplins then came into fiishion, and the demand for this kind of goods increased every year. Poplins were followed by a long succession of mixed fabrics, bareges, balzarines, gauzes, nets, mousseline do laines, llamas, thibets, merinoes, lunettas, organdies, stuff^s, cloths, velvets. The manufacture of shawls was also carried on extensively, and for a long time Nonvich shawls were the fashion all over England. About the year 1820, Messrs. Grout and Co. built their silk mills, in which some hundreds of persons, male and female, are employed. The silk, afler being properly pi'epared, is distributed to female weavers to be made into crape, which is in great demand. Any visitor on his way hither in the evening may pass through throngs of noisy girls, " factory mawthers,'* as they are called in Norwich, whose appearance is very different from that of ^their class in Lancashire. Here it is more rustic and various, as if some hundreds of rude, blowzy, and ill-dressed servant girls had been brought together from the country to learn to spin. Sir Samuel Bignold was the chief jd remoter of a company for the purpose of building factories for the production of textile fabrics, in order to employ the operatives of the city. In 1 833 a company was organised, a capital of 40,000 was raised, and ultimately two large factories were built, one in St. Edmund's and the other in St. James'. The former became a mill for spinning yarn, and is now in the possession of Mr. Parke. In St. James' factory the manufacturers occupy long rooms, either for spinning yarns or weaving fabrics. The machinery is driven by two couplcnl engines of a hundred horse-power. Both factories have been lately in full work. The principal textile fabrics made in the city formerly were worstead stuffs, camlets, bombazines, plaids, balzarines, and mixed fabrics, in which silk, wool, and mohair were interwoven. Many articles formerly made here entirely of worstead are not produced now, and new ones are introduced yearly to suit the changes of fashion and the public taste. 264 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. The fabrics now made are chiefly paramattas, poplins, tamataves, Cash- meres, bareges, challis, winseys, Knseys, grenadines, and other mixed fabrics produced by skilled operatives, who earn very low wages. In traversing portions of old Norwich, we seem to pass through a city of departed greatness. The old mansions of the manufacturers know thera no more, and wealth has flowed into new channels. Nevertheless, Norwich manufactures still possess much importance, and if they have lost ground in some directions, they have advanced in others. Norwich still produces the choicest crapes, the richest poplins and fancy goods. In the west end of London the shawls of Norwich still captivate the World of Fashion, and to purchase some of them requires a long purse. There has been a great revival of the trade in this year 1872, and we hope it will long continue. THE WHOLESALE BOOT AND SHOE TRADE Has arisen within the last thirty years in this city and increased to a wonderful extent. Many large old houses have been turned into ware- houses for the trade. There are thirty manufacturers who employ fifteen thousand people, one-third men, one-third "women, and one-third children. The introduction of sewing machines has greatly increased the manufacture. Thousands of pairs of boots are produced daily by machines driven by steam-power. Uppers and soles are cut out by machines, and when fitted, uppers are attached to a pair of soles in one minute ; sixty pairs are finished off in one hour, or GOO pairs in one day by one pair of hands and a machine. The most improved machines are used, and some new inven- tions are applied by which the work is done more perfectly than it can he by hand. Steam power has been applied to all the machines. The result has been not to diminish but to increase the number of hands ; but the wages are very low. The trade attracts poor people from the country, and its tendency is to increase their number in the city. CAREOW WORKS, Situated on the south bank of the river, ai'e the most extensive in the city, or indeed in the Eastern Counties, for the production of mustard, starch, blue, paper, and flour. Messrs. J . J. Colman and Co. employ about ] 200 men and boys in various departments, and the engines that drive the machinery are above 1000 horse power. The works cover five acres of ground, and are traversed by railways in every direction. There are separate mills for the manufacture of mustard, starch, blue, paper, and flour, with hands skilled in each kind of work, and a manager in each department. Water is supplied from an Artesian well, 1000 feet in depth, all over the works. Immense quantities of goods are produced. A DESCRIPTION OP NORWICH. 265 and about 100 tons weekly arc sent away by railway to all parts of the country. By the use of machinery of the most improved construction, and by selecting seed of the finest quality, the firm produces mustard un- rivalled for purity and flavour. This mustard obtained the only prize medals awarded for the article at the London Exhibition in 1 802, and Dublin 1805, and the only silver medal at Paris in 1808. The same firm also obtained medals for starch at the London Exhibitions in 1851 and 1802; Dublin, 1805; York, 1800; and Paris, 1808. VINECAR WORKS. Messrs. Hills and Underwood have extensive works at the bottom of the Prince of Wales' Road for the production of vinegar, which is allowed to bo of the finest quality, and is sent wholesale all over the country. The two floors of tho granary arc each fifty feet square, and always contain several thousand quarters of malt from which tho vinegar is bi*ewed. The premises have been lately much extended, and new buildings for offices and receiving rooms have been erected on the north side of the road. There is a handsome entrance to the new offices and warehouse, with an iron palisading in front. Mr. Bunn, Pottergate Street, was the architect. BREWERIES. There are several large breweries in Norwich, which together produce 500,000 barrels of beer yearly. The largest is that of Steward and Patteson in Pockthorpe ; the next that of Messrs. Bullard and Sons in St. Miles'. Lately the firm greatly^ extended the pi'omises by taking in nearly all one side of Upper Westwick Street, which they widened, making a great improvement. The Okl Brewery in King Street passed into the hands of Messrs. J. B. and H. Morgan in 1815. Since then the}' have greatly enlarged their premises and increased their business. Alessrs. Youngs, Crawshay, and Co., have also extended their brewery in the same street. MACHINISTS. Norwich has become noted for metal manufactures, especially in iron .nnd the production of steam engines ; also of machines and implements for agricultural and horticultural purposes. By the use of these imple- ments, the ])roduce of the land has been much increased. Tho chief manufacturers are Mr. Smithdale, King Street, of engines ; Messrs. Ilolmes and Sons, Castle Hill, and Alessrs. Riches and Watts, Duke Street, of agricultural implements ; Messrs. Barnard, Bishop, and Bainiards, and Messrs. W. S. Boulton and Co., of horlicnltural implements, iron chairs, tables, conservatories, &c. 266 EJSTOKY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. Mr. Thomas Smitlidale has a very large establishment at St. Anne's Staithe, near King Street, on the site of an ancient monastery, remains of which still exist near the river. In his large foundry castings are made np to ten tons, and the workshops contain heavy machinery. Mr. Smithdale builds engines from three-horse to a hundred-horse power, and also constructs hydraulic presses, cranes, crabs, mill Avorks, planing, shaping, and drilling machines, with boilers of all sizes. Messrs. Holmes and Sons, engineers, ^^c, greatly extended their premises in 1862 on the east side of the Castle Hill. They built a large show room opposite the Castle, and there they exhibit engines and machines of every description. They have by their energy and in- defatigable perseverance placed themselves in a position of enviable prosperity, and gained many prizes at agricultural exhibitions for their machines and collections of implements. They have received about a hundred awards for superiority in their steam engines, thrashing ma- chines, seed shellers, corn, seed, and manure drills, distributors, and saw benches. Messrs. Barnard, Bishop, andBarnards (Norfolk Iron Works, St. Miles') are engineers and galvanizers, manufacturers of machine-made galvan- ized wire netting for game, poultry, sheep, and aviaries, lawn mowers, strained wire fencing, &c., wholesale and for exportation. These extensive works cover an area of one acre. Entering by Coslany Street, the new counting-house is joined on the right by a fine suite of offices, and on the left by the smith's shop, which is backed by fire-proof workshops seventy-five feet in length and five stories in height. The large foundry is at the east end of the works. About 400 men and boys are employed here. Messsrs. Barnard, Bishop, and Barnards are manufacturers of wrought iron park gates, park and garden chairs and stools, iron bed- steads, patent self-rolling mangles, patent turnip and root-pulping machines, patent root graters and turnip cutters, and a variety of other machines, cooking ranges, &c. The ranges are an improvement on those known as kitcheners, and possess the advantages of baking bread and pastry in the bottom shelf of the oven, which cannot bo done by any other kind. Messrs. Barnard, Bishop, and Barnards have built new pre- mises in the Market Place which are quite an ornament to the city. The new building comprises four storeys above the basement. The elevation presents a red brick rusticated front, surmounted with red brick cornices. All the numerous windows have moulded brick architraves. Those on the second floor have ornamental iron balconets, while running before those on the first floor is a handsome ornamental iron balcony, supported by moulded stone corbels. At each end of the shop front are massive red granite pilasters. The front is supported by iron columns, and has a k DESCRIPTION OP NORWICH. 267 handsome wrought iron cornice. The premises are very commodious, and inchide extensive show-rooms. The works of W. S. Boulton and Co., in Rose Lane, have been lon^ established and lately greatly extended to afford facilities for an in- creasing business. In addition to the manufacture of wire, game, and other netting, of which largo quantities are produced, we may mention lawn mowers, garden implements of every sort, garden chairs, croquet awnings ; all kinds of iron and wire fencing, gates, hot air and hot water apparatus, &c. This firm has introduced manufactures hardly known before in Norfolk ; including the construction of conservatories, green- houses, forcing pits, plant preservers, ground vineries, melon frames, &c. Two new workshops have been lately erected specially for this branch of the business, the following being the dimensions : One 110 feet in length, thirty feet in width, with three floors. This is filled with improved wood- working machinery, such as saw benches, planing, moulding, morticing, and shaping machines, &c. The second workshop, used for the construc- tion of horticultural buildings, is 120 feet in length, and forty-one feet in width, with four floors. The foundry and galvanizing trades are carried on here in all their branches. In 1869 this firm gained six prizes for hor- ticultural appliances at the Great International Exhibition at Hamburg, and also at Altona, in Sleswick Holstein. WHOLESALE TRADE. Norwich merchants carry on an extensive wholesale trade in corn, flour, malt, hops, wool, coals, iron, timber, upholstery, provisions, and in all sorts of grocery and drapery goods. The merchants here supply retailors as adv.'intageously as any London house. The quantity of goods brought into the city by river, roads, and railways, exceeds 300,000 tons, which goods are of course sold and distributed all over the Eastern Counties. Inhere are several wine and spirit merchants in th(^ city, who are large importers : Messrs. Bolingbroko and Woodrow, of the Wine Company, St. Giles' Street ; Messrs. Barwell and Sons, St. Stephen's Street ; Messrs. Norgate and Son, St. Stephen's Street ; Mr. IMorley and Mr. J. Chamberlin, l^ost Office Street, all of whom hold large stocks of wines and spirits. The railways have afforded facilities for the carrying trade of the city. The goods traffic from all places to Norwich for the year ending July, 1867, was 22,661 tons at Victoria Station, 30,000 tons at Thorpe Station, and 17,616 tons at Trowse ; total 70,277 tons. The coal traffic in addition from all pnvts to Norwich was 25,349 tons at Victoria Station, 1 7,000 tons at Thorpe, and 16,706 tons at Trowse; total, 59,055 tons. The goods sent away from all three railway stations at Noi-wich amounted to 268 HISTORY OP EASTEKN ENGLAND. 80,908 tons. In the s.une year the traffic at Trowso included, inward, 57,058 cattle, 70,1 5-1' sheep, and 0855 pigs; outward, 35,08'i cattle, 59,00-3 sheep, and 12,408 pigs. In 1870, the number inward greatly increased. Norwich, as compared with yarmonth, produces the greater traffic on the railways. In the year ending July, 1807, the goods Traffic from all places to Yarmonth was 25,1 2'> tons at both stations. The goods sent JTom both stations to all places was 32,081 tons. The fish traffic was immense in addition. In the same year, the goods traffic from all places to Lowestoft was 11,513 tons, and coals 2179 tons. Goods sent from Lowestoft by railw%ay to all places, 9009 tons; coals, 13,979 tons; and fish, 15,900 tons; total, 89,034 tons. THE T?TVER AND NAVIGATION. The navigation of the Wen sum and the Yare affords great facilities to the trade of Norwich, and was much improved by a canal cut across the marshes from Reedham to Lowestoft. The general navigation from the city to Yannouth and Lowestoft is by wherries, which are peculiar to the rivers of Norfolk and Suffolk, and those used on the Y'are carry from fifteen to sixty tons, and draw from three to four feet of water. By these wherries large quantities of coals, stone, timber, iron, marl, corn, malt, flour, and other heavy goods are conveyed to and from the city. The river has been deepened for a great part of its course to Yarmouth, and miglit be much more impi'oved. The river Wensum rises near Rudham, in West Norfolk, and winding through that division of the county for tliirty miles, passes tlirough Nor- wich and flows into the Y'are below the city. AYithin the historic period a broad arm of the sea flowed up the valley of the Yare, covered all the land, now green meadows, between Whitlingham and '^Phorpe, and indeed the waters flowed over a great part of the ground on the north side of the city. After the tenth century the waters gradually receded, leaving only the present stream. The river, on leaving the city, enters the beautiful vale of Thorpe, one of the most delightful suburbs in the Eastern Counties. On the high grounds along the north side of the river there are many gardens and handsome residences of the city gentry. Being only two miles from Norwich, it has become of late the retreat of the city gentry, many of whom have erected handsome houses and laid out spacious gardens. Indeed it is a village the situation of Avhich would admit of being ornamented with the finest gardens in England. Quitting Whit- lingham the river Yare winds onward between green meadows to Bramerton, where a rural retreat called Wood^s End is the resort of pleasure-seekers in the summer months. From the high ground at Bramerton the traveller may behold a wide and far-extended valley, as yet A DESCRirTION OP NORWICH. 2G9 ill-drained and ill-cultivated, but presenting green meadows, woody banks, villages, cliurclies, and mansions of the gentry. In days before man appeared on tlie scene tliis tranquil valley was covered by a broad arm of the sea ; but those days have lung since passed away, and a thousand years ago the tempestuous waters subsided into the present peaceful river, now abounding with a variety of the finny tribe. Leaving Bramerton, the river winds along rolling omvard deep and slrong to Coldham Hall, near Surlingham, where another rural retreat attracts the disciples of old Izaak Walton from all parts of the country to carry on their gentle sport. Many anglers lodge at Coldham Hall for weeks together for the sake of fishing. Here grand angling matches have been held, as this is a good 2)lace for the sport, the river abounding with bream, rouch, perch, and other varieties of tlu; finny tribes. The stream becomes broader as it fiows on to Biickenham Ferry. This jilace is celebrated for the excellence of the fish caught in the river. Langley Park is about three miles from this place, on the south side of the river. The nuuision is a beautiful structure, the seat of Sir Thomas P. Beauchamp, Bart. Two miles from the Ferry at Claxton aro the ruins of the Castle built by the famous William D'Albini, surnamed the '' Strong Hand " from the tradition of his having slain ;i lion. The building was situated on a hill, and consisted of a keep, two cireular towers, a grand entrance tower, a barbican, and embattled walls, and was surrounded by a deep moat. Nothing now remains but the ruins of a gateway and the keep. Passing Buckenham Ferry the river flows onward to Cantley, another noted Hshing-place ; and thence to Keedham, where it receives the waters of the Waveney near Burgh Castle, the famous Honuin station. The river rushes into the salt waters of the sea at Ih'cydon, a broad expanse of sea Water flowing up from the harbour at Yarmouth. The Yare is navigable lor small sea-borne vessels for the whole length of its course, thirty-six miles, from Norwich to Yarmouth. The Wensum and the Yare converge at Trowse a little below Norwich ; ;ind are joined by the Waveney below lleedham, and l)y the Buiv which llows into the harbour at Yarmouth. There is little th^ubt that there was ioi'iuerly a gfeat estuary at YariiK)ntli, but the water has been conlined by the sands which formed the Denes along the coast into the narrow channel which flowed through Ciorleston. in former times, the Waveney flowed through Mutford lock, a dam erected under the advice of some Dutch engineers in order to prevent the incursions of the sea. However this may be, it is certain that the whole flow of the river between Norwich and Yarmouth is maintained by a fall of four or five inches. This fact ia attended with givat advantage to the eastern diitrict. CHAPTER V. A DESCEIPTION OF GEEAT YAEMOUTH. "'A') '^^IIIS Seaport, Borough, and Market Town, is situated in the Hundred ^L of Flegg, in the Eastern Division of Norfolk, at the mouth of the river Yare, from which it derives its name. It is distant 123 miles (north- east) from London, in 52 deg. 35 miu. (north latitude) and 1 deg. 4G miu. (east longitude) of the meridian of Greenwich. It stands on a narrow peninsula, less than a mile in breadth, between the river Yare and the North Sea, and its site was originally covered by the sea, which receding left a bank of sand, whereon a few fishermen settled and increased in numbers at an early period. The name of this town is entirely appropriate to its situation, from which indeed, like many others, it is taken. Yarmouth is as expressive of the Yare's mouth, or the mouth of the river Yare, as a compound word can be. The Angles called it Garmnd, that is the mouth of the Uancnxis or Yare, which river rises in the middle of Norfolk and, after receiving the Waveney and Bure, flows into the North Sea. It is still a disputed point whether this be the Garuinoiiam of the Romans or not, mid the name may have been applied to a large area, including Caistor, near Yarmouth. In the celebrated Notltia Liq^crti, or " Survey of the Roman Empire," it appears that the commander of the Stablesian horse, tinder the title of the Count of the Saxon shore in Britain, was stationed at a place called (kiriaiwnuni (the mouth of the Yare) ; hence that commander was styled Garlaiioists, signifying the commander at the mouth of Gar'iensls, or the liver now called the Yare. But antiquaries ai'e not agreed where that ancient fortress was situated. Camden places it at Burgh Castle ; while others place it at Caistor^ near Yarmouth. Sir Henry Spelman says : *' The vestiges of both situation and river are not to be ascertained. Two places seem to lay claim to it Burgh Castlcj in the county of Suffolk, A DESCRIPTION OF GKLAT YARMOUTH. 271 which at this day hangs over the south side of the livei' 3 and Caistor, a small village, four miles distant on the north. Both have a Roman appearance : the former, a four-sided, oblong, pitched camp croA\'iied with a wall, but too remote from the sea, and in a place so surrounded with marshes and narrow passes as to be incommodiously situated for troops of horse ; the latter on the very shore on an open plain, discovering also the ruins of a wall and fortifications, and very commodious for the excursions of horse for the defence of the shore, which was given in commission to this count and this cavalry ; for the interior and midland parts were guarded by another count, and rather with cohorts of foot than troops of horse. I therefore am of opinion that Caistor is the Gai'lanonuin, though Camden is pleased with Burgh. Caister, a name taken from the Komans, conduces to my opinion, especially since nothing (that I know of) will be found of this name throughout England but Ronum." It is very certain from several circumstances that the Romans inhabited both places, but more especially from the numerous Roman coins and pieces of urns dug up at each i)lace. Most of them have been found at Caistor, in a place called the " East Bloody Furlong," belonging to Mr. Thomas Wood, a person of knowledge in these things. And it is remarkable that the coins found at Caistor are of more ancient date than those found at Burgh Castle : hence there is great reason to think that Caistor was the first principal fortress on this shore. Another station might be found necessary at a later period, and there- fore constructed on the south side of the river, and called Garianoniun , to distinguish it from the other, and though further distant from the shore, yet perhaps more suitable for the residence of the Commander-in Chief. And as these two stations were extremely well situated on each side of the river, upon fine eminences, and in sight of each other, the troops, upon every emergency, might give notice by proper signals, to each other ; and consequently more advantageously command the adjacent shore and the entrance into the river, notwithstanding its various chauuels, than if there had been only one station. The coui'sc of the river Yare here shows a peculiarity which is obser- vable on other parts of the eastern coast, for it turns suddenly to the south when near the sea, and runs pandlel with the beach for nearly a mile to its outfall ; whereby a sort of peninsuhi is formed, occupied by the toAVn and its outskirts. That long sand bank was produced, as geologists tell us, by causes which have long prevailed on these eastern shores, as exemplified at the mouth of the Humber : waste of land and set t)f currents. But within the historical period a broad estuary occupied the site of the breezy Denes, stretching its arms as far as Caistor, three miles to the north, and its main channel as far as Norwich. Ancient 272 HTSTORY 0? EAiSTERN ENGLAND. wi'iters named it Garrueno, in which is perhaps preserved the Icenic Garu-an, or rough water, whence the name of Gar-les-ton, or the town beside the Gar, now called Gorleston, which existed before Yarmouth became a town. Swinden, on the authority of previous writers, states that Cerdic, the warlike Saxon, with his son Kenric and 1600 men, came over in five ships and landed on the Norfolk coaat, then part of the province of the Iceni ; and after several battles, subduing the natives, set sail from Yarmouth to tlie west, where they founded the Kingdom of the AVest Saxons. Returning from this expedition about the year 495, they built a new town on the west side of the Gariensis, and called it Jiermud, or Yarmouth, but afterwards removed to the opposite side of the river. Cerdic sand, or Cerdic shore, seems to have been a great sand bank, formed along the shore between two branches or channels of the Yare, by which two channels the river then entered the sea, one flowing near Caistor, the other near Gorleston. It is said that after the Romans had left this island, the Saxon adventurers carried the news of their success to their own country, and this place being suitable for landing troops, new invaders came hither and gave its present name to the town and settled in it. About the end of the fifth century, the fishermen along the eastern coast, and others from the opposite shores, resorted to the sea banks where Yarmouth noAv stands, annually every autumn to catch herrings. There were many inducements for making use of this particular spot which had newly emerged from the Avaves, and as nobody thought it worth claiming it was left unoccupied. The fishermen finding it a convenient situation for landing fish and dryiug their nets made it a place of temporary residence, erected tents or booths, and carried on their trade. When the fishing season was over they struck their tents and returned to their homes. l>ut at length finding the place very suitable for a longer residence than the fishing season required, they formed themselves into a small connnuuity and began to build houses, which in time increasing in numbej', and being formed into regular streets, acquired a very respectable aspect and grew into a flourishing town. Hence it is evident that the lishermen of the eastern coast with some foreigners were the founders of the town of Yarmouth, one of the first built in the Eastern Counties. The Denes or sandbanks on Avhich the toAvn is built are peculiar, having been gradually formed within the historic period at the entrance of the Yare. These accumulations of sand eventually became dry land, being aided in the transformation by the light sand drifted from the beach, by the prevailing north-east winds, which sweep the coast in the spring. These Denes now present the appearance of a narrow level peninsula between the sea, the river Bure, and the haven. A DESCRIPTION OP YARMOUTH. 273 We liavc but little iiifonnatioii about the affairs of any town in eastern England during the Anglo-Saxon period, and that little is not very certain. AVe need not be surpiised that local affairs should have received little attention, when wo find some of. the more impoiiant events of national history left unrecorded by the writers of that period. The annals of this town are almost a blank for 500 years of wars and turmoil, when the great mass of the people were buried in profound ignorance and super- stition. A brief sketch may, however, be given of the lise and progress of the borough. After the Anglo-Saxon Octarchy became one kingdom the town began to make rapid strides hi the scale of commercial importance; and to settle the dis])utes of its fishermen and merchants, certain port reeves, or bailiffs; were sent by the Barons of the Cinque Ports, on the south coast, invested with the necessary powers, but tiiey stayed oidy forty days during the herring seasou, namely from Michaelmas to Martinmas. Subsequently a free fair was established, and a burgh was founded for the mutual consideration of comfort and defence. Yarmouth became a tishing town of some importance during the Anglo- Saxon period, and in the reign of Edward the Confessor it contained seventy burgesses. Almarus, the Bishop, had in that reign a certain Church of St. Bennet-at-Holm. What the burgesses were does not appear from Domesday Book, but no doubt they were traders by sea. The Anglo- Saxon Kings kept this burgh or borougli in their own hands, and the traders were called burgesses. Domesday Book makes no mention of villains, borderers, servi, &c., whence it may be inferred that the bur- gesses were always freemen. According to Domesday Book (J0G8), Edward the Confessor held Yar- mouth, which then contained seventy burgesses, who were traders or merchants. It was thou valued with two parts of the sac of three hundreds at 18 by tate, and the Earl's part was 9 by tate. The Kling's parts in 1080 were 17 15s. ttl. blancs, and the Earl's parts 10 blancs. The Sheriff had 1- and one hawk in the time of King Edward for a fine. The burgesses gave II gratis, and in friendship. The part of the town first built was at the north end, near a j)hice since called Fuller's Hill, so named, according to the tradition of one P^uUer, a builder thereof, from which period the houses were contunied in a northerly direction, for the greater convenience of being near the north haven, where trade was carricil on. And this seems to account for the Church being" built so far to the north of the town, that being then the most populous })art. About the year 1100 the north haven began to be stopped up with sands and rendered useless, and the inhabitants removed to places near the south channel of the river, which became the principal haven. Thus 274 HISTORY OF EASTERN EKGLAND. the northern parts were deserted, and the town increased gradually to the southward along the south channel of the river. The Kings of England, after the Conquest, granted this burgh of Yar- mouth to some Earl, who always deputed a Reeve or Portreve to collect the customs, determine controversies, and administer justice to the bur- gesses, according to the custom of ancient burghs. But these Reves, from the nature of their offtce, had but limited prerogatives in compari- son with the officers appointed immediately by the King. The hrst of these that we meet with is in the ninth year of Henry I. when on account of the increase of the inhabitants, that King appointed a Provost to govern the town. The office, and probably the residence of this magis- trate, was in or near the Conge, which at that time was the principal place of trade, and so continued as long as Grub's Haven, northward, was navigable to the sea". And the quay opposite to the Conge, sometimes called the King's Conge, was denominated the Lord's Conge, which title it first acquired when the burgh was under the Earl, and retained it for many centuries after. Henry 1. thus took the town under his protection for the purpose of terminating the frequent disputes between its inhabitants and the Barons of the Cinque Ports, who for a long time despatched bailill's here to superintend and regulate the business transacted during the gi-aud mart, or free fair, held yearly foi- the sale of herrings. The Barons of the Cinque Ports appear to have exercised this prerogative long after the period when the toAvn was first constituted a burgh, their bailiffs having been admitted into Court to hear and determine causes in conjunction with the magistrates. In 1208, King John by a charter granted at Marl- borough, made the town a free borough and granted it many privileges, on condition of the inhabitants paying to him and his heirs a yearly fee farm-rent of 55 in lieu of all the customs arising from the port, and this sum is still paid to the Crown by the Corporation. After the receipt of this charter, the burgesses made considerable commercial progress and formed themselves into Guilds, or a sort of trade unions, for the protec- tion of trade, or rather of some monopoly or other. In thu succeeding reign of Henry IIL, the long subsisting disputes between the burgesses and the inhabitants on the west side of the river in Gorleston broke out at intervals with such violence as to call for royal intei'fercnce. The King instituted an enquiry into the pretensions of botli parties, and a verdict was returned 'Hliat the Haven of Yarmouth appertaineth of right to the burgesses, and that all wares, and merchandises ought to be unladen and sold in the borough," and not at Gorleston, which was a fishing station before the town of Yarmouth arose from the waves. The situation of Yarmouth being as it were the key or grand entrance A DESCRIPTION OP YARMOUTH. 275 into the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, it was necessary that something should bu done to provide for its security. Accordingly wc find that in the year 12G0, in consequence of a petition of the burgesses, King Henry 111. granted them leave to build a wall and make a mOat round the town. It does not appear, however, that the walls were then begun, or if begun, they were not finished for 100 years after. When finished the walls were 2240 yards in length, and had sixteen towers and ten gates. A castle having four watch-towers, and upon which a fire beacon was placed in 1588, was also built in the centre of the town. In the same year a mound called South Mount, was thrown up and crowned with heavy ordnance. The castle having been demolished in 1G2 1, and the changes introduced into the system of warfare rendering further defences necessary, strong parapets were constructed in front of the town and cannon planted in them facing the sea. Tlie circuit of fortifications thus completed was two miles and a-lialf. Though many inquisitions had been taken by royal authority for settling the disputes between the inhabitants and the Barons of the Cinque Ports, there was an open rupture in the 25th of Edward L, when according to llollingshead, " The King passing into Flanders to assist the Earl thereof against the King of France, had no sooner landed than the men of thu ports, through an old grudge, long pending, fell together upon the sea with so nmch fuiy, that notwithstanding the King's commands to the con- trary, twenty-five ships of Yarmouth were burnt. ^' In this desperate en- counter many lives were lost, and goods to the value of 15,-350 were destroyed; but we are told by the historian if Yarmouth, Manship, " That a grievous requital Avas not long after made by the men of this burgh against the })ortsmen." These disagreements continued for a long time, and fill up the annals of the town, but such contentions are of no interest now. We shall pass over these, and notice some events more to the credit of the inhabitants. in 1291, in the reign of Edward L, the French attempted to invade England with a fleet of 100 ships, assisted by the treachery of Tuberville, but the plot miscarried, aiul the men of Yarmouth, putting to sea a fleet of armed ships, captured and burnt Chcrburgh in Normandy, while a fleet from the Cinque Forts ravaged the whole coast of France within twenty iniles of i3ieppe. For this and other services rendered by the burgesses, Edward I. granted them two more charters, one in 1298 for acquitting them of tollage and other taxes, and the other in I '309 for regulating their trade and commerce. Though the town never obtained the honour to which it long aspiivd of being reckoned one of the Cin([ue Ports, it was a very important naval station at an early period. At the commencement of the reign of Edward 276 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. in., it had eighty ships with forecastles and forty without. In 1337 the Yarmouth fleet consisted of twenty men of war, and conveyed the King's plenipotentiaries to the Court of Haiuault, and on its return took two Flemish ships, laden with men, money, and provisions for Scotland. In 1342, the King, Edward III., embarked on board this fleet on his expedi- tion to Brittany, but while he lay entrenched before Venues, Prince Louis of Spain dispersed the fleet and thus drove the King, Edward III., to great straits for want of provisions. For the memorable siege of Calais in 1346 the principal seaports were ordered to supply a certain number of ships of war to carry out the objects of the King's ambition or lust of conquest. The North Sea fleet consisted on that occasion of 240 sail, out of which number Yarmouth supplied forty-three, containing 1075 sailors. John Perebourn, a burgess of the town, was the admiral, to which rank he had been elevated in 1340, when he defeated the French fleet ofi" Sluys, in Holland, after a desperate engagement in which the French lost 230 ships and 30,000 men. In that fatal battle was used that diabolical pre- paration, GrceJc fire, composed of sulphur, bitumen, and naphtha, com- bustible under water, and burning with such inteuse heat as to consume metals. Consequently if it fell on a warrior it penetrated his armour and peeled the flesh from his bones with exquisite torture. During the Civil Wars between Charles 1. and l\irliaincnt, Yarmouth declared for the latter, on the 9th of July, 1642, and the town was conse- quently put in a state of defence. The houses and workshops adjoining the walls were taken down, the gates rampired and locked, and the east leaf of the bridge drawn up every night. In 1645, additional fortifications were made, and breastworks and platfoi'ms erected at the seaside. In 1648, the burgesses raised 600 foot and fifty horse soldiers for the Parlia- ment. Oliver Cromwell was a frequent visitor to the town, and lodged with his friend and counsellor, John Carter, in his house on the South Quay. John Cai-ter was one of the bailiSs of Yarmouth when the town declared for the Parliament, whom Cromwell often visited, and whose son married Mary Ireton, daughter of the famous General. Moreover, according to tradition, the final consultation was held here as to what should be done with Charles 1. According to the narrative, '^ A meeting of the principal officers of the army was held in this house. They chose to be abovestairs for the privacy of their conference ; they strictly commanded that no person should come near the room, except a man appointed to attend ; their dinnei', which was ordered at four o'clock, was put off from time to time till past eleven at night ; they then came down to a very short repast, and immediately set off post, many for London and some for the rjuarters of the army." We may easily imagine what passed in that gloomy conclave of military Puritans, prompted by dire revenge. Ful^ A DESCBIPTION OF YARMOUTH. 277 details of all the proceedings in this eventful period are given in our historical narrative. During the long war between this country and France, Yarmouth became a grand station for part of the British navy, and its relative conse- quence may be seen by an Act framed in 1797, requiring 17,948 men to be raised in the seaports, according to the tonnage of each place. The quota for London was 5,725 ; Liverpool, 1,711 ; Newcastle, 1,240; Hull, 731 ; Sunderland, 669 ; Bristol, 666; Whitby, 573 j and Yarmouth, 506. Yarmouth Roads afford a safe anchorage for a numerous fleet exactly opposite the town, and consequently the Roads are a great rendezvous for all vessels sailing in the North Sea. Since the reign of Edward I. till lately, the town sent two burgesses to Parliament. Until the passing of the Reform Act in 1832, the freemen were the only electors. About 800 of these freemen were disfranchised lor non-residence, and the remainder (about 1100) experienced the same fate in 1848, under the powers of a special Act of Parliament. The number of electors was, however, greatly increased under the Reform Act of 1832, and continued to inci'ease till 1867, when the town was dis- fi'anchised l)y the new Reform Act ou account of the bribery that had prevailed at elections. I^ho burgesses at various periods from 1208 to 1702 received twenty- five charters, some confirmatory of former privileges, and others conveying additional immunities. The last, granted by Queen Anne, March 11,1 702, settled the work of government, and constituted the burgesses one body politic and coi-porate, by the style of " The Mayor, Aldermen, Burgesses, and Commonalty of the Borough of Great Yarmouth.'^ In the Municipal Reform Act of 1 835, the Ijorough is included in section 1 of Schedule A, among those boroughs the jiarlianiontary lioundaries of which are to be taken for jnunicipal purposes till altered by Parliament. Under this Act it is governed by a Mayor, twelve Aldermen, and thirty-six Councillors. The Water Woi'ks were formed in 1 855, at a cost of 80,000, raised in 10 shares l)y a com]iauy of shareholders under an Act of Parliament obtained in 1853. The water is obtained from Onnesby "Broad," about eight miles north from Yarmouth, and is very soft, being supplied from springs and vain. Two steam engines pump the water from the Broad into the filter beds, and after filtration force it up to the reservoir at Caistor, whence it flows by gravitation to all pai*ts of the town of Yarmouth. The filter beds are composed of layers of sand and gravel so disposed that the finest sand is on the surface of the coarsest gravel at the bottom. The filters being frequently cleansed, the water is always pure and wholesome. The Gas Works on the South Denes were erected in 1824 by Mr. G. H. Palmer, who afterwards sold them to a company of shareholders. Since 278 HISTORy OF eastern ENGLAND. ' * then the works have been enlarged at various times to meet the wants of a rapidly-increasing population. In 1863 the company expended 30,000 and had a working capital of 5000, when a new Act of Parliament was obtained giving power to raise an additional capital of 00,000 and to exteud the works so as to make the necessary provision for lighting the town and neighbourhood. THE PARISH AND THE CHURCH. Til parish of Great Yarmouth contains about 1510 acres of land aud ;3G,000 inhabitants. Population in 1801, 16,573; in 1811, 10,601; in 1821, 22,000; in 1831, 24,115; in 1841, 28,038; in 1851, 30,879 souls, of whom 13,628 were males and 17,231 females. Since then the popula- tion has greatly increased. In 1851 the town contained 6,886 houses inhabited and 311 empty, and eighty in course of erection. Of late years many new streets have been built at the south end of the town. The large increase in the number of houses as compared with the population is owing to the absence of a great number of seamen from the port. In the year 1090, Herbert, Bishop of Norwich, founded the largest parish church in England at Yarmouth. It was dedicated to St. Nicholas, supposed to be the patron of fishermen. The founder made the church a priory, as a cell subservient to Norwich. Three parish chaplains and one deacon usually officiated in it, and it appears that the prior was obliged to provide them, for in the 34th of Henry VI. the town received a fine of the prior, for '' want of a parish chaplain and a dean, 20s., and imless they be provided before St, Michael next eusuing the aforesaid prior shall incur the penalty of eight marks. ^^ This church is said to iiave been completed in 1 119 ; but all that can be seen of that date is a portion of the central tower below the bell chamber, the lower part of the tower having been cut away aud cased to form the piers of the tower arches in the decorated period. Succeeding bishops and priors made additions and alterations; fishermen brought their offerings to help on the work ; the bachelors of the towu began an aisle in 1338, but were stayed by the plague. The rood loft was erected by Roger de Haddesco, prior of St. Olaves, in 1370, and ornamented with curious devices at his own cost. Formerly sixteen chapels or oratories were attached to it, and it contains a flue organ by Jordan, built in 1733, Extensive restorations were made in 1848, and are still in progress. It contains an old font of Purbeck niai'ble, a copy of Rueben's " Elevation of the Cross,^^ monuments to the Kngland, Fuller, Hall, and other families. '^Ilie register commences in 1558. The structure consists of ihveo aisles ; the middle remarkably the least both in height and breadth, but extending further towards the east than the other two. The breadth of the three aisles together is 108 feet. A DESCRIPTION OP YARMOUTH. 279 In the cast end of the middle aisle stands the communion table, where formerly stood before the Reformation the great or high altar, and over it n, loft or perch called the rood loft, which supported a large crucifix. The chancel is remarkable for its side aisles and large dimensions ; and when we view the interior from the end of the nave, we find the fine ('fleet of the early English arches, heightened by amplitude of space. And while pacing slowly hither and thither, we may read passages of history in the varied architecture, Norman, transitional, perpendicular, and decorated. We may look in vain for brasses, for they were torn up by order of the Corporation more than three hundred years ago, and cast into weights for the use of the traders ; as Weaver says, " an inhuman, deformidable act, by which the honourable memory of many virtuous and noble persons deceased is extinguished." Little of the original structure of this venerable pile remains, except The tower, in the upper part of which several windows were discovered and re-openod. So numerous were the chapels to the church, that in the reign of Edward III. it was thought necessary for divine service to erect a new edifice at the west end, which was called the " new work," and intended as an additional aisle or chapel to the church ; but it was never completed, in consequence of the great plague of 1349, whereby most of the inhabitants died. Since 181'5, the whole of the interior of the edifice has been restored and beautified, so as to make it like a new church. There are several district churches and chapels of ease ; that of St. George was built iji 171G, nuder the authority of an Act of Parliament; that of St. Peter in 1835, at a cost of 12,000, by Scoles ; that of St. John in 1857, chiefly for seamen. Chapels have been built here for the Iioman Catholics, for the Jews, the AVesleyaus, Primitive Methodists, General and Particular Baptists, Independents, Society of Friends, and Unitarians. Adjoining the parish churchyard there is a cemetery of twelve acres. '^Phere is also a Poman Catholic burial ground. THE MODERN TOWN. The proseut town extends considembly beyond the old walls, on the north towards Caistor, on the south towards the mouth of the haven. The principal streets are well-built, and are crossed at right angles by 145 uan-ow lanes calhul rows. Many of the houses, both in the old and new parts of the town, are lofty, and there are terraces fi'onting the sea. The streets are well paved, lighted with gas, and drained under the Public Health Act. The houses are supplied with water, laid on by a company incorporated in 1853. The pnncipal public buildings are the Town Hall built in 171G ; the Tolhouse ; the Custom House, on the Quay; the Royal 280 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. Hospital, founded in 1838 ; the Fishermen^s Hospital, built in 1702 ; the Workhouse, built in 1838; and the Borough Gaol. Yarmouth is rather behind in the number of schools considering the large population. The old Grammar School was originally established by the Coi*poration after the Refonnation. The new Grammar School was recently opened by the Pi'ince of Wales. The Charity Schools, for cloth- ing and educating one hundred boys and fifty girls, are supported chiefly by voluntary contributions, and were founded in 1713; but the present schoolrooms on Theatre Plain were built in 1723. The Priory National School occupies part of the old Priory near the churchyard of St. Nicholas, and was opened in 1851. Nonconformists, who are numerous here, have several schools, wherein some hundreds of children receive elementary instruction. The new Grammar School is a very fine building in the Gothic style, freely treated to meet the requirements of the case, the house having a domestic character, while greater architectural emphasis is given to the school itself. The wall material is of red brick, with occasional bands of black bricks and stone dressings. The group is well broken up and forms an effective outline. The school occupies the western portion of the block of buildings, and has a largo four-light traceried window in the north front, with a corresponding window of a plainer character to the south. The west side has four two-light windows, "v\dth heads carved up to the main roof, forming small gables. The bell turret is about seventy feet in height, and has a broach spire covered with slates and lead, surmounted by an ornamental finial with lightning conductor. The principal entrance is by a doorway under the turret leading to a spacious lobby about thirty feet by sixteen feet. Opposite the front entrance is the doorway opening to the play-ground ; on the left is a corridor leading to the house ; on the right are the entrances to the large school, and at either ends are stair- cases leading to the class-rooms. The school-room sixty-four feet by twenty-six feet is lofty and well lighted, having an open timbered roof stained and varnished. THE MARKET PLACE. The Market-place comprises about three acres, and the market, which is held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, is well supplied with provisions. What with the large area, the great gathering there on Saturdays of town folk and rustic folk, their words and ways, the market presents a highly animated scene. The long rows of stalls stretch out further than any one can see, and we may pass from the display of fish, flesh, and fowl at one end, through peas and potatoes, cakes, and strawberries, to baskets, bedsteads, boxes, boots, frippery, old iron and new hardware, old chairs. A DESCRIPTION OP YARMOUTH. 281 tables, and old books. There sits a busy knife grinder, whirling off a hissing stream of sparks amid an admiring group. There the dealer in literature disperses odd volumes to rural shelves, and announces that he is ready to buy as well as to sell. In another place we see what becomes of some of the rushes that grow in East Norfolk, for here are hassocks, cushions, matting, and horse collars all made of rushes. Some of the stalls are roofed, but most are uncovered, and near each there is a small sentiy box, in which the women can sit sheltered from sun and rain while selling their poultry, butter, or vegetables. The lover of floral beauty will soon permit his eye to rest on the produce of the market garden, where it may revel in a perfect sea of lusciousness asparagus, seakale, peas (marrowfats and blues), beans (kidneys, dwarfs, and Windsors), salads and cresses, radishes in i*adiating and globular bunches, cabbages and cauliflowers, cucumbers and all the pumpkin tribe, fruits in shining heaps of cherries, glistening currants, strawberries and raspberries on wooden trays. If we turn from the people to look at the Market Place, we see on the west side tall houses and handsome shops, with numerous bay windows above, and among them an old-fashioned oriel ; a long line, broken only by the narrow entrances of the rows. Some of these rows or alleys, which traverse the town from end to end, are so narrow that you can easily touch both sides at once by stretching out your hands while walking through. The eastern side of the Market Place makes less show. Here stands the old Fishmarkot, and a little further on there is the Fishermen's Hospital, a low quadrangular building, with its curious gables and dormers terminating in finials, showing us what the architect of 1702 regarded as an appropriate style. THK yUAY SIDK OP THr: TOWN. There are several very ancient houses in the town, one of which, on the Quay, in 150G was the residence of a granddaughter of Oliver Cromwell, and is now the ]u-operty and residence of C. J. Palmer, Esq., F.S.A., a well-known anti([uary and author, from whom it re- ceives all the care which so interesting a memorial of the past deserves. In the drawing-room, which is elaborately ornamented with rich carved work, a meeting of the principal officers of the Parliamentary army is said to have been held for the purpose of deciding the fate of Charles I. The room is a singularly-beautiful specimen of the genius and handiwork available thr(H' hundred years ago. The North and South Quays are more than a mile in length, and are the finest in England, and have some resemblance to the Booratjes at Rotterdam, presenting scenes of land traffic and water traflSc, lading and 282 HISTOEY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. unlading of vessels, tho moving to and fro of vehicles, the double row of olms, tho lines of ships on one side and the lines of old houses on the other. Among the latter are some that give us demonstration of tho admirable effect which the old builders knew how to produce by flint walls, by jiorch and parvise, by oriel, gallery, and balustrade. The edifice known as the Dutcli clock, dating from the last quarter of rhe sixteenth century, has religious as well as commercial associations. Morning' prayer was once offered therein under the sanction of the Corporation. The Dutch and I'^lemings, who fled from persecution iu their own country to this town, had pei'mission to use it as a chapel. The old clock still marks tho hour, and the mariner^s comjiass, three feet in diameter, carved in stone, still stands in front ; but an old custom is discontinued of the town waits assembling on the top of the building', and performing on musical instrimients. Now the house is occupied by Haven Commissioners, and a Public Library containing ten thousand volumes. Another relic is masked by tho front of the Star Hotel, a house that carries our thoughts back to one of the decisive periods in English history. The Nelson room in this Hotel is so called because Nelson onco dined in it ; his portrait, by Keymer, a Quaker, who was an admirer of the famous Admiral, hangs at the end. The walls are decorated with antique carved work, oaken panels, and pilasters, styles formed of a half-length female figure, supported by the head of an animal, arched fillets and diaper work, and quaint devices wrought in wood . THE SEA SIDE OF THE TOWN. Here are long ranges of handsome buildings, extending from the north end to tho south end, a mile in length. Here are many first-class hotels and lodging-houses for visitors. The Marine Drive is a long straight highway, which stretches along the whole seaward side of the town from the north to the south, and forms one of the principal attractions to visitors. On a fine breezy day it is a very agreeable resort, with an outlook upon a busy sea and a busy shore. The Drive, from one end to the other, cannot fail to interest a stranger, especially a health seeker, as he passes many hotels, bath houses, and public houses, throngs of men and women busy around heaps of fish, groups of beachmen sauntering up and down near the graceful yawls, in which, when required, they go out on the stormy sea with right good will. The Sailors' Home was opened in -lanuary, 1859. The building is in the free Italian style, the character and coloui's of the materials at the different stoi'cys being most skilfully diversified. On the basement storey are the night refuge, the drying closets, the kitchens, larder, water A DESCRIPTION OP YARMOUTH. 283 closets, lavatory, receiving room, &c. On the ground floor there is a large news room and coffee room, from which there is a view of the beach and roadstead. On this floor there are several fine rooms, and the entrance hall from the front, out of which hnll there is a staircase to the rooms above. The Naval Asylum on the South Denes forms a large quadrangular building, with piazzas and a detached lYinge of oflices, built in 1800, at a cost of 1 20,000, and used as a Naval Hospital until St. Nicholas Gat, by shoaling its waters, rendered that entrance to the roads unsafe for men of war, and the Admiralty consequently ordered that the building should be converted into Foot Barracks. Afterwards it was made a Military Lunatic Asylum, and then an Hospital for Invalid Soldiers ; but in 1 8Go it was re-transferred to the Admiralty and adapted for the recep- tion of naval lunatics. The Militia Barracks, a handsome range of buildings on the South Denes, were built in 1850, for tlio East Norfolk Militia and the Norfolk- Artillery Militia. The Koyal Armoury, in SouthtOAvn, was built in 1800, at a cost of 15,000, for the reception of naval and military stores, but after being disused for many years, in 1855 it was converted into Militia Barracks. The Coast Guard Station on the South Beach is a good building of white brick, erected in 1 850, at a cost of 3500. It occupies three sides of a triangle, and coniprises residences for an officer and twelve men. The .letty was erected in 1808, at a cost of 5000. It is twenty-one feet wide and 520 feet in length. During the fishing season the Jetty is the most amusing place in the town. The Ib'itannia Pier, constructed in 185G, consisted of eleven bays of twenty feet, and thirteen of thirty-fivo feet span, terminating in a ciivnlar head ; extremity 750 feet from the entrance gates ; width twenty-four feet. During a storm in the winter of 1850, a, sloop was driven by a high wind against the Pier, taking oft* seventy feet. The present circular head was subsequently added ; but the i*ier was again seriously damaged in 1808 and 1800. The Wellington Pier, more south, is constrncted entirely of timber, the platform being upon piles. The Pier is thirty feet wide, and 700 feet in length, the head being 1 00 feet wide. This Pier was erected as a memorial to the Duke of Wellington, but he never had any connection with the town. A standard end)lazoned with the arms of the Duke is hoisted on the anniversaries of the great battles in which he was engaged, as at Waterloo. 'J'he Wellington Pier is the most fashionable resort in the evening during the season, the company assembling here do so to meet their fnends, and to enjoy the sea breeze, oi* to listen to bands of musicians playing en- livening airs. 284 HISTOBY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. The New Assembly Rooms, opposite the Pier, were built in 1862 by a Limited Liability Company at a cost of 4000. They comprise a hand- some Assembly-room in the centre, a reading-room, a spacious billiard- room, ladies' reading-room, and other apartments, all well furnished. THE NORFOLK NAVAL COLUMN, To the memory of the gallant Nelson, stands on the South Denes, about a mile fi"om the town, and was erected by the contributions of the gentle- men of Norfolk, imder the direction of William Wilkin, Esq., the ai'chitect. This beautiful monumental pillar is of the Grecian Doric order, elegantly fluted, and 144 feet high, ascended by an easy flight of 270 steps. Upon the plinth are the names of the four ships, "Vanguard," "Captain," " Elephant," and "Victory," on board of which the heroic Admiral's flag was so valorously displayed, and on the coping of the terrace are inscribed the names of the four principal battles, Aboukir, St. Vincent, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar. On each of the four sides of the pedestal is a flight of steps leading to the terrace, which affords a prome- nade round the shaft, "^riie roof is supported by Caryatides, surmounted by a ball and a figiire of Britannia, exquistely cast, holding in her hand a trident and laurel wreath. On the west side there is a very elegant Latin inscription from the pen of Mr. Serjeant Frere. The view from the top of the column "w^ll repay anyone mounting 270 steps. On a clear day, Norwich is visible, and the eye wanders over leagues of the flat inland country, over the expanse of Broydon water, along the course of the river, and from the cheerful heights of Gorleston to the Suffolk cliffs near Lowestoft. 'Allien turning round the spectator looks forth upon the broad blue sea, and the roads thronged with vessels and fishing boats sailing to the mouth of the river, and the red lightships which mark the gatways, and the tossing billoAvs in the distance where the Kuoll and Scroby sands form dangerous shoals, the foaming tumult in those spots contrasting with the compai'ative calm within the great banks which Nature maintains, protect- ing the roads as with a breakwater. Yet notwithstanding this protection this part of the coast is as dangerous to the manner in a north-easterly gale as any part of our eastern shores. Yarmouth in the summer season has become the resort of many thou- sands of pleasure-seekers ; as many as ten thousand \asitors have been in The town for months together. Of late years this watering- place has been greatly extended and improved. A new Marine Parade, three miles in length from north to south along the beach, affords visitors opportunities i'ur healthy walks and drives close to the sea. The new piers, extending far into the sea, invite ladies to walking exercise to inhale the invigorating A DESCRIPTIOlJ OF YARMOUTH. 285 breeze, and to feel the influence of the foam-crested waves, or to watch the foaming billows as they dash on the beach, or to sec the mild, silvery splendour of the rising moon. It is curious to notice the increase of watering-places along the Eastern coast. Formerly, Yarmouth and Lowestoft had a kind of monopoly ; but now we have Huustanton, Cromer, Southwold, Aldborough, Felixstow, Walton-on-thc-Naze, and Dovercourt, all claiming a share of public favour. The effect upon Yarmouth has not been injurious, a result which is probably attributable to the growing wealth of the country and the tendency of families to pass a few months in each year at the seaside ; and the large number of lodging-houses at Yarmouth. Here, as at other watering-places along the coast, we may observe a great variety of charactfrs, all in pursuit of pleasure, and all more or less anmsing. Some few really come for health, some for meditation, some for flirtation, but more for idleness. There are others without any object in life mere vacant loiterers, to Avliom every day and every hour in the day is much too long. If they had the run of Paradise for three months, they would like to go to the other place for a change. The late Mr. Dickens, in a paper entitled " The Norfolk Gridiron," full of humorous conceits and pleasant gossip, and which appeared in Ho((f>chols at once, of the church of St. Leonard, the high road, town hall, gaol, and many other building^;, are mentioned, with the dates w'hen they perished. It is stated that in the IGth century not one quarter of the town was left standing, yet the inhabitants retreating inland, the name was preserved. There is, however, a church of con- siderable antiquity still standing, the last of twelve mentioned in some records. In 1740, the laying open of the churchyard of St. Nicholas and St. Francis in the sea cliffs is well described by Gardner, with the coffins and skeletons exposed to view, some lying on the beach and rocked In cradle of the rude im^Dcrious surge. Of these cemeteries, no remains can now bo seen. Ray also says, " that ancient writings make mention of a wood a mile and a-half to the east of Dunwich, the site of which must at present be so far within the sea." This city, once so flourishmg and populous, is now a small village, with A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 295 about twenty houses and a hundred inhabitants. There is an old tradition, '' that the tailors sat in their shops at Dunwich, and saw the ships in Yarmouth Bay -," but when we consider how far the coast at Lowestoft Ness projects between these places, we cannot give credit to the tale, which, nevertheless, proves how much the inroads of the sea in times of old had prompted men of lively imagination to indulge their taste for the marvellous. Gardner's description of the cemeteries laid open by the waves reminds us of the scene which has been so well depicted by Bewick, and of which numerous points on the same coast might have suggested the idea. On the verge of a cliff which the sea has undermined are represented the unshaken tower and western end of an abbey. The eastern aisle is gone, and the pillars of the cloister are soon to follow. The waves have almost isolated the promontory, and invaded the cemetery, where they have made sport with the mortal relics, and thrown up a skull upon the beach. In the foreground is seen a broken tombstone, erected, as the legend tells, " to perpetuate the memory " of one whose name is obliterated, as is that of the county for which he was " Gustos Rotulorum." A cormorant is perched on the monument, defihng it, as if to remind some moralizer, like Hamlet, of " the base uses " to which things sacred may be turned. Had this excellent artist desired to satirise certain popular theories of geology, he might have inscribed the stone to the memory of some philosopher who taught "the permanency of existing continents'' "the era of repose" "the impotence of modem causes." The incursions of the sea at Aldborough were formerly very destruc- tive, and this borough is known to have been once situated a quarter of a mile east of the present shore. The inhabitants continued to build further inland, till they arrived at the extremity of their property, and then the town decayed greatly, but two sandbanks thrown up at a short distance now afford a temporary safeguard to the coast. The sea now is twenty-four feet deep where the town formerly stood." The aborigines of Suffolk and Norfolk were a Celtic tnbe, named the " Iceni," a bold, warlike people, of whom few vestiges have been traced, but whose seat of government appears to have been at Dunwich, the ancient site of which place is now covered by the sea. In the first century of our gyvl, the Roman legions advancing from the distinct of the Trinobantes in Essex entered Suffolk, and made roads which traverse the county from south to north. They built camps at Walton, Dunwich, and Burgh Castle on the banks of the Waveney. Of Eoman camps, Suffolk presents few examples, but this will create no surprise when we advert to the description Tacitus has given of the strongholds of the " Iceui. (Annals 6213.) Septum Agresti Aggere, a 296 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAllD. low bank surrounded by a quickset, a type of fortifications which in its permanent features very slight, would naturally disappear. Of the Eomano-British typo of earthwork which in fact was but a type of the Roman ones, there are no examples in Suffolk, which is probably accounted for by the fact that the Romans left the much more formidable strongholds of Burgh, Walton, and the walled city of Colchester, in Essex, thus relieving the inhabitants of the east coast from the necessity of erecting this kind of earthwork, imposed on Sussex by the absence of all fortification constructed of masonry. Suffolk possesses thirty-five camps and other fortifications, but of one-half the recorded descriptions are so vague as to render any classification impossible. After the invasions of the Gothic tribes, the Angles and Saxons, the territory now comprised in the counties of Siiffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridge, was formed into the kingdom of East Anglia about the year 527, and the relative position of this district obtained for its inhabitants the name -of Southfolk, in contradistinction to those of Norfolk, whence by contraction its modern name. Dunwich, once a large city, was the first capital of East Anglia, and the seat of the bishopric which was founded by Felix, a priest of Burgundy, brought about by Segebert about 630. Felix was very successful in converting the inhabitants of his diocese in Suff'olk and Norfolk, and he caused the erection of many Churches and JMonasteries, most of which are now demolished. The earliest mention of Norfolk and Suffolk appears to be in the ninth century (a.d. 895.) After this period, they were frequently mentioned as separate counties, and more particularly in the reign of Edward the Confessor, who made Suffolk a separate earldom, and bestowed it on Gurth, Harold's brother. Documentary records of the Anglo-Saxon period are scanty, but we gather from the names of places some hints that may throw a little light on the early history of East Anglia, and indicate who Avere the early settlers in the district. There are some remains of monastic buildings erected in the Anglo - Saxon period. A little north of Burgh Castle are a few vestiges of a monastery built by Furseus, who, under the patronage of Segebert, the first Christian King of East Anglia, and Felix, the first bishop of the diocese, collected a number of religious persons, and placed them under the monastic rule at Burgh, then called Cnobersburg, after the name of a Saxon Chief who resided there. On the death of Segebert Furseus quitted his monastery at Burgh, and went to France, after Avhich time the establishment dwindled down to nothing, and became the habita- tion of some Jews. There are several churches in Sufiblk, portions of which lay claim to Saxon antiquity, as the tower of Flixton near Bungay, and others with round A DESCRIPTION OP SUTPOLK. ' 297 towers near the coast. NormaD architecture is of frequent occurrence in the churches of the county. Several of these also display magnificent timber roofs, which exhibit a combination of boldness, picturesque effect, and geometrical skill. The gateways of Bury Abbey attest the grandeur of that wealthy establishment, and at Butley, Sibton, Herringfleet, Bunga}'', and Leiston, there are more or less picturesque remains of ancient monastic splendour. There are other remains at Ipswdch, Sudbury, Blythburgh, Clare, Campsey Ashe, Dodnash, Gorleston, Kersey, Ixworth, Orford, Wangford, Mendham, &c. Of castellated architecture the following recall the stern magnificence of feudal times : Orford, with its polygonal keep ninety feet in height ; Framlingham, a mere shell of a proud Norman fortress ; Bungay Castle, with its massive ruins ; Haughley Castle, Mettingham Castle, Wingfield, and others of ancient date. Ancient mansions are seen in different parts of the county, of which the most remarkable is Hengrave Hall ; and there are many elegant seats, the principal being the residence of the Duke of Grafton at Euston Park ; Heveningham Hall, the seat of Lord Huntingfield ; Flixton Hall, the seat of Sir A. Shafto Adair, Bart. The soil of Suffolk is so exceedingly variable, that it is difficult to define the localities of each. The heavy land district constitutes what is known as central Suffolk. The eastern sands extending from the mouth of the Deben to Yarmouth are very light, and much of the district from Beyton to Mildenhall, and from Newmarket to Bi'andon, consists of a blowing sand on a light chalky clay. The Fen district is limited to the extreme north-west corner of the county and is of small extent. The quantity of pasture land is much reduced. The quantity of arable land is much greater, and is carefully cultivated. Suffolk takes a high rank as an agricultural county, but of late years a much smaller proportion of its population than formerly has been dependent on agriculture for subsistence. The net rental of property in Suffolk was estimated in 1851 at .012,0()2, probably now more than a million sterling. The property is much divided, and tliere are no estates so large as to create a decided political preponderance, and there are more })roprietors occupying their own land i}i Suffolk than in any other county. On the heavy lands, farms seldom exceed oOO acres in extent. On the light lands, farms vary from 300 to 1500 acres. The rotation of crops and manner of cultivation in the heavy land district are First year, fallow, tares, beet or turnips ; second year, barley ; third year, half clover, half peas, or beans alternately ; fourth year, wheat. There is much variation in the course of cropping among the small fanners ; but on the best cultivated farms this may be taken as the general course. On the light lands, a dift'erent course of management is adopted ; but it is generally 298 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. farmed on the four-course system. Thorough drainage is much practised in the county. Suffolk is famous for its breeds of horses^ including thoroughbred stud horses, hunters, and cart stallions. The latter are of great size, and extend over a wide area of cultivated land ; and for uniformity of character in colour, symmetry, and size, they are unrivalled. The county is also cele- brated for its breeds of cattle, sheep, and pigs. Suffolk scenery is generally quiet in the Eastern Division; gentle undulations sprinkled here and there with copse and plantation, great breadths of grain for many a mile, everywhere meet the eye. Though it has some features in common with Norfolk, the tourist cannot fail to note that St. Edmund's county is more varied in surface and softer of aspect than its neighbour beyond the Waveney. For scenes of rural ease and plenty, there is no part of our island that contents the eye so fully as this part of East Anglia, and there is everything that denotes settled habitation and long possession, as if the same families had always dwelt in the homesteads. The Western Division of the county, more especially the north-west corner, near the river Ouse, in the hundred of Lackford, is noted for the preservation of game, and in few districts do pheasants, partridges, hares, and rabbits thrive better. For this reason there are thousands of acres mainly devoted to the preservation of game. The Great Warren on the south-west side of Thetford is a noted game preserve. It comprises near 3000 acres of land, on which myriads of conies of a peculiar kind are preserved in addition. The warren is bounded on the north by the river Ouse, on the south and east by the Canon's farm, and the west by the estate of the Duchess of Cleveland on the Suffolk side of the river. The warren land is composed of a peculiar soil, admirably adapted for game. The surface is a light sand, lyiug' upon a recently upheaved and disturbed stratum of chalk, which underlies the whole length and breadth of the warren. A great part of it is covered with a minute and lichen-like vegetation, crowned with the fern-liko brake, which somewhat resembles a sort of miniature plantation. ' A numerous gang of game preservers, called the warreners, are constantly employed by the proprietor in watch- ing the myriads of silver-grey rabbits, wild fowl, and other game, which are the sole occupiers of the soil. The " Warren Lodge " stands in the centre, and is the homo of the chief warrener, whose wife manages for the rest of the keepers. Some of these men rarely quit the scene of their duties, and they become so accustomed to their " home upon the warren/' that they seem to care little for the society of other men. They generally wear a long blouse or slop which reaches below their knees. Thus attired, they prove to be skilful gamekeepers, and they are exceed- A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 299 ingly cunning in concealing themselves from the observation of any would-be poachers who may venture on their preserves. This is a well-watered county ; the principal rivers are, southward, tho Stour, the Gipping, the Orwell, the Deben, and the Ore ; northward, the Waveney, the Little Ouse, and the Lark, beside numerous smaller streams. The Stour first meets the tide at Manningtree, in Essex, and expands into a broad estuary, which at high water presents a beautiful appearance, but at low water shrinks into a narrow channel. Proceeding eastward, it is joined near Harwich by the Orwell ; and their united waters, having formed the Port of Harwich, flow into the North Sea between that town, in Essex, and Languard Fort, at the south-eastern extremity of Suffolk. The Stour divides the counties of Suffolk and Essex, and is navigable up to Sudbury, in the south-western part of Suffolk. The Gipping is formed by the confluence of three I'ivulets in the middle of tho county at Stowmarket, from which place it was made navigable to Ipswich in 179o. Below Ipswich, it assumes the name of Orwell, expands into a broad estuary, and continues its course to its junction with the Stour opposite Harwicli. The Orwell is navigable for ships of considerable burden up to Ipswich, and its banks are adorned with beautiful scenery, Avoods, parks, and seats of tl^e gentry. The Deben rises near Debenham, and at Woodbridge expands into an estuary, and flows thence in a southei'ly direction to tho North Sea, to which it is navigable for large vessels. The Ore rises from a spring near Framlingham, flows eastward, and expands into an estuary as it approaches Aldborough, where it suddenly turns southward and flows into the sea below Orford. The Waveney rises near Lophaui, in Norfolk, flows from west to east, dividing the two counties, and joins the Yare at Reedham, near J3reydon water, an expansion formed by these united rivers, naiTOwing again and then turning southward to the sea, fi-om which it is navigaljle to Beccles and Bungay. Westward, the little Ouse is navigable to Thetford, and the Lark to Bury St. Edmund's. Thus natund facilities are afforded for water conveyance of goods 'in most parts of the county. The productions of the county are wheat, barley, peas, beans, seeds of various kinds, mangolds, turnips, and other roots. The wheat is of excellent quality, and usually commands a high price. The barley is amongst the best grown in England, and is largely malted iox the Burton and other large breweries. Mangel wurtzel and turnips are grown of great weight and good quality for grazing purposes. Some farmers grow flax in the neighbourhood of Eye, Debenham, and Framlingham ; and factories are in operation for preparing the flax. Tlicre is a gi-eat whole- sale trade in cattle, corn, malt, &c., at different markets in the county, $00 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. especially Ipswich and Buiy. Suffolk manufactures are such as are in some way connected with agriculture. There is no other part of England containing so many manufacturers of engines and machines for agricultural purposes, or where the imple- ments of husbandry are made more perfect than in Suffolk. This is owing to the large capital employed in the business, and the competition among the manufacturers, which tends to the detection of every defect, and ingenuity is exercised to make improvements in every respect. The principal firms are Messrs. Ransome, Sims, and Head, Ipswich ; Messrs. GaiTctt and Sons, Leiston ; Messrs. E. R. and F. Turner, Ipswich ; Messrs. Woods, Cocksedge, and Warner, Stowmarket ; Mr. Burrell, Thetford. There are many other firms engaged in this department of industry ; but as we are only drawing up a rapid sketch of the county, we must pass them by. We may be justified in assigning the foremost place among agricultural machinists to Messrs. Ransome, Sims, and Head, and Messrs. Garrett. Both their concerns were of humble origin, and rose from small beginnings to colossal dimensions. Their engines and implements may be found in every English county, 'in every country in Europe, and in our Colonies. The manufacture of artificial manures is also carried on to a great extent, especially from coprolites, which are found in great abundance in Suffolk. This branch of business was begun more than twenty years ago by Mr. E. Packard, of Saxmundham, on a very small scale, and the firm of which that gentleman is the head now sends out 20,000 tons annually of manure made from coprolites ; while Messrs. Fison, of Iswich, Messrs. Prentice, of Stowmarket, and other manufacturers, produce very large quantities of this and other kinds of artificial manures. Messrs. Prentice have also established the manufacture of gun cotton. There are many maltstries and breweries in the county, and vast quan- tities of malt are produced at Stowmarket. Along the coast there are some thousands of fishermen, and at Lowestoft many vessels are equipped for the fisheries, which are on a great scale. The mackerel and herring fisheries are now very important at Lowestoft, employing hundreds of vessels and some thousands of hands. Notwithstanding the great success of this branch of industry, most of the fishermen are very poor. On looking at returns as to the social condition of the people in Suffolk, some curious facts present themselves. The births are one in thirty-two of the population, and eight per cent, are claimed as illegitimate ; the deaths are one in fifty-one of the population the proportion in all England being one in forty-six, and in Norfolk one in forty-eight. The criminal re- turns exhibit a great increase of crime during the century. Between 1801 and 1851, the population increased fifty-six per cent. ; crime more than 300 A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 301 per cent, in the half-century. Pauperism is the plague-spot of the county. One in every twelve persons in this county is a pauper, and the average cost of relief for the five years ending in 1851 was 142,688 per annum. The educational returns of this county are almost as discouraging. In 1851, there were 143 parishes without any school, except here and there a dame's school. In the hundreds of Hoxne and Eisbridge, only eight per cent, of the males attended any school ; and in a large number of schools in the county, the average attendance of the children was less than two years. Out of 1219 in-door paupers in Suffolk, ten only could read and write well ; nearly eighty per cent, of the felons were without any education, forty-six per cent, of the men and fifty-two per cent, of the women who were married could not sign their names to the marriage registers. Suffolk returned sixteen members to Parliament before the passing of Reform Act of 1832, but then Aldborough and Dunwich were disfran- chised by that Act, an_d Eyo reduced to one member. Subsequently, Sudbury was deprived of its privilege on the ground of corruption. The county is divided for electoral purposes into two divisions, the eastern and the western. The polling places for the eastern division of the county are Ipswich, Needham, Woodbridge, Framlingham, Saxmundham, Halesworth, Beccles, Bungay, Lowestoft, and Gorleston. The polling places for the west are Bury St. Edmund's, Lavenham, Stowmarket, Wickham Brook, Mildenhall, and Hadleigh. The population of Suffolk at the six decennial periods of enumeration was found to amount, in 1801, to 214,404; in 1811, to 233,903; in 1821, to 271,541; in 1831, to 290,317; iu 1841, to 315,073; in 1851, to 337,215, including 100,308 males, and 170,907 females; in 1861, to 337,070. The number of inhabited houses in 1851 was 69,282; empty, ;}107; and those building, 449. The annual value of the real property of the county as assessed for the purposes of the property-tax, in the year 1813, was, 1,127,404; in 1851, it was 1,834,252. The annual value of real property rated to the poor was, in 1850, 1,306,648. The towns of Suffolk containing more than 2000 inhabitants with their popiilation in 1861 : Ipswich, 37,950 ; Lowestoft, 9,534; Beccles, 4,266; Woodbridge, 5,515 ; Stowmarket, 3,639; Halesworth, 2,521 ; Eye, 2430; South wold, 2,032 ; Leiston, 2,227 ; Newmarket St. Mary, 2,002 ; Bui^-, 13,318; Sudbury, 6,018; Bungay, 3,805 ; Mildenhall, 4,046; Hadleigh, 3,606 ; Long Melford, 2,870 ; Framlingham, 2,252 ; Gorleston, 4,472 ; Haverhill, 2,434. Ipswich and Lowestoft had increased in population in 1871, but most of the other towns had decreased. 302 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. THE TOWNS OF SUFFOLK. The principal towns in the eastern division of tlie county are either on the coast or near the coast, and almost in straight lines from south to north. The East Suffolk Kailway crosses the county in the same direc- tion, and there are stations at Ipswich, "\7oodbridg'e. Melton, Wickham Market (for Framlingham), Saxmundham (with a branch to Leiston and Aldborough), Halesworth, Beccles, Lowestoft, and Southtown next Yar- mouth. The Eastern Union Midland line has stations at Bramford, Claydon, Needham Market, Stowmarket, Haughley Junction, Finning- ham, Mollis (for Eye), and Diss. There is a western line from Haughley to Bury and Newmarket, also branch. lines from Ipswich to Hadleigh and Sudbury, in the south of Suffolk. IPSWICH. This is a flourishing port, borough, and market town, and the chief town of Suffolk, in the eastern division of the county, sixty-nine miles (north-east) from London, pleasantly situated at the head of the river Orwell, which, joined by the river Gipping, flows for twelve miles direct to the sea. The town first received its name from its being situated where the fresh water river Gipping flows into the Orwell. ^' What's in a name ? " A great deal- and formerly a great deal more than was neces- sary ; for in Domesday Book it is spelt Gyppeswed, Gippeswiz, Gippeswic, and afterwards Yppswyche ; but divested of all superfluous letters by those terrible innovators, the printers, it now stands before us simply as Ipswich. The ground on which the town stands presents so many advantages, that it attracted settlers at an early period. In approaching it by the London road, it appears to be low ; but viewed from Wherstead Hill, it appears to more advantage, being situated on the side of a rising ground, with a south aspect, and a gradual descent to the Eiver Orwell. The hills which rise above it to the north and east contribute greatly to its salubrity, sheltering it from bleak winds and furnishing springs of pure water, with which the town is so well supplied that it has suffered less from the ravages of fire than perhaps any place of similar extent and population. The printers ai'e all democrats in the republic of letters, and have left scarcely a name unchanged in the whole topography of eastern England. Thus the Orwell was called in the Anglo-Saxon annals the Arwan ; probably it was originally Arwcll, as we have Arwerton on one side of it, and Arwich (Harwich) on the other, at which place the river flows into the North sea. Here those rascally pirates, the Danes, often landed, and spread along the shore in black array. It is recorded that about the year 880 a battle took place near the mouth of the Orwell, between the East Anglians under King Alfred and the Danes, who were A DESCRIPTION OP SUPPOLK. 303 all routed and slain and sixteen of their ships destroyed. The Danes renewed their attacks in the years 991 and 1000, when they sailed up the Orwell, damaged the walls, and plundered the town, then flew back to their ships. On another occasion they came and levied the enormous fine of 10,000 upon the cowardly inhabitants, who, instead of fighting, bought off the invaders. Ipswich dates from an early period in the history of the Saxon Octarchy, when it had a mint, and was fortified with walls and surrounded by a moat. Like other boroughs that Avere in the demesne of the Crown, it was held by the sovereign himself, or perhaps one-third of the revenue was granted to some earl, and the other two-thirds remained in the possession of the Crown. Sometimes the earl let the revenues of the borough to some other persons for a certain annual rent, but he never neglected his third. Some of the inhabitants had property outside of the town held by military service, and these were the only freemen properly so called. The rest were only serfs, and had no property at all ; they held what little they had at the will of their masters, and conse- quently had no will of their own, being thus happily saved the trouble of thinking for themselves, even in secular matters, as they were also in religious matters by the priests. An extract from Domesday Book, which was finished in 1086, will show that in '^the good old times " the inhabit- ants of Ipswich enjoyed these rare privileges to the fullest extent : " Half hundred of Gippeswid. This Roger Bigod keepeth in the King's hand. In the time of Edward the Confessor, Queen Edith, who was the daughter of Earl Goodwin, had two parts of the borough, and Earl Guert, her brother, had the third part, and the queen had a grange or demesne, to which belonged four caracutes or hides of land." It goes on further to state that " in the time of King Edward the Confessor, there were 538 burgesses who paid custom to the king, and they had forty acres of land. But now (108G) there are only 110 burgesses, who pay custom, and 100 poor burgesses who can pay no more than one penny per head to the king's geld. So upon the whole they have forty acres of land and 328 houses now empty ; and which in the time of King Edward scotted to the King's geld. Roger, the vice earl, let the whole for 10, to be paid at the feast of St. Michael ; afterwards he could not have their rent, and he abated sixty shillings of it; now it pays 37, and the earl always has the third })ai*t." It is not said whether the revenues were let to one or more persons, but probably to some of the principal burgesses of the town. Sometimes the king held certain boroughs himself, and appointed one or more officers, who were called prospositi, or provosts, and under the Norman kings these officers were called halUvi, or bailives or bailifEs. 804 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. The Rev. R. Canning, editor of the best edition of Kirby's " Suffolk Traveller," has drawn a great portion of his information from Mr. Bacon's manuscript entitled " The Annals of Ipswich,^' a large thick volume of 800 folio pages belonging to the Corporation. This document is the basis of every local history. Though of some antiquity, the town is not remarkable for any historical event before the Norman Conquest, when it was a small place, containing few inhabitants, compared to the present extent of the borough. Ipswich was a borough at the time of the Norman survey, and William I. granted it a free market. The burgesses were first incorporated by King John, who granted them extensive privileges. Since that time, the burgesses have received seventeen charters, of which the most important are those of Edward TV. and Charles II. ; and under the latter, the government was vested in two bailiffs, twelve portmen, twenty -four common councillors, with steward, recorder, town-clerk, two coroners, a treasurer, and inferior officers. The Corporation, like all others, came under the Municipal Act of the 5th and 6th William IV., and now consists of a Mayor, ten alder- men, and thirty councillors. Courts of Quarter Sessions are held for the trial of causes and of prisoners accused of crimes. The borough obtained the elective franchise in the 23rd Edward I., since which time it has continued to return two members to Parliament. The right of voting was formerly vested in the burgesses generally not receiving alms, about 1100, of whom not more than 400 were resident; but by the Act of the 2nd and 3rd William IV., the non-resident burgesses Avere disfranchised, and the privilege of voting was extended to the 10 householders in the borough. In the 26th Henry VIII. , Ipswich was made the seat of a suffragan bishop, who was consecrated by Archbishop Cranmer, and had a mansion in the parish of St. Petei", the remains of which are now used as a malthouse. During the prosecutions in the reign of Mary, several persons suffered martyrdom here for their religion. Among the monastic establishments formerly existing here, were a priory of Black Canons, of the Order of Augustine, originally founded in 1177 in Christ Church, which, being destroyed by fire, was re-founded soon after by John, Bishop of Norwich, for a prior and six canons ; and a priory of Black Canons, founded in the reign of Henry II. by Thomas Lacey and Alice his wife in honour of St. Peter and St. Paul. Cardinal Wolsey suppressed this, and erected on the site his college for a dean, twelve secular canons, eight clerks, and eight choristers, with a grammar school intended as a nursery for his college at Oxford. It was demolished after the Cardinel fell into disgrace, A monastery of Black Friars was founded in the reign of Henry III. in the parish of St. Mary at the Quay, of which convent the existing portions contain the most perfect relic of antiquity in the town. A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 305 There was a monastery of White Friars in the centre of the town, of which there are no remains ; and a house of Grey Friars, founded in the reign of Edward I. by Sir Robert Tybelot, of which some portion of the walls is remaining. The Free Grammar School is of uncertain foundation ; it was endowed by Henry VIII. with 38 13s. 4d. per annum from the fee farm rent of the borough, which endowment was confirmed by a charter of Elizabeth, and augmented with subsequent legacies. Queen Elizabeth visited the borough in 15C1, stayed four days, and sailed down the Orwell in great pomp, attended by the Corporation attired in their robes of office. George II. also visited the town on his way from Lowestoft, upon which occasion an address of congratulation was presented to him by the Corporation. George IV. also visited tho town when Regent. Full details of all these visits and other events are given in succeeding chapters. Ipswich comprises the large populous parishes of St. Clement, St. Helen, St. Mary at Elms, St. Mary at the Quay, St. Mary Stoke, St. Mary at the Tower, St. Matthew, St. Nicholas, St. Peter, St. Stephen, and within the limits of the borough the parish of Whitton with Thurlestou, and part of that of Westertield. The parish churches are all ancient handsome structures in various styles of architecture. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Methodists, Unitarians, the Society of Friends, also a Roman Cntholic Chapel and a Synagogue for the Jews. Under an Act passed in 181 the town was paved, and is lighted with gas, and a fund has been raised for its general improvement. There are a few handsome streets, and some narrow and irregularly built. The houses are generally well built, and many of them are ancient and decorated with carved work. The erection of some new ranges of build- ings and the construction of several new streets have greatly improved the appearance of the town. The inhabitants are well supplied with water from the river and from springs ; the air is salubrious and the temperature mild, the town being sheltered from the colder winds by hills on the north-east. The environs are pleasant and picturesque. The public buildings are the Town Hall, recently built at a cost of 15,000 ; the Corn Hall built in 1850 ; the Custom House built in 1845 ; the East Suffolk Hospital built in 1835, with additions in 18G9 ; the Museum ; the County Courts ; Temperance Hall, built in 1810 ; the Post Office ; a Public Hall, built by a Company, and large enough for 2000 people at public meetings, concerts, &c. The Market Place, constructed in 1811 at an expense of 10,000, comprises two spacious quadrangular mnges of buildings, supported ou D 306 HISTORY OF EASTEEN ENGLAND. columns of stone^ adjoining whicli is the enclosed cattle market. The market days are Tuesday and Saturday ; the former, for corn, is held in the new Corn Hall, a large building erected at an expense of 33,000. The fairs are on May 4th, called St. George's Fair, for cittle ; August 26th, for lambs ; and September 26th, for butter and cheese, which last has almost fallen into disuse. The articles manufactured in the town are chiefly engines and machines for agricultural purposes, boots and shoes, paper, pottery, and Roman cement, from all which arises a great wholesale trade The Old House, as it is called by the people, is now occupied by a bookseller, and a very picturesque old house it is, with its carved panels, pilasters, and brackets. The Museum is a model of its kind, for it was arranged with admirable method by Professor Henslow, whose portrait hangs above a case of plants which he gave to the town. There is also a painting of Thomas Clarkson, representing him as addressing an anti-slavery meeting. The Mechanics' Institute has a good library and reading-room, which is generally filled with readers. SCHOOLS AND INSTITUTIONS. The Free Grammar School, long held in the refectory of the Black Dominican Friary, is now held in a handsome edifice built in 1852 ; and has 57 yearly endowment, eight scholarships, and two ex- hibitions. The Blue Coat and Red Sleeve Schools are also endowed. The Industrial Training School, for penitent orphan females, was founded in 1857, and is supported by voluntary contributions. There are also national and denominational schools for elementary instruction. Tlie East Suffolk Hospital was founded in 1836, ac- commodates about forty indoor patients, and has usually about 200 outdoor patients. Two Lunatic Asylums, the Bellvue and the Grove, are in St. Helen's parish, with ten and eleven inmates. There are several Almshouses, a Shipwrecked Seaman's Society, and other charitable institutions. The total yearly amount, of endowed charities is 2459. The Museum of Natural History was built in 1847, and is supported by a corporation rate. The Public Library contains about 8000 volumes. The Mechanics Institution includes a large Lecture Hall, and has a library of about 7000 volumes. There are an Arboretum, Public Gardens, a Horticultural Society, a Young Men's Christian Association, and a Church of England Young Men's Society. The Working Men's College and Club is one of the most flourishing institutions of the kind in the Eastern Counties. A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK, 307 TRADE OF THE PORT. The Port of Ipswich is rapidly rising in importance, and has a very large foreign and coasting trade. The number of vessels above fifty tons burden registered at the port before 1842 was 119, and their aggregate tonnage 12,339. The coasting trade consists chiefly in corn and malt, and in timber for ship building, with which it supplies the dockyards. Very extensive improvements have been made to facilitate commercial cntei'prize. The river was fourteen feet deep up to the town, but it has been made deeper. The navigation is thus improved. Boats sail with every tide to Harwich, affording an aquatic excursion of twelve miles, with views of beautiful scenery on each side of the river. The Harbour includes quays and a wet dock, the latter formed in 1842, and although the Orwell dries far down at low water, vessels drawing sixteen feet can now ascend to the town and float in the wet dock. The vessels belonging to the port in 1864 were fifty-two small sailing vessels, with an aggregate of 1728 tons ; 127 large sailing vessels, of aggi'egately 13,923 tons; five small steam vessels, of aggregately 219 tons, and five large steam vessels, of aggregately 436 tons. The vessels which entered in 1863 were six British sailing vessels, of aggregately 1529 tons, from British colonies ; eighty -eight British sailing vessels, of aggregately 9864 tons, from foreign countries ; 114 foreign sailing vessels, of aggregately 14,096 tons, from foreign countries; 1022 sailing vessels, of aggi'egately 3440 tons, coastwise. The vessels which cleared in 1863 were forty - eight British sailing vessels, of aggregately 3921 tons, to foreign countries ; seventy-one foreign sailing vessels, of aggregately 6995 tons, to foreign countries ; one British steam vessel of 147 tons, to foreign countries; 852 sailing vessels, of aggregately 45,138 tons, coastwise; and sixteen steam vessels, of aggregately 3440 tons, coastwise. The amount of customs in 1862 was 19,726, it greatly rose in 1865, and was 24,371 in 1867. The present trade of the town is considerable, and belonging to the port there are 188 ships, representing an aggregate burden of 16,159 tons. There are four ship-building yards, belonging to Messrs. Cobboid, Bayley, Robertson, and Lambert. Malting and brewing is also can-ied on to a large extent. The imports are iron, coals, stone, timber, slates, and linseed, for the production of linseed oil and oil cake at the extensive works of Messrs. Barber and Mr. Mason. The Canal from Ipswich to Stowmarket, constructed in 1 793 at a cost of 26,380, affords great facihty for inland navigation. It has been con- structed in the old channel of the river Gipping from Ipswich to Stow- market. The Quay is accessible to ships of 200 tons burden. The 308 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. Custom House is a neat brick building. Ship-building is carried on to a considerable extent, and several of Morton's slips are in use. There are rope-walks for the supply of the shipping, and all other branches of industry required for the prosperity of the port. There are commodious public baths on the quay and some beautiful walks near the river Orwell. The Orwell Works of Messrs. Ransome and Co. are the most extensive iu the Eastern Counties for the building of engines and the production of machines and implements of husbandry. The works cover an area of eleven acres, placed on a most convenient position on the banks of the Orwell, bounded on the west by the dock. A tramway traverses the whole area. About 1,200 mechanics are employed here, exclusive of seventy clerks in the various offices, one of which is 100 feet in length, fitted with desks. The store-room for the models is also 100 feet in length. The drawing office contains a large staff of intelligent draughts- men, each design being registered for future reference. The smithy department is about 120 feet by 180 feet, and contains eighty forges, steam hammers, bending machines, and other machines for saving labor and improving the quality of the work. The foundry is an interesting part of the works. Castings can be made here up to thirty tons weight. The boiler shop is large, and always full of busy workers. The shop devoted to thrashing machines is 220 feet by 125 feet, and there are other shops for turning, planing, grinding, &c. ; also store-rooms for materials and implements. The steam engines employed amount to near 200 horse power, and the whole place seems alive with machinery in motion. Messrs. Ransome and Co. are manufacturers of improved iron ploughs in great variety, thrashing machines for horse and steam power, chaff cutters, turnip cutters, pulpers, corn mills, and every sort of implement. The works are widely known for the manufacture of patent railway fastenings, and for the patent solid chilled railway crossings, which have been proved to be the most durable. We must not omit to mention the workmen's hall, and a library of 3,000 volumes. The library is managed by a committee of foremen and workmen, and for a penny per week every workman has access to ample stores of literature. EMINENT MEN OF THE TOWN. Among distinguished natives of Ipswich, we may mention Cardinal Wolsey, who was born in the parish of St. Nicholas, and received the I'udiments of his education in the Grammar School of the town. Dr. William Butler, physician to James I. Dr. Laney, successively Bishop of Peterborough, Lincoln, and Ely. Ralph Browning, Bishop of Exeter, of which see he was deprived at the commencement of the Civil War. Clara Reeve, the authoress of the " Old English Baron/' whose father was for A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 309^ many years minister of St. Nicholas' parish. Mrs. Sarah Trimmer, who wrote books for the young. Thomas Green, author of " Extracts from the Diary of a Lover of Literature/' a very enlightened critic. Joshua Kirby Baldry was an eminent artist, who died in 1829. Ralph Brownrigg, D.D., was the son of a merchant in Ipswich and a learned divine, who died in 1659. William Butler, M.D,, one of the greatest physicians of his time, was born here about 1535 and died in 1018. Robert Clamp, a native of this town, died in 1808, aged thirty -nine. He was articled to Joshua Kirby Baldry, who was also a native of Ipswich, after which he practised as a portrait engraver in London, and many of his productions are to be seen in a work called '' Harding's Biographical Mirror," three volumes quarto. THE RIVER ORWELL. Excursionists in the summer months frequently take pleasant trips down the river Orwell to Harwich, or Felixstow, or Aldborough, or South- wold. The Orwell resembles more an arm of the sea than a river, winding with frequent bold curves between flat muddy banks, that rise with gi-een slopes to the wooded uplands in their rear. Grimston Hall, on the north side of the stream, was the birthplace of Thomas Cavendish, the second Englishman who sailed round the globe, made his name a terror to the Spaniards in the Pacific, and brought home plenty of gold. The Orwell is bordered the whole length on both sides by gently-rising grounds, adorned with seats of the gentry, woods, and parks stocked with deer and abounding in game ; lawns and well- cultivated lands reach down to the water's edge, embracing everything that can diversify a landscape. The stream has the appearance of a lake, and is for its extent one of the most beautiful salt rivers in England. It is mentioned by Chaucer in the prologue to his " Merchant's Tale," and by Drayton in his " Poly Olbion," and has been the theme of many a modern poet's muse. An unknown poet wrote the following sonnet on the Orwell :-* Orwell, delightful stream, whoso waters flow, Fringed with luxuriant beauty, to the main ! Amid thy woodlands taught, the muse would faiu On thee her gi-ateful eulogy bestow. .Smooth and majestic though thy cun'ent glide. And hustling commerce plough thy liquid plaiu, Tliougli gi-aced with loveliness thy verdant side, "Wliile all around enchantment seems to reign ; These glories still with filial love I taste. And feel their praise ; yet thou hast one beside, To me more sweet ; for on thy banks reside Friendship and tmth combined ; whose union chaste Has soothed my soul ; and these shall bloom subluue When fade the fleeting charms of nature and of time. 810 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. LANDGUARD FORT Stands upon the point of land which forms the south-east comer of the county, at the mouth of the Orwell, and has the appearance of an island at high water. It is situated on a gently-rising ground, so that from the walls there is a view in every direction, including one of the Northern Ocean bursting on our sight. Who has not felt the extraordinary sensa- tion experienced on first beholding the sea. James Bird asks Beats there a heart which hath not felt its core Ache with a Avild deliglit, Avhen first the roar Of ocean's spirit met the startled ear ? Beats there a heart so languid and so' drear, That hath not felt tlie lightning of the blood Flash vivid joy when first the rolling flood Met the charmed eye, with all its restless strife At once the wonder and the type of life 1 The first fort was built at the commencement of the reign of Chai'les I., for its chapel was consecrated by the Bishop of Norwich, September 7th, 1628. It was built chiefly as a defence against the Dutch, who often threatened our eastern coast. The old fort had four bastions, with fifteen large guns in each, and stood a little to the north of the present erection, on the spot which is now the burial-place for the garrison. Near this spot the Dutch landed 3,000 men in the year 1667, and marching under cover of some sand hills, lodged themselves within musket shot on two sides of the fort. After an hour's incessant firing with their small arms, they were put to flight by the discharge of two or three guns from a small galiot, which fired upon the shingle and scattered the pebbles so destructively as to throw the foreign invaders into complete confusion. The old fort was demolished, and the present one erected in its stead, in 1718; but the soil being unfavourable, the foundations were not laid without great labour and expense. It is built of dark red brick, with bastions, curtain, inner and outer defences, a ditch and magazines, and the usual appurtenances of a military post. The entrance to the fort is by a drawbridge. Over the gateway is the chapel. On the right are apart- ments for the governor, and facing the gate are the barracks for the soldiers, who generally consist of a detachment of two companies. The fort completely commands the entrance into the harbour, which, though between two and three miles over at high water, is too shallow to admit ships of any great burthen, except by a narrow and deep channel on the Suffolk side. According to tradition, the opening of the two rivers Orwell and Stour was anciently on the north side of the fort, through Walton marshes, and from the soil and situation of Langer common and Langer marshes, it is A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 311 likely that they may have been covered by the sea ; but if so, it must have been at a very early period, for frequent mention is made in the court rolls of tho manor of Walton of Langer Common in Felixtow, upwards of two hundi'ed years before any fort was built there. WALTON (ST. MARY), A parish situated at the south-east corner of the county, ten miles south- east-by-east of Ipswich. It comprises about 1,200 acres of flat land, generally a rich loam. There is no doubt of this place having been a Roman station, from the variety of Roman urns, coins, rings, &c., found here. The coins found are of the Vespasian and Antonine families, of Severus and his successors, to Gordian III., and from Gallienus to Arcadius and Honorius. Constantine the Great, it is thought, may have established a station here when he withdrew his legions from the frontier towns in the east of Britain, and built forts to supply their places. The following description of the Roman walls appears in the minutes of the Antiquarian Society in 1722 : " Some distance east of Walton are the ruins of a Roman wall, situate on the ridge of a cliff near the sea, between Landguard fort and the Woodbridge river or Bawdsey haven. It is one hundred yards long, five feet high above ground, twelve broad at each end, turned with an angle ; it is composed of pebbles and Roman brick in three courses ; all round footsteps of buildings and several largo pieces of wall, cast down upon the strand by the sea undermining the cliff, all which have Roman brick. At low-water mark very much of the like is visible at some distance in the sea. There are two entire pillars with balls. The cliff is one hundred feet high." So great have been the enci'oachments of the sea on this part of the coast within the present century, that no remains of this wall now exist except a few fragments, which may be seen above the waves at low water. It is asserted that some miles out at sea, at a place well-known to mariners, some fragments of walls have been broken off, being formed of materials cemented together, and hardened by the water. It is there- fore supposed that the sea has encroached for many miles on this shore ; and it is stated in the eleventh volume of the Archceologia that " there was formerly a town called Orwell, which extended into the sea to the place now called the West Rocks." Walton Castle was a strong fortress in the Norman period, when Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, was lord of the manor and of the ancient castle. In consequence of this earl and several of the barons having in 1173 taken part with the sons of Henry II. in their unnatural contest with their father, that monarch in 1176 caused all the castles whose owners had acted against him in this rebellion to be razed to the ground, including 312 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAJID. those at Walton and Ipswich. So effectual was the demolition of Walton Castle, that the stones were carried into all parts of FeUxstow and Trinity, and footpaths raised with them on both sides of the road. The living of Walton is a discharged vicarage endowed with the rectorial tithes, with that of Felixtow annexed. A cell of Benedictine monks, subordinate to the monastery of Rochester, was founded here in tlie reign of William II., and continued till 1528, when it was given to Cardinal Wolsey towards the endowment of his intended colleges. The Baptists have a chapel here. Walton and Felixstow are now distinct parishes, but formerly Felixstow was included in Walton, and so late as the reign of Henry VIII. Cardinal Wolsey was said to have had an annual income from the church of Felix- stow in Walton. Walton is a neat and remarkably-pleasant village, con- taining many good houses, several of which are desirable places of residence, enjoying beautiful prospects of the surrounding country with an extensive view of the North Sea. FELIXSTOW Is a watering place situated at the foot of a range of bold heights which are found to be advantageous because of the look-out and the means they afford for alternations of temperature. Here it was that Felix, a Burgundian monk, landed about the year 654, the first Christian missionary and bishop to the East Angles, and from him the place derives its name. The memory of the good bishop will be perpetuated here in the name of the village. He founded here a religious house called the Priory of St. Felix, but all that remains of it is a piece of land called " The Old Abbey Close,^^ and a fenny close called " The Old Abbey Pond." A great quantity of a peculiar herb is found in these pastures, which at a certain time of the year taints the cream and butter made from the milk of the cows which have fed upon it with the flavour of onions. It is extremely difficult to eradicate, and is detested by the peasantry, who call it " monk^s grass." Roger Bigod, first Earl of Norfolk, had granted to him after the Conquest 176 manors in Norfolk, and 117 lordships in Suffolk. Upon one of these he founded his priory of Benedictine monks, and endowed it with the manor of the ancient priory of Felixstow, with the Churches of Walton and Felixstow, and with the tithes and other appurtenances in Walton. About the year 1105, the earl gave it as a cell to the Monastery of St. Andrew at Rochester. This gift was confirmed by King William, and the monks were ever after called " The Monks of Rochester." The site of this priory, with the great tithes of Walton and Felixstow, were given to Cardinal Wolsey in the 26th Henry YIII.; but long after his fall. A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 313 in the nineteenth year of Queen Elizabeth, they were granted to Thomas Seckford, her Master of Requests, who built the celebrated almshouses at Woodbridge. The Church of Felixstow must be a very ancient edifice, bat we have no record of the date of its erection. It is in a very dilapidated state ; the steeple is nearly in ruins ; the rest of the edifice has been repaired. At the Point there are signs of the mvages of the sea, the cliff is much worn, and presents a curious variety of colour reddish-yellow at the top, darkening as it descends into brown and black, with horizontal streaks of yellow and buff. By searching along the base of the cliff, people have found fossil shells and coprolites which had been washed out of the hardened clay. Professor Henslow first pointed out the fertilising properties of these coprolites, which poor folks now collect for sale. Geologists say that these curious things are animal deposits of the antediluvian ages, fossilised into the appearance and form of oblong pebbles. They are found in great beds in other parts of Suffolk. A rugged, sandy green, and the salt marsh, from which unpleasant smells arise in the evening, extend along the front of the village for nearly half its length. If the tourist ascends the hill to the Martello tower, he will have a broad view all across Langer Common to Landguard Fort, gi-een marsh and pale dry sand, and out to the tower on the Naze. The inland prospect is quite rural, with many old farmhouses, and for many miles in that direction the land is as fertile as any in Suffolk. There are the Sandlings acres which produce wonderful crops of carrots. A great attraction here is the abundance of excellent water supplied by springs gushing from the cliffs. The beach is firm smooth sand, good for walkers or bathers. We may ramble on until the view opens of the bay and estuary of the river Deben. Beyond appear the lighthouses of Orfordness, standing apparently far out at sea. Bernard Barton, the Suffolk poet, answers an enquiry for a beautiful abiding place in these lines : On that shore where the watei-s of Orwell and Deben Join the dark, heaving ocean, that spot may be found : A scene which recalls the lost beauties of Eden, And which Fancy might hail as her own fairy ground. That shore might be a paradise for the poet j but few ordinary people would like to live in so lonely a place. ALDBORO'UGH OR ALDEBURQH (ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL), A seaport and parish (formerly a representative borough and market town), having separate jurisdiction, in the union and locally in the Hundred of Plomesgate, southern division of the county of Suffolk, twenty-five miles 314 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. (north-east-by-east) from Ipswich, and ninety -four (north-east) from Lon- don. This place takes its name from its situation on the river Aide, and was formerly of very considerable extent and importance, possessing many valuable privileges. Owing to the encroachments of the sea (which within the last centuiy has destroyed the Market-place, with an entire street and a great number of houses), it has been reduced to an inconsiderable town ; but from the salubrity of the air and the convenience of the shore for sea-bathing, it has lately become a place of fashionable resort during the summer. Baths for the accommodation of visitors have been erected, and machines are in attendance on the beach. The town is situated in a pleasant vale, rather below the level of high water mark, having the river Aide on the north, and on the south the navigable river Ore, which flows from Orford to this place ; it is sheltered by a steep hill, the extended summit of which forms a magnificent terrace, affording a delightful promenade and a delightfully-diversified prospect, embracing an extensive view of the North Sea. The strand, to which the descent from the town is gradual, consists of firm sand, favourable for bathing and walking. At the southern extremity of the main street, which is nearly a mile in length, are a battery, on which during the late war two eighteen-pounders were mounted ; another of five guns, and a Martello tower for the protection of the coast. The old houses are in general ill-constructed, but those erected for families during the season, or for the accommodation of visitors, are well-built and respectable ; among these is an elegant marine villa, in the Italian style, built by the late Leveson Vernon, Esq. There is a Public Subscription Library, situated on the Heads ; a neat and commodious Theatre is open for a few weeks during the season ; and assemblies are held occasionally at the principal inns. The trade of the port consists chiefly in the exportation of corn, and the importation of coal and timber, in which forty-six vessels, averaging fifty-two tons burden, are employed. The Custom-house is a neat and convenient building near the Quay ; and the harbour, which is safe and commodious, attracts a number of seafaring people and fishermen, by whom the town is principally inhabited. Many of these are Trinity House pilots, who form themselves into small associations, and purchase swift-sailing cutters, in which they traverse the North Sea, frequently approaching the coast of Norway, in search of vessels requiring assistance. The principal employ- ment of the other inhabitants consists in the taking and drying of herrings and sprats, the latter of which are found here in profusion, and exported to Holland ; soles and lobsters of superior flavour are taken also in abundance. The market, formerly on Wednesdays and Saturdays, has been discontinued; the fairs are held on March 1st and May 3rd. Aldborough claims to be a borough by prescription. The earliest charter A DE8CEIPTI0N OP SUFFOLK. 315 extant was granted by Henry VIII. in 1529, since which it has received several others, the last and governing charter being granted by Charles I. in 1637. The oflBicers of the corporation are two bailiffs, ten capital and twenty- four inferior burgesses, a recorder, town clerk, two chamberlains, two sergeants-at-mace, and others. The bailiffs and capital burgesses compose the council, which is the governing body ; the former are chosen from amongst the latter on September 8th, and also act as coroners; the capital burgesses are elected for life from among the^ inferior burgesses, by the common council, who also choose the inferior burgesses, recorder, and town clerk. The bailiffs, the late bailiffs, and the recorder, are justices of the peace for the borough, which is co-extensive with the parish. They have power to hold a court of general sessions for the trial of misdemeanours, which has not been held since 1822 ;j also a court of record for pleas to the amount of 30, and a court of pie poudre, both of which have long been obsolete. The revenue of the corporation arises principally from the proceeds of the town marshes, comprising 188 acres of land, used for depasturing cattle ; they were purchased in 1610, and are vested in trustees. The Town Hall is an ancient building of timber, under which is the common Gaol, consisting of a single cell, for the confinement of disorderly persons ; the borough magistrates generally commit to the County Gaol. The borough first exercised the elective franchise in the thirteenth of Elizabeth, from which time, until its disfranchisement by the Reform Act in the second of William IV., it returned two members to Parliament. The right of election was vested in the bailiffs and burgesses not receiving alms ; the bailiffs were the returning ofiicers. The parish comprises, by measurement, 1,150 acres ; it contains a small portion of good arable land, but it chiefly consists of heath and of land laid out in sheep walks. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the King*s books at 33 6s. 8d. ; present net income, 220; it is in the patronage of F. J. V. Wentworth, Esq. There is a manor of thirteen acres attached to the vicarage. The Church is an ancient structure of flint and freestone, standing on the summit of a hill at the northern extremity of the town, with a square embattled tower, surmounted with a turret, affording an excellent landmark for mariners. There are places of worship for Particular Baptists, Independents, and Wesley ans. A National School is supported by subscription, and the rental of a quay or wharf on the river Ore is appUcable to the purposes of education. There is also a fund of 5 per annum for apprenticing poor children, payable out of the town marsh, the produce of a benefaction of 100 by Captain William Lawes. 316 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. Near the Moot Hall stood the cottage in which Crabbe the poet was born, but it fell down about twenty-five years ago by dint of wind and weather. Judging, however, from engravings, it was like those gloomy little buildings which still remain. When we last visited the town, in answer to our inquiries, nobody could say any thing about the birthplace of the poet, and few knew that he ever lived in the place. We entered the old Church in which the poet served his first curacy, and saw a monument erected to his memory on the north side of the chancel, where his bust, with its ample brow and thoughtful expression, showed that he was no ordinary man. We read the inscription on the pedestal : ''To the memory of George Crabbe, the poet of nature and truth, this monument is erected by those who are desirous to record their admiration of his genius in the place of his birth." Thus it appears that the poet was not quite forgotten in his native place, though while he lived he obtained little honor or profit in his own county. DUNWICH. The ancient Sitomagus of the Romans was a city supposed to have been inhabited by the Sitones, a Belgic tribe, but where the city was situated has not been decided by antiquaries. Some suppose it to have stood on the former site of Dunwich, now covered by the sea. Others suppose it to have been situated near Thetford, on the Suffolk side of that town. The Roman legions, leaving the territory of the Trinobantes about A.D. 58, had to fight their way through the country of the Iceni, and they appear to have marched from south to north along the coast through Suffolk, building camps in their progress near Walton, Dunwich, and Lowestoft. Sitomagus, therefore, is more likely to have been situated near the coast than so far inland as Thetford. The Roman vessels which followed the march of the legions along the coast could easily bring supplies of provisions or arms to a place on the coast for the soldiers, who no doubt had a station where the ancient city formerly stood. Dunwich, at a very early period, was the capital of the Iceni, as it certainly was in the sixth century, and the seat of government. We may easily believe that so important a place was the Sitomagus of the Romans that there the native kings resided, and that there King Prastagus with his Queen Boadicea held their court. Nearly all the towns in East Anglia appear to have been of Anglo-Saxon origin, and Dunwich is perhaps the most ancient. It was the see of a bishop and an important commercial city. It is certain that in the reign of Sigebert King of East Anglia, Felix of Burgundy, the bishop, fixed his episcopal see at Dunwich, in the year 630, and there his successors A DESCKIPtiON OF SUFFOLK. 317 continued for 200 years. When a survey was taken in the reign of Edward the Confessor of all the lands in the kingdom, Dunwich contained two curves of land, but one of these was swallowed up by the sea before the Norman Conquest. In the reign of William I. there was an exten- sive forest near Dunwich, and Gardner in his memorials of that ancient city tells us that he had seen some manuscripts which affirmed that the Conqueror " gave leave to the Rouses of Badingham to hunt and hawk in his forest at Dunwich. The very ancient flimily of Le Rus, de Rus or De Rous, were established in Suffolk at an early period. J. Bird, the Suffolk poet, thus describes the place : Time was Avhen Dunwich forest spread afor, Where Neptuue now rides proudly in his car, AVhcre lofty oaks long reared their heads on high, Howled at the stonns that SAvept in grandeur by, Tuned their glad pagans to the gentler sway Of Avinds that whispered from the sunny bay, While the dells echoed to the bugle's sound, And tlie loud cheering of the eager hound ; While shouts arose from Avooded hill and plain From braA^e de Eons and from his gallant ti-aiu, Voices of gentle knights and damsels fiir, Who watclied their liaAvks sAvift darting through the air To sAvoop the toAvering heron in her flight, Tliat soared so high the disappointed sight, Rested in clouds, through AAdiich the quarry ttcAV, While the bold falcon hasted to pursue, And rushing on as lightning sure and fleet. Struck doAA^n the heron at his lady's feet. When the Domesday survey was taken, Dunwich contained eleven bordarie, twenty-four freemen, each holding forty acres of land, 136 burgesses, 178 poor, and three churches. In the reign of Henry II. "it became the demesne of the Crown, and was a town of good note, abound- ing Avith much riches and sundry kinds of merchandizes." Tlie annual fee farm rent then paid by it Avas 120 13s. 4d. and 24,000 herrings. This was probably the period of its greatest prosperity before the old town was swallowed up by the sea. Under Richai'd I., DunAvich was fined 1,000 marks, IpsAvich 200, and Yarmouth 200, for unlawfully supplying the King's enemies with corn. These sums may convey some idea of the relative importance of the towns at the time. King John, in the first year of his reign, granted a charter to Dunwich, by which its inhabitants Avere empowered, among other things, to marry their sons and daughters as they pleased, and also to give, sell, or dispose of their property in the town as they thought fit. This charter, dated at Gold Cliff, 29th of June, cost them 300 marks, besides ten falcons and five ger-falcons. 318 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. Dunwich was then a large city, with many roads, streets, public buildings, and several churches and chapels, dedicated to St. Leonard, St. Martin, St. Nicholas, St. Francis, St. Catherine, and St. John the Baptist. The Town Hall was a large building, and the port was crowded with shipping. The to-vvn stood on a hill, composed of loam and sand of a loose texture, on a coast without rocks, so that it is not surprising that the houses should be undermined by the sea. A wood, called the King^s Forest, extended several miles south-east of the town, but it has been for many ages covered by the waves. In 1347, the port of Dunwich sent six ships, with 102 mariners, to assist in the siege of Calais; but during the war with France, most of the ships were lost, together with the lives of 500 men, and goods to the value of 1000. This heavy loss was nothing to the destruc- tion of the town, caused by storms at sea occurring so frequently that the place seemed destined to fall. At different times, after 1286, nearly all its churches and public buildings were swept away by the waves. In the reign of Edward I., after the town of Dunwich had declined considerably, it had eleven ships of war, sixteen fair ships, twenty barques or vessels trading to the North Sea, Iceland, &c., and twenty-four small boats for the home fishery. In the twenty-fourth year of the same reign, the men of Dunwich built at their own cost, and equipped for the defenco of the realm, eleven ships of war, most of which carried seventy men each. Four of these vessels, with their artillery worth 200, were taken and destroyed by the enemy, while on service off the coast of France. On the night of January 1st, 1286, the town of Dunwich suffered considerable damage from the violence of the winds and waves during a storm at sea, by which several churches were overthrown and destroyed in several places. In the first year of Edward III. the old port was rendered entirely useless ; and before the twenty -third of the same reign great part of the town, containing more than 400 houses which paid rent to the fee farm, had fallen a prey to the waves. After this the Church of St. Leonard was overthrown, and in the course of the same century two other churches were destroyed. In 1540 the Church of St. John Baptist was demolished, and before 1600 the Chapels of St. Anthony, St. Francis, and St. Catherine, with the Southgate and Goldengate, were swallowed up, so that not a quarter of the town was left standing. In the reign of Charles I. the Temple buildings yielded to the irresistible force of the waves, and the sea reached to the Market-place in 1677, when the towns- men sold the materials of the Cross. In 1715 the Jail was absorbed, and in 1729 the furthest bounds of St. Peter's Churchyard were washed away. M A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 31^ the Church itself having been previously swallowed up. The Town Hall and all the public buildings soon after shared the same fate. James Bird thus describes the desolation of the ancient city "Where tlic louc cliff upreare its rugged head, Wliere frowns the ruin o'er the silent dead ; Wlicre sweeps the billow ou the lonely shore, Wlicre once the mighty lived, but live no more ; "NVliere proudly frowned the convent's mossy wall, Where rose the gothic tower, the stately halls ; "Where bards proclaimed and wamors shared the feast, "Where ruled tlie baron and where knelt tlie priest ; Where stood tlie city in its pride tis gone !Mocked at Ijy crumbling pile and mouldering stone. And shapeless masses, Avliicli the reckless power Of time hath hvu'led from ruined arch and tower. O'er the lone spot, where shrines and pillared halls Once gorgeous shone, the clammy lizard ci-aAvls ; O'er the lone sjiot where yawned the guarded fosse, Creeps the wild bramble and the spreading moss. Oh ! time hatli laid that lordly city's brow In wliich the mighty dwelt : wlierc dwell they now ? SOUTHWOLD (ST. EDMUND^s), A sea-port, incorporated market town, and parish, having separate juris- diction, in the Union and Hundred of Blythiug, East Division of the county of Suflblk, thirty-six miles (north-east) from Ipswich, and 104 (north-east) from London. Tho ancient names of this place were Suwald, Suwalda, Sudholda, and Southwood, probably derived from an adjacent wood, the western confines still retaining the appellation of Wood's-end Marshes and Wood's-end Creek. It is supposed that the Danes, about the year 1010, had a forti- fied port here, but authentic information reaches us no further back than to 1202, Avhen the first chapel was built by the prior and monks of Thetford, in right of their cell at Wangford. The to^vns appear to have enjoyed considerable prosperity for about a centuiy and a-half previous to the year 1G59, when a dreadful conflagration took place, which in a few hours consumed the Town Hall and nearly every public building, except the Church, doing damage to the aijiount of more than 40,000. Another remarkable event was the memorable sea-fight between the English, under the command of the Duke of York, and the Dutch, under Admiral de Ruyter, which took place in Sole Bay to the east of the town, on tho 26th of May, 1072, in which, though the English proved victorious, they lost many brave iind distinguished officers, among whom was the Earl of Sandwich. The haven, which is formed by the mouth of the river Blyth, was 320 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. originally at Daiiwich, but the iiicursious of the sea on that ancient city having in the early part of the fourteenth century rendered the haven no longer navigable, it was cut in the year 1590 near to its present situation ; in the year 1717 it became choked up with sand, and was cleared out by Act of Parliament. A pier was erected on the north side in 1 749, and in 1 750 the Society of the " Free British Fishery " were incorporated, having established a branch of their undertaking at this port ; in 1 752 a south pier was added to complete the works ; by the same Act of Parlia- ment duties were also imposed on imports and exports. The town is pleasantly situated on a hill overlooking the North Sea, and is rendered peninsula by the sea and a creek, called the Buss Creek, which runs into the river Blyth, over which is a bridge, anciently called " Myght's," and formerly a drawbridge leading into the town ; it consists principally of one paved street. The houses are mostly well built and of modern appearance, and the inhabitants are well supplied with water. The most considerable residences, however, are on elevated sites, commanding fine sea views, and especially on the clifis, which are covered with all kinds of lodging houses for the accommodation of visitors, especially those resorting hither for sea-bathing, for which Southwold, from the nature of its situation and the convenience of the beach, is admii'ably adapted. There are hot and cold baths, and a good promenade ; also a reading-room called the Casino, on the Gun Hill, with an assembly-room. On St. Edmund^s, commonly called Gun Hill, are six eighteen-pounders, presented by the Duke of Cumberland, who landed here from the Netherlands October 17th, 1745. To counteract the encroachments of the sea, a breakwater has been made under Gun Hill cliff, extending upwards of oOO yards. The trade of the town consists in the home fishery, which is principally for soles, and employs several small boats; in the curing and reddening of herrings and sprats, in malting, and in the preparation and exportation of salts, for which there is a manufactory. The chief imports are coal, rock salt, firs and deals, culm, iron, stone, slate, glass, earthenware, chalk, oats, &c. ; and the exports wheat, barley, malt, oak, timber, bark, wool, refined salt, and fish. The last Harbour Act received the royal assent 29th May, 1830, since which the scale of duties has been somewhat reduced. The entrance into the haven is on the south side of the town ; the superintendence of it is vested in Commissioners, who, though they have considerably improved the navigation within the harbour, find great difficulty in keeping it open, on account of the accumulation of sand about the bar. The amount of duties paid at the custom-house in 1840 was 258 ; the number of vessels which entered the port in the same year was 218, and of those which cleared, 104. The river Blyth was made navigable to Halesworth, A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 321 nine miles distant, under an Act passed in 1757. The market is held on Thnrsday, and a fair is held on Trinity Monday. The first charter of incorporation was granted by Henry VII. in 1490, and confirmed, with extended privileges, by Henry VIII. and snbsequent sovereigns. The Corporation now consists of a Mayor, four Aldermen, and twelve Councillors, under the Act of 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 70. The Mayor and late Mayor are justices of the peace, and, by a commission granted in 1841, the number of magistrates is four. The Guildhall was erected by the Corporation at a cost of 800, and the old Gaol having been taken down, a new one was built in the year 1819, which is now a National School. The parish comprises 646a. 3r. 7i'. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to Roydon ; patron. Earl of Sti'ad- broke ; the benefice is endowed with the great and small tithes, which have been commuted for a rent-charge of 68, and its value, including a good residence, is estimated at about 136 per annum. Tlie Church, a very elegant structure, was built about 1460, in the later English style, with a large and lofty tower, surmounted by a spire, and constructed of freestone, intermixed with flint of various colours. At each angle of the east end of the chancel is a low hexagonal embattled tower, decorated with crosses ; the south porch is very elegant, and above the clerestoiy roof is a light open lantern ; the ceiling was, in former times, handsomely painted, and the interior very richly ornamented, as appears by the canned work of the rood loft, sci-een, and seats of the magistrates. The gallery was enlarged in 183(). On the south side of the churchyard are three gravestones in memory of Thomas Gardner, the historian of Dunwich and Southwold, and his two wives and daughter, on which are some singular inscriptions. The Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans have each a place of woi'ship ; and there are a National School for boys and girls, and a Girls' School on the British and Foreign system. The Corporation have under their control for the building and maintenance of bridges, sea-walls, &c., and of the Town Hall, for the payment of the salaries of the Corpora- tion officers, and for general purposes of improvement, the following estates, viz., the manorial rights of Southwold, gi-anted by Henry VII. in the fifth year of his reign ; an estate in Southwold, consisting of about 300 acres, the principal part of which was devised by William Godcll in 1509; a windmill, a house, and several shops in the town, now severally let to tenants at rack-rents ; and an undivided moiety of twenty acres of land at Roydon, taken in exchange from Sir Thomas Gooch, Bart., in lieu of a parcel of land in Benacre, purchased by the Corporation about the year 1642. John Saver, in 1816, bequeathed 200 four per cent, consols, towards the support of the Burgh School ; but that institution having been relinquished, the dividends are now X o22 HISTOKY OF EA8TBM ENGIlAND. applied, according to the will of the donor, to the relief of widows of Trinity pilots and masters of vessels belonging to the port. A dispensary and lying-in institntion are supported by subscription, and a friendly society for the relief of shipwrecked fishermen was established in 1840. A lecture hall was erected in 1865, and is used by the Oddfellows for their meetings. On a hill called Eye Cliff, at a small distance from the town, are vestiges of ancient encampments, and in many parts of circular tents, now called fairy hills, most probably of Danish origin. Numerous coins of Roman Emperors and British Kings have been found in the immediate vicinity, and fossil remains of the elephant and mammoth have been discovered in the cliffs, which are rich in agates, cornelians, and other valuable stones. Suffolk crag and gravel ensure a dry soil for visitors who come here for a sea-side sojourn. From St, Edmund's Hill they may pace along Gun Hill and the Ladies' Walk, and obtain views over land and sea, or lounge at the coastguard station, Avhere a Manby's apparatus is kept in good order, and was used in 1859 with such success that forty-six lives were saved. Proceeding northwards along the beach, beside the bright green sea, wo come to Eastou Broad ; and a little further on there is Covehithe Broad, all but choked up with reeds, wherein flocks of little birds find shelter. Here a channel crosses the beach, and a story is told of a town swept away. Then we ascend a cliff, which stretching seawards forms Covehithe Ness. Then we come to a common, where it is delightful Avalking between the clumps of furze while a lively breeze sets in from the sea. Next we reach Kessingland, a village amid fields, Avith its church tower backed by trees. A little further on Ave arrive at Pakefield, a large village on the cliff, with a few good houses and the usual cottages and lumber of a place of fishermen. Now there are signs that we have come to a region of shal- lows, for the blue sea shows large brown patches where the sands lie near the surface. Hereabouts is " Abraham's bosom," as sailors call a portion of the deep Avater Avliich is protected by the sandbanks from the north and west. Here Ave descend to the beach, and find firm footing in the parish of Kirkley, Avhicli noAv forms part of the ncAV toAvn of Lowestoft. LOWESTOFT (ST. MAKGAREt), A sea-port, market town, and parish in the Incorporation and Hundred of Mutford and Lotliingland, Eastern Division of the County of Suffolk, forty-four miles (north-east by north) from Ipswich, and 115 (north-east by north) from London. The name of this toAvn is derived from LoAV-toft, a market formerly held beneath the cliffs. The great plague which devastated the continent A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 32o of Europe in 1349 raged here with such fury, that not more than one- tenth of the inhabitants escaped the contagion ; and in 1547 and 1579 the same malady again prevailed. It suffered severely from fire in 1605, and duiing the usurpatioft of Cromwell it was exposed to-heavy exactions from its attachment to the royal cause. Cromwell entered the town at the head of 1000 cavalry in 1043, and seizing several persons, sent them prisoners to Cambridge. Two sanguinary engagements took place off the coast during the war with the Dutch in 1665 and 1666, and two of the British Admirals on those occasions were natives of Lowestoft. In consequence of the numerous wrecks, two lighthouses were erected by the Trinity House, one of which was built on the cliff in 1676, and the other on the beach beneath. By steering in such a direction as to make the upper and lower lighthouses coincide, vessels are guided to a channel of a quarter of a mile in breadth, between the Holme and Barnard sands. A lifeboat, which is maintained by voluntary contributions, has been stationed here for some years, and has been instrumental in preserving the lives of numerous shipwrecked mariners. There were fonnerly forts at the north and south ends of the beach and at the Ness. The town is situated on a lofty cliff, bordering on the North Sea, and consists prin- cipally of one street, nearly a mile in length, which is well paved, and of several small ones which diverge from it obliquely, the whole being well lighted with gas. The houses, for the most part of brick, are neat and modern, and the inhabitants are well supplied with water. The air is salubrious, especially for invalids, and the shore, gradually descending to the sea and having a firm bottom, is commodious for bathing. There are a theatre, a spacious assembly-room, and a subscription reading-room and libraiy. A bathing-house, fitted up with hot and cold water baths, was erected by subscription in 1824, and is a handsome building of pebble stones, with rusticated angles, situated at the south end of the High Street, on the beach. The trade principally arises from the mackerel and herring fishery, in which about eighty boats, of fi'om forty to fifty tons burden each, are engaged, employing about 800 men. Large quantities of mackerel are sent to London; and about 40,000 barrels of herrings, many of which are forwarded to the metropolis and other home markets, and to Italy, are cured and smoked in houses at the base of the cliff, extending the whole length of the town. There are breweries and rope and twine manufactories of considerable extent, and shipbuilding is carried on. Agreeably with the provisions of an Act of Parliament obtained in 1827, for forming a navigable communication between Lowestoft and Norwich, a cut was made from the sea to Lake Lothing, near the town, which forms a harbour capable of receiving vessels of about 200 tons 324 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. burden, opened by the admission of the sea on the 18th of May, 1831. The market is on Wednesday, for grain and provisions ; and toy fairs are held on May 12th and October 10th. The county magistrates hold petty sessions weekly at this place, and manorial courts occasionally take place. The town having been part of the ancient demesnes of the Crown, the inhabitants are exempted from serving on juries out of it. There is a commodious town hall, and a market cross. The parish comprises by admeasurement 1390 acres. The living is a discharged vicarage, endowed with the rectorial tithes, and valued in the King's books at 10 Is. O^d.; patron, the Bishop of Norwich. The tithes have been commuted for a rentcharge of 351 ; and the glebe comprises four and a-half acres, to which there is a house. The church is a large and handsome structure, in the later English style, with a tower surmounted with a wooden spire covered with lead, and a south porch, and contains a fine east window of stained glass, a large brass eagle, formerly used as a reading desk, and a very ancient and handsome font. A chapel of ease was re-built by subscription in 1698, near the centre of the town, but has been used for parochial purposes since the erection of a new chapel. From the increase in the population, and the inconvenient distance of the parish church, a new church was erected by subscription in 1833 ; it is a handsome structure in the early English style, containing 1263 sit- tings, of which 939 are free. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans. A free school was founded and endowed in 1570 by Thomas Arnot, with 16 per annum. Another school, on the east side of the High Street, was founded and endowed in 1735 by Mr. John Wilde ; the bequests now produce 121 per annum, and the surplus, with other parish property, amoimting in the aggi'egate to 271, is applied to the augmentation of the salary of the master of Amot's school and other charitable uses. There are also schools supported chiefly by the Vicar, and various charitable bequests and institutions for the poor, among which are a fisherman's hospital, a neat building below the cliff, erected in 1838 for six aged masters of fishing vessels; and a dispensing infirmary, built in 1840. In the centre of the High Street are some vestiges of a religious house, consisting of a curious arch and cellars with groined arches, evidently part of an ancient crypt. The surrounding cliffs abound with organic remains, such as the bones and teeth of the mammoth, the horns and bones of the elk, with Cormia ammoivis and shells and fossils of various kinds. The celebrated William Whiston, Professor of Mathe- matics at Cambridge, and Mr. Potter, the learned translator of -^schylus and Euripides, were vicars of the parish ; as was also, for the space of fifty-one years, John Tanner, brother of Bishop Tanner, author of the A DESCBU'riON OE SUFFOLK. 32o ^'Notitia Monastica." He greatly embellished the church, and purchased the impropriate tithes for the benefit of his successors in the benefice. Until within twenty years, Lowestoft was a mere fishing village, boast- ing of little but agreeable situation and singular salubnty, frequented almost wholly by persons whose views were directed rather to piscatorial purchases than to picturesque position, and who were much more learned in the connection between bloaters and Billingsgate than on mural monu- ments or mediaoval memorabilia. In time, however, the great natural advantages of the place attracted public attention, and the harbour was formed under the auspices of Mr. Oubitt. This harbour and navigation afterwards fell into the hands of Government, of whom it was purchased by a private company in 1842; and after efiecting some improvements, and retaining possession till October, 1844, they sold the property to Sir S. M. Peto, to whom was reserved the completion of the undertaking. To him, also, is owing the rise of an almost entire new town, with a rapidity and completeness of finish and maturity of aspect perfectly marvellous, its streets being laid out in the most advantageous manner and in strict accordance with the modern provisions for securing the sanitary condition of the residents ; provided with baths, and all the minutia) of a watering- place ; claiming precedence for its harbour, as being the best on the entire eastern coast ; and the whole connected by raihvay with the metropolis, with which it is brought within the compass of a five hours' journey. Wlien the evidence of the discerimient and liberality of Sir S. M. Peto began to be fully apparent, Lowestoft became annually the rendezvous of the f'Jlte of the Eastern Counties, and is, moreover, rapidly approximating, in metropolitan estimation, to Brighton, and other fashionable marine resorts in the same latitude ; one great point being its freshness and novelty, and the absence of those cockneyisms which have converted its more ancient brethren in the south into mere continuations of suburban London. Here ever-varying scenes pass beneath one's view ; for the bustle and business on the beach are incessant, alternating with the quiet and quaintness of the old town, and the elegance and splendour of the new, while the charming walks on the I'dge of the clitf, and the in- vigorating runs on the sands, produce in combination with a genial climate and bracing sea-breeze that vigorous health and corresponding buoyancy which render existence a pleasure. The harbour is formed by two piers ent ending for 1300 feet each into the sea, and encloses an area of twenty acres. Its width is 800 feet, and the avenige depth of water twenty feet, the spacious basin thus formed being sufficiently capacious to accommodate 000 or 700 vessels. The north pier is devoted entirely to business, and has on it a number of sheds principally intended for the reception of cattle ; and at the back of these is a tramway connected 326 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. with the railway, extending straight into the sea due east for 700 feet, bending to the south-east for 300 feet, and then bending to the south for 300 feet more, making a total length of 1300 feet. The south pier extends from the shore straight out into the sea for 1300 feet, and is used as a grand promenade, than which there is none superior of its kind in England, The head of each of these piers is circular and sixty feet in diameter, and in the centre of each is a lighthouse, the brilliant red lights in which, as well as in the light ship, and the several lighthouses about the harbour and its entrances, being at night a source of constant interest and curiosity to all strangers, and tending greatly to vary and heighten the effect of the scene. Beyond the south pier there is a sea wall with towers of flint and stone. At the back of this is a broad esplanade a quarter of a mile in length, commanding a beautiful view of the sea. The entrance to the harbour is between the two piers towards the south- east, and is 160 feet wide, with a depth of twenty-one feet at low water. The piers themselves consist of a stupendous timber framework, creosoted to keep out the worm, and are fourteen feet high above the water and thirty feet in width, and are filled up Avith immense blocks of stone, so as to present a solid mass of masonry ; the top being covered with substan- tial flooring of four-inch plank. The inner harbour is connected with the outer by a lock fifty feet in width ; it consists of a large piece of water two miles in length. Upwards of 3000 feet of wharfage, capable of ac- commodating vessels of 300 tons, is now completed, and cranes and ware- houses for the discharge and storage of goods erected. As a harbour of refuge, Lowestoft stands in a good position. THE TRADE OF THE PORT. The vessels belonging to the port at the beginning of 1864 were 162 small sailing vessels of aggregately 3784 tons ; forty-five large sailing vessels of aggregately 4379 tons ; four small steam vessels of aggregately seventy tons, and two large steam vessels of jointly 569 tons. The vessels which entered in 1863 v/ere sixty-seven British sailing vessels of aggre- gately 7228 tons from foreign countries, ninety-two foreign sailing vessels of aggregately 14,808 tons from foreign countries ; seven British steam vessels of aggregately 3117 tons from foreign countries; 706 sailing vessels of aggregately 62,714 tons coastwise, and fifty-two steam vessels of aggregately 13,296 tons coastwise. The vessels which cleared in 1863 were twenty -four British sailing vessels of aggregately 1577 tons to foreign countries ; one British steam vessel of 147 tons to foreign countries ; thirty-seven foreign sailing vessels of aggregately 8165 tons to foreign countries; 146 sailing vessels of aggregately 8426 tons coastwise; and A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 327 eight steam vessels of aggregately 1720 tons coastwise. The amount of customs in 1862 was 3605; in 1867, 3080. There are ship builders, boat builders, house builders, sail makers, rope makers, oil-cake makers, and owners of oil and flour mills. Population in 1861, 10,663; number of houses 2290, and since then the number is much increased. THE FISHERIES. Of all the seas in the world, the North Sea, which rolls along the eastern coast of England, is the richest in the stores of fish which it contains. Cod, turbot, soles, whiting, mackerel, herring, and many other voneties, abound in it. Some are taken all the year round in great quan- tities ; others, like the mackerel and herring, afford a periodical hai'vest. And not only is fish so abundant in the North Sea, but the quality is equal to the quantity, the fish being superior in flavour and nutritious qualities to that of any other sea in the world. It seems to be a vast store-house of fish. English, Scotch, Dutch, Danes, and Norwegians, all fish it hard, yet there is no diminution of the supply. Two-thirds of the population of Norway live by catching herrings and cod out of it, and in England the business of fishing in this sea is assuming immense propor- tions. Thousands of vessels of great size, and with every appliance that ingenuity can suggest, continue to issue forth from all the ports of the eastern coast, and also from the Channel ports ; yet there is no falling ofl* in the supply. A Royal Commission investigated the subject for a long time, and the results of its enquiries proved that the North Sea is inex- lianstiblo that any mile of this sea is more productive than the same ex- tent of land. The fisheries pursued on this eastern coast now constitute tlie niost important bmnch of local maritime industry. The amount of capital invested in boats, nets, &c., is very large. ^Fhe mackerel fishery in the summer is extensive, but it is exceeded in importance by the her- v'nig fishery, to which there is scarcely any limit. Yai'mouth and Lowes- toft arc the principal stations of this great hernng fishery, and during the autumn the local event is the number of lasts landed. A last is 13,200 fish, and sometimes the deliveries at the two ports ai*e at the mte of 200 lasts daily, or 2,500,000 herrings available for food. The following is a return of the quantities of fish landed at the fish market in Lowestoft in 1869. Herrings in lasts 7226, of 13,200 per last. Mackerel in hundreds 7885, of 120 to the hundred. Cod in scores 241, or 4820 cod. Soles in packages, 36,461 . Fish offal in packages, 26,095. In a good season like that of 1 869, each boat should realise from 450 to 500. The wholesale fish market is on the south pier, and is well arranged for the landing and packing of fish in " swills," " peds," and baskets, which are soon put in the railway trucks and sent to all parts of England. 328 HISTOEV of EASTERiJ ENGLAND. LOTHINGLANl). Lowestoft is the chief town in the Hundred of Loth in ghind, which is an island having Lake Lothing on the souths the river Yare on the north^ and the Waveney on the west. Lake Tjothing is a fine expanse of water ex- tending from Mutford to Somerleyton^ where it receives the waters of the Waveney. Near Mntford the lake is called Oulton Broad^ a beautiful piece of water lying between the Mutford and Carlton railway stations. Daring the summer months numbers of anglers resort to this Broad and find good sport, as it is full of fish. Eegattas are held every year on each division of the lake, affording much enjoyment and frolic to visitors and the inhabitants. The walks and drives in the neighbourhood are diversified and pleasing ; and whether the romantic vicinities of the lake or the woodland glades and sylvan scenery found toAvards Somerleyton be chosen, the rambler Avill find his attention equally attracted by the iminerous objects for con- templation profusely scattered around. The lover of nature will meet spots where imagination may indulge in her Airy iiioud To t'Vcry muiiuuv of the Avood ; The bee iu yonder tloAvery nook, The cliidiugs of the lieadlong brook ; The green leaf sliivering in the gale, The AA-arbliug hill, the loAViug vale. The extreme beauty and luxuriance of English rural scenery has ever been a favourite theme of our descriptive Avriters and poets, and has been especially celebrated by the Suffolk poets, Crabbe and Bloomfield. It is, moreover, one of those national features of which an Englishman may well be proudj because of the efforts of his countrymen in aid of the bounty of nature, for much of the beauty of our rural scenery is OAving to the high state of cultivation to Avliich the land has been brought and the con- sequent fertility that is the prominent feature of all English landscapes, although irrespective of that trait, perhaps no other country can present such an extent and diversity of vieAvs, undulating plains, SAvelling heights, grassy nooks, and sparkling rivulets. And for this rustic order of landscape, presenting "Nature's silent lingering,^' Suffolk is unsurpassed, more especially in this corner of the county named Lothiugland. In a district Avhere the Avalks or drives are so numerous and all so beautiful, it Avould be almost capricious to point out any as being entitled to pre-eminence. Nevertheless, Ave shall endeavour to describe a few spots, Avith some slight minutife regarding some objects uf interest. A Avalk of about a mile from the town brings us into a lane leading to Mutford Bridge, Avhere an artificial embankment A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 329 divides Lake Lotliing into two portions, the inner one being named Oulton Broad, full of fresh water, the flood-gates separating it from the salt on the side next the sea. Should the pedestrian still wish to continue his walk, a delightful one will take him to Oulton, along a line of peculiar verdure and loveliness. The hedges here exhale delicious fragrance, composed as they are of sweet briar, eglantine, and hawthorn, the wild rose, though scentless, adding nmch to the beauty of their appearance. Beneath the banks " many a garden flower grOws wild,^' the hyacinth, the violet, and the mignonette, lending their perfumes to regale the senses of the wanderer. Nearly all the lanes of this vicinity abound with beautiful strips of heath, overhung with the yellow-flowered gorse. Heaths of all liucs and every tinge Cai'pet those hidden bowei-s, A thousand times more beautiful Tluui summer's gaudy Howers. On reaching Oulton, a large structure called the High House at ouco attracts the rambler's attention, from its pleasant situation and dilapidated condition. It stands at the corner of the road, and has long been a theme of wonder to the lovers of the marvellous, for this is a " haunted house." Many versions of the story are told, but all agree that a murder has to do with it. One is that periodically a figure mounted on a coal-black horse, with fiery eyes and expanded nostrils, followed by a pack of yelping dogs with foaming mouths, dashes through the front door and vanishes into the adjoining room. This is the squire who murdered his wife. Another is that a female figure '' walks " every night at twelve, habited in white, carrying a cup in her hand. This is the wife who poisoned the squire, and is condemned to walk and have the instrument of her guilt con- stantly before her. There are a great many other versions, but the truth seems to be that the property, having been for some time in Chancery, has fallen out of repair and that no tenant will take it in consequence, neither party being willing to risk their money by putting it in habitable condi- tion. In truth, all around is a strange neighbourhood, abounding in ({uaint story and ancient legend, attbrding fit themes for a " poetic child." The park-like fields and grassy meres each have their charms. Some of the meres surrounded by gloomy woods are still the reputed haunts of goblins who nightly wander here and hold unhallowed feasts. OULTON, A parish in the Hundred of Lothingland, three miles (west) from Lowestoft, is bounded on the west by the river Waveney, which receives the surplus water of Lake Lothiug. The parish comprises 1900 acres> 330 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. including a lake of 100 acres. The living is a rectory ; the tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 450, and the glebe comprises fifty acres, valued at 38 4s. per annum. The Church originally seems to have been built in the form of the Latin cross, but both transepts have been taken down. The steeple stands between the nave and chancel, and the whole building is in the Norman style. There are some curious ancient brasses in the chancel, one of the date of 1470 to John Fastolf and his wife, the male figure clad in armour. The executors of General Oliver are Lords of the Manor of Oulton, which was successively held by the Bacon, Fastolf, Hobart, Allen, Graves, and Bucknell families ; but the owner of Somerleyton Hall has paramount jurisdiction. A great part of the land belongs to John Peni*ice, Esq., Mr. R. T. Woods, Rev. R. A. Arnold, Mrs. Reeve, J. Chapman, Esq., W. R. Seago, Esq., and Mr. George Borrow, who lives near the Broad, the well-known author of " The Bible in Spain," '^ Jjavengro," &c. Oulton Hall, now a farm-house, a fine old mansion, is occupied by George Crabbe, Esq., a relative of the Suffolk poet. Normanston Court is the property of E. Loathes, Esq. ; it is beautifully placed, and commands a fine view of the lake and the surrounding country. CARLTON COLVILLE, A parish in the Hundred of Lothingland, situated near the branch line from Lowestoft to Beccles, two miles from Lowestoft. The station joins the high road, and is about 400 yards from Lake Lothing and Oulton Broad. The parish is extensive, including a straggling village and the hamlet of IVlutford Bridge. The village is about a mile and a-half from the railway station. The Church of St. Peter is an old building, with a square embattled tower, containing five bells ; it has a nave and chancel, and a porch on the south side. The living is a rectory, held by the Rev. W. H. Andrews, and in the patronage of the family. The tithes were, commuted at 395 yearly, with residence and eighteen acres of glebe land. Here is Colville House, an institution for imbecile children of the upper and middle classes ; it stands in a beautiful park Rud liealthy locality. BLUNDESTON (ST. MARy), A parish in the Hundred of Lothingland, three and a-half miles (north- west) from Lowestoft, situated near the river Waveney, which forms its boundary on the south-west. The living is a discharged rectory, with that of Flixton united. The tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 610, and there are nearl}^ thirteen acres of glebe, valued at 18 per annum. The Rev. G. Clarke in 1726 gave land for the instruction of poor children; yearly value, 11. The greater part of the land here belongs A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 331 to J. Johnson, Esq., Mr. T. Owles, and Mr. Thomas Wood, who has an ironfoundry in the parish. SOMERLEYTON (ST. MARY), A parish in the Hundred of Lothingland, five miles (north-west) from Lowestoft, near the river Waveney. The parish comprises 1410a. 1r. 32p. The living is a rectory, valued in the King's books at 12 ; the tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 350. ' There is a glebe house, and the glebe comprises 45 acres, valued at 68 12s. yearly. This parish is one of the most picturesque in the county, and forms part of a great estate extending into adjacent parishes. The records of the Manor of Somer- leyton extend back to the time of the Norman Conquest, when it was called Somerledetun. In Domesday Book (1086) the rights, privileges, and indemnities of the lord, freemen, and tenants are particularly de- scribed. It was at this period held as a I'oyal manor, under the steward- ship of the renowned Roger Bigod. In the reign of Henry II. we find it held by Baron Fitz Osbert as lord thereof, from whom it descended to his sister Isabella, wife of Sir Walter Jernegan, and relict of Sir Heniy de Walpole, ancestor to the Earl of Orford. Some generations later the estate was sold to John Wentworth, Esq., father of Sir John Went worth, who resided here in the time of Cromwell. It then passed into the hands of the Garneys family, one of whom in 1672 conveyed it to Sir Thomas Allin, Bart., and after the death of his descendant, the Rev. G. Anguish, the estate came to his nephew, Lord Sydney Godolphin Osborne. In 1844 the estate was purchased by Sir S. M. Peto, and was afterwards sold by him to the late Sir Francis Crossley, of Halifax. The old hall is said to have been originally built in the reign of Edward II. by Sir John Jernegan, whose ancestors and descendants were lords of Somerleyton for three centuries. From the Jernegans of Somer- leyton are descended the now ennobled family of Jerningham of Cossey, the head of which is the Right Hon. Lord Stafford. The present magni- ficent mansion was designed and constructed upon the foundations and walls of the old hall ; the two towers, conservatory, and the whole of the exterior are new, the walls of red brick, the dressings and finishings being of Caen stone. Mr. John Thomas, of London, was the architect, his de- sign for the edifice being in the Italian style. PRITTON (ST. EDMUND), A parish in the Hundred of Lothingland, six miles (south-west by south) from Great Yarmouth. The parish comprises 1478 acres. The living is a discharged rectory ; the tithes were commuted for a rent-charge ot 266, and the glebe comprises fourteen acres, valued at 20 per annum. 332 HISTORY OP EASTEBN ENGLAND. The Cliurcli is an ancient small structure in the Normau style, with a circular tower ; the roof is of stone, neatly groined. Fritton Rectory is almost surrounded by magnificent trees and shmbs, and commands a view of an extensive lake, which is three miles in length, well stocked with fish. Great numbers of wild ducks and widgeons are decoyed here and killed in winter. To the south of the lake there is a large rookery and heronry. In this neighbourhood are the remains of St= Olave^s Priory, whence the name of the suspension bridge over the river ; and also of the railway station. About 600 yards to the north-west of the station are the ruins of an old monastery, with farm house and outbuildings, founded by Roger Fitz Herbert in the reign of Henry III. The building was almost entirely removed in 1784, all that is left being a low arched vault. When yonder broken arch was wliole, It was there was dealt the weekly dole. So fleets the world's uncertain span ; Xor zeal for God nor love to man (lives mortal monuments a date ik'youd the poAvers of time or fate. BURGH CASTLE (ST. PETEK), A parish in the Hundred of Lotliiugland, four miles (west-south-west) from Great Yarmouth. It comprises 1478 acres; the river Waveuey flows on the western side, and opposite the village joins the Yare, forming Breydon water, which flows on the northern side. The living is a discharged rec- tory in the patronage of the Crown ; net income, 400. The Church was an ancient structure, but it has been rebuilt in the later English style, with the exception of the tower, which is circular, like many other towers near this part of the eastern coast. The Roman camp still standing here is one of the finest of the Roman remains in our island, and was in 1846 sold by auction and bought by the late Sir J. Boileau, Bart., of Ketteringham, in order to be preserved. 1'his camp, consisting of three sides of a quadrangle, stands on the edge of a table land overlooking the marshy level through which the river Waveney flows, and which was in the time of the Romans covered with the waters of the Gariensis Ostium ; hence the name of Gariano- iium, which may have been applied to the whole area of Lothingland. The history of this camp is very obscure, there being no mention of it in the ancient Itineraries, but antiquaries seem now to be agreed that it is the station mentioned in the Notitia liiiperii under the name of Garianonum, as occupied by ]pre;positors of the Stablesian horse, under the command of the Count of the Saxon shore. It is probable that this camp was built at an early period of the Roman dominion in this islandj A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 833 for one of the chief gannsons to secure this part of the coast against the piratical incursions of the Northern tribes. The walls of the camp are more extensive than those of Richborough, though not so lofty. Like that station also, its form is a parallelogram, having walls on three sides, the fourth side lying open to the shore and defended only by a steep clifP. The eastern wall is parallel to the cliff, and in the middle of which is the Decuman gate ; it is about 650 feet in length, and the lateral walls are about half that length. They are fourteen feet high and nine feet thick, enclosing an area of four acres and two roods. The walls are faced with cut flints between horizontal layers of bricks of a fine red color. On the east side the wall is supported by four round towers, or rather round masses of masonry, for they are solid excepting a hole in the centre of the upper surface two feet deep and as many wide. There is a similar tower in the middle of the north wall, and there was one to the south wall, but the latter was undermined by the continual floods of rain nearly a century ago. These towers are quite detached from the wall to about one-half of their elevation, but the diameter of the upper part being enlarged, they are made to join the wall of the fortress, which is rounded off* at its junction with the corner towers. Therefore, it has been supposed that the towers were subsequent additions to the original structure. Within the area of the camp, great numbers of Roman coins have Ijeen found, chiefly of the Lower Empire, and almost entirely of copper. At the south-west corner of the area near the cliff" are the remains of a circular mound of earth, the date and purpose of which appear to be equally doubtful. But when in the last century some labourers were employed in clearing part of it away, they discovered, besides conside- rable quantities of ashes and broken pottery, a stratum of pure wheat, black, as if it had been burnt. A vast number of urns having been found in the field to the east of the camp, it has been supposed that it was a burial-ground. When the British Archaeological Society visited this camp some years since we were present, and heard the papers read and the discussions respecting it, and we accompanied many of the visitors round the walls. Thrice we walked round their whole extent, surveying the ruins within and without. Tlien passing through the Praetorian gate, which still exists on the eastern side, we sat for awhile under the shadow of the ivy contem- plating the scene. Where could we find a moi'O interesting spectacle than this relic of imperial Rome ? Here we sat amid the ruins of a mighty empire, symbolised by Daniel's vision of the terrible beast that desolated the whole earth, and trampled the nations under his feet. What a world of thought rushed on the mind, as we surveyed the mouldering walls, that seemed as if they would stand for centuries to come. 334 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLANb. THE RIVER WAVENEY. Tlic north side of Lotbingland, and indeed of all the county,[is watered by the river Waveuey, which rises far west at Lopham, and flows east- ward, dividing Norfolk from Suffolk. The river derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon Wa-jiend-cc, or the waving water, a name that is very descriptive of the stream, for it winds continuously between the two counties, now through broad meadows, where the banks are firm, now passing rushy flats and draining mills, Ioav knolls, slopes, and heath, and patches of fir. The river is a narrow stream for the greater part of its course. The first town that we find near the banks of this river is that of_Diss, which is beautifully situated on rising ground. Scole, lower down the stream, is an ancient village, and for its size having many elegant gardens. At Hoxiie, more eastward, the Waveney is joined by the small river Dove which passes the town of Eye, and in its progress to join the Waveney flows with much beauty through Hoxne Park. A few miles below Hoxne the Waveney passes near the town of Harleston and then near Redenhall, remarkable for its fine church tower. Homersfield Church is next passed, being very picturesquely situated on a bold knoll of land, encompassed on the west and north by the meanders of the river. Flixton Hall succeeds, with its deep glades and sportive deer in the park ; and the stream flows on to the town of Bungay. At this place it makes a great bend, sweep- ing northward and returning southward, so as almost to meet the spot from which it diverged on reaching the town. Quitting Bungay the wav- ing river flows past Mettingham, where the Castle is a monument of the families of Noi'wich and Ufford. Below this place^the stream flows by the rustic scenes of Shipmeadow, and then to the parish of Barsham, which is identified with some historical associations. Flowing through a pastoral district, to the north of the ancient house of Roos Hall, the river reaches the town of Beccles. From the bold promontory on which the town of Beccles stands the spectator beholds the wide and fertile valley of the Waveney, smiling under the industry of man, having churches, villages, and mansions thickly studded along its woody^ banks. The silvery stream pursues a winding course, and adds a charm to the landscape. In former ages the valley of the Waveney at the north end of the county was covered by a broad arm of the sea, whose tides bore along the hostile barques of the northern pirates intent on plunder. Near the site of Beccles stood a lofty watch tower, which, commanding a seaward view of the estuary, blazed forth the fearful notice of invasion to a beacon placed on the peninsula at Bungay, which soon communicated with a third at Homers- A DESCRIFriON OF SUFFOLK. 385 field, and thus the inteUigence was speedily passed along the valley of the Wtiveney into the heart of East Anglia. Then the whole district was in motion ; women, children, and goods were placed in the round towers of churches for safety, while the men collected in arms to repel the invaders. BECOLES (ST. MICHAEL), An incorporated market town in the parish and in the Union and Hundred of Wangford, Eastern Division of the County of Suffolk, 109 miles (uortli- east-by-north) from London, lliis toAvn, which suffered greatly from fire in 1586, and again in 1662, is pleasantly situated on the river Waveney, by which it is bounded on the north and west. It consists of several spacious streets, diverging from the Market Place, well paved and lighted >vith gas. The houses in general are handsome and well built, and the inha- bitants are amply supplied with water. The environs, which abound with pleasing scenery, afford agreeable walks ; and the theatre and assembly- rooms form two handsome ornamental buildings. The trade is principally in corn, malt, and coals, and is carried on to a A'onsiderable extent. The river Waveney is navigable from Yarmouth for wherries and other small craft ; and an Act was passed in 1831 " to make the river navigable for ships and other sea-borne vessels from Rosehall Elect to the mouth of Oulton Dyke, and for making and maintaining a navigable cut from the said river at Carlton Shares Mill into the said dyke leading to Oulton Broad and Lake Lothing to the sea." The market is on Saturday, and fairs are held on Whit-Monday for cattle, and October 2iid for horses and pedlery ; there are also statute fairs. Adjoining the town is a tract of fen lands, originally about 1400 acres in extent, which was granted by Henry VIII. in 1540 (after the dissolution of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmund^s, to which the manor formerly belonged) to William Rede and his heirs, in trust for the benefit of himself and other inhabitants of the town. There are now remaining about 940 acres. There are also upwards of 200 held for charitable purposes. In 1543, the inhabitants were incorporated by letters patent of Henry VIII. ; but in consequence of protracted disputes between them and the family of Rede concerning the grant of the fen lands, the charter was surrendered to Queen Elizabeth, and a new one granted in 1584, which was confirmed in 1588, and by James I. in 1605. The government is now vested in foui* Aldermen and twelve Councillors, from whom a Mayor is chosen. The borough is co-extensive with the parish, and a court of quarter sessions is held for the county. Petty sessions are held for the district every Saturday, and manor courts occasionally. Beccles is a polling-place for the election of Parliamentary representatives for the eastern division of 336 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. the county. There is a new Sessions Hall. The House of Correction has recently been enlarged, and a Station House was built in 1840. 'Jlie parish contains by measurement 1893a. 2r. 14p., of which 950 acres are common. The soil on the high grounds is wet and clayey, and in the lower parts sandy. The living is a rectory consolidated with the vicarage of St. Mary In- gate ; the rectory is valued in the King's books at 21 12s. 3^, and the vicarage at 7 6s. 8d. ; patron. Earl of Gosford. The tithes have been commuted for a rent charge of 350. The Church is a spacious and ele- gant structure in the later style of English architecture, and consists of a nave, chancel, and side aisles ; the porch is of beautiful design and elabo- rate execution, and the iiiterior is appropriately ornamented. The tower, which is detached from the main building, and stands near the east end of the Church, is highly enriched with sculpture ; it was built by sub- scription, and upon it are sculptured the arms of the donors, among wliich are those of Leman, Garneys, Yallop, and Rede (Thomas Rede having been at that time rector of the parish, and a principal contributor towards its erection). The churchyard commands an interesting and extensive view. A collection of books, formerly kept in a room over the porch, has been removed to the subscription library established in 1836. A chapel ?or reading the burial service, and a burial ground, were consecrated in 1823, and a new cemetery with a chapel for all denominations was estab- lished in 1840. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Methodists. A Grammar School was founded and endowed under the will, dated in 1714, of the Rev. Dr. Fauconberge, a native of the town, with an estate of 132 acres in the parish of Corton, producing about 183 per annum ; it is under the control of the Bishop of Norwich, the Archdeacon of Suffolk, and the Rector of Beccles, who appoint the master. Dr. Ronth, the learned President of Magdalene College, Oxford, received the rudi- ments of his education at this place. The Free School, in Ballygate Street, which is under the management of thirteen governors (of whom the Rector of the parish for the time being must always be one), was founded and endowed in 1631 by Sir John Leman, Knt., alderman of London, who devised several parcels of land and messuages, in the parishes of Gillingham St. Andrew, Ilketshall, and Barsham, for its sup- port, containing altogether 112 acres, and yielding a rent of 196. Here are also a National, a British and Foreign, and an Infants' School, supported by subscription. Eight almshouses are occupied by poor widows ; and there is a fund for apprenticing a poor boy every year. An ancient Hospital for Lepers, of uncertain foundation, with a chapel dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, was granted in 1676 to the Corporation A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 337 of Beccles for tlie benefit of the poor. Here were also several guilds ; and an ancient churchy dedicated to St. Peter, distinct from the present church. At the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, in the middle of the sixteentli century, 939 acres of marsh land which belonged to the Abbey were granted to the town. Tliis has been the chief cause of its pros- perity. The income derived from this source, nearly 2000 yearly, is applied to the maintenance of a police force, the cost of paving, lighting, sewerage, &c., so that no borough rate is required, and a surplus is genei*ally left for the charities. Beccles is renowned for its grand old Church, with its massive tower. We went up the tower, and from the top we had a pleasing view. The town, interspersed with many pretty gai-dens, presents a bowery slope to the river Waveney, and all around spreads a level green landscape, chequered in places with light brown and yellow, striped with long rows of poplars, and the river curving hither and thither until its bright gleam disappears under a distant range of low hills. Nowhere in the county do the hills rise above 300 feet in height. BUNGAY, A market town in the Union and Hundred of Waugford, Eastern Division of the County of Suffolk, forty miles (north north-east) from Ipswich, 109 (north-east by north) from London, on the road to Yarmouth, and near the Waveney Valley line of railway. This place is said to have derived its name from the term Le hon eye, signifying the " good island," in con- sequence of its being nearly surrounded by the river Waveney, Avhich was then a broad stream. Soon after the Norman conquest a Castle was built, which from its situation and the strength of its fortifications was deemed impregnable by its possessor, Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk in the reign of Stephen ; but that monarch in the sixth year of his reign, in the year 1140, came with his army and took it. In 1154 also, the fii-st year of Henry II., it was yielded by the same earl, but restored in 11C3 ; and in the following year he again took up arms against the king, and fortified himself in the Castle, which he was compelled to yield up and permit to be demolished. On its site a mansion was erected, which in the twenty-second year of Edward I., 1293, Roger Bigod embattled by royal permission. The form of the Castle, of which the remains belong to the Duke of Norfolk, appears to have been octangular ; portions of the west and south-west angles are still standing, as arc also three sides of the main keep, situated nearly at the back of these towers ; their walls are from seven to eleven feet thick, and from fifteen to seventeen feet high, in the midst of which is a well of strongly-impregnated mineral water, long since disused. The mounds of earth raised for its defence Y 338 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. retain their original form, though much reduced in height. Near St. Mary^s Church are the ruins of a Benedictine nunnery, founded about the year 1160, in the reign of Henry II., by Roger de Glanville and the Countess de Gundreda, his lady, the revenue of which at the dissolution was estimated at 02 2s. l^d., at which time there were a prioress and eleven nuns. In March, 1G88, a fire bi'oke out, and the flames spread with such rapidity that the whole town, with the exception of one small street, was reduced to ashes, and property to the amount of nearly 30,000, together with most of the ancient records of the Castle, were destroyed; one house, with curiously- carved window, is still standing which escaped the conflagration, situated near the nunnery, to which it is supposed to have been attached as the hospital for travellers and strangers. The town is pleasantly situated on the river Waveney, over which are two neat bridges ; the streets, diverging from the Market-place in the centre of the town, towards the principal roads, are spacious, well paved, and lighted with gas ; the houses are in general modern, having been rebuilt since the fire ; and the toAvn is amply supplied with water from springs. On the northern side of the town is an extensive common, nearly surrounded by the Waveney, along the edge of which, on the Norfolk side, is a pleasant promenade, one mile and a-half in length, leading to a cold bath, where a bath-house has been built and requisite accommodation provided. The trade is principally in corn, malt, flour, and coal ; there are several flour mills and malting houses on a large scale ; also a paper mill, and a large silk manufactory, and an extensive printing office. The manufacture of hempen cloth for the Norwich and London markets has been wholly discontinued. The Waveney is navigable from Yarmouth, whence the town is supplied with coal, timber, and other articles of consumption. The market is on Thursday ; fairs are held on May 14th and September 25th. The town is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold petty sessions every Thursday ; a Town Reeve is appointed annually, who with the feoffees is trustee of the estates and rent charges devised for the benefit of the town. Courts leet and baron for the three manors of Bungay Loke, Priory, and Burgh are usually held twice a year. Bungay comprises the parish of St. Mary and the Holy Trinity. The living of St. Mary's is a perpetual curacy, net in- come, 115 ; patron, Duke of Norfolk. The Church is a handsome and spacious structure, with a fine . tower ; and was chiefly rebuilt between 1689 and 1701, with flint and freestone; the original steeple was struck by lightning on the 4th of August, 1577, and much ^injured, at wliich time two men were killed in the belfry. The interior con- tains some interesting monuments, and is remarkable for the elegance and lightness of the pillars suporting the roof; it was re-pewed a few A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 339 years since, when 245 additional sittings were provided. A commo- dious parsonage house was erected in the precincts of the nunneiy about eight years since. The hving of the parish of the Holy Trinity is a vicarage, valued in the King's books at 8 Os. 5d., and en- dowed with the rectorial tithes ; present net income, 256 ; patron, Bishop of Ely ; there is a good glebe house, with ten acres of land. The Church is a small ancient edifice, with a fine round tower. Tliei'e was formerly a church dedicated to St. Thomas, which was used since 1500, but it has been destroyed. There are places of worship for Wesleyans, Independents, and Roman Catholics. The Free Grammar School was founded by the Rev. Thomas Popison in 1592, who also founded ten scholarships in Emmanuel College, Cambridge, but they have been reduced to four; and in 1728 it was endowed by Henry Williams with the vicarage of St. Andrew Ilketshall ; also with thirty-three acres of land by Mr. Scales, of Earsham. The income of the master, who is appointed by Emmanuel College, is from 180 to 200 per annum. There are ten boys upon the foundation by Mr. Scales. Henry Webster in 1712 bequeathed land for the instruction of poor children of the parish of St. Mary. A National School, with an infant school for 300 children, has been erected, at an estimated expense of 367. The churchwardens of St. Mary and Holy Trinity have incomes derived from property left in trust for the maintenance of the fabric of the Church. In the parish of Holy Trinity there has not been a Church-rate for several years. There is also a British and Foreign School for about 200 children, sup- ported chiefly by subscriptions. Thomas Wingfield, in 1593, bequeathed property, since vested in land, producing about 25 per annum, for the relief of indigent persons and for the apprenticing of poor children. The town lands comprise 1 55 acres, and produce an income of from 300 to 400 per annum. A dispensary was established in 1828, which is liberally supported. There are also a lying-in institution and two clothing societies, and almshouses in each parish for the residence of aged persons. The remains of a Roman encampment are still to be seen upon the Common. Numerous antiquities have been found on its eastern side, among which are several hundreds of very small brass Roman coins called ini'ninii; a tournament spur, a leaden bulla of Cclestino III., and a fine silver Saxon penny of Offa, King of Mercia, have been found during the present century near the Castle. There is only a fragment left of the once famous Castle, and it may be seen in the garden behind the King's Head, where we go up a few steps, and find remains of the keep, with a part of the old flint walls. Seven hundred years ago it had a proud owner, when Hugh Bigod, by taking 340 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. part with the rebels against Henry II., incurred the royal displeasure. According to the old ballad : The King has sent for Bigod bold, lu Essex whereat he lay, But Lord Bigod laughed at his poui'suivant, And stoutly thus did say : " Were I in my Castle of Bungay, " Upon the river of AVaveney, " I would ne care for the King of Cokenay." The town property, which consists of houses and lands, and yields an annual revenue of 500, is invested in trustees, who elect the Town Eeeve annually. The greater portion of the annual income is expended in de- fraying the charges of the public lamps and the foot pavements. The town is well paved and lighted, and has a considerable trade in com, malt, &c. Mr. Childs has a large printing establishment here, and he employs sev^eral hundred hands. A station on the Waveney Valley line of railway connects the place with the Great Eastern railway system. HALESWORTH (ST. MARY), A market town and parish in the Union and Hundred of Blything, Eastern Division of the County of Suffolk, thirty and a-half miles (north- oast by north) from Ipswich, and 101 (north-east) from London. The town, which is situated in a valley on the banks of the river Blyth, is ancient and indifferently built, nearly in the form of the letter S, but con- tains a few good houses ; the streets are spacious and well-lighted with gas ; and the inhabitants plentifully supplied with water. The river is navigable hence to Southwold for small craft of about twenty-five tons, which are usually laden with malt, grain, timber, and general merchandise. There are some very large malt-houses, the trade in malting being exten- sive. The market is held on Tuesday, for com and provisions ; a fair is held on October 29th, chiefly for cattle ; and pleasure fairs take place on Easter Tuesday and Whit Tuesday. The magistrates of the Hundred hold petty sessions monthly, and courts leet and baron for the manor are held occasionally. The town is a polling-place for the Eastern Division of the county. The parish comprises 1445a. 3e. 25p. The living is a discharged rectory, with the vicarage of Chediston united, valued in the King^s books at 20 ; the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 387 3s. ; a rent-charge of 10 is also paid to the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, and another of 2 to the Vicar of Westhill ; the glebe contains twenty acres, valued at 40 per annum. The Church is a fine edifice of flint, chiefly in the later English style, with a low but handsome tower, ornamented with a splendid clock; it was enlarged in 1823, and more A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 341 recently a gallery was erected. There are places of worship for Indepen- dents, Baptists, and Wesleyans. Richard Porter, in 1701, bequeathed 17 6s. 8d. for teaching children, now paid towards the support of a National School. There are eight almshouses, in which are fourteen widows ; and other benefactions have been made for dift'ercnt pui-poses. John Keable, by will, in 1652, bequeathed lands worth about 98 per annum, half of which is appropriated to poor widows, and the other half to the apprenticing of boys. The Rifle Hall, a building now used by the 7th Suffolk Volunteers, was formerly a theatre, and was presented by the family of the late Mr. A. Johnston, of Holtou Hall. This place is under the management of five trastees, and is used for lectures and concerts. SAXMUNDHAM (sT. JOHN THE BAFIIST), A market town and parish in the Union and Hundred of Plomesgate, Eastern Division of the County of Suffblk, twenty miles (north-east by north) from Ipswich, and eighty -nine (north-east) from London. This town, supposed to be of Saxon origin, is situated in a valley on the road to London, and near a small stream which runs on the eastern side into the Ore ; it consists chiefly of one street, running, north and south, com- prising modern and newly-fronted houses, of neat and respectable appear- ance. The inhabitants are well supplied with water from springs. There is an Assembly Room, in which balls and concerts are occasionally held. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the King's books at 8 15s. lOd. ; patron, W. Long, Esq. I^he tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 275, and the glebe comprises twenty-nine acres. The Church is a neat ediflce, embosomed in trees, standing a little south- ward of the town ; a galleiy has been erected, and the building contains several monuments to the family of Long, who have their seat at Hurt's Hall, in the parish. There is a place of worship for Independents ; also a National School. A charity was founded here by Robert Swan, about 1308. The market is held on Wednesdays, and as Saxmundham is the centime of an extensive agricultural district, there is a good tnide in corn. The market is held in a handsome building, which was built by Mr. William Long, of Hurt's Hall, who is Lord of the Manor and owner of most of the laud. There is a branch line from this town to Leistoii and Aldborough. leiston (st. Margaret), A parish four miles (east by south) from Saxmundham. The parish is bounded on the east by the North Sea, and comprises 4893 aci-es ; the surface is varied, and the sceneiy of pleasing character. 342 HISTORY Oi^ EASTERN ENQLAND. Leiston is a place of antiquity. Bishop Tanner, in speaking of it, says i '' Here was an Abbey of Preuionstratensian Canons, built and endowed by tlie founder of Butter Priory, Kanulpli de Glanville, 1182, to the honour of the Vii'gin Mary." This abbey being inconveniently placed, Robert de Uff'ord, Earl of Suff'olk, about 1363, built a new one upon a better situation, and about a mile further inland. This was burnt down in 1389, but was at once rebuilt, and was, with the old Abbey, in a flourishing condition at the time of the Dissolution. The Gothic windows, a few walls, and some subterranean passages, are all that remain. The Church is of flint, in the early Norman style. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the alternate patronage of Christ Hospital and the Haberdashers' Company, London; net income, 376. The appropriate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 435 ; and the glebe comprises thirty acres, valued at 27 per annum. Two schools are supported by private charity. Leiston is now noted for the extensive works of Messrs. R. Garrett and Sons, the well-known manufacturers of all kinds of steam engines, agri- cultural machines and implements. The works were established in 1778 on a small scale, but noAV cover ten acres of ground. About 800 men are employed here, and steam-power equal to 130 horses. Here engines may be seen in all the stages of manufacture, and implements of every sort. The boiler house is a wonderful compartment, there being gene- rally 100 boilers in stock. The manufacture of road locomotive engines has become an important branch of the business carried on by this firm. Improvements recently introduced have rendered these engines most valuable in drawing heavy loads on common roads. Messrs. Garrett and Sons arc also makers of steam ploughing and cultivating apparatus, adapted for hilly as well as flat land. They have for many years directed their attention to the improvement of the thrashing machine in its various forms. They have obtained many prizes, amounting to 1200 in cash; besides twenty gold and sixty-eight silver medals at various exhibitions. In addition to these prizes, they have received the highest awards at each of the great International Exhibitions ; but of late years they have not competed for any prizes. They have depots for their machinery all over the civilised v/orld, and agents in all our principal towns. VVICKHAM MARKET (ALL SAINTS), A parish in the Union of Plomesgate, Hundred of Wilford, Eastern Division of the County of Suff'olk, twelve and a-half miles (north-east) from Ipswich. The village occupies an elevated site, rising from the river Debeu, and, as its name implies, was formerly a market town; it has also a Shirehall, where sessions were usually held, but the building has A DESCKIPTION OF HV^FOhK. 343 been taken down by the Lord of the Manor. The road from London to Yarmouth passes through the town. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the King's books at 6 16s. 8d.; net income, 208; it is in the patronage of the Crown, and the impropriation belongs to Pember- ton's Charity at Ipswich ; there is a glebe of thirty-two acres. The Church, situated on an eminence commanding a most extensive prospect, is partly in the decorated, and partly in the later English style, with an octagonal tower surmounted by a lofty spire, which forms a conspicuous landmark. There is a place of worship for Independents ; also a National School. The old toAvn lands consist of seventeen acres, the bequests of several individuals, and the new lands of twenty-three acres, purchased with a bequest of 300 by Ann Roberts, in 1 720, for teaching children ; these lands produce 107 per annum ; of which two-tenths are appro- priated to the school, one-tenth to the apprenticing of children, two- tenths to the repairs of the Church, and the residue to tho poor. A Union Workhouse for Plomcsgate Hundred has lately been erected here ; the Union comprises forty parishes or places. The extensive engineering and iron works of Messrs. Wliitmore and Binyou give employment to a considerable number of the inhabitants. FKAMLINGHAM (ST. MICHAEL). This is an ancient market-town in the Hundred of Locs, Eastern Division of Suffolk, eighty-seven miles (north-east) from London. The town may have taken its name from the river Fromus, now called the Ore, which had its rise at Tannington, and flowed through Saxted to this place. It is pleasantly situated on a gentle eminence in the very centre of the parish, the soil of which is of first-rate quality. Within the limits of the parish there are forty-three tithcable farms, exclusive of minor occupations, where the occupiers as tenants do not acquire a qualification to serve on juries by assessment of a certain amount to the poor-rate. The town rose round an ancient fortress in the Anglo-Saxon period, for it is recorded that Redwald, tho third King of the East Angles, resided in a Castle here ; but that structure was long since demolished. At what time the present Castle was built is uncertain, but it was probably rebuilt in the Noi-man period ; and tho Norman Kings kept sole possession of it. Henry I. having usurped the throne in 1100, found that Roger Bigod, who had survived the two former monarchs, was devoted to his cause, and rewarded him with the Castle and lordship of Framlingham. He died in 1107, and was buiied in the Priory of Black Canons at Thetford. In 1248, Heniy III. made this place his residence for some time; and Henry, Prince of Wales, son of Henry IV., to whom the Castle was granted by his father, held his court in 1404 and 1405. Edward V[. held 34-4 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. liis first Court in this Castle ; and after his decease; Mary retired to it in 1553; where she was joined by the inhabitants of Suffolk and the adjacent counties, who, to the number of 13,000; accompanied her to London to take possession of the Crown. The Castle was a spacious and noble structure, the surrounding walls including an irregular quadrilateral area of nearly an acre and a-half ; they were forty -four feet in height, and eight feet in thickness, defended by thirteen square towers of considerably greater elevation, of which one eastward and another westward were watch towers. The whole was surrounded by a double moat, the inner moat being crossed by a drav/bridge. The outer walls are in a tolerably perfect state, and in front of the gateway-tower are the arms of Howard Moubray Brotherton, etc., quartered in one shield. The site was purchased from the Howard family by Sir Robert Hitcham, who gave it to Pembroke College, Cambridge, Avith the advowson of the Church. The building has been fitted up for public meetings, assemblies, and other uses ; it contains a spacious room seventy-two feet in length. The town is pleasantly situated on a hill, near the source of the river Ore, Avhicli rises to the north of the Castle, and falls into the sea at Orford. It contains many well-built houses, and is amply supplied with water. The parish compi'ises 4657 acres ; the soil is generally fertile, producing good crops of corn ; and the inhabitants are mostly engaged in farming pursuits. The living is a rectory, with that of Saxted annexed ; patrons. Master and Fellows of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. The Church is a stately structure, partly in the decorated and partly in the later English style, with a lofty, square embattled tower strengthened with buttresses ; the chancel is superior in style to the rest of the edifice. The nave is lighted by a range of clerestory windows, and the roof is supported by oct- angular pillars; that of the chancel by clustered columns of graceful proportions. FEAMLINGHAM CASTLE. (By Bernard Bartan.) Fallen as thou art, dismantled pile ! From thy once palmy state, Thy ruins may outlast a while Splendours of Inter date. Still stand thy battlementcd toM'ers, Firm as in bygone years ; As if, within, yet ruled the powers Of England's haughtiest peers. Since thou by kings and nobles proud Wert first iqireared and SAvayed, Piles grand as tliou their heads have bowed In dark obHvion's shade : A DESCRIPTION OF SUFK)LK. 345 And glittering structures richly tUght Have long since tliy decline Crumbled away and left no site Their memory to eusluine. Jiut thou, at least to distant view, .Still bear'st a gallant form, 'J'hy canopy heavens vault of blue ; Or crest the lowering storm. 8till upon moat and mere below Thine ivied towers look down, And far their giant shadows throAV AVith fciidal grandeur's frown." And though thy star for aye be set, Thy glory i)ast and gone ; Fancy might deem thine inmate yet BiGOD OR Bkothektox ! Or Howard brave, wlio fought and died On Bosworth's bloody Held ; Or Bigot Mary Avho the tide Of martyr blood unseal'd ! .Such were thj^ inmates ! Who are left, As dwellers in thy hold 1 1'he abject, and the hope-bereft, The helpless, poor, and old ! Yet, haply, amongst these may be Some of the world unknoAvn, AVho hold a higher hope in fear, Than INlary on her throne ! ALBERT MEMORIAL SCHOOL AND COLLEGE. In 18(52, the country was full of the idea of memorials of the late Prince Albert, and the people of every county were eager to perpetuate the memory of so great and good a man. In Suffolk a county meeting was called, and 6000 subscribed on the spot. Soon after, the subscnp- tions amounted to more than lo,000, for the erection of a Middle-class School and College. The Lord Lieutenant, who was identified with every movement for the good of the county, lent the weight of his influence, and the nobility and gentry rallied round him, and the list of contributions soon swelled to large proportions. An Act of Parliament was obtained for a grant of land near Fmmlingham as a site for the Middle-class School. The building was erected and opened in 18C5. It is a red-brick structure in the Gothic style, of a collegiate character, and is of considerable extent, covering an area of 240 feet by 230 feet, con- taining accommodation for head master, four under masters, and three hundred boys. The general elevation presents a central block of buildings, 346 HlSTOKY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. with a clock tower ; and there is a statue of Prince Albert in a canopied niche over the entrance. The statue is by Durham, presented by Mr. Thomas Lucas, at a cost of 1000. On each side of the central building the college extends 120 feet, being three stories in height, containing the apartments of the undergraduates and the boys. Helmingham Hall is but a short distance from Framlingham, and may be classed among the most interesting in the county. The park contains about 500 acres, and is largely stocked with deer. An avenue arched by magnificent trees conducts to the house, approached by a bridge thrown across a moat which surrounds the building. The hall and several of the apartments are adorned with portraits of the ancient family of the Tolle- maches. Among them are some fine paintings by Lily, Kneller, and Reynolds. Helmingham Church stands on the south side of the park. The tower was built in 1487, as appears by the copy of an agreement now in the Church chest. Easton Park, not far distant, is the residence of the Duke of Hamilton. Earl Soham Lodge, four miles west of the town, belongs to Mrs. Trevanion. Parliam New Hall, within two miles of the town, belongs to F. Cor- rance, Esq., the Old Hall to Mr. Gray. WOODBRIDGE (ST. MAKY), A market town and parish, and the head of a Union in the Hundred of Loes, Easteru Division of the County of Suffolk, seven and a-half miles (east-north-east) from Ipswich, and seventy-six and a-half (north-east by east) from London. This town is of considerable antiquity, for in the time of Edward the Confessor the Prior and Convent of Ely had possessions here, and their successors still hold the Manor of Kingston, The name is thought to be a corruption of Wodenbrigge, from the Saxon god Woden. Towards the close of the twelfth century, a Priory of Augustine Canons was founded here by Emaldus Ruf us and others, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the revenue of which at the dissolution was valued at 50 as. 5d. ; a house built on the site by one of the Scckfords, now in the possession of the Carthew family, still retains the name of the Abbey. Upwards of 327 persons died of the plague here in 1660, and were buried, according to tradition, at Bearman^s Hill, in the vicinity. The town is pleasantly situated on the north side of the river Deben, on the direct road from London to Yarmouth, and occupies the slope of a hill, surrounded by beautiful walks. It consists of two principal streets, a spacious square called Market Hill, and several narrow streets and lanes ; and is paved, lighted, and amply supplied with water. The atmosphere is highly salu- A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 347 brious, and the geneml appearance of the place neat and respectable. From the summit of the hill is a commanding view of the river to its influx into the sea. In 1813, a small theatre was built, and concerts are held occasionally. There were formerly barracks to the north-west of the town, with accommodation for 750 cavalry and 4,105 infantry, but they have been pulled down. The trade principally consists in the exportation of corn, flour, and malt ; and in the importation of coal, timber, foreign wine, spirits, porter, grocery, drapery, and ironmongery. The shipping of late years has greatly increased j the number of vessels of above fifty tons registered at the port is twenty-seven, and their aggregate burden 4,030 tons. Vessels sail weekly to London, and many others are employed in trading with Newcastle, Hull, and the Continent ; one or two sail direct to Liverpool, from which place they bring back salt ; and there is a small trade to the Baltic for timber. A manufactory of salt, of peculiarly fine quality, was formerly carried on ; and there was a brisk business in ship- building ; but both have declined. The Deben, near its mouth, forms the haven of Woodbridgo, from which it is navigable for vessels of 1 20 tons burden to the town ; and on its banks are two excellent quays. The market is on Wednesday, for corn, cattle, and provisions ; and fairs occur on April 5th and October 23rd. The Sessions Hall, under which is the corn market, in the centre of the Market Hill, erected in 1587 by Thomas Seckford, Esq., has recently undergone some extensive repairs, and is a handsome and lofty edifice of brick. On an adjacent eminence is the Bridewell, re-built in 1804. The parish comprises upwards of 1,200 acres. The living is a per- petual curacy, to which the impropriate i-ectory was annexed in 1667 by Mrs. Dorothy Seckford ; patron and incumbent. Rev. T. W. Salmon, whose tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 329. TTie Church was built by John Lord Seagrave, in the reign of Edward III., and the tower and north portico in that of Henry VI. ; on the north side of the chancel is an elegant private chapel, erected in the time of Elizabeth by Thomas Seckford, Es(|., in which, over the family vault, is a tomb, probably to his memory ; the north portico is adorned with sculpture in relief, repre- senting the conflict of St. Michael and the Dragon. The tower is stately and magnificent, and, like the Church, is constructed of dark flint inter- mixed with freestone, and towards the upper part formed into elegant tlevices ; the summit is crowned with battlements, having finials at the angles, which are surmounted by vanes, and decorated in the intei*vals with badges of the four Evangelists. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyans. The Free Grammar School in Webb-street was founded in 1 662 by Mrs. Dorothy Seckford, and was incorporated in 1861 with a new Grammar 348 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. School, called the Seckford Grammar School, and is endowed with property pi'oducing about S7 per annum ; and a National and Lan- castrian School are partly supported by subscription. Almshouses were erected in 1587, by Thomas Seckford, Esq., Master of the Court of Kequests, for the residence of thirteen unmarried men, with another house for three women to attend them as nurses, and endowed with an estate in the parish of Clerkenwell, London, which in 1767 produced an income of 568 per annum ; but more than 20,000 having been expended on it, such is the improving state of the property, that the rental is expected eventually to yield between 5000 and 6000 ; new and handsome houses have been erected. There are besides, different benefactions, amounting to about 150 a year, for the benefit of the poor. The Poor Law Union of Woodbridge comprises forty-six parishes or places. Various relics of antiquity, especially fragments of warlike instruments, have been occasionally found in the vicinity. Christopher Saxton, the publisher of the first county maps, was a native of this place, and servant to Thomas Seckford, Esq., mentioned above, who resided in a mansion at Great Bealings, about a mile and a-lialf distant, and under whose patron- age the plans were published in 1779, and dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. From the Church tower at Woodbridge we can see a landscape in which grain and greenwood abound ; and the Deben flowing, like all the streams of this eastern coast, between flat marshy banks to the sea, which rounds off the horizon with a stripe of blue. And immediately below lies the small quiet town, which has that pleasing rural look im- parted by numerous trees and gardens among the houses. Hereabouts was the country of the Quaker poet Bernard Barton, who often expressed good thoughts in pleasing rhymes. He described many scenes in Suffolk in his various poems. He never wrote a line "which dying, he could wish to blot." On the adjacent heaths of Foxhall and Martlesham, said to be the scenes of battles between the Danes and East Anglians, there are immense mounds of earth, marking the burial gi'ounds of the slain. Even as they fell iu lik'8 they lay, Like the mower's grass at the close of the day, Wlieu his Avork is done on tlie levelled plain, Such was the fall of the foremost slain. Seckford Hall is about midway between Bealings and Woodbridge ; it is an ancient Elizabethan structure and the residence of the Seckford family, who so largely endowed the town of Woodbridge. Orwell Park is the property of George Tomlin, Esq., M.P. Having described the towns on the coast and along the railway near the A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 349 coast, we shall return to Ipswich, and thence proceed along the Midland line, with stations at Bramford, Claydon, Needham Market, Stowmarket, Haughley Junction, Finningham, Mellis for Eye, and Diss. BRAMFOED (ST. MARY), A parish in the Eastern Division of Suffolk, three and a-quarter miles from Ipswich. The canal from Ipswich to Stowmarket crosses this parish. The living is a vicarage with Burstall united, net income 79 ; patron and appropriators, Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. The Church is dedicated to St. Mary. Proceeding along the Eastern Union line, the first object of interest on the left is the Chauntry, the seat of Sir Fitzroy Kelly ; and on the right. Boss Hall, the residence of Colonel Capel ; further on to the left is Manor House, the seat of Colonel Phillips, all the above in the parish of Sproughton. Again on the right is Hill House, the residence of W. H. Mills, Esq.; and Bramford Lodge, in the occupa- tion of J. Wainwright, Esq. Near to these are the Bed House, the residence of J. Leggatt, Esq., and Mill Bank Cottage, that of E. Hitchcock, Esq. Further on, Wliite House is the residence of Mr. Leveritt, Lovetoft's Hall, that of R. R. Wood, Esq. ; Bramford Hall, lately unoccupied ; the Grove, the residence of R. W. Mumford, Esq. NEEDHAM MARKET, A chapelry (formerly a market town) in the parish of Barking Union and Hundred of Basmere and Claydon, Eastern Division of the County of Suffolk, eight and a-half miles (north-west by north) from Ipswich, and seventy-four (north-oast) from London. The town is situated on low ground near the navigable river Gipping and on the road to Ipswich and Bury St. Edmund^s ; it is tolerably well built, and the inhabitants are supplied with water from springs ; the surrounding country is pleasant and abounds with agreeable walks ; and near the town is a lake, about nine acres in extent, called Bosmerc, which gives name to the Hundred. The manufacture of glue is carried on, and there are several flock mills. The Stowmarket and Ipswich navigation passes along the north-east boundary of the chapelry, and is crossed by a bridge leading from the town to Stonham, and the Stour is navigable to Ipswich. The market formerly held here was removed to Stowmarket, in consequence of tho plague having raged here for three years. Tho living is a perpetual curacy, in tho Archdeaconry of Suffolk and Diocese of Norwich ; endowed with 600 royal bounty and 800 Parliamentary grant, and in the pat- ronage of the rector of Barking. The inhabitants from time immemorial have had the right of electing a lecturer. The Church, dedicated to St. 350 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. John the Baptist, is an ancient edifice, built ^bout 1450, in the later English style, with a belfry of wood. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends and Independents. The Free Grammar School was founded pursuant to the will of Francis Theobald, Esq., dated January 10th, 1632, who endowed it with property now producing 65 per annum. Poor children from Needham Market, Barking, and Damsden are in- structed. An almshouse, comprising two tenements, was founded by some person unknown, for the benefit of poor widows and widowers, and en- dowed with land ; eight poor women reside in it. A house of recovery was erected in 1744, by Ambrose Crowley, Esq., for persons attacked with small-pox ; and there island producing about 50 per annum for distribution among the poor. Malting is carried on here to a large extent, and there is a manufactory of crown glue, which is sent to all parts of the world. Needham Market is on the Eastern Union section of the Great Eastern Railway Company's lines, and a handsome and convenient station in the Elizabethan style of architecture stands at a short distance from the prin- cipal street. A handsome Town Hall and Police Station were built here in 1865, and a Public Library and Reading-room, which was established in 1850, has its room in this building. From the railway may be seen Shrubland Park, the seat of Sir G. N. Brooke Middleton, Bart. The mansion is a prominent object to travellers. Bosmere Hall is in the occupation of the Rev. H. D. Curry; near it is a large mere stocked with fish. Barking Hall, near the station, is in the occupation of the Right Hon. the Earl of Ashburnham. STOWMAEKET (ST. PETER AND ST. MARY), A market town and parish in the Hundred of Stow, twelve miles (north- north-west) from Ipswich, and, by way of that town, eighty-one (north- east) from London, but only seventy-five through Sudbury. This town is very ancient, and at the time of the Norman survey was called Thorna, or Thome-market, the former term being derived from the Saxon divinity Thor, and ea, water, alluding to the adjoining river. It was afterwards called Stowmarket, from its being the market for the Hundred of Stow. Two churches are mentioned in Domesday book as existing here. The place, which is the most central in the county, is situated at the confluence of three rivulets, which fonn the river Gipping, on the road from Ipswich to Bury and Cambridge, and consists of several streets, which are for the most part regularly built, and lighted with gas. Many of the houses are handsome, and the inhabitants are well supplied with water. A DESCRIPTION OF SUPPOLfiT. 351 The commercial interest^ of the town are essentially promoted by its locality^ and have been much improved by making the Gipping navigable to Ipswich, which was effected under an Act obtained in 1790. The railway, too, has also been a great benefit to the town. From the basin extends a pleasant walk, about a mile in length, passing through the extensive hop plantations in the neighbourhood. The trade consists chiefly in the making of malt, for which there are more than twenty houses, and which is rapidly increasing ; and corn, malt, and flour to a great extent are exported to Hull, London, Liverpool, and other places. A brewery is established, and there are small manufacturies for rope, twine, and sack- ing ; a patent saw mill, and three ironfoundries, one of which is also used for making agricultural implements. By means of the navigation to Ipswich, grain and malt are conveyed thither, and the returns consist of timber, deals, coal, iron, salt, oil-cake, and slate, for the supply of the central parts of the county. The market is on Thursday, for corn, cattle, and provisions. A building for a Corn Exchange and Reading-room, which is also used on public occasions, has of late years been erected at an expense of 3000, raised by shares of 25 each. A fair is held on August 12th, chiefly for lambs, and on July 10th is a pleasure fair. The county meetings are held in the town ; and the magistrates hold a Petty Session every alternate Monday. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of Stow-Upland annexed, valued in the King's books at 10 15s. j patron, incumbent, and impro- priator, the Rev. A. G. Harper, Hollings worth. The great tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 89, and the vicarial for one of 185. There is a glebe-house, and the glebe contains six acres, valued at 20 per annum. In the grounds is a fine mulberry tree, planted by the poet Milton while on a visit to Dr. Young, the vicar. The Church was rebuilt about the year 1 300 by the Abbey of St. Osyth, Essex, which then held the advowson. It is a spacious and handsome structure in the centre of the town, partly in the decorated and partly in the later English style, and consists of a nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a square embattled tower, surmounted by a slender wooden spire of tasteful appearance, 120 feet in height, which was erected from the proceeds of a legacy left ill the reign of Anne. At the cast end of the south aisle is the Tyrell Chapel, separated by a handsome screen, and containing several in- teresting monuments to that family. The edifice was enlarged and repaired in 1838, and contains 1400 sittings, of which 800 are free. There are places of worship for Baptists and Independents ; and a National School is supported by subscription. There are several benevolent institutions for the relief of the poor, Avho also receive about 2 GO per annum from bequests made at different periods. The Poor Law Union of Stow com- 352 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. prises thirty-four parishes or places. Abbot's Hall, the seat of J. Rust, Esq., was so called from having formerly belouged to the Abbey of St. Osyth, in the County of Essex. Stowmarket is a thriving busy town, and the amount of business tran- sacted here is very considerable, far beyond what any visitor passing through the place might expect. The railway, by facilitating the transit of goods, has rendered great service to the town. There are maltstries so extensive, that the quantity of malt made in the town is third on the list of malting places in England. Messrs. Prentice have established artificial manure works of great extent. There are several large steam flour mills, also paper mills for producing paper from straw. Messrs. Woods, Cocksedge, and Warner carry on extensive works for the manu- facture of agricultural implements, which are sent to all parts of the world. GIPPING, A chapelry in the parish of Stowmarket, four miles (north-north-east) from the town, takes its name from the river Gipping. It was the property of the late Charles Tyrell, Esq., whose ancestor. Sir Walter Tyrell, Knight, held the Lordship at the time of the Domesday survey. The living is a donative in the patronage of Mr. Tyrell. The C hapel, situated near the Hall, is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower, and was built by Sir James Tyrell in the fifteenth century. There is a school partly supported by Mrs. Tyrell. The late owner of the estate having been a public man, a politician and representative of the county, a sketch of his life may be interesting to the reader. Charles Tyrell, Esq., of Plashwood and Gipping, was born in 1776. He was the son of the Rev. Charles Tyrell, and cousin of Edmund Tyrell, Esq., of Gipping Hall, who was High Sheriff* of Suffolk in 1774. He entered the University of Cambridge at an early age, and took the degree of Bachelor of Arts three years before the beginning of the present century. In the famous year 1815, he served the office of High Sheriff of the county, and indeed he had at this time become a man of mark by the prominent share he took in county matters. The most memorable epoch in his life, however, was connected with the dawn of reform in Parliamentary and Municipal representation. During the last illness of George IV. in May and June, 1830, determined efforts were set on foot to oust the Duke of Wellington from the supreme place in the council of the nation, and the death of " the King's Most Excellent Majesty," on the 26th of the latter month, precipitated the action of those who were not yet known as " Reformers," by necessitating a general election. At A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 353 this time the undivided county of Suffolk was represented by Sir William Rowley, Whig, and Sir Thomas Sherlock Gooch, Tory, the fonner of whom announced the resignation of his seat on account of his inability to give to his Parliamentary duties that attention which was required by the times, whilst Sir Thomas it appears had dissatisfied many of his con- stituents by his abstention from voting on various questions of retrench- ment. Sir Henry Bunbury having offered himself for the vacant seat as an entirely independent candidate an advocate for the constitutional reform of abuses in general, a strong and most determined effort was made to induce Mr. Tyrell to come forward for the second seat. At first that gentleman, who had indeed promised to support Sir Thomas Gooch, although not approving altogether of his political conduct, declined the proposal ; but as great pressure was brought to bear upon him, backed by a requisition signed by a thousand freeholders of the county, he in a very frank and manly way represented to Sir Thomas the position in which he found himself, and ultimately felt himself free to place his services at the disposal of the constituency. Just at this time public action in England was stimulated by the news from France, then, as now, in a state of revolution. On the 29tli of July, the tricolour hoisted on the Tuilleries, where the white flag of the Bourbons had floated for fifteen years, pro- claimed that the sovereignty of France had passed away from the gmsp of the elder branch of that house; on the 1st of August, the Duke of Orleans assumed the functions of Lieutenant-General of the kingdom ; on the 2nd, Charles X., too late in his concessions, formally abdicated in favour of his grandson, the Duke of Bordeaux ; and a week later the Duke of Orleans accepted the Crown as Louis Philippe, King of the French, under circumstances which should have warned him against that dogged opposition to salutary changes which within twenty years proved as fatal to his own irgime as it had to that of his predecessor. While these momentous events were happening across the Channel, Suffolk was all excitement, and men were at work in earnest. On the (5th of August, the nomination took place at Stowmarket, and the prominent actors on that day were Sir Thomas Gooch, Sir Henry Bunbury, and Mr. Tyrell, Avith their respective proposers and seconders. Colonel Rushbrooke, Six- Charles Brook Vere, the Earl of Euston, Sir Hyde Parker, Richard Dalton, Esq., and J. H. Heigham, Esq. Mr. Tyrell has long been the only survivor. On Tuesday, the 10th of August, a second nomination took place at Ipswich, and we leani from the Buri/ Post of that date that Sir Henry Bunbury made his entry in an open carriage, accompanied by his three sons, and preceded by the Earl of Euston, Sir R. Hardland, J, Moseley, Esq., H. Blake, Esq., J. H. Powell, Esq., &c., and followed by Lord Huntingfield, Sir Hyde Parker, &c. Mr. Tyrell's cavalcade followed. 354 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. the liorsemcu being more than loU in number; and Sir Thomas Gooch's procession wisely arrived from an opposite point of the compass. The show of hands was most decidedly in favour of the two baronets from West Sufiblk ; and at the ck)se of the poll on that day. Sir Henry Bunbury had received the suffrages of 1,055 electors, and Mr. Tyrell's requisitionists had justified their appeal by polling exactly 1,000 votes, whilst Sir Thomas Goocli had only received 624. Shortly after the voting had recommenced on the following morning, it was announced that Sir Thomas had struck his flag, and the Sheriff closed the poll, subse- quently declaring the numbers as follows: Bunbury, 1,097; Tyrell, 1,044; Gooch, 627. At the " chairing ""^ of the successful candidates without which in those days no Parliamentary election could be considered complete we find Sir Henry Bunbury in a full Court dress, wearing his orders on his breast, and a handsome crimson-aud-white sash, upon a ])latform borne on the shoulders of thirty men. Behind him was placed an elegant chair of crimson silk, and above his head a splendid canopy, supported by framework tastefully entwined with evergreens and flowers. Mr. Tyrell followed, in a full suit of Court mourning, on a platform taste- fully decorated v>ritli festoons of Avhite satin, supported by branches of oak, interspersed with flowers, and borne on the shoulders of thirty men. In addition to the pageantry of the past, we read of flags, baimers, and favours, of bands of music, of ringing of bells, and discharge of flre- works, now no longer lawful. The importance of this memorable contest is thus dilated on in the Bury Post for the 18tli of August, 1830 : " It is but little to say of the Suflblk election that it is the only con- test which has taken place in the county within forty years. There were circumstances of a peculiar nature to give it importance. It was not a con- test between two great families, or two parties, such as parties used to be it was a struggle for independence ; and the novelty and boldness of the attempt to bring in two gentlemen by the voice of the great body of the freeholders had turned the attention of all parties to the event. The success of the experiment was regarded as doubtful ; the preparations in all parts of the county evinced an admirable zeal in the cause, but there was a want of that concert and methodical arrangemeiit which are found among more practised electionecrers. This very fact adds to the greatness of the triumph, since it proves that principle, and not management, won the day. Neither is it possible to ascribe the victory to length of purse ; so far from it, both the candidates selected by the county came forward on the express condition that they were not to be put to any expense ; and it is a fact that all the freeholders who voted for Sir Henry Bunbury and Mr. Tyrell went to the poll at their own charge, or by the voluntary assistance of their neighbours. Their choice was the free and constitutional A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 355 expression of the public will, and never did this couut.y never until this period did any county in England assume an attitude so dignified as that which produced the return of Sir Heniy Bunbury and Mr. Tyrell." At the dissolution consequent on the defeat of Earl Grey's ministry in the following year, on going into committee on the Refomi Bill, Sir Heniy Bunbury and Mr. Tyrell (both of whom had voted with the ministiy) were re-elected ^^^thout opposition. By the Parliament then elected, the Reform Bill became law, Suftblk was divided into two constituencies, and at the general election of 1832, Sir Henry Bunbury having retired fi'oni the representation, Mr. Tyrell was returned at the head of the poll to the first Reformed Parliament, the numbers being : Mr. Tyrell, 1828 ; Sir Hyde Parker, 1664; Mr. H. S. Waddington, 1272. At the dissolution in 1835, Mr. Tyrell did not offer himself for re-election, and he lived in comparative retirement till his death, which occurred on Tuesday, the 9th of January, 1872, aged 96. HAUGHLEY (sT. MAKy), A parish three miles from Stowmarket, containing 900 inhabitants. The area is 2497a. 3r. 9p. The living is a discharged vicarage ; net income, 158. The Church is an ancient structure in the decorated English style, with a square embattled tower on the south side. The nave is lighted by a range of clerestory wiiidoAvs, and at the west end there is a noble window of seven lights, enriched with flowing tracery. At an early period, this was a place of some importance, and had a market, which is now discontinued. The parish was formerly the head of an honour or barony, under the appellation of Hagenet, and there are still traces of a very strong Castle supposed to have been of Anglo-Saxon origin. It is now reduced to a few strong walls. The date of its demoli- tion is 1173, in the reign of Heniy 11. It was afterwards rebuilt and fortified by Ufford, Earl of Suffolk, and did good service to the family. Kirby, in his "Suffolk Traveller" (1744), says that in his time the remains of Haughley Castle, in figure, hiclined to a square, having a moat, and fortified with rampart walls on all sides except the north, where stood the keep, which from its peculiar situation and great moans of defence, was capable of defending itself. A portion of the foundation of this tower yet exists, and shows that the keep was erected in a circular form, and most probably rose to a considerable height. The extent of ground occupied by the Castle and its fortifications is estimated at seven acres. MELLI8 (ST. MAEY), A palish in the Hundred of Hartismere, Western Division of Suftblk, near the railway station, 3^ miles (west by north) from Eye. The parish com- ooO UI8T0KY OF EASTEK^ ENGLAND. prises 13]-Lv. 2i;. The living is a rectory, and in the patronage of the Crown ; the tithes have been commuted for a rent charge of 345, and the glebe comprises eight acres, valued at 10 per annum. The Church is a handsome structure in the later English style ; the tower fell down about 1720. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. There is a biunch line from this place to Eye. EYE (ST. PETEli AND ST. PAUL), A borough, mai-ket town, and paiish, in the Union and Hundred of Hartismere, Western Division of Suffolk, eighty -nine miles (north-east) from London. The name of the place, formerly Eay, is derived from its situation on a tract of land surrounded with water. Soon after the Conquest, Robert Malet, who accompanied William I. to England, having obtained the honour of Eye, erected a Castle here, of which there are some slight remains near the Mill Hill. The same Kobert Malet also founded a Benedictine monastery, dedicated to St. Peter, at first a cell to Bernay Abbey in Normandy, but made denizen by Richard III. In this monastery was preserved St. Felixes Book of the Gospels, written in large Lombardic characters, and called the Red Book, on Avhich the people used to be sworn ; it was removed from the abbey at Dunwich, when that place was destroyed by the sea. The town is pleasantly situated in a valley surrounded on all sides by streams of water. The market is on Tuesday, for corn, and there is also a market on Saturday for butter and vegetables. King John granted the earliest charter ; later charters were afterwards bestowed, under the last of which, that of William III., the Corporation consisted of two bailiffs, ten principal burgesses, twenty-four councillors, a recorder, town clerk, treasurer, two chamberlains, and other officers. By the Act of William IV., the government is now vested in a Mayor, three other aldermen, and twelve councillors. The franchise was conferred in the thirteenth of Elizabeth, and the borough returned two members till the Reform Act of 1832, which deprived the town of one; and the Reform Act of 1867 altogether disfranchised the place. The parish comprises 4340 acres ; the surface is finely undulated, and the lower lands are watered by numerous streams. The living is a vicarage, and Sir E. Kerrison is the patron. The Church is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower, crowned mth pinnacles ; the nave is lighted by a handsome range of clerestoiy windows, and it is separated from the chancel by a richly carved screen. In 1840 the Church was repaired by subscription. Sir E. Kerrison contributing 300. There is a new Town Hall, where the market is held, and where the magistrates sit iu petty sessions. A DESCRIPT[ON OP SUFFOLK. 357 Sir Edward Clarence Kerrison is the Lord of the several Manors in the vicinity of Eye, and the oAvner of a great part of the soil. He re-built the National School Houses a few years since at his own expense. The Workhouse for the Hartismere Hundred is situated near the Church. The Methodists and Baptists have places of worship here. Messrs. Robert Chase and Brothers have a large flax factory, which gives employ- ment to 300 people. Mr. B. C. Etheridge carries on a large brewery. MENDLESHAM {ST. MARY), A parish, forjnerly a market town, in the Hundred of Hartismere, fifteen and a-half miles (north-north-west) from Ipswich, five and a-half miles (north-east) from Haughley Station. The area of the parish is about 3944 acres, and the population 1316. The soil is fertile, and fine crops of wheat are grown. This place, like many others in Suffolk, was formerly of more importance than at present, and had a market which has fallen into disuse. The town consists chiefly of two long streets, parallel with each other, and is approached in all directions by excellent roads ; the environs are pleasant, and the air salubrious. The living is a vicarage, endowed with one-third of the rectorial tithes ; appropriators of the remainder, the Dean and Chapter of Chichester. The appropriate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 540, and the vicarial for 580, and the glebe comprises twenty-five acres with a house. The Church is a handsome structure in the later English styk^, with a lofty sqjiare embattled tower, and a north and south porch embellished with grotesque sculptures. The chancel was restored in 1864, and the whole Church was roseatod in 1865. There is an endowed school, free for twenty-one children, and a National School was established in 1863. The Baptists, Indejiendents, Wesleyans, and the Society of Friends have Chapels here. HOXNE (ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL), A parish thi'ee and a-quarter miles (north-east) from Eye. Tliis place in ancient times was memorable for the barbarous murder of Edmund, King of the East Angles, who, after an unsuccessful battle with the Danes at Thetford, had taken shelter in a wood in this parish. A chapel erected over his remains was converted into a priory for Benedictine monks, and became a cell to the abbey of Norwich. The parish, which is bounded on the north by the river Waveney, comprises by measurement 4224 acres. The surface is varied, and the scenery of pleasing character ; and the village, which is neatly built, is pleasantly situated. Petty Sessions for the Division are held here monthly. The living is a vicarage, with that of Denham annexed, valued in the King's books at ill 2 3s. 9d. ; net income, 450 ; appropriator of Hoxne, 358 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGI^NT). the Bishop of Norwich. A school, now m union with the National Society, was founded and endowed hy Lord Maynard in 1761. The Poor-Law Union of Hoxne comprises twenty-four parishes or places. YOXFORD (ST. PETER), A parish twenty-three and a-half miles (north-east) from Ipswich, com- prising 2681 acres. The village is situated in a remarkably-pleasant and genteel neighbourhood, on the road from Ipswich to Yarmouth, and con- sists principally of one well-built street of modern houses, with two commodious inns. The living is a vicarage, valued in the King's books at 3 14s. 2d. ; the great tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 284, and the vicarial for 194, and the glebe contains five acres, valued at 10 per annum. The Church has been lately enlarged by subscription, .aided by a grant of 140 from the Incorporated Society, for which 280 free sittings have been provided. It contains some ancient brasses and handsome monuments. A National School has been lately built. James Bird, the poet, resided here for some years. TOWNS OF WEST SUFFOLK. These are all of small size, and each situated near some river for the convenience of water conveyance. Stowmarket, Mendlesham, and Eye are midland, near the Eastern Union railway. Hadleigh, Nay land, Clare, Haverhill, Melford, and Sudbury are in the southern rural district. Ijavenham, Bury St. Edmund's, Brandon, and Mildenhall, are in the northern district, containing many large villages, and seats of the gentry amid parks, preserves, and plantations full of game. HADLEIGH (ST. MAKY) Is an ancient market town in the Union and Hundred of Cosford, West Division of Suffolk, sixty-four miles (north-east) from London. This town was probably founded during the Octarchy, in which period a monastery is said to have been established by one of the Kings, and was called by the East Angles Headlege, whence it derived its modern name. The town is situated in a valley, the air of which is remarkably salubrious, and the inhabitants arc plentifully supplied with water from springs. This was formerly a corporate town, governed by a Mayor, alderman, and common councilmen, but having surrendered its charter upon a quo icarranto to James II., these supposed privileges were lost, and the town is now within the juisdiction of the county magistrates. The parish comprises 1169 acres; the soil is generally fertile, and well adapted for the production of grain, of which great quantities are sold in the market held every Monday. The living is a rectoiy, and the tithes A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 359 have been cominiited for a rent-charge of 1325. The Church, a hand- some spacious structure, is chiefly in the later EngUsh style. Dr. William Alabaster, a learned divine of the seventeenth century, was a native of this place; and Dr. Taylor, who suffered martyrdom in the reign of Mary, was rector. He was burned on Aldham Common ; the spot is surrounded by a palisade, inclosing a monument erected to his memory in 1818, and an old stone bearing an inscription recording his martyrdom. A large trade in malt is canned on, and the duty for 1869, on malt made in the town only, amounted to 34,116 18s. ll^d. A cocoa- fibre matting manufactory has been established by Messrs. Cook, Sons, and Co. NAYLAND (ST. PETER), A parish, formerly a market town, in the Hundred of Babergh, West Division of the county, sixteen miles (west) from Ipswich. The town is situated on the river Stour, in a fertile valley, surrounded by hills com- manding* fine views. It consists of several streets which contain some good houses, and has three large flour mills in the centre. A considerable trade is carried on here in corn, flour, malt, and coals. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, 139 ; patron, Sir J. R. Rowley, Bart. ; the impropiiate tithes were. commuted for a rent-charge of 220. The Church is an ancient stone structure with a tower and six bells. CLARE (ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL), A market town and parish in the Union and Hundred of Risbridge, in the Western Division of Suffolk, fifty-five and a-half miles (north-east -by- north) from London, on the borders of the county, which is here divided from Essex by the river Stour. This place is of great antiquity, and derived considerable importance during the Anglo-Saxon Octarchy from being on the fi'ontier of the kingdom of East Anglia. After the Norman conquest, it was distinguished for having given the title of earl to the family of De Clare, and that of duke to Lionel, third son of Edward TIL, who was created Duke of Clarence. George III. rcNnved the title in the person of his third son. Prince WiUiam Henry, who in 1789 was created a peer of the I'ealm as Duke of Clarence. To the south of the town are the ruins of a Castle formerly the baronial residence of the Earls of Clare, and equal to any of those structures in feudal grandeur and magnificence. The site of the fortifications, which may bo distinctly traced, comprehended an area of thirty acres. On the summit of a high mount, evidently of artificial consti'uction, are the remains of an ancient keep, a circular building of flints, strongly cemented with mortar and strengthened with buttresses, which from its situation near the frontier, is supposed to have 360 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. been erected either prior to or during the Octarchy. The honour of Clare is now annexed to the Duchy of Lancaster. The town is situated on the river Stour, which is navigable. The houses are in general old, but many new ones have been built. The ancient market-place has been enlarged by pulling down unsightly buildings, and a new Com Hall was erected in 1838. The parish comprises 2,178 acres; the living is a discharged vicarage, in the patronage of the Queen in right of the Duchy of Lancaster ; net income, about 200. The Church is a large, handsome, and ancient structure, chiefly in the decorated English style, with a square tower, strengthened by buttresses, and of an earlier date than the body. The interior, which has been improved by heightening the nave and the addition of side aisles, is richly ornamented, and contains an elegantly designed font in the later English style, and a brass eagle on a pedestal with wings displayed, forming the reading desk. The edifice has been lately repaired, restored, and internally beautified. A gallery has been erected, containing 640 additional sittings, 590 of which are free by aid of a grant of 300 from the Incoi-porated Society. To the south-west of the town are the remains of Clare Priory, founded by Eluric or Alfric, Earl of Clare, for secular canons, which Gilbert de Clare in 1090 gave to the Benedictine abbey of Bee in Normandy, to which it was a cell till 1124, when his son Richard removed the monks to the village of Stoke. Joan d^Acre, daughter of Edward I. and wife of Gilbert de Clare, was a great benefactress to this estabhshment, and is traditionally said to have been intended in the chapel, which is now used as a barn. The priory is now a private residence, and though it has been altered and repaired, it still retains much of its original character. A monastery for Augustine monks is said to have been founded here in 1248, but by whom is not known. Some persons of distinction were buried there. Several large parishes in the neighbourhood require some notice. There are three parishes named Belchamp, Belchamp St. Pauls, Belchamp Otton, and Belchamp Walter, which it is supposed received their appellations from their Norman description of Bel Champ, that is, beautiful meadows or fields ; and this name is with strict propriety applicable to much of the grass land in this district. Belchamp St. Paul, the parish that we have now to do with, is a long stragghng village, situate on an eminence, from which there is an extensive prospect, taking in the fine tower of Lavenham Church in one direction, and the Norman keep and turrets of Hedingham Castle in another. The parish adjoins that of Clare, from which town it is distant about two miles. The secondary name applied to the parish is not derived from the Church, which is dedicated to St. Andrew, but from its appropriation to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, in London, to which it was given by the A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 361 Saxon King Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great. In Athelstan's grant (which was in Saxon and Latin), the Latin is " Et decern mansas ad Bylcham cum Wichham/^ by mansas being nnderstood dwelling- houses, one of which was the capital mansion, or chief manor house, where the Lord's courts were held. The neighbouring parish of Wickham (allied with Belchamp in the above grant) has also the name of St. PauFs for a similar reason, belonging as it does to the Dean and Chapter of St. PauFs. (The other Wickham in the same county belongs to the Bishop, and is called Wickham Bishop's) . The Dean and Chapter have always held the parish of Belchamp, except during the Commonwealth, when it was sold to Thomas Cook, Esq., of Pebmarsh, and three other gentlemen ; but at the Restoration the Cathedral recovered its possessions. The Golding family held nearly all the estate under the Dean and' Chapter. John Golding, Esq., of the Hall and of Halstead, was one of the auditors of the Exchequ^er about 1527, and, with other laymen and priests in the county, was very active in the apprehension and examination of " heretics," who (as Strype tells us) were numerous in the diocese of London, and especially about Colchester and other parts of Essex, and whose principal heresy consisted in their being diligent readers of Tindal's New Testament, and who held secret meetings, ^' wherein they instructed one another out of the same." Sir Thomas Golding was one of the commissioners for taking account of the charity lands in Essex, and it is alleged that he did not fail to improve the opportunity this commission offered of securing a considerable fortune. A Margaret Golding was married to John de Vere, the sixteenth Earl of Oxford, and there is an ancient slab in the chancel with well preseiTcd brasses, a central knight in armour, sur- rounded by effigies and groups of children, &c., and an inscription in black letters to the memory of the wife of William Golding, who died May 20th, 1591 . There was formerly a chapel dedicated to the Holy Trinity, with a field of two acres, on Colo Green, in the parish, where a large cattle fair is now held in December (the natives call it " Cold Green," on aocount of the weather at the time of the fair) . The Dean and Chapter of St. PauFs are, as stated, appropriators of the rectory, and patrons of the vicarage, valued in the King's books at 14, and in 1831 at 247. The glebe is eighty acres, and the tithes were commuted in 1840 the \'icarial for 200, and the rectorial for 288 ; the latter ai*e held by lessees. The acreage of the parish is 2557, and the population 832. The Church consists of tower, nave, chancel, north and chancel aisles (the latter recently built), and south porch. There is a well-kept largo churchyard, and a spacious green in front. A large and handsome farmhouse adjoins the churchyard, and is the residence of Mr. Eagle, one of the churchwardens. The sacred edifice, like many others all over the 362 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGIAND. country, had been much neglected and mjured by ill-advised alterations tlie floors were uneven, roofs dilapidated, and partly ceiled, the area blocked up by irregular pews and many other enormities. All these have now been removed, and the entire building has received the most careful attention. The only portion of the building that on some future occasion will require attention is the south wall of the nave, which declines out- ward considerably from the perpendicular, although it is quite safe, as there are strong butti*esses outside. These are of brick, and very ugly, and spoil the appearance of the south elevation of the building. - The folloAving comprise the principal works of restoration that have been thoroughly carried out during the last twelve months. All the walls, both internal and external, have been stripped of plaster and cleaned of whitewash; the rubble has been cleaned, and the flint was fresh pointed. 'Jlie stonework of the arcades, window^s, &c., has been restored and cleaned down. The earth was excavated under the old floors to the depth of eighteen inches, the floors paved with tiles Peak's being used in the nave and aisles, and Minton's in the chancel and sacrarium. The old roofs have been opened out and cleaned, and the timbers oiled, and new roofs have been erected in the chancel, chancel aisle, and part of the north aisle. The chancel aisle is entirely new ; it is seated for the school children, who assist in the singing, and a small portion at the upper end is screened oft' by a curtain as a sacristy. Altogether the alterations reflect great credit on the architect, A. W. Blomfield, Esq., of London, and the contractors, Mr. D. Theobald, of Long Melford, and Mr. Runnacles, builder, of Halstead, who have so well carried out his designs. The expenses incurred up to the beginning of June, 1872, amounted to 1180, towards which 1071 15s. 8d. had been contributed a large sum for a thinly-populated parish. There ai'e schools in all the three parishes of Bel champ, proving that in this district at least the farmers are not averse to the education of the poor. MELFOED (holy TEINITY), A parish, formerly a market town, in the Hundred of Babergh, Western Division of Suffolk, twenty-two miles (west) from Ipswich. The parish comprises 5185a. Or. 4p., and is pleasantly situated on a branch of the river Stour in one of the most fertile parts of the country, and is sur- rounded by beautiful and richly-diversified scenery. Melford Hall, for- merly a country house of the Abbots of Bury, the seat of Sir William Parker, is a noble mansion in the Elizabethan style. The Hall was built by Sir William Cordell, and contains some curious portraits of that family. Kent well Hall, the seat of Capt. E. R. S. Bence, built by the Cloptons, A DRSCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 368 is approached by an avenue of lime trees nearly a mile in length. At Melford Place, the residence of H. Westropp, Esq., are some remains of the old chapel of the mansion of the Martins. The two first seats are situated in beautifully-timbered parks, which gi-eatly enhance the pictu- resqueness of the village and neighbourhood. The living is a rectoiy, valued iu the King's books at 28 2s. Gd. ; patron, J. Cobbold, Esq. The Church is a spacious and interesting structure, chiefly in the later English style, with a lofty embattled tower, and at the east end there is a Lady Chapel of a very beautifid character. SUDBURY, A borough and market town and the head of a Union, locally in the Hundred of Babergh, Western Division of the County of Suffolk, twenty- two miles (west by south) from Ipswich, and fifty-six (north-east by north) from London. This place, which was originally called South Burgh, is of great an- tiquity, and at the period of the Norman survey was of considerable im- portance, liaving a market and a mint. A colony of the Flemings, who were introduced into this countiy by Edward III., for the pni-pose of establishing the manufacture of woollen cloth, settled here, and that branch of trade continued to flourish for some time, but at length fell to decay. The town is situated on the river Stour, which is crossed by a bridge leading into Essex. For some time after the loss of the woollen trade it possessed few attractions, and the houses belonged principally to decayed manufacturers ; but of late years it has greatly improved, being paved and lighted in 1825, and some good houses have been built. The Town Hall, erected by the Corpomtion in the Grecian style, is a great ornament to the town, in which is also a neat theatre. The trade princi- pally consists in the manufocture of silk, crape, and bunting for ships' flags, of which that of silk was introduced by manufacturers fi'om Spital- iields, in consequence of disputes with their workmen ; and about 1500 persons are now engaged in the silk and 400 in the crape and bunting business. The river Stour, navigable hence to Manningtree, affords a facility for the transmission of coal, chalk, lime, and agricultural produce. The statute market is on Saturday and the corn market on Thursday. Fairs are held on March 12th and July lOtli, principally for earthenware, glass, and toys. The first charter of incorporation was granted by Queen Mary in 1554, and confirmed by Elizabeth in 1550 ; another was given by Oliver Cromwell ; but that under which the Corporation derived its power was bestowed by Charles II. The government is now vested in a Mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors, under the Act of the 5th and Gth of William IV., cap. 7G ; and the number of magistrates is five. The 364 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. freedom is obtained by birth or apprenticeship. The borough, whicli comprises 1685 acres, first sent members to Parliament in the commence- ment of the reign of Elizabeth, and continued to exercise that privilege till the year 1842, when the inhabitants were disfranchised by a special Act of Parliament. The recorder holds courts of quarter session, and a court of record occurs every Monday for the recovery of debts to the amount of 20. Sudbury comprises the parish of All Saints, St. Gregory, and St. Peter. The living of All Saints is a discharged vicarage, valued in the King's books at 4 lis. 5^d. ; net income, 160; patrons and impro- priators, Simeon^s trustees. The churches are of considerable anti- quity, and are spacious and handsome structures, mostly in the later English style, of which they present some fine specimens, though gene- rally much defaced. In that of All Saints is a curious monument to the Eden family, whose pedigree is painted on the Avails. St. Gregory's, which is the most ancient, was formerly collegiate, until Henry VIII. granted its site and other possessions, for the sum of 1280, to Sir T. Paston, Knight. The font is very magnificent, and in a niche of the wall of the vestry room, enclosed with an ii'on grating, is a head supposed to be that of Symon de l^heobald, or de Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury in the time of Richard II., a native of this town, who was beheaded by the mob in Wat Tyler's rebellion. The Free Grammar School was instituted in 1491, under the will of William Wood, warden of Sudbury College, who endowed it with a farm worth about 100 per annum ; and there is also a National School with a small endowment. The hospital of St. Leonard, for lepers, was founded by John Colneys, and endowed by Simon Theobald de Sudbury with about five acres of land, a chapel, and a dwelling-house. It is now in the possession of the corporation of the poor, and is applied towards their maintenance. From a bequest by Thomas Carter in 1706, fifty men receive coats, and fifty- women gowns, on St. Thomas's day, and there are several smaller charities for the benefit of the indigent. The Poor-Law Union of Sudbury comprises forty -two parishes or places, twenty-foiu' of which are in the County of Suffolk, and eighteen in that of Essex. The College of St. Gregory, for secular priests, established by Simon de Theobald, was richly endowed, and was valued at the period of the dis- solution at 122 18s. 3d. per annum. Its only remains are the gateway, and portions of a wall now forming a part of the Workhouse. A gateway which is a portion of a monastery of Augustine Friars, standing in Friars' Street, yet exists ; an hospital was founded here in the reign of King John, by Amicia, Countess of Clare, which was afterwards given to the monks of Stoke ; and there was also a Benedictine cell to the Abbey of A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 365 Westminster, instituted iu tlie reign of Henry 11. About half a mile from the town is a spring of pure water, which, from its supposed efficacy in curing many diseases, is called by the inhabitants "Holy Water.'' Sudbury is the birthplace of Gainsborough, the celebrated painter, who depicted so many bright sunny landscapes. No doubt ho saw many all around his native place. He used to amuse himself by I'anibling in the woods and sketching the scenery around, but attracting some attention, he was sent to London, where he married a woman with some little property, and removed to settle at Ipswich, where he resided some years. He soon rose into high reputation as a portrait painter. He died in 1788, and is buried at Kew. JAVENHAM (ST. PETER AND ST. I'AUL), A market town and paiish in the Union of Cosford, Hundred of Babergh, Western Division of the County of Suffolk, eighteen and a-half miles (west -by-north) from Ipswich, and sixty-one (north-east) from London. The town is remarkably healthy, and occupies the declivities of two hills rising gradually from the river Brett, and consists of several small streets ; the houses arc in general of mean appearance ; the inhabi- tants are well supplied with water. The manufacture of blue cloth formerly flourished here, under the du-ection of several guilds, each of which had its separate hall ; at present wool combing and spinning, but only on a small scale, ai-e carried on ; and the women and children are employed in plaiting straw for bonnets. The market, now almost disused, is on Tuesday ; the Market-place is a spacious area, containing a stone cross. Fairs ai'e held for horses and cattle, on Shrove Tuesday, and October 11th, 12th, and VSth; the former is well attended, and a good business is done in cattle and horses ; but the October fair, which was formerly for the sale of butter and cheese and the hiring of sei-vants, is no longer held. Lavcnham was formerly governed by six capital bur- gesses, styled headboroughs, elected for the last time in 1775. Courts leet and baron arc held at the will of the lord of the manor ; and the town is a polling-place for the western division of the county. The living is a rectory, valued in the King's books at 20 2s. lid.; net income, 058 ; patrons. Masters and Fellows of Cains College, Cambridge. The Church was rebuilt in the reign of Henry VI., partly by the De Veres, Earls of Oxford, who formerly resided here, and partly by the family of Spring, wealthy clothiers. It is an eminently beautiful structure, in the later English style; the body of the Church is of rich workmanship, having a most beautiful and elaborate open-worked parapet, and the tower is of massive construction. The entrance is by a porch, supposed to have been erected by John, fourteenth Earl of Oicford, 366 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. and euriclied with the most ehiboratu embellishments ; over the arch is a richly-sculptured double niche, and on each side of the niche three escutcheons, each bearing quartered coats of the arms of the De Vere family. In the Church, there is a curious mural monument to Allaine Lister, a wealthy clothier of the town, and another of alabaster and marble to the Rev. Mr. Copinger. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. The Free School was founded in 1647 by llichard Peacock, Esq., with an endowment of 5 per annum, augmented in 1699 by Edward Colman, Esq., with 16 per annum. A National School is supported by the proceeds of a bequest of 2000 Three per Cent. Consols, by Henry Steward in 1806 ; and some almshouses, rebuilt in 1886, are inhabited by forty aged persons. The Kev. George Ruggle, author of a Latin comedy entitled " Ignoramus,^ ^ and other dramatic pieces, was born here in 1575 ; and Sir Thomas Cooke, Lord Mayor of London in 1462, was also a native. A considerable trade is done here in wool, corn, malt, and seeds. Horse-hair seating and cocoa-fibre matting are produced here, and large quantities of straw plait are made by the women and children. Mr. Duncan, sugar refiner, has recently established a factory for makiug sugar from beetroot, which gives work to large numbers of people during the season. BKADl'IELD COMBUST (ALL SAINTS), A parish in the Hundred of Thedwastry, six miles (south-south-east) from Bury, in the Western Divison of the county. The parish compiises 836 acres. The living is a discharged rectory, in the patronage of the Rev. H. J. Halstead. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 230. This was the birthplace and residence of Arthur Young, the celebrated writer on agriculture in the last century. It is a place which should be interesting to farmers, for its quiet churchyard contains the remains of the farmer^s friend, who by his works originated such im- provements in agriculture as entitle him to rank as a public benefactor. The ancient farm-houses have not yet disappeared. Some of them btand amid gardens inclosed on two or three sides by a moat, a remnant of the feudal times. The houses look picturesque, with gray thatch and frequent gables ; and the walls, as clean as whitewash can make them, testify to the prevalence of a wdiolesome virtue. Brettenham, one of the villages on the route, is supposed by some antiquaries to occupy the site of ancient Combretonium a supposition favoured by the identity of the second syllable with the name of the little river Bret. Bradfield St. Clair, Bradfield St. George, and Hitcham are adjoining parishes. Hitchain was one of the most benighted parishes in Suffolk forty year A DESCKirriON OF SUFi'OLK. 36? ago. The population then numbei-ed 1000, and the poor-rate amounted to 27s. a year for each pei-son. The fact alone implies little morality. Tlic ignorance of the rustic population was a disgrace to the inhabitants, and an opprobrium to Christianity. They had no recreations, and in their relations with the farmers they were little better than serfs. The laborers had to content themselves with the pnblic-house, and the farmers with the annual tithe dinner, with its drunken bout of twenty -four hours duration. In 1839 the Hcv. Professor Henslow entered into residence at Hitchain, and adopted measures for raisiug his flock from their brutal degradation. ICKWORTH, A parish in the Hundred of Thingoe, West Division of Suffolk, two and a-half miles (south-west) from Bury. The place is the property of the Marquess of Bristol, whose seat is situated within the parish. The mansion is one of the most remarkable of modern edifices. It was planned by Frederick, Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Deny, assisted by Sandys, the architect, on a design of great magnificence, with the intention of making the building both a mansion and a temple of the fine arts. It was commenced in 1792, but the western wing was not completed. It is 025 feet in length, and the centre, crowned with a dome, lises 140 feet, the diameter being 120 feet by 106. The park comprises 2000 acres of rich land, and is eleven miles in circumference. The surface is varied, and the lower grounds are watered by a rivulet which expands into a broad lake, the whole forming one of the most splendid seats in the country. Within the park, there is a column 200 feet high in memory of the present founder of the house, erected by inhabitants of all religious denominations in the diocese. BURY ST. EDMUNU^S. This is a parliamentary and municipal borough and market town, in the Hundred of Thingoe, in the Western Division of Suffolk, pleasantly situated on the river Larke, twenty-three miles north-west of Ipswich, and seventy-one miles (north-east) from London, near a i*ailway station. It is supposed to bo the \lUa Fascstlna of the Romans, and numerous Roman remains have been dug up here. Soon after the settlement of the East Angles it was made a royal borough and called Beodricsworth, signifying the dwelling-place of Beodric; but that name was changed to St. Edmund's Bury after St. Edmund was buiied here. Edmund having succeeded to the kingdom of East Anglia, was crowned here in the fifteenth year of his age, but being afterwards taken prisoner by the Danes, who in 870 made an irruption into this part of the countiT, o68 HISl'OKY OF EASTEKisr ENGLAND. he was cruelly put to death at Hoxue and buried there. Forty days after his death, his remains, which had been interred in a small chapel, were, from the report of miracles wrought at his tomb being believed, removed to this place in 908, where he had founded a monastery. A new Church was built in his honour by some secular priests, who were incorporated by King Athelstan about the year 925, and the establishment was made collegiate. The town and Church having been nearly destroyed by Sweyn, King of Denmark, in 1010, were restored by Canute, who raised the town to more than its ancient splendour, re-bnilt the Church and monastery, which he endowed with great possessions, and, ex- pelling the secular canons, placed in their stead monks of the Bene- dictine order. In process of time, the monastery became one of the most extensive in the kingdom; and in magnificent buildings, costly decorations, valuable immunities, and rich endowments, was inferior only to that of Glastonbury. It had the royalties or franchises of many separate hundreds, and the right of coinage ; its abbot sat in Parliament, and had the power of deciding all suits within the franchise or liberty of Bury, and of inflicting capital punishment. These high privileges were frequently the cause of strife and bloodshed in the town; indeed, the feuds were endless between the drones and the working bees between the gownsmen and the townsmen. The brief story of this borough and of its monastery reveals more of the real life of the people for some centuries, than any general history of the middle ages. It is just as if one looked at a good picture painted by a great artist, presenting some historical scene. We can never think of it afterwards without remembering the colouring of the back-ground, the costumes, and all the accessories which in our minds make up the picture. In the reign of Edward III. in the year 1327 there was a fierce conflict between the monks and the people of Bury St. Edmvmd^s. The causes of that revolt of the inhabitants against constituted authority are not very apparent, but they would seem to have been personal as much as municipal, judging from the subsequent demands of the unruly burgesses. The gates of the town were still in the hands of the abbot, and the people could never feel themselves safe so long as mysterious charters from Pope and King, still more inysteriously inter- preted by the new lawyer class, existed in the abbey. Besides this, the religious houses had profited by the increase of wealth in the country, and became money lenders even more extortionate than the Jews, whom they had banished, and inany of the townsmen had some bond laid up in the abbey registry. Some of them had joined Isabella in her march on London, and the deposition of Edward II. appears to have given them some hopes of release. However this might be, they resolved to demolish and plunder the abbey. On January 25th, 1327, headed by their A DESCRIPTION OP SUFFOLK. 360 aldeiinan, Richard Drayton, they made a violent attack on the monastery, demolished the gates, doors, and windows, and reduced a considerable part of the buildings to ashes. In the absence of the abbot, they seized the prior, Peter Clopton, and threw him, with his brethren, into the town prison. A systematic attack followed, and books, furniture, vest- ments, deeds, charters, and money all disappeared, including plate t>o the value of 5000, and 3000 florins of gold. But neither chattels, chasubles, nor florins were the real aim of the assailants. The prior and his twenty monks were brought back from their prison in the toAvn to their own chapter house, and the spoil of their registry, the Papal bulls, and the royal charters, the deeds, bonds, and mortgages of the townsmen wex'e laid before them. Amidst the wild threats of the mob they were forced to execute a grant of perfect free- dom, and of a guild to the town, and a full release for their debtors. This was the triumph of mob law. All control over the town was gone. All through spring and summer no rents or fines were paid. The bailiffs and other officers of the abbey dared not show their faces in the streets. Then news came that the abbot was in London appealing for aid to the King and Court, and the whole county of Suffolk was on fire. A crowd of rustics, maddened at the thought of revived claims of serfage, of in- terminable suits of law which had become a tyranny, poured into the sti'eets of the town. From thirty-two of the neighbouring villages the priests marched at the head of their flocks to this new crusade. Twenty thousand men, women, and children rushed again on tho abbey. For four November days the work went on unhindered. Gates, stables, granaries, infirmary, hostelry, went up in flames. Then the great multitude swept away to the granges and barns of the abbey farms. The monks had become vast agricultural proprietors. 1000 horses, 120 oxen, 200 cows, 300 bullocks, 300 hogs, and 10,000 sheep were driven off" for spoil. Their granges and barns, valued at 10,000, were burnt to tho ground. Dearly the people paid for these outrages. Weak as the Government of Mortimer was, the appeal of the abbot could no longer be neglected. A Royal force quelled the riot, and exacted vengeance. Thirty carts full of prisoners were sent to Norwich. Twenty-four of the chief townsmen, and thirty-two of the village priests, were soon convicted of aiding and abetting riot, and twenty were hung. But the danger had not then rolled away. Two hundred people remained under sentence of outlawiy, and for five weary years the case dragged on in the King's Court, till at length the patience of tho townsmen was exhausted. Irritated by repeated breaches of promise on the part of the abbot, they seized him at his manor of Chevington, robbed, bound, and shaved him, sent him to London, and hurried him from place to place, from fear of detection, till opportunity A A 370 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. offered of shipping him off to Brabant. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Pope himself excommunicated the perpetrators of this daring outrage, in vain ; but at last the abbot was released and brought home. The les- son, however, seemed to have done good. In 1332, the damages, assessed by the justiciaries at 140,000 an enormous sum then were remitted, the outlawry annulled, and the prisoners released. On the other hand the deeds were again restored, and the charters extracted from the trem- bling monks were formally cancelled. In other words, the old course of legal monkish oppression was to go on, and did continue for some time. Fifty years afterwards the abbacy became vacant. Prior John of Cam- bridge had charge of the house. He was described as an admirable musician and still more admirable lawyer, skilled in all the arts of the time, and his monastic eulogist says he employed his abilities " faithfully in striving for the rights of his house." His subtlety and industry found scope in suit after suit with the farmers and burgesses around. The townsmen he knew were his foes, and the rustics proved how intense was their hatred. It was a perilous time in which to win men^s hate. England was racked with despair, and suffering, and wrong ; with the collapse of the French war, with the ruinous taxation, with the frightful pestilence that swept away half the population, with the iniquitous labour laws that in the face of such a reduction kept down the rate of wages in the inte- rests of the landlords, with the frightful law of settlement, that, to enforce this wrong, again reduced the free labourer at a stroke to a state of serfage, from which he was yet to emerge. That terrible revolution of social sentiment had begun which was to turn law into the basest interests of a class, viz., the statute of labourers and the successive labour regula- tions which followed to create pauperism, and with it that hatred of class to class, which still hangs over society. Round Prior John the first manifestation of such a hatred was gathering. While at his manor of Mildenhall he touched his lute and played soft Lydian airs, suddenly armed bands rose around him. The howl of the great multitude broke roughly in on the delicate chaunting of Prior John. He turned to fly, but his own serfs betrayed him, judged him in rude mockery of the law that had wronged them, condemned him, and killed him. Five days the body lay in the open field, while the mob thronged into Bury bearing the prior^s head before them on a stick. Another victim was John Lackenheath, warden of the abbey, whose head was knocked from his shoulders at the foot of the gallows. Then the crowd retired from the abbey, and summoned the monks before them, and ordered them to surrender their bonds and charters. Some the monks brought forth, but others they swore they could not find, and the iron had entered too deeply into the townsmen, for not even in this hour of triumph could they shake A DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 371 off their fear of their black-robed masters who stood trembling before them; and so a compromise was patched up that the charters should be surrendered till confirmed by the popular claimant to the abbey. A hundred years after, the town again sought freedom in the law courts, and sought it in vain. The abbey charters told fatally against mere traditional customs. The royal council of Edward IV. decided that the " abbot was lord of the whole town of Bury, the sole head and captain within the town." All municipal appointments were at his pleasure, all justice in his hands. The townsmen had no communal union, no corporate existence. Their leaders, Walter Thurston and William Sygo, paid for riot and insult by long imprisonment and fine. The dim, dull lawsuit was almost the last incident in the long struggle, the last and darkest in the town. But it was the darkness that precedes the day. Fifty years more, and abbot and abbey were swept away. The burghers were building their houses afresh with the carved ashlar and the stately pillars of their lords' house. Whatever other aspects the Reformation may present, it gave, at any rate, emancipation to that class of English towns where freedom had been denied, the towns that lay in " the dead hand of the Church." None more heartily echoed the jest of the Protector, " we must pull down the rooks' nests, lest the rooks should come back again." The complete- ness of the demolitions at Bury hangs on the long serfdom of the people and the shapeless masses of rubble, that alone recall the peaceful cloister and the long-drawn aisle, find their explanation in the terrible struggles o the town. The monastery was 505 feet long and 212 wide, and contained twelve chapels. The privilege of coining was granted to the abbey by Edward the Confessor, and both Edward I. and Edward II. had mints here. The " Church gate," one of the finest specimens of Gothic architecture in the kingdom, and the western gate, erected about the middle of the fourteenth century, with a small portion of the walls, are all that now remain of that magnificent structure, which continued in the possession of abbots and monks for 519 years till they were all expelled at the dissolution. The Norman tower was erected during the time of Abbot Baldwin, about 1090, as the principal entrance to the cemetery of St. Edmund, and fronted the west entrance of the Abbey Church. Monastic writers mention it by the names of the "great gate of the Church of St. Edmund," or " the great gate of the churchyard." At the dissolution of the monastery, if not before, it became a parcel of the parish Church of St. James. In a rental of Thomas Gnatsall, sacrist, in the eighteenth of Henry VII., it is called the Church gate of St. James, and in the deed of feoffment of the Guildhall feoffees, it is mentioned as the gate and bell 372 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENQLAND. tower, called St. James's Steeple. It is eighty-six feet in height and thirty-six feet square. The walls, which are nearly six feet in thickness, are faced with an ashlaring of Barnack stone. The general design of each front is the same, except that a few of the mouldings are different, and that the eastern archway is plain. The elegant porch on the western side is a unique specimen of Norman architecture. The great arch was formerly filled up with a sculpture representing our Saviour, in an elliptic aureole. It was removed in 1780 to provide a freer access for ''loads of hay and straw." The square-headed doorway in the centre of the south wall was the postern or porter's gate. The old iron hooks on which the door was hung are still in the eastward jamb ; a mortice for the bolt of a lock is in the opposite jamb ; the door opened outwards in the thickness of the wall. The small doorways on the north and south sides in the western buttresses communicated with the wall that was connected with it on each side, and surrounded the entire grounds of the abbey. Various other ruins connected with the abbey and its early history are visible ; many minor institutions were dependent on it, of which there are not now any remains. Among these may be noticed a college of priests, dedicated to the holy name of Jesus, founded in the reign of Edward IV., and suppressed in that of Edward VI. ; a hospital, dedicated to St. John, founded by one of the abbots in the reign of Edward I. ; a hospital, dedicated to St. Nicholas, founded also by an abbot of St. Edmund's ; and St. Peter's Hospital, founded in the reign of Henry I., the revenue of which at the dissolution Avas 10 18s. lid., or about 100 of our present money. About the year 1256, a fraternity of the Franciscan order came to Bury, but they were compelled to remove beyond the precincts of the town, where the establishment continued till the dissolution. Henry I., on his return from Chartres, repaired to the shrine of St. Edmund, where he presented a rich offering in gratitude for his safe return to his dominions. In 1173 Henry II., having assembled a large army at this place to oppose his rebellious sons, caused the sacred standard of St. Edmund to be borne in front of his troops, and to its great influence was ascribed the victory that he obtained over them in the battle in October in the same year. In 1215 the rebellious barons met at Bury St. Edmund's, and when they had assembled in the Abbey Church they joined in an oath to obtain the ratification of Magna Charta from King John. The ruins of the old Church are carefully preserved, and are well worth preserving, for as we read on a stone tablet fixed below the tall climbing ivy : " Near this spot, (1,1 tltf 20/// November, A.D. 1215, Cardinal Langton and the Barons swore at St. EdnunnV-i altar that tlmnoonldoUam from King John ths ratification A Description of Suffolk. 'S7o of Mar/ n a Gharfa." Another tablet enumerates the twenty-tivc Barons who took part m the oath, in three eolumns, one giving the name, the second the title, the third that of the present representatives. Henry III. held a Parliament here in 1272, which may bo regarded as the outline of the British House of Commons, which has now existed 600 years. In 1296, Edward I. visited this town, where he also held a Parliament, when Norwich, Yarmouth, and Lynn returned representatives. The next Parliament was held here in 1446 in the reign of Henry VI. The last time Parliament was held here was in 1448. Afterwards the Parliiimeut met regularly at Westminster. This town has retunied repre- sentatives since the first Parliament. In 1526, the Dukes of Norfolk and tSulfolk assembled their forces in this town to quell a danger(3us insurrection that had broken out at Laven- ham in Suffolk. vSubsequent local events are not of general interest. The Grammar School, founded by King Edward IV., is open to the sons of inhabitants upon the payment of two guineas entrance, and two guineas per annum. It has four exhibitions of the value of 18 15s. each per annum to either of the universities, a scholarship at Corpus Christi College, and another at Jesus College, Cambridge. There are 110 scholars on the foundation. A new schoolhouse was built by public contributions ; over the entrance is a bust of the founder, with an appro- priate inscription, and adjoining the school there is a good house for the master. The institution has long occupied a high position among the schools in the county, and several distinguished individuals have received instruction in it. There arc several benevolent institutions in the town. The almshouses, ninety-eight in number, were founded by Mr. Edmund King, Mrs. M. Drury, and others, and are under the superintendence of trustees, in whom funds have been invested to the amount of 2000. Clopton's Hospital was founded for the support of six aged widowers, and the same number of widows, being decayed housekeepers, by Boley Clopton, M.D., who endowed it with property producing 300 per annum. The General Hospital, established in 1825, and supported by subscription, contains accommodation for forty patients. An additional Infirmary was founded in 1836. The government by charter of incorporation granted in the 4tli of James I., and extended in the 6th and 12th of the same reign, and in the 20th of Charles II., was vested in an alderman, six assistants, twelve capital burgesses, twenty-four common councillors, a recorder, town clerk, four sergeants-at-mace, and subordinate officers ; but by the Act of the 5th and 6th William IV., c 70, the Coi'poration now consists of a Mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen councillors. The borough first re- S74 HISTOKY OF EASTEKN ENGLAND. ceived a precept to return representatives to Parliament in the oOth of Edward 1., but made no subsequent return till the 4th of James I., since which it has continued to send two members. By the Reform Act of 1882, the right of voting was granted to 10 householders, and by the Act of 1867, to all householders. Bury comprises the parishes of St. Mary and St. James ; the living of each is a donative, the former in the patronage of the Corporation, the latter was in dispute between them and the Bishop of Ely. The Church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a spacious and elegant structure, completed about the year 1433, and is in the later English style, with a low massive tower ; the north door is in the decorated style, and the porch, the roof of which is very beautiful, is of later date. The Church of St. James is a large and handsome edifice, in the later style of English architecture, of which the western end is a rich specimen. The Church gate, leading to the precinct of the abbey, is surmounted by a fine Norman tower. The town is delightfully situated on a gentle eminence, on the western bank of the river Larke, also called the Bourne, in the centre of an open and richly-cultivated tract of country ; the streets are spacious, well-paved and lighted with gas. The houses are in general uniform and handsomely built, and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water. The air is salubrious, the environs present interesting scenery, and the peculiar cleanliness of the town, besides the number and variety of its public in- stitutions, render it desirable as a place of residence. Near the North- gate, on the high road to Thetford, are the remains of St. Saviour's Hospital, founded in the reign of King John with an income of 153 marks, where the " good " Duke of Gloucester is supposed to have been murdered. Little beyond it stood St. Thomas' Hospital and Chapel, now a private dwelling, and at half a-mile distant may be traced the site of the old Priory. The Methodists, Baptists, Independents, Roman Catholics, Society of Friends, and Unitarians have Chapels in this town. The Athenasmn is a literary institution, the house of which is situated on the Angel Hill, containing library, reading-rooms, concert-rooms, &c. The Abbey grounds have been converted into Botanic Gardens, to which the Abbey gate forms the principal entrance. No better use could have been made of these grounds, which are an agreeable promenade, supported by annual subscriptions of two guineas each member. There agricultural and horticultui'al exhibitions have been frequently held, attracting thousands of visitors, who have been highly delighted by the magnificent displays of floral beauty, more especially when the Royal Society visited the town in 1867. The Abbey grounds then presented the appearance of a great industrial camp, for a whole week. Contempo- raneously with the show of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Royal A. DESCRIPTION OF SUFFOLK. 375 Horticultural Society held au exhibition of great merit and beauty on grounds adjoining the Botanic Gardens. The display was magnificent, far surpassing any ever held before. In 1872, the local society held a grand show on the archery ground in the Botanic Gardens, affording a great treat to the visitors, especially to the ladies. If the tourist takes a stroll through the town, he will find many things worthy of note. St. John's Street has not yet lost its old name. Long Brackland, the Brakeland whence Jocelin the chronicler takes his surname. Moyse's Hall, or the Jews' House, is au example of an old Norman dwelling-house, with massive walls and vaulted ground floor. It is now used as a police-station. In Abbeygate Street^ Daniel Defoe, author of " Robinson Crusoe," while a resident here, used to attend the preaching of Samuel Bury, the Nonconformist. And near the Angel Hotel is a house in which the boy Louis Philippe lodged while under the care of Madame de Genlis. The Lark, or Burn, is a tributary of the Greater Ouse, flowing through an open part of the county. This small river has its sources in the district south of Bury, and the stream, as it flows towards that town, is skirted on the right by the park of Rushbrooke, and on the left by that of Hardwicke. The river Linnet, from the great park of Ickworth, here joins the Lark, which about a mile below Bury becomes a navigable stream, and then flows near the little village of Fornham St. Genevieve, celebrated in history as the spot where in 1173 the peaceable retention of the English Crowu in the person of Henry II. was decided by a bloody battle, in which 10,000 Flemings were slain. The environs of Bury ofter some pleasant drives to the visitor, and many objects of interest to the lover of nature, the artist, the architect, and the antiquary. The numerous noble and elegant seats are delight- fully situated; the Churches are large, and exhibit many beauties of ecclesiastical architecture, particularly of the fifteenth century ; and perhaps no district can boast of so many striking examples of the manorial halls of the reign of Elizabeth. The most prominent places of interest and the most delightful are the drives through the two parks of Ampton and Livermere, about five miles north of Bury, which are separated by a fine serpentine piece of water. The gardens at Ampton are kept up with much taste, and the grounds aftbrd many charming views. The grounds around Barton House, two miles from Bury, were laid out agreeably to the refined taste and excellent judgment of the late Sir Henry E. Bunbury, Bart. The house contains some of the choicest productions of the best painters, and an unequalled collection of the humoui* and abilities of the pencil of Mr. Bunbury, the celebmted cari- caturist. A visit to Barton was a happy incident in the life of Ohver ;^/t) HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Goldsmith. The "Jcssauiy Bride" celebrated by him was the beautiful Mary Horneck, sister of Mrs. Bunbury. Sir Thomas Charles Bunbury, Bart., was descended from Thomas Bunbury, Esq., who was created a baronet in 1681. He married Sarah, daughter of Charles, second Duke of Richmond, for whom George III. formed an early attachment. She was distinguished for beauty ; the marriage was dissolved by Act of Parliament in 1770. Sir Charles, as he was usually called, was for many years representative for the County of Suffolk, and was devoted to tho turf. He died without issue, and was succeeded by his brother's son, Sir Heniy Edward, who inherited his title and estates, and was father of the present owner, Sir Charles Bunbury. HONINGTON (aLL SAINTS), A parish in the Hundred of Blackbourn, near Thetford, comprising 1222 acres with about 300 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory in the patronage of the Crown ; the tithes were commuted for a rent-charge of 336, and tho glebe consists of thirty acres, valued at 45 per annum. The Church is an ancient structure with some details of the Norman f^tyle. Robert Bloomfield the poet, author of the " Farmer's Boy," and other poems, was born here in 1788. His parents were very poor, like all of their class, and he Avas literally the farmer's boy delineated in his poem. Ho describes in the order of the seasons the work of a young farm labourer in this part of the county near 100 years ago, when rural life appears to have retained some of its primitive simplicity. He celebrates some of the scenes with which he was familiar in his youth in strains of sweet pastoral poetry. EUSTON (ST. GENEVIEVE), A parish in the Hundred of Blackbourn, near Thetford, comprises o780a. 3k. loP. The surface is varied, and the surrounding scenery is of a pleasing character. Euston Hall, the magnificent seat of the Duke of Grafton, was built by the first Earl of Arlington, one of the famous Cabal, whose daughter carried it by marriage to Henry Fitzroy, first Duke of Grafton. The park comprises 1500 acres, and affords many delightful views, celebrated by Robert Bloomfield, the Suffolk poet, who lived for 5ome time in this neighbourhood. The Church is a handsome edifice, and is the place of sepulture of the Grafton family ; it contains several monuments of members of that family, also slabs with ancient brasses. BRANDON (ST. PETER), A market town and parish, forty miles (north-west) from Ipswich, and seventy-eight (uorth-uorth-east) from London. The parish comprises A DESCRIPTION OF SUFTOLK. 377 6750a. Or. 10?.^ of which the soil is genemlly a sandy loam, and the sub- stratum chalk ; the meadow land is flat and subject to floods. The town consists of two portions designated " Town Street," and " Ferry Street," a mile distant from each other ; the latter, which is the chief portion, and through which is the road from London to Lynn, lies on the southern bank of the little Ouse, or Brandon river, which forms the northern boundary of the county, and is here crossed by a neat stone bridge ; this river is navigable to Thetford and Lynn. There is a considerable trafiic in corn, seeds, malt, coal, timber, iron, bricks, tiles, &c. ; there are some extensive rabbit warrens in the neighbourhood, from which 150,000 i-abbits are sent aimually to the London markets. About 160 females are employed in prepanng and cutting rabbit and hare skins for making hats, and felts for the clothiers in Yorkshire. A brewery has also been estab- lished. The market is held on Thursday for corn and seeds ; and there arc fairs on February 14th, June lltli, and November 11th, and a fair is held at Broomhall, about half a-mile distant, on July 7th, for stock. The living is a rectory, with that of Wangford annexed, valued in the King's books at 20 18s. l^d. ; the tithes have been commuted for a gross rent- charge of 560, and there ai*c 1 02 acres of glebe, valued at 55 per annum. The Church, which is situated midway betweeen the two towns, is in the later style, and consists of a nave, chancel, and south aisle, with a lofty embattled tower at the west end. There are places of worship for Primitive and Weslcyan Methodists. A free school was founded in 1646, by Kobert Wright, who endowed it with a rent-charge of 40, it was further endowed with eight acres of land, under the Bedford Level Act, and with three under the Brandon Inclosure Act, producing 11 l8s. per annum. Various bequests have been made for the benefit of the poor, amounting in the aggi'egate to about 100 per annum. Brandon Camp, a square earthwork guarded by a single trench and a rampart, is supposed to have been the Bravinium of the Romans, and to have been occupied by Ostorius Scapula previously to his decisive victory over the brave Cai'actacus. Several ancient celts and spear heads wero dug up about forty years since on the Brandon Hall estate near the fen, which were in the possession of J. Angerstein, Esq., on whose property they were found. The Duke of Hamilton and Brandon takes his English title from this place. About a mile west from the town, imbedded in the chalk, lie a con- tinuous strata of the finest flint. On the rising ground, within 100 feet from the surface, there are seven different strata of flint, separated by as many layers of chalk. In the neighbourhood there are extensive flint quarries called " Grime's Graves," long supposed to be a British cemetery. In 1868 Canon Greenwell, with eome scientific friends, paid a visit t 378 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. the graves, and determined to solve the problem of their origin. To accomplish this, however, proved to be a far more formidable and expen- sive undertaking than was at first contemplated, but after three years* exploration, he had the gratification of proving, on April 4th, 1870, that they were flint quarries. A circular shaft, some thirty feet over one, was sunk to the depth of forty-two feet, when the workmen came upon the solid floor of the pit, amid the cheers of the spectators. Hardly had they cleared away the dahrls than a gallery was exposed to view, and on entering the passage to the distance of "eighteen feet, an exclamation of joy burst from the pioneers. On the floor of the gallery, at the extreme end, lay two primitive picks in situ, with a splendid ground stone axe, the skeleton of a bird, a chalk bowl or lamp, and other curious relics. The tools had evidently been left in the cave at night, when the natives of old left their work, and when they returned next day, the gallery had caved in and exposed a shaft in the rock, which made it extremely dangerous to work there again. On the following day, another gallery was discovered by the workmen, running at right angles to the former, the entrance to which was so small that those who dared to enter had to lie quite flat and crawl like a snail after the man who carried the light. The second gallery was found to be twenty- seven feet in length, and to communicate with another grave, unopened. At the end of it a broken pick was found, and a quantity of charcoal, but no other remains. From certain appearances, it was expected that other galleries would be discovered leading into other graves as soon as the debris could be cleared away. There could be no longer any doubt as to the original purpose of these pits or graves. Clearly they were made for the purpose of quarrying flint, which is here of superior quality, and the implements used were the antlers of the red and the roe deer and stone hatchets. As there are upwards of 200 of these pits, flint quarrying must have been carried on to a very great extent at a very early period, no doubt for the supply of weapons used in hunting or war. The flints were so used for the manufacture of implements at a time when metals were unknown ; and therefore before the appearance of the Romans on the scene, before the town of Brandon became famous for the production of gun flints, the old parish of Weeting-cum-Broomhill must have been no less so for the manufacture of flint weapons used by the Iceni and other ancient Britons. MILDENHALL (ST. MARY), A market town and parish, and the head of a Union, in the Hundred of Lackford, West Division or the County of Suffolk, thirty-eight and a-half miles (north-west) from Ipswich, and seventy (north-north-east) from London. The town is situated on a tributary of the river Ouse, called A. DESCRIPTION OF 8UF1K)LK. 379 the Lark, which is navigable along the south and west borders of the parish ; and the road from Norwich to London through Newmarket, bounds a very small part of the east. It includes, besides one principal and several smaller streets, others of considerable extent, forming detached portions, reaching towards the fens on the north-west. The inhabitants are well supplied with water. A small spinning mill for raw silk affords employment chiefly for children, but the principal branch of commerce is the exportation of grain and other commodities. A market is held on Friday, and is well supplied with fish, wild fowl, and provisions in general, and there is a fair on October 10th for toys, pedlery, &c. The parish comprises by computation about 16,000 acres. The living is a vicarage, valued in the King's books at 22 8s. 2id; net income 369 ; patron and impropriator Sir H. E. Bunbury, Bart. ; the tithes were commuted for land and money payments, under an Act of Inclosure in 1807. The Church is a large handsome structure, with a lofty tower ; the ceiling is of woodwork, richly carved, and the entrance is through a highly-finished old English porch ; in the interior are several ancient monuments, particularly of the family of North. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, and Wesleyans. A National School for girls is supported by subscription and a small endowment ; and an almshouse for four widows was founded in 1722 by Sir Thomas Hanmer. In 1567 a great part of the town was consumed by fire, but then the houses were nearly all timber structures covered with thatch. There are only now a very few places so slightly affected by the " improvements of the age," and so little visited by the eager throng of sightseers, as to be interesting to the student of the curious, the antiquary, or the traveller. Somehow or other, railways and electric telegraphs, while they have brought most places nearer to the great throbbing centimes of commerce and civilization, have so destroyed the individuality of others as to render objects that were at one time both interesting and instructive mere common-place attractions and every-day sights. Not so, however, in the case of this town. Thanks to the lack of enterprise of a certain well-known railway company, this town, containing over 2000 inhabitants, and the centre of a distiict with a population of 6000, is without railway accommodation nearer than seven miles, and rejoices in the primitive simplicity represented by carrier's carts and other similar modes of con- veyance. Long may it so remain, for a moi-e beautiful and picturesque spot does not exist in the whole of the east of England. It is the capital, so to speak, of quite a cluster of villages and hamlets, all of which rejoice in comparative seclusion from the outer world. It is true that there are railway stations that bear the name of some of them, but by 380 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. the oddest and happiest arrangement possible, it so happens that they are all several miles distant, while in the case of Mildenhallj there is the exceptionally curious circumstance that the station bearing its name is not the nearest to it by a couple of miles or more. Mildenhall Road, on the Great Eastern Railway, is the station so situated, and liko many other stations on the same route, all that can be said of it is that it is on the road to Mildenhall. It is a cruel jest on the part of the booking-clerk at Bishopgate to hand you a ticket for ''Mildenhall Road " when you want to go to Mildenhall ; but you have the conso- lation, Avhen you get to the end of your first stage, of finding out what it is to " "Wait for the waggon," and of getting a " cast " in any stray vehicle that may be going towards the town. Foi* you must know that Mildenhall so prides itself at being cut off from the outer world, that it does not encourage visitors by means of the vulgar expedient of the hotel omnibus that "meets every train," and of the night porter who is " always in attendance." Laughable stories are told with immense gusto of commercial travellers who, set down in the middle of a desei-t, as it were, with quite a ton of sartiples and luggage, have been constrained to risk the dangerous expedient of " hiring " to the town, only to return the next day with the cruel answer of the indig- nant tradesman ringing in their ears, " Nothing wanted to-day, thank you." It is said that a branch line was once surveyed for ; but the sur- veyor, either being a man of '^ Mildenhall" himself, or sympathising deeply with the excliisiveness of the people, bungled the survey, and the Bill was thrown out. But who would have a railway to Mildenhall so long as he is free to enjoy the bracing drive from Newmarket across the " Bury hills," and through the delightful avenue of elms that encloses the road for the best part of a couple of miles. Passing the '^ Half-way House," which is half a road-side inn and half a farm-house, and prides itself upon supplying the best tankard of " home-brewed " in the county, you diverge from the Norwich Road to the left, and glide through the pretty little hamlet of Warlington, with its " village smithy," and the quaint old house of its " oldest residenter." The district is purely agricultural, and the trim farmyards, with their large, well-built, and gaily decorated stacks, speak of a season of plenty, as well as of peace. Nothing of Mildenhall is visible till you have quite entered its sacred precincts, except its square Church tower, which is seen distinctly quite a couple of miles away. Rising out of the midst of what appears at a distance a clump of trees, and with that peculiar glint of sunshine upon it which is only ex- perienced now and then in the quiet winter afternoon, it is at once a striking and beautiful object. The town itself, nestled among the trees, and partly surrounded by what must have been intended for a moat, only that there is a A DESCRIPTION OP SUPPOLE. 381 stone bridge instead of a drawbridge across it, seems to have been destined by nature to remain the secluded spot it really is. Its old Church, said to be of the 13th or 14th century, and its ancient churchyard, filled with the tombstones of many a "village Hampden," speaks of a time when it must have been the great centre of interest, if not of civilization itself, to the surrounding country. Here are buried the remains of several generations of the great North family ; while of the lords of the manor and squires of the county, a goodly number have found a last resting place within the sacred edifice. The tower, we find on closer inspection, has been restored within the last eight or ten years, and the striking effect of the sunlight upon it is accounted for by the glistening and shiny surface of the flints of which it is built, and on which, indeed, the greater part of the Church itself is encased. Probably on account of its inac- cessibility Mildenhall has a now resident \'icar albeit the living is worth some 700 or 800 a year. This is a circumstance which has evidently not been lost upon the Nonconformists, of whom we find no fewer than three different sects represented in the little town, viz., the Wesleyans, the Calvinists, and the Baptists. True to the general features of ancient simplicity which characterise this unique little town, Mildenhall has allowed no display of architecture, as we understand the tei*m, at least in connection with its more modern religious edifice. The Calvinists we find in a severely plain, flint-built structure, with the impressive words " Jehovah Jirali " over the entrance ; while the Wesleyans and Baptists have located themselves in bam-like erections, as is their wont. To the lover of antiquities in architecture, Mildenhall is a perfect store- house of interest, for nowhere in the same space will he find such a number of quaint old-fashioned houses as adorn its little market-place, and constitute what may be called its High Street. Picturesque old gable ends, projecting almost into the middle of the street, and ornamented with a sort of scroll-cut boarding ; and thatched roofs, with the largest looking chimneys imaginable, are the leading features of the place. Here and there is a house standing in its own groimds, and delightfully en- veloped in the clinging embrace of the Virginia creeper, which lends additional natural beauty to the already pleasing picture. Nor must we omit to mention the " Manor House," the ancestral residence of the Bunbury's one of the most peculiar conglomerations of buildings of all sizes and shapes that can be well imagined. But not outwardly alone is there much to admire in the buildings of Mildenhall houses, most of them have descended through many generations, and been in the family from time immemorial. Within their latticed windows the evening fire burns brightly, revealing to the passer-by just such snug, cosy, welcome comers as are alone to be found in the good old-fashioned country houses 382 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. of a hundred years ago. The outward appearance of Mildenhall is suggestive more of comfort than of wealthy and yet of that comfort steady^ solid, enduring that can hardly be attained without more or less of wealth. The shops are of a character with the houses ; and if it may be taken as an indication of the wealth of the place, it may be mentioned that there are two jeweller's shops. In one of these there is an attempt at attraction, which might do credit to the resources of a much more ambitious establishment. Some of the more showy articles are fixed on a revolving frame under a glass case the power being communicated by a miniature steam engine, also shown in the window ; and the effect on a stranger, who may not even expect to find a jeweller, much less a steam engine, in Mildenhall, is somewhat curious. We finish our description of the towns of Suffolk at this western ex- tremity of the county. We have now surveyed each county and every town in Eastern England, showing the rise and progress of every place. How and where the towns arose is a necessary part of a provincial history. We have followed the footsteps of the Romans from Essex through Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. They built camps, forts, and towns, and established colonies and introduced useful arts. If we consider the rise and progress of our towns in East Anglia, we shall find that the process of their growth was very simple. They grew up around castles and abbeys for the sake of protection, round ports for the sake of trade, or near rivers for the sake of water transit. In former ages people were compelled to live together as close as possible in order to work together, and by their union they discovered their power. The history of any one town is very similar to the history of any other town in the Eastern Counties, at least during the middle ages. All the towns of East Anglia were originally of small size, mere clusters of huts, built of timber, but they increased in size as population slowly increased. Most of the houses, even of the rich, had thatched roofs till the last century. Fires have done more towards beautifying many of the towns in Norfolk and Suffolk than any other cause. But for this calamitous element, neither Norwich, Dereham, Watton, Hingham, Wymondham, Southwold, and other places would huve been noted for their handsome buildings. As a sudden inundation of water sometimes carries away bridges that were perilous to travellers, so an accidental conflagration levels old buildings which would otherwise long remain obstacles to improvement. NAMES OP PLACES. 383 NAMES OF PLACES IN EASTERN ENGLAND. In any inquiry respecting the early colonization of the Eastern Counties, the names of places should be carefully considered ; but hitherto the subject has been imperfectly investigated. The Rev. F. Blomefield and the Rev. C. Parkin, in their History of Norfolk, give many fanciful derivations of the names of towns and villages. The late Mr. Mundford was more successful in his treatment of the subject, which he fully elucidated as far as regards places in Norfolk. We must keep in mind the fact that England has been overrun by Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Danes, and Normans, to say nothing of occasional visits from other people. Hence the original language has been almost expelled, except in the extreme solitudes of Wales, or in the far Northern Highlands of Scotland. When we carefully study the names of places, we are first of all met by the fact that only some of those of rivers, mountains, or other natural objects are ancient British or Celtic ; all other names of places, towns, or villages are either Anglo-Saxon, Danish, or Norman. There is a remarkable distinction between the remains left in this country by the Romans and those left by their Teutonic successors, the Angles and kindred tribes. The altars, inscriptions, coins, and buried ruins of cities and towns of the former people are scattered in all dii'ec- tions, but these are almost the only witnesses, independent of history, that the Roman standard ever waved over our soil ; and our local nomenclature bears but slight traces of the fact that the Romans were masters of our island for 400 years. We might almost suppose that they named few of the towns which they built. Very few places indeed retain either the original or the Roman names. In Essex, Cf^mulodunum was changed into Colchester from the Latin Golonia and Castrum or Chester, a fort or camp. Caosaromagus was changed into Chelmsford ; Camboricum into Cambridge. There are two Caistors in Norfolk, from the Latin Casfrnm ; Caistor near Yarmouth and Caistor near Norwich, the sites of Roman camps ; also two Strattons and Stradset, from the Latin Stratum or Street. After the departure of the Romans from this island, the Angles, Saxons, and other Northern tribes took possession of the country, and gave their own names to places. The Angles in this eastern district seemed to have expelled, or almost exterminated, the male descendants of the native Icenic race, but to have kept the women, so that a Celtic element was preserved in the nation. 384 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. Some genuine Celtic words still remain in our language, and these words apply to feminine occupations and articles of feminine use, such as hasl'ef, harrow, button, hran, clout, crock, crook, gusfiet, kiln, dainty, darn, tenter (in tenter hookj, fleam, flan, flannel, gyre, g riddel (gridiron), gruel, welt, icicliet, gown, wire, mesh, mattocJc, imp, rail, rasher, rug, solder, tachle, &c. The physical aspect of the country during the Anglo-Saxon period is indicated by the names of places. The rank and reedy marsh was spread over a vast extent of its surface. Miles and miles of jungle then existed where teeming populations now live, and where all the appliances of civilisation are at work. Small portions of land were almost always insulated, and immense marshes and fens and broad outspread heaths in all parts of the island occupied the greater portion of its surface. This was not the state of districts only, but of the whole country. In twenty counties we still find places whose names tell that they were the sites of ancient marshes, suggesting that the wild sea mew cried and the wild fowl shrieked where trade now thrives amid happy British homes. Rushall, Rushbury, Rushbrooke, Rushford, and many other names tell that those places were once overspread by rushes. No written record is I'equired to tell the condition of Fen Ditton, Fen Stanton, &c. ; while even in the heart of the great metropolis, the state of the place is still preserved in the names of Fensbury or Finsbury. The situation of a place near meadows also served to originate its name, as in the case of Meadhamp- stead, now Peterborough, and Castle Meadow in Norwich. The vicinity of places to meres or small lakes is indicated by the names Hazelmere, Livermere, Mereston, &c,, and Westmoreland (West-mere- land) was the land to the west of the meres or lakes. Many other names prove that the country was nearly all covered by water meres, lakes, bogs, marshes, and streams. Many places derived their names from being the sources of rivers, and great numbers from the places whei*e they were forded, as Deptford (Deepford), Chelmsford, Thetford, and Larlingford. The names of trees gave rise to much of the nomencla- ture of places. " Ac " was Saxon for oak, and from the number of names in which this name occurs oaks appear to have been abundant, and the principal trees of the forest. Forty names of places indicate the pre- valence of the beech tree formerly, and from the number of names in which " sel '^ or seal is found, it is clear that the sallow or willow was abundant, and lovers might often sing, ^^ meet me in the willow glen," but now a willoAv glen is rare indeed. The prevalence of the ash gave rise to the names of 120 places, and the tangled and shaggy appearance of the country is attested by fifty places that preserve the name of ''thorn." The situation of places in reference to each other suggested an obvious mode of naming- them. Thus a large tract of land, north of the river NAMES OF PLACES. 385 Ilumber was North Humber land, now Nortliumbeilaud ; then Westmore- land was Westmerc land, or the land west of the meres or lakes. The same rule applies to Northfolk and Soutlifolk, now Norfolk and Suftblk, also Sudburgh or Sudbury, the most southern borough in Suftblk. About 230 towns and villages were thus named from their geographical position. The names of nearly all places in Essex are of Anglo-Saxon origin, denoting either names of the early settlers or the nature of the place, or both. Thus Moelo, Stoena, Boca, gave their names to Mailing, Steyning, Becking ; and other settlers to Barking, Teudring, Messing, Manning, Hailing, Epping, all in Essex, the termination " ing " signifying a meadow. The termination " ham '' in hundreds of instances denotes a village j " ley " denotes a pasture, as in Bromley, Oakley, Weeley, Takely, all in Essex ; " field " and " ford " plainly intimate places near a field or ford, in all counties. Blackmore is named from the colour of the soil or moor ; Broomfield, from the fields of broom ; Harmingfield, from " harm '' and " ing,^' rich pasture field ; Leighs or Leys, from pasture or untilled land j Roxwell, from the rocky soil and its wells ; Kunwell, from a running well ; Spring- field, from field of springs ; Waltham, from \illages in a wood ; Wedford, the river Wed and its ford ; llallingbury, from " hal," healthy, " ing," a meadow, and " bury," a dwelling ; Neatswell, from the Saxon " neat," for cattle, and ^^well," cattle well ; Sheering, the shii-e or county meadow ; South Weald means south wood ; Fairstead, a fair place. Layer Marney, Layer Breton, and Layer-de-la-Hay, so named from the brook running through them, anciently called Larr, and the names of their respective owners. Fingringhoe and Ijangenhoe, each name com- posed of three Saxon words Jjamj and hoe Long hill. East Mersea and West Mersea, a marsh and island ; " ea " expressed water. Ashen, named fi-om the ashes growing there. Jirundon, the brown hill. Bird- brook, a brook frequented by birds. Felstead, from ''fell," a hill, and " stede," a place. Gosfield, gorse or heath and field. Halstead, from *' hal," high, and "stede," a place. Maple Stede, a place full of maples. Many other places in Essex are named in like manner from their nature or situation. Li Cambridgeshire there are many names of places ending with ford, as Duxford, Witchford, Shelford, Stapleford, and others, names of places near a ford ; also many names ending with t. 800. The cause of this contest was the protection which Egbert afforded to the East Anglians who had renounced the supremacy of Mercia. Egbert defeated Beornwulf at Ellandune (Wilton) in 18'2o, and the annexation of Kent and Essex to the victorious state followed as a matter of course. The Mercian King and his successor Ludecan were slain in battles fought against the East Anglians, whom they sought to punish for submitting to Wessex. Wiglaf, whom the Mercian chiefs next raised to the throne, was expelled by Egbert in 827, but was afterwards restored on condition that he should hold his kingdom in tributary subjection. Egbert is generally placed as the first King of England. This, however, is not strictly correct, though it is stated that this monarch, abolishing the distinction of Angles and Saxons and all provincial appellations, commanded the island to be called England, and got himself crowned King of England. To this statement Sharon Turner objects that if such an event took place, Egbert and his successors ought to have been entitled Ucf Aiujloniin, whereas it is found that they sign themselves Kings of the West Saxons till after the reign of Alfred. Egbei't was the son of Alcmund, the great grandson of Inigels, the brother of Ina. He was the sole surviving doscesidant of Cerdic the founder of Wessex. He was brought up in France under the great Charlemagne, and after his return in 800 he was proclaimed King of Wessex, and he subdued the natives in Cornwall and Wales. He had then to contend Avith a new foe, the Northmen who began about this time to harass the eastern and northern coasts, but after some success they were routed with great slaughter at Heugstown Hill (Cornwall). The conquered Northmen betook themselves to their ships and the Britons renewed their allegiance. After a long and prosperous reign, Egbert died in 8oG. Ethelwolf succeeded to the crown of thorns, for the Danes now appeared in different parts of the coast and proved a powerful enemy and defeated his troops in many engagements. He died January I'itli, 857. Ethelbald his eldest son and successor, died in 8(30, and Ethelbert his brother 422 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. reigned. At his decease in 866^ Etlielred I., his next brother, was crowned. In his reign the Danes spread their conquests over his dominions, but received a severe check from his younger brother. Prince Alfred, who assisted him on the field. In 871, the Danes abandoned East Anglia and advanced into Wessex, where they fought several battles with Etlielred who was killed. Alfred ascended the throne in 872. This great and virtuous Prince, after many perils and escapes, totally routed the Danes- under Guthrum at Eddington, in Somerset, a.d. 879, and compelled them to locate themselves in East Anglia, which Guthrum held as feudatory Pnnce. Here tho Danes built houses and villages and churches, improved lands, were made denizens, and had a short code of laws given them by King Alfred. Tho Danes were again rebellious, but were subdued, and the East Angles were taken into the King's government a.d. 896. Alfred the Great divided the whole kingdom into counties, hundreds and tythings, and he instituted great and petty officers for the regulation and good government of his people, as well as for carrying into execution that excellent body of laws formed by him which, though now lost, is generally esteemed the origin of the common law. The hundreds in each county were divided into tythings, or dwellings of ten householders. Every householder was answerable to the King for the good behaviour of his family, his servants, or even his guests, provided they continued with him above three days. A tything man, headborougli, or householder, presided over each tything, and all the ten householders were mutually pledges for each other. If any person in the tything was suspected of an offence, he was imprisoned unless the headborougli gave security for him. If he made his escape either before or after finding sureties, the headborough become liable to inquiry ; and if the escape was made in consequence of any neglect, he was exposed to the penalties of the law. Any person who refused to enter himself in these tythings was deemed an outlaw and put to death. Nor could any one be received into a different tything without producing a certificate from that to which he before belonged. By this institution, every man was obliged by his own interest to keep a watchful eye over the conduct of his neighbours, and was in some measure, surety for the good behaviour of those who were placed under the division to which he belonged. King Alfred began in 886 and in 889 finished his division of England into counties, hundreds, wapentakes, wards, rapes, &c., and caused a general survey to be made, the rolls whereof were lodged at Westminster, from whence " Domesday Book " derives its origin. King Alfred, a true King of men, died October 26th, 900, aged 51 ; justly named the Great for he made England a great country under a free I'HB ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 42o government. His son, Edward the Elder, succeeded when England was pretty well divided between the Danes in the cast and the Anglo-Saxons in the west ; but after various conflicts he subdued the Danes, in which he was much assisted by his heroic sister Elfrida. In 921 ho compelled the Danes in East Anglia to take the oath of allegiance to him, and he died in 925. Athelstan succeeded, and gained many victories over the rebellious Danes. He died, aged 4G, in 941. Athelstan was the first who, by blending the whole of the Saxon and Danish provinces of which the Octarchy was orighially composed into one kingdom, became in reality, as in title, the first King of England. His amiable qualities as well as talents are celebrated by all the chronicles of his time. The latter part of his reign was tranqud and glorious, and the high reputation which his personal virtues, even more than his successes and power, had obtained for him not only in his own kingdom, but throughout Europe is remarkably expressed in public transactions. Edmund I., surnamed the Pious, was crowned, and he reigned from 91'1 to 948, when he was basely murdered at the age of 25 years while he was feasting with his nobles at his manor of Puckle Kirk, in Gloucestei*sliire, where he was celebrating the memoiy of the conversion of the Saxons. Ho had two sons by Elgiva, his Queen Edwin or Edwy and Edgar who being too young to govern the kingdom, did not immediately succeed their father. Edred his brother was crowned, and he reigned till Novem- ber 23rd, 955, leaving two sons, but his nephew ascended the throne. Edwy resented the insolence of the clergy with more zeal than prudence, and they fomented an insurrection against him, when Edgar his brother was placed on the throne of East Anglia and Mercia. Edwy died of grief in 959, and Edgar surnamed the Peaceable succeeded him. He reigned from 959 till 975, when ho died aged 32. Edward the Martyr, his natural son, had the crown ; but the succession was disputed between him and Etheldred son of Elfrida, who at length caused him to be barbarously murdered. Etheldred 11. succeeded, and being much troubled by the Danes, in East Anglia, ordered a land-tax to be levied to satisfy the invaders. In 1003, Etheldred mamed a daughter of Richard II., Duke of Nor- mandy, and on November 13th he issued a secret order for the general massacre of all the Danes who had settled in England during the preceding reigns. Thus a large number of them in East Anglia were slaughtered. This inhuman cruelty did not long remain unpunished. Soon after, Sweyn, King of Denmark, landed in Norfolk with a largo army, sailed up with his fleet to Norwich, bunit the city, and Thetford, devastated the whole country and proceeded to plunder and destroy in every part. In Kent, 43,000 people were butchei*ed. 424 HISTOKY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Etheldred, by the advice of his nobles, gave Sweyn 48,000 to leave the country and thereupon Sweyn sailed away with all his booty. As might have been expected, he retui'ued soon after with a greater army than before, conquered England, and compelled Etheldred to fly for refuge to the Court of Richard, Duke of Normandy, whose sister Emma he had married. In 1013, Sweyn was proclaimed King of England, but he died suddenly next year. Then Etheldred returned back to England and Sweyn's son Canute took the field against him but was forced to fly to his ships. Etheldred II. was restored to his kingdom, but died in lOlG, aged 58, when his son Edmund II., surnamed Ironside, assumed the crown; but in the same year Canute returned and was proclaimed. These competitors agi'eed to divide the kingdom, and the Danes held Northumberland, Mercia, and East Anglia, by conquest. In 1017, Edmund was assassinated by Edric his brother-in-law, and Canute reigned alone. He divided England into four governments. East Anglia with the title of Duke, he gave to Turketel, whom he afterwards banished, and he levied a land-tax of 82,000 to reward his Danish followers. In 1034, he founded the Abbey of St. Bennet in the Holme, and died November 12th, 103G. He was succeeded by his son Harold Harefoot, who met with some opposition to his coming to the crown. Most of the great men of the kingdom would have preferred Hardy Canute to him, but he was crowned, the last will of his father being in his favour. He reigned a few years in inglorious ease and died in 1039, during one of the sharpest winters that had been known in England. Hardy Canute next mounted the throne, but died suddenly in 1041 when Edward the Confessor was proclaimed King. He married Editha, daughter of Earl Godwin, whose son Harold was Earl of East Anglia. Edward abolished the Dane gelt or land-tax and expelled the Danes, but they had increased prodigiously in Norwich and Norfolk during the fifty years from 1010 to 1060. Edward the Confessor caused a survey to be made of all England, and then Norwich was found to contain 1320 burgesses, of whom one was so much the King's vassal that he might not depart or do homage to any other without his licence. He frequently resided in the County of Essex. Havering-atte-Bower, which had been a favourite seat of some former Saxon Kings, pqssessed walks and wooded solitudes peculiarly attractive to Edward's retired habits and religious feelings, and thither he often came to escape from the cares of government to prayer. A curious legend is related of this sovereign in connexion with one of his sojourns here. In ^^Legenda Aurea," the story is given as follows : "^ As the church of Clavering (Havering), in this county, was consecrating, and was to be i'HE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 425 dedicated to Christ and St. John the Evangelist, King Edward the Confessor, riding that way, alighted out of devotion to be present at the consecration. During the procession, a fair old man came to the King and begged alms of him in the name of God and St. John the Evangelist. The King having nothing else to give, as his almoner was not at hand, took the ring from his finger and gave it to the poor man. Some years after tAvo English pilgrims, having lost their way as they were travelling to the Holy Land, saw a company clothed in white, with two lights carried before them, and behind them came a fair old man. The pilgrims joining them, the old man enquired who they were and from whence they came. After hearing their stoiy, he brought them into a fine city, where there was a room furnished with all manner of dainties. When they had well refreshed themselves, and rested there all night, the old man set them again in the right way ; and, at parting, he told them he was John Evangelist ; adding as the legend goes on, ' Say ye unto Edwarde your Kyng that I grete h3'm well by the token that he gaaf to mc this rynge wyth his own hands at the halowying of my chirche, which rynge ye shall deliver hym agayn. And say ye to hym, that he dyspose his goodes, for wythin sixe monethes he shall be in the joye of heven wyth me, where he shall have his rewarde for his chastite and for his good livinge.' At their return home the two pilgrims waited upon the King, who was then at this bower, and delivered to him that message and the ring, from which circumstance this place is said to have receiv'ed the name of Havering." This whole story is Avrought in basso-relievo in the chapel at Westminster, where Edward the Confessor lies buried, on the back of the screen that divides it from the altar. Harold II., the eldest son of Earl Godwin, Earl of East Auglia, claimed the crown of England by virtne of a verbal gift which lie said King Edward had made of it before he died. The late King had recalled his nephew, Edward the Outlaw, from Hungary, and intended to make him his heir; but the prince died shortly after his arrival, leaving a child of about ten yeai's old, named Edgar Atlieling. No one appeared to pay inuch regard to his pretensions, and the competition for the throne lay l)etweeii two formidable aspii-ants, Harold and William of Normandy, neither of whom had any hereditary right. Harold was not of royal blood, and William was a bastard; but the AVitanagement crowned Harold, and he was the last of the Saxon Kings. William asserted that Edward had made a bargain with him that ho should ascend the throne of England, but the late King was not com- petent to do such an act, as the crown could only be disposed of by the Witanagemote, the gi'oat council of the nation. William, however, made vast preparations for an invasion, and Harold had to take active measure 426 HISTORY OF EAS'rEBii ENGLAND. for the presei'vatioii of his tuistable throne. He had another enemy in the person of his own brother Tostig, who had been expelled from his earldom of North umbria in the late reign^ and who entertained great hatred to his brother because he refused to reinstate him. Tostig soon made an inroad into the country^ but through the activity of Edwin and Morcar he failed in his endeavours. He had, however, formed an alliance with Harold Hardrada, King of Norway, who in the course of the autumn entered the Huniber with 500 ships, defeated Edwin and Morcar near York, and proceeded to invest the city. A'Vlien Harold was apprised of the danger, he left the south coast, where he expected the Norman invasion, marched northwards, and encountered his opponents, whom he defeated near Stamford Bridge on September the 25th, lOGG. Three days after, William landed with his forces at Pevensey, in Sussex, and fortified himself there. Harold hastily returned southward, and, flushed with victory, took no steps to collect additional forces to supply the place of the brave warriors who had fallen at Stamford Bridge. Nearly all the Thanes in Norfolk and Suffolk, as well as other counties, were in favour of Harold, and hastened to his standard. The opposing armies met on October the loth, 106G, near Hastings at a place afterwards called Battle. The contest was fierce; and for some time, notwithstanding all the efforts of the Normans, the English, with obstinate valour, kept theii' ground, and the former began to give way. AVilliuin impetuously addressed his troops, and led another charge, but still the main body of the English army, unmoved and impenetrable, resisted the Norman attack. The Norman soldiers were ordered to feign a retreat, and the English, rushing forward were slain in great numbers. The manosuvre was suc- cessfully repeated, but still largo bodies of the English remained in firm array. At last Harold was killed by an arrow, and his army broke up and retired from the field. The body of the King was removed to Waltham Abbey and entombed within the choir. The whole of the Anglo-Saxon period Avas one of perpetual war in Eastern England. Each county was a battle-field, and what a scene must many a battle-field have presented, where thousands were left without assistance and without pity, with their wounds exposed to the piercing air, while, the blood freezing as it flowed, bound them to the earth, amidst the trampling of horses and the insults of an enraged foe ! If they were spared by the humanity of the enemy and carried from the field, it was but a prolongation of torment. Conveyed in uneasy vehicles, often to a remote distance, through roads almost impassable, they were lodged in ill-prepared receptacles, for the wounded and the sick where the varied scenes of distress baffled all the efforts of skill and humanity, and rendered it almost impossible to give to each sufferer the attention he demanded. THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 42 1^ During the whole of the Anglo-S;ixoii period, iucessant petty wars on the incursions of the Danes converted the whole eastern district into a scene of desolation, overspi'cad by heaths, moors, marshes, swamps, and bogs. The serfs in Norfolk and in all other counties were classed with cattle. The labourers wei'C bought and sold like oxen, a man being worth as much as a horse. Men were disposed of in wills, and in oue of the laws it is written, " Let every man know his teams of men, horses, and oxen.'^ EARLS AND DUKES OF NORFOLK. Under the Saxon monarchy, this county as well as others was committed to the government of certain nobles called Athelings and Eorls, now Earls. These were titles of honour and office, and implied that the persons who bore them had the charge and custody of the county, and adminis- tered justice in it. They were allowed the third penny, or third part of the pleas of the county, the other two parts being received by the Vice- comes, or Earls, deputy (answering to the present High Sheriff) for tho King's use, and by him accounted for in the Exchequer. We have a list of these Earls from the time of Edgar to the Conquest, by the name of Earls of the East Angles. 1. Athelstan, surnamcd Half King, whose wife Alliven was nurse to King Edgar and she had four sons, Ethelwold, Alfwold, Ethelson, and Aylwin. He ended his days in Glastonbury Abbey, and his wife founded Chatteris Nunnery in Cambridgeshire, Avhere she Avas buried. 2. Ethelwold, son of the former, being employed by King Edgar to solicit the affections of Elfrida, daughter of Orgfir, Earl of Devon, ho deceived the King aiul took her for his own wife. Edgar had heard of lier beauty and scut his favourite Ethelwold to see whether her claims corresponded to report, and if so, to demand her in marriage. When he was introduced to the lady, he was so struck with her beauty, that he himself sued for her and succeeded. On his return to the King, he gave a false account of her charms, and afterwards desired the King's leave to marry her for the sake of her fortune, which was great, insinuating to Edgar, that as her little beauty made her unworthy of a monarch, her great wealth would be a prize to a private person. The King loved Ethelwold too well to oppose his desires. Accordingly he married the Princess, and confined her in a castle whence he would never suffer her to come out, to hide her deformity, as he pretended, from the eyes of the Court. But it wfis not possible for him to conceal her long in a castle. The King being dissatisfied was resolved to see her, and Ethelwold implored her to lessen the effect of her charms as much as possible by mean attire whenever the King might visit her. She promised compliance 128 HiSTOltY OF EASTKKN ENGLAND. with this request^ but either froiu vanity or rovenge^ or bothj tuok a directly opposite course and arrayed herself in her richest apparel, adorned with jewels, in order to captivate the King, whose visit she expected. She cared little for her living husband now exposed to the wrath of a powei'ful King. Edgar appointed a day for hunting in Hare Wood (this being only a stratagem), he went to the Castle, saw Elfrida, decked out in all her beauty, and was so enchanted with her charms that he resolved to have her, and to revenge himself on Ethel wold. Some time after, the body of tli3 latter Avas found dead in the middle of a Avood, and it was not doubted that he had been murdered by order of the King, who married the widow. Over the place where his blood was spilt, she erected a monastery for nuns, to sing over him, to expiate her guilt. A poor atonement indeed. King Edgar died July 8th, 975, in his 32ud year, having reigned sixteen years. 3. Aylwin succeeded his eldest brother, Ethelwold, in this earldom. He was Alderman of all England, and in 909 founded Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire, where his statute, inscribed Totlns Amjlca Aldonmuius, is still to be seen. He died in 99o, having had three wives. Ethelflede, who died in 977. Ethelgiva, who died in 985, and Ulgiva, who died in 991. 4. Ulfkitel succeeded, and in 1UU4, when Sweyn invaded Norfolk and burned Norwich, found himself obliged to make peace with the Danes. But when Sweyn burned Tlietford, he attacked him, and gave him a severe check. This earl was killed at the battle of Ashdown in 1010. 5. The next earl was a Dane, Turketel or Turkel, who fought with his predecessor in 1010, and went over from Sweyn to Ethedred, for whom he defended London against the Danes in 1018. Canute on his accession advanced him to the earldom and created him a duke. The date of his death is uncertain. 0. The sixth earl was Harold, afterwaj-ds King of England, and slain at the battle of Hastings, October 14th, lOGG. 7. On Harold^s succeeding to the government of Wessex, Kent, &c., Alfgar, son of Lcofric, Duke of Mercia, was created Earl of East Anglia. THE CHUROH IN EAST ANGLIA. The Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Danes were kindred Teutonic tribes, and all idolalters for some time after their settlement in this island. The names of their deities are still preserved in the names of the days of the week. Of these Odin or Woden was the object of the greatest venera- tion. The Edda of the Scandinavians gives us an account of their worship in the ninth and tenth centuries, and it is supposed that the THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 420 superstition of the Anglo-Saxon tribes vfhen they came hither did not materially differ from it, but what sort of idolatry it was is now of little importance. Christianity appears to have been introduced into this Eastern district in the seventh century. We know that East Anglia formed but one diocese for several centuries, that St. Felix, from Burgundy in France, was the first bishop, that his seat was at Dunwich in Suffolk, and that he was buried in Felixstow. Sigebert, who had been banished, was recalled to the throne of East Anglia, and he having been converted, brought over with him St. Felix, a priest, and made him Bishop of the East Angles, who then inhabited Norfolk and Suffolk. He was consecrated by Honorius, Archbishop of Canterbury, and he governed this extensive see for seventeen years. He Avas so successful as a preacher that he lived to see the Church of Rome established in every part of East Anglia. He is said to have been a prelate of great learnmg and astonishing eloquence, and what he taught ho carefully practised. He died on March, 8th, 647, and was buried in his Cathedral Church at Dunwich. He was afterwards canonised, and the 8th of March was consecrated to his memory. The King and the bishop co-operated in the erection of schools, and some historians attribute the foundation of the University of Cambridge to the munificence of Sigebert. If that King founded the University, it appears to have been of little use for many centuries. The national mind then in its infancy could not entirely rid itself of Pagan ideas, and society long remained in that early stage in which super- stition is inevitable, and in which if men do not have the mental disease in one form they will have it in another. What followed is well known to students of history. 1^'he superstition of the people, instead of being diminished, was only turned into a new channel. The new religion was soon corrupted by the old follies ; the worship of idols was succeedod by the adoration of saints ; the worship of Cybelo gave place to the worship of the Virgin Mary. The Venerable Bede in his "Ecclesiastical History," under dato a.d. 627, gives the following account of the reception of Christianity by the East Angles : " Edwin was so zealous for the worship of the truth that lie likewise persuaded Earpwald, King of the East Saxons in Essex and sou of Rcdwald, to abandon his idolatrous superstitions, and with his whole province to receive the faith and sacraments of Christ. And, indeed, his father Redwald had long before been admitted to the sacrament of tho Christian faith, but in vain, for on his return home he was seduced by his wife and certain perverse teachers, and turned back from the sincerity of the faith." * * * * " EarpAvald was not long after he had embraced the Christian faith. 430 HISTOEY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. slain by one Eiclibert, a Pagan, and from that time the province of East Anglia was under error for three years, till the crown came into posses- sion of Sigebert, brother to the same Eai-pwald, a most Christian and learned man, who was banished, and went to live in France during his brother's life, and was there admitted to the sacraments of the faith, whereof he made it his business to make all his province partake as soon as he came to the throne. His exertions were much promoted by the Bishop Felix, who coming to Honorius the Archbishop, from Burgundy, where he had been born and ordained, and having told him what he desired, he sent him to preach the Word of Life to the aforesaid nation of the Angles. Nor were his pious wishes in vain ; for the pious hus- bandman reaped therein a large harvest of believers, delivering all that province (according to the signification of his name Felix) from long iniquity and misery, and bringing it to the faith and works of righteous- ness, and the gifts of everlasting happiness. He had the see of his bishopric appointed him in the City of Donmoc, and having presided over the same province seventeen years, he ended his days in peace. '^ Donmoc was afterwards called Dunwich, in Suffolk, but having been swallowed up by the sea, it is no longer in existence. The name of the bishop appears to be still preserved by the pretty village of Felixstow, the dwelling of Felix on the Suffolk coast. He was a very pious man and an eloquent preacher, and so successful that he converted the whole of the East Angles to the Christian religion before it was corrupted. He was a prelate of great learning and astonishing eloquence, and what he taught ho carefully practised. He died on March 8th, 647, and was buried in his Church at Dunwich now under the sea. Bergisil, or Bregilsas, also called Boniface by historians, succeeded Thomas the Deacon, and held the see seventeen years. Bisa, or Bosa, was consecrated to the see in 669 by Theodore, Arch- bishop of Canterbury. He was a very grave and reverend person, but being old and infii'm, he was unable to attend to his episcopal duties ; he therefore divided his province into two sees, one remaining at North Elmham in Norfolk. He was present at the council at Hertford in 673, nnd died in the same year. In 673, Bisus, the third bishop of the East Angles, divided the diocese into two parts, one he continued at Dunwich, and the other he established at North Elmham. There was only one bishop of Norfolk and Suffolk till the reign of Etheldred in 993. After the death of Humbert, the tenth and last bishop ot Elmham, both sees laid vacant more than. 100 years, owing to the devastations of the Danes. In the year 995, the sees were united, as they have ever since remained. The episcopal chair was fixed at Elmham tiU 1075, when Harfast removed the see to Thetford, where it THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 431 continued till 1C88 in the reign of William Rufus. The Venerable Bede, in his " Ecclesiastical History," says : " Sigebert, the King of the Angles, with the advice of Felix, the bishop, instituted within his kingdom, a school for the advancement of learning, in imitation of what he had seen in France. This school is presumed to have been fixed in Cambridge. It is certain that, from an early period, it was the abode of numerous students, who at first resided in apartments, and afterwards in inns or hostels, where they lived in community, under a principal, at their own charge." A list of these hostels, with a description of their sites, is pub- lished in "Fuller^s History of the University of Cambridge," annexed to his "Church History." In the third year of his reign, Theodore assembled a synod of bishops (at Hertford) and many other teachers of the Church, who were acquainted with the canonical statutes of the fathers. Bisi, the bishop of the East Angles, who is said to have been in this synod, was successor to Boniface, before spoken of, a man of much sancity and religion, for when Boniface died, after having been bishop seventeen years, he was appointed by Theodore bishop in his place. Whilst he was still alive, but hindered by much sickness from administering his episcopal functions, two bishops, Ecci and Badwin, were elected and con- secrated in his place." MONASTERIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES. After the introduction of Christianity by monks of the Church of Rome, the clergy soon exercised their influence for the erection of monasteries, and many were built in the Eastern Counties during the Anglo-Saxon period. Most of them were very common-place buildings, intended more for use than ornament, and owed little to the art of architecture. But for the stone cross over their gates, many of them might have been mistaken for ordinary houses. We must not suppose, however, that this poverty of art was symbolic of the condition of their inmates, most of whom lived on the fat of the land, their convents being richly endowed. There was nothing at all good in European or English life in the middle ages if monasteries were not beneficial at first to some extent. Agi-icul- ture owes its importance and dignity to the monks, who became great landholders and diff'used a taste for the cultivation of the soil. Until the monks arose the land was tilled by slaves ; they removed the chain, granted the fonnerly useless land on lease, and the serf became a husband- man. The site of every monastery was determined with a view to this end. The monks themselves taught the serfs to use the plough, till the time came when the monks need not do manual work at all. 432 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. The monks were at first the most advauced agriculturists, and the first landlords in the best meaning of the word. Connected by the ties of ecclesiastical dependence and intercourse with Rome, they kept alive the embers of past learning and civilisation, which were threatened with utter extinction, and though the practical knowledge of agriculture, supplied by classic literature might bo scanty, yet its mental influence would bo moi'e or less perceptible over the lands of proprietors and of a tenantry exempt from military service, and encouraged by the permanent tenure and security of these estates of the religious orders. A new activity was opened before the monasteries untamed nature first, next untamed humanity. They became the schools of England and all Europe. Suspected at their origin by the Church, they rose into such importance that Popes, and Archbishops, and Cardinals, and Chancellors of kingdoms, were sought amongst those who had received their training within the Avails of convents, and they existed for no particular class. Self-supported by their lands, they could afford to receive whoever had an aptitude for instruction. Monasteries were also the houses of refuge for travellers and for the destitute poor. As a suitable introduction to a brief account of monastic institutions in Eastern England, it will be necessary to glance at the monastic system in its origin, and as it was subsequently exercised, a subject so fertile in inquiry, that the difficulty is how to condense the innumerable points for discussion, to which a detailed examination of it must give rise. As to the origin of monachism, it should bo borne in mind that the love of religious retirement and seclusion from the world prevailed long befoi-e the Church of Rome attained its predominant ascendancy. Monachism, then, jj(?/- fie, is not identified with Popery, and in its origin must be considered apart from the Church of Rome. But to the lamentable perversions of the Roman Church may be referred that nascent departure from primitive simplicity and comparative purity, which in after ages issued in gross abuse, blind superstition, and imperious bearing, and obtained for the monasteries the scorn and indignation of every reflecting mind. Whatever may be thought of the matter now, it fs certain that for many centuries monastic institutions obtained considerable favour from devout people, both lay and clerical. Not only were religious houses amongst the first works of the wealthy and powerful who hoped to atone for their sins by their good deeds, but new orders were multiplied with a marvellous rapidity. Nearly a hundred orders arose in the middle ages, and had converts all over Europe and in every county and town in England, being most numerous in Eastern England. The fighting men who obtained possession of lands by force of arms THE ANGIO-8AX0N PERIOD. 433 had no more right to those than the monks and clergy who in the course of time received so many grants from Kings and nobles ; and it is certain that the monks were the best cultivators of the soil, most of which was originally a barren waste. For many centuries after the Christian era, the whole Eastern district was a vast howling wilderness, very little of the land being under tillage, and, but for the monks, would not have been cultivated at all, and tlioy were the first promoters of agriculture. They were also the chief promoters of architecture in their buildings as well as of other useful arts. It should be remembered that if mona- chism was not necessary to a due attainment of \he Christian life, it had other claims to our n>spect. To the monasteries we owe, in a great degree, much that is valuable in literature, science, and art, during a long night of mental darkn(^ss. But for them, we should have lost the literary treasures of ancient times, to which the scholar turns with ever new delight. Nor is it in reference to such results alone that monasteries had a claim to the regard of those who cared for the poor. The charity which formed a part of the monastic profession was not an empty vaunt, but practical, liberal, and extensive. Hard would have been the fate of thousands of the indigent at a period when no public provision was made for them in seasons of need and suffering, but for the monasteries. Degraded to the lowest point of social existence, the poor might have perished unnoticed and unknown but for the abbeys and priories, whose gates were open to the destitute poor who found shelter, food and raiment, or medicine, as the case might be. The same liberal spirit pervaded all the intercourse of the monastic inmates with the world around them, the poor, however humble, reaped the full advantage of their charity; the rich wayfarer was received with hospitality. No wonder then that on this plea alone. strong feeling should prevail among the poorer classes in favour of religious houses, at the time of their suppression. Enormous as were the revenues generally accruing to such establish- ments, it would be untrue to say that they were wholly devoted to purposes of luxurious enjoyment, of selfish ease, or mere superstition, and it is a question whether a tithe of the wealth acquired by a tyrannous and wholesale spoliation was ever again directed into a more beneficial channel. Thus far then monastic institutions are entitled to respectful consideration, a sentiment which cannot be so freely extended to their internal economy. The general duties which applied to the monastic profession may be stated in a few words prayer, humiliation, bodily mortification, and active charity, but to attain pre-eminence in the fraternity, other things were indispensable ; namely, a rigid observance of appointed duties, silence, implicit obedience, poverty, mutual love, no repinings, and strict G E 434 HISTOBY OT EASTERN ENGLAND. adherence to the cloister. Wlioever succeeded in a punctilious conformity to the standard was regarded as a character of no common order. During the whole of the middle ages monasteries were built all over the Eastern counties. Of these religious houses, Essex contained no less than forty-seven, of which two were mitred abbeys, six common abbeys, twenty-two priories, three nunneries, three colleges, two preceptories of templar knights, and nine hospitals for lepers. The two mitred abbeys were Waltham Holy Cross and St. John's, Colchester. The six other abbeys were at Beleigh, Coggeshall, St. Osyth, Stratford, Tilty, and Saffron Waldon. The priories were at Burden, Blackmore, Colchester, Bicknacre, Maldon, Chelmsford, Dunmow, Earls Colne, Hatfield Broad Oak, Sutton, Hatfield Peverell, Little Horkesley, Little Leigh, West Mersea, Panfield, Prittlewell, Stunsgale, Takeley, Tiptree, Thoby, and Thremwell. The nunneries were at Barking, Hedingham, and Wix. The colleges were at Halsted, Fleshy, and Layer Marney. The preceptories of templars were at Crossing and Little Maplestead, and the hospitals of lepers were at Colchester, Becking, Brook Street, Southweald, Castle Hedingham, Hornchurch, Ilford, Newport, and Maldon. The number of religious houses showed the influence of the Church of Rome in the middle ages. The parish of St. Osyth is in the Hundred of Tendring, North Division of Essex, eleven miles (south-east) from Colchester. This place, re- markable for the remains of its noble monastery, derives its name from St. Osyth, daughter of Redwald, King of East Anglia, who having made a vow of virginity, retired hither, where she founded a church and a nunnery, which were afterwards plundered by the Danes who beheaded the foundress near an adjacent fountain. Canute, the Danish King, gave St, Osyth to the celebrated Godwin, Earl of Kent, who granted it to Christ's Church, Canterbury. At the time of the Domesday survey (1068) it belonged to the see of London, tho bishop of which, Richard de Beliners, about 1118 established a priory for Augustine canons on the supposed site of the nunnery which he dedicated to St. Osyth. At tho dissolution a prior, an abbot, and eighteen canons were on the foundation, the revenues of which were 758 5s. 8d. per annum, or 7580 of our present money. Beside the monasteries in Essex, hundreds existed in Norfolk and Suffolk, at Norwich, Ipswich, Bury St. Edmund's, Thetford, and in all parts of the two counties. Some of these were richly endowed, and luxury kept pace with their increasing wealth. In the course of time, they became possessed of a third part of all the land in England, when pride, magnificence, and licentiousness, with all their train, entered their siaored walls, and hastened their dissolution. Norwich alone contained THE ANOLO-SAXON PERIOD. 435 nineteen of these institutions, whose inhabitants enjoyed a cheerful if not a meny life. In the middle ages the monk enjoyed a good social position. In those happiest days of his history, he was the adviser of men, the confidant of women, the friend in every house, the welcome guest at every feast. The sight of his gabardine, so far from inspiring sad ideas, was the immediate cause of mirth. His religion was no hindrance to his enjoyment of the social board, or of wliatevcr else served to make life pleasant. Like a man of the world, he came and went at pleasure, and enjoyed only too much liberty of action. Sigebert, fifth Kini^ of the East Angles in 636, is said to have founded a monastery at Burgli Castle in Suffolk, under the direction of Felix, his bishop, who had been consecrated by Honorius, primate of Canterbury, at the request of the King. Felix zealously employed himself in spreading Christianity, which was beginning to dawn through the darkness of Paganism that then obscured the whole kingdom of the East Angles. To assist him in his spiritual task of instructing the barbarous Anglians, he invited over to his assistance from France, Furseus, an Irish monk, who, assembling a community of religious persons under the monastic vow, placed them in the monastery at Burgh, then named Cnobherstown or Cnobersburgh, from one Cunoberi Urbs, an East Anglian chief, who formerly resided there. The monastery is said to have been placed within the walls of Gariannonum, although some writers have supposed that a fragment of masonry, still remaining near the church, formed a part of this foundation. The latter opinion is, perhaps, incorrect, as regular buildings for religious purposes were then unkno"\vn among the Saxons. It was probably nothing more than a hut of clay, covered with sods of straw, and supported by stakes. The churches at this early period, like the idol temples of the Druids, were composed of wicker work or hurdles, and were thought to be sufficiently durable for men, who as a provincial historian has well observed, might perhaps in compliment to the next prince return to Paganism. Furseus, upon the death of his patron Sigebert, who was slain in a battle with Penda, the Mercian King, retired from his monastery at Burgh to France, leaving behind him the monks, who endued with more constancy than himself, maintained their situation for several years but at last abandoned it, at a period that is now micertaiu. In C50, Anna, King of the East Angles, founded at East Dereham a nunnery of Benedictines for Withburga, his youngest daughter, whom he made prioress. This house is said to have been so very poor at its institution that by the prayers of their prioress, the nuns are said to have been miraculously supported by two does, which came constantly to be milked at a certain time and place. This supply was soon stopped. 436 HISTORY 07 EASTERN ENGTAND. for the bailiff of the town^ maliciously hunted the does away with his hounds, and as a judgment upon him, he soon after broke his neck as he was hunting. Withburga died and was buried in the churchyard at East Dereham, after which the Danes coming into England, the nun- nery was destroyed and the church made parochial, about fifty-five years after her death. About 789, her body being found uncorrupted as alleged, was taken up and put into the church, where it remained near 200 years, when to complete her story, we are told, that Brithunt, Abbot of Ely, and his monks, concocted a wicked scheme for conveying her body from thence to Ely, which robbery they effected by having men and carriages stationed upon the road ready to receive it from those appointed to steal it away. Their scheme succeeded, and they brought the body to Brandon ferry, where it was put on board a wherry and from thence conveyed to Ely and there enshrined, before the men from Dereham could take any step to recover it. This is styled by the " Historia Eliensis " " Sanctum Sacri- legium Fidelefurtum Salutaris rajpina." That is a sanctified sacrilege, a pious fraud, a soul-saving robbery. It was indeed robbing Peter to pay Paul. Ethelreda, daughter of Anna, King of the East Angles, founded a monastery at Ely in 673 for monks and nuns, which she dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and though married to Egfrid, King of Northumberland, devoted herself to a monastic life and became its first abbess. This mo- nastery was destroyed by the Danes in 870 ; for at that period they were enabled to sail their ships close up to the walls of the town, the river being much deeper ; in fact it is supposed to have been an arm of the sea. In the reign of Edgar the Anglo-Saxon King, Ethelwald, Bishop of Winchester, granted the whole hundred of Mitford in Norfolk^ with the manor of East Dereham, to the monastery of St. Etheldreda or St. Audrey, at Ely. The abbot and convent were lords of it in the reign of Edward the Confessor, and it was valued at sixty shillings per annum. Edgar granted to it very great privileges, Avhich were confirmed by King Edward and other Kings, and on the erection of the bishopric of Ely in 1109, it was settled on that see as part of its revenues. In the reign of Richard I., the following royalties belonged to it : soc, sac, thot, theam, infang theof and outfang theof, frishurti, serdwite, grithbrith, and all forfeitures which he confirmed as his father Henry II. had done. The bishop^s men were free from toll passage, gelt and Dane gelt, and acquitted from all fines for murder in the said Hundred, as due to the bishop except they who held of a different see and except treasure trove. The Hundred of Mitford remained in the see of Ely till granted to the crown by Act of Parliament hi the first year of Elizabeth. THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 437 In 903 in the reign of Edgar the Anglo- Saxon King, the manor of East Dereham in Norfolk was granted to the monastery of Ely, by Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester. This lordship continued to be a part of the possessions of the monastery of Ely till the foundation of the bishop's see there in 1109, when it was assigned to the bishop and made part of his barony. In Domesday Book it is said to have belonged to the church or monastery of Ely, and to consist of five caracutes of land, and there were three mills, &c. It was valued then at 10 and was one and a-half leuca or mile broad. The monastery of Bury St. Edmund's had its origin from the supposed martyrdom of King Edmund, who was cro-svned at Bury, and killed by the Danes at Hoxne in Suffolk. The remains of the King which had been interred at Hoxne were removed to Bury in 903. A new church was built in honour of St. Edmund, by some secular priests who were incorporated into a college by King Athelstan, about the year 925. Sweyn, King of Denmark, having nearly destroyed the town and the church in 1010, they were restored by Canute who re-built the church and monastery, endowed them with great possessions and expelling the secular canons, placed in their stead monks of the Benedictine Order. In process of time, the monastery became one of the most splendid establishments in the kingdom, and was only inferior to that at Glaston- bury, in grand buildings, costly decorations, valuable immunities, and rich endowments. It had the royalties or franchises of many separate Hundreds, and the right of coinage. The abbot had the power of determining all suits within the franchise or liberty of Bury ; and of inflicting capital punishment. These high privileges wei*e frequently the cause of stnfe and bloodshed, and in 1327, the townsmen and people of the neighbouring villages, assembled to the number of 20,000 headed by their chief men, made a violent attack on the monastery, they demolished the gates, doors, and windows, and burnt a considerable part of the building ; pillaged the coffers from which they took the charters, deeds, and other property. The King having been informed of these outrages, sent a militaiy force to quell the tumult, when the alderman and twenty-four of the burgesses were imprisoned, and thirty carts loaded mth rioters were sent to Nonvich. Of these, nineteen were executed, and one was pressed to death for refusing to plead, according to the barbarous custom of the times. Waltham Abbey was founded by Harold in 1002 before he was King, and it was at its altar he knelt to offer up his last prayer, before he went forth to fight with William the Nonnan. He was buried here when his body was brought from the field of battle. Edward the Confessor gave Waltham to Earl Harold, on condition that he should " build a monastery 438 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. in the place where was a little convent^ subject to the canons and their rulers^ and furnish it with all necessary relics, dresses, and ornaments, in memory of Edward and his wife Edith." In 1177, Henry II. for the secular canons, substituted monks of the Order of St. Augr.stine, and dedicated it to the Holy Cross. At the dissolution the revenue was valued at 1079 12s. Id. The bodies of Harold, the last Saxon King, and of his brothers Gurth and Leofurn, slain at the battle of Hastings, were entombed within the choir or eastern chapel. In 1171 the foundation of Butley Priory was laid by Ealph de Glanville, Chief Justice of England. He was born at Stratford St. Andrew, and married Bertha, daughter of Theobold de Valoins, lord of Parham. In 1174, when High Sheriff of Yorkshire, during the time Henry was much pressed in his continental dominions by the alliance of his sons, with Louis VII. of France, the Scots invaded England, and De Glanville raised a small but heavily armed force, with which he marched seventy miles, and coming up with the Scots force attacked and defeated them, who under King William the Lion, were beleaguering the Castle of Alnwick, taking the King prisoner. Ralph de Glanville built Butley Priory on the lands called Brockhouse, which he held by his wife, and the Order of monks was that of canons regular of St. Augustine. He gave to it, as of fee, the advowsons of Farnham, Butley, Bawdsey, Wantisden, Capel, and Benhall, and Henry II. added the rectories of Burston and Win- farthing. In 1425, Reginald de Grey recovered the latter advowson and presented a rector, the priory producing no grant from the King and no appropriation confirmed by the Pope. It is stated that their were many other gifts of lands to the priory, in Wingfield, Sidebrooke, Isted, and other places, and that in 1508 Henry VII. endowed it with the cell of St. Mary-at-Snape (till then belonging to St. John of Colchester) with the manors of Snape, Scotts, Tastard, Bedingfield, Aldborough, and Friston. The prior, finding the monks troublesome, resigned the cell in 1509, and it was surpressed in 1524 by Wolsey, who gave it to the great work of his at Oxford and Ipswich. Fifty-one other manors belonged to the priory, spreading over East Suffolk, from Ipswich to Debenham, Parham, Yoxford, and stretching as far as Shelley, and thirty-one advow- sons and moieties of advowsons, most of which were in Suffolk. The whole rental of the priory in 1291, was 99 17s. Od., and in 1534, 318 17s. 2|d. per annum, representing 3188 12s. S^d. of our present money. The buildings of the monastery covered twenty acres and were encircled by a stone wall ; the church was large, consisting of three aisles, with chapels dedicated to St. Anne, St. Peter and St. Paul, St. Sigismund, and All Saints. The only remaining portions now standing, are the gate THE ANGLO-SAXON tBRlOD. 4;'S9 and an arch. The former was a noble structure of decorated architecture built of freestone, ornamented with chequer and lozenge work in flint. On one side over the gateway, arranged in five rows, seven in each row, were the arms of many of the benefactors of the priory. The circle of flint work on the other side represented the size of the by-bell of the abbey, which at the dissolution was sold at Hadleigh and made into two. From 1195 to 1518, there were twenty-four priors, two of whom were consecrated suffragan bishops of the diocese. In the year 1539, the comnlendator and eight canons regular signed the surrender, and thus Butley and its fair lands passed from religious into secular hands. It was granted in 1540 to Thomas Duke of Norfolk, and in 1544 was purchased by William Forthe. Since then it has passed through many families, and at present it is in the possession of Lord Rendlesham. At Leiston, was an abbey of Premonstratensian canons, built and endowed by the founder of Butley Priory, Ranulph de Glanville, 1182, to the honour of the Virgin Mary. This abbey being inconveniently placed, Robert de Uffbrd, Earl of Suffolk, about a.d. 1363, built a new one upon a better situation and about a mile further inland. This was burnt down in 1389, but was at once rebuilt, and was, with the old abbey, in a flourishing condition at the dissolution. The gothic windows, a few walls, and some subterranean passages are all that remain. In the reign of Edward the Confessor, the prior and convent of Ely had possessions in Woodbridge, and their successors still hold the manor of Kingston. Towards the end of the twelfth century, a priory of Augus- tine canons was founded here by Ernaldus Ruf us and others and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the revenue of which at the dissolution was valued at 50 3s. 5d. A house built on the site by one of the Seckford's still retains the name of the abbey. Norfolk contained no less than 122 monasteries, including the various distinctions of abbeys, priories, nunneries, colleges, preceptories, com- manderies, hospitals for lepers, besides a much larger number of chantries, guilds, and free chapels. Some of the monasteries were possessed of exclusive jurisdiction, with peculiar exemptions and privileges ; othere were dependent, and some were still more subordinate. The Abbey of St. Benedict^s-at-Holme was a famous place on the marshes near the river Bure, in the north of Norfolk. According to traditions of the monks, it was given by Horn, a little prince, to a society of hermits under the rale of one Sunneman in 800. The Danes destroyed the monastery in 870. Wolfric rebuilt the chapel and houses in the next century, and he mth his companions lived there many years. Canute the Dane, founded the abbey in 1034. It was so well fortified by the monks that it rcsembled a castle more than a cloister. Its revenues were very 140 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. great, derived from many manors in this part of Norfolk. Holme was a mitred abbey, and its abbot always sat in the House of Lords. The Bishop of Norwich is still Abbot of Holme. Some remains of the abbey are yet visible on a piece of land surrounded by marshes. Tliere is no part of the ancient structure standing except the gatehouse or entrance on the north by a causeway from Ludham, the rest having been barbarousl v destroyed by the Goths of the neighbourhood, or taken away to build barns or to mend roads. In the last century, vast piles of buildings were standing, but now they are all gone, and only a few silent trees are left sad witnesses of the brutal violence of ignorant rustics. Walsingham Priory is indebted for its origin to the widow lady of Ricoldie de Faverches, who founded there a chapel in honour of the Virgin Mary, in all respects like to the Sancta Gasa a;t Nazareth, where the Virgin was saluted by the angel Gabriel, in a vision of the Virgin enjoining her thereto, a pretence generally made use of in like founda- tions. Sir Jeffrey de Faverches, her son^ soon after the Conquest, endowed it, granting to Edwin, his clerk or chaplain, this chapel to St, Alary, with the church of All Saints in the said town, with its appurte- nances in lands, &c., which the said Edwin possessed on the day when he went to Jerusalem. This knight seems to have been the first founder of the priory, built the priory church, and gave the chapel of Our Lady, all the ground within the site of the church, eight acres of land, with 20s. rent per annum out of his manor, if the yearly value of the offerings of Our Lady did not exceed five marks, which grant was confirmed by Robert de Brucourt, and Roger, Earl of Clare, in Suffolk. Numerous grants and benefactions rapidly succeeded the original endowment, con- ferring stability and opulence on the infant institution. A minute detail of the several grants made to this once famous priory would be very tedious and uninteresting to most readers, but would show the zeal, credulity, and superstition of the age, the people believing that their welfare here and hereafter in a future state depended on their liberality to religious institutions. At their dissolution, this fell with the rest in the thirtieth of Henry VIII., and was then valued, according to Dugdale, at 391 lis. 7d., and according to Speed, at 446 14s. 4d. per annum. The priory church Avas a grand edifice. The length of the nave from the west door to the great tower or belfry in the church was seventy paces, the breadth of the same, excepting the two aisles, was sixteen paces ; the great tower or bell tower was a square of sixteen paces, and the breadth seventeen ; besides this, there was a building, probably at the east end of the choir, of sixteen yards long and ten broad. But the chief beauty and glory of Walsingham Priory was the chapel dedicated to the annunciation of the Virgin. This chapel was a separate tHE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 441 building from the cliurch, Jind distinct also from the chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, with which it is confomided by the continuator of Blomefield's work. As this chapel was being rebuilt when WiUiam of Worcester saw it, ho calls it the new work of Walsingham, and states its measurement within the walls to have been sixteen paces in length and ten in breadth. Erasmus, who was here shortly after William, notices its disjunction from the priory church. He then proceeds to obsei*ve that " The church is splendid and beautiful, but the Virgin dwells not in it : that, out of veneration and respect is gi'anted to her son. She has her church so contrived as to be on the right hand of her son ; but neither in that doth she live, the building being not yet finished. In this church there is a small chapel of wood, into which the pilgrims are admitted on each side at a narrow door. There is but little or no light in it but what proceeds from wax tapers, yielding a most pleasant and odoriferous smell ; but if you look in, you will say it is a seat of the gods, so bright and shining it is all over with jewels, gold, and silver.^' So great was the fame of the idol or image of the Lady of Walsingham, that foreigners of all nations came on a pilgrimage to her, insomuch that the number of her devotees and worshippers seemed to equal those of the Lady of Loretto in Italy, and the town of Little Walsingham owed its chief support and maintenance thereto. Of the Royal visitors Henry HI. appears to have paid his devotion to her March 24th, in his 26th year ; his precept being dated here enjoining all who held lauds in capite to meet him on the Octaves of Easter at Win- chester in our expedition into Gascoign. Edward I. was here on January 8th, in his ninth year, as appears by a patent dated here for the repair of London Bridge, and again in his twenty-fifth year in the Purification of the Virgin. Edward II. was also here on October 6th in his ninth year. In the thirty-fifth of Edward II., John de Montfort, Duke of Bretagno in France, came and had the King^s libei'ate to the treasurer and chamberlain of the Exchequer to deliver 9 for the expenses of his journey here and back to London. In the same year the Duke of Anjou had a license to visit here and the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury. David Bruce, King of Scotland, had in the thirty-eighth of the said King, a protectioii to come here with thirty horse in his retinue, and his Queen Margaret made a vow to visit also St. Thomas of Canterbury. Henry VII. mentions, in his will, that he had ordered an image of silver and gilt to be made and offered up, and set before the Lady of Walsingham, and also a like image for St. Thomas of Canterbuiy. Henry VIIL, in his second year, soon after Christmas, rode here, and in the same year, May 14th, 63. 8d. was then paid to Mr. Garneys for 442 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. the Kiug^s ofi'enug to her, aud a MS. proving payment was signed by the King's hand at Walsingham. Queen Catherine his wife, during the King's absence in France in his fifth year, came here and returned thanks to the Lady for the great victory over the Scots at Flodden-field, September 9th, 1513. Queen Catherine, in her will, desired that 500 masses should be said for her soul, and that a person should make a pilgrimage to our Lady at Walsingham, and distribute 200 nobles in charity upon the road. The people were so superstitious, that they believed the galaxy in the sky called the milky way, shone to point out the particular place and residence of the Virgin to show them the way to Walsingham. Walsingham Avas famous throughout England for pilgrimages to tho shrine of the Virgin Mary ; for whoever had not made a visit and a present to tho Lady of this place was looked upon as impious. Here the priests carried on a lucrative trade by deceiving the ignorant people. Thousands of all ranks of people went annually to the " Shrine of Our Lady," as it was called, and they had indulgences granted to them in proportion to the sums given to the priest. It was not from motives of piety that so many went thither. On the contrary, says an English traveller, " we have seen processions of those pilgrims in different parts of Europe, and without the least exaggeration they may be reduced to the following classes : Supposing the whole body to consist of fifty of each sex, twenty couples are generally in love intrigues ; the second twenty are idle, lazy, vagabonds and harlots ; whilst the last ten couples may be partly devotees and partly philosophers, who go to laugh at the depravity of human nature and the barefaced wickedness of the priests." The College of Walsiugham had scarce any revenues but the presents made to the Virgin. The most valuable gifts only wei-e preserved, the smaller being appropriated to the maintenance of the poor and convent. In the church was a little narrow timber chapel, into which the pilgrims were admitted on each side by a small door. There was only the light of wax tapers, which had a grateful smell ; but the light displayed a place shining all over with jewels, silver, aud gold. Yet, woe to tell ! the very prince who walked barefoot to present a rich necklace to Our Lady of Walsingham soon after reduced her and her train to their original value in bullion ! Castleacre Prioiy was founded in 1078 by William de Warren a great warrior, who placed in it twelve monks of the Cluniac order, and endowed it for their support, but subject to the abbey of Lewes in Sussex. It was enclosed by a strong outer wall, encompassing an area of 29a. 2e. IOp. Herbert, first Bishop of Norwich, confirmed the grant of this founder, and certified that the monks of Hacra had entered the church with his '^ THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 443 consent. In the twenty-fourth of Edward I., the revenues of this religious house, which had been augmented by numerous benefactions, were seized under the pretence of its being an aUen priory, but they were subsequently restored. The remains of the priory, with its conventual church, form perhaps the finest and most venerable ruin in Norfolk. The church comprised nave, choir, and transepts, of which the west front, the south-west tower, and the north and south transepts present the most extensive remains. The choir is almost entirely destroyed, and little more than the foundations are visible. The west front, sixty -four feet high, presents a beautiful Norman fa9ade, filled with tiers of arches, and columns enriched with beautiful chevron, billet cable and other mouldings and tracery, and formerly terminated on each side by elegant towers. Wabonie or Wayborue Priory, in the Hundred of Holt (north) is said to have been founded by Sir Ralph Mayuwaryn, of Cheshire, in the reign of Henry I. ; but it is more probable that Sir Ralph Maynwaryn, who lived in the reign of King John, was the founder. This Sir Ralph was justice of Cheshire and lord of Holt, and mamed Amicia, a daughter of Hugh Kivehoc, Earl of Chester, who gave two knights' fees with her in frank marriage. This priory was subordinate to Westacre Priory at first. In the reign of Henry I., Peter de Valoins or Valeniis, founded the priory of Binham in Norfolk. This was an extensive pile of buildings, now in ruins. The possessions of the priory were much increased in the subsequent reigns of King Stephen, Heniy II., Richard I., John, Henry III., and Edward I. by numerous grants and gifts of land, as appears from the register of the priory. After these grants, rents, &c., there follows in the register an account of the prior's rental in Edgefield, containing the names of the tenants, the rents, parcels of lands, &c. At the dissolution, Henry VIII., in the thirty-sixth year of liis reign, on March 3rd, 1545, granted the manor of Binham, with all its appurte- nances, rights, and privileges to Sir William Butts and his heirs for ever,, with manors and estates in other counties, upon his paying into the treasury, 762 12s. Cd. A priory of Benedictine monks was founded at Horsham St. Faith's, near Norwich, in 1105, by Robert de Cadomo (or Caen), son of Walter de Cadomo, lord of Horsford, and Sibella his wife, daughter and heiress of Ralph de Choyney. Historians relate that they, returning from a pilgi'image to Rome through France, were attacked by robbers, and imprisoned, till by their prayers to God and St. Faith the virgin, they were miraculously delivered. After this, they visited the shrine of St. Faith's at the Abbey of Couches in Franco, and being there kindly entertained, they vowed on their return into England to give theii* manors of Hor8foi*d and Horsham to build a monastery there in honour of God 444 HISTORY OF EASTEKN KNGLAND. aud St. Faith, which they accordingly performed, placing therein two monks of the Abbey of Couches, to which abbey they gave this house as a cell in the reign of Henry I. and Herbert, being then Bishop of Norwich. In 1163, the foundation was confirmed by Pope Alexander III. In 1113, William de Glanville founded a priory at Broomholrae, near Bacton, for Cluniac monks, as a cell to Castleacre, dedicated to St. Andrew, and endowed it with lands at Broomholme and other places. The priory became very rich by continual offerings in ages of supersti- tion. On its dissolution, it was granted to Sir T. Woodhouse, of Waxham. The remains of this priory are still more entire than most others. Within the Avails which surrounded it, there is now a farm-house, and the buildings have been converted into offices. About the year 1 188, the Priory of Shouldham was founded by Jeffrey Fitzpress, Earl of Essex, and dedicated to the Holy Cross and the Blessed Virgin for a prior, canons, and nuns of the Order of St. Gilbert, of Sem- pringham, who endowed the said house with the manors of Shouldham, in Caneham, Wryham, Wrotton, Boketon, Stokesferry, Carboysthoi-p, Foston, Stradset, Bekeswell, Fordliam, Well, Wygenhale, Seche, Sadlebow, Clenchwarton, Low, and Wrangle. The founder had these estates in descent by his wife, whose grandfather married Beatrix, sister to Jeffrey Mandeville, Earl of Essex. This Jeffrey Fitzpress was a person of great power and authority, and Chief Justiciary of England, and, dying on October 2nd, 1212, was buried in Shouldham Priory. He gave to this priory in pure alms, to find lights in the church of the priory, &c., twelve shops, with rooms over them, in the parish of St. Mary of Cole Church in London. Langley Abbey was founded by Sir Robert Fitz Roger, Helke or De Claveriug, who was lord of Horsford by the marriage of Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of William de Cheney, relict of Sir Hugh de Cressy. On his founding the monastery for canons of the Premonstra- tensian Order at Langley, in 1198, he gave the greatest part of the manor to it, to be held by one fee and three-quarters, the other quarter of a fee being in his own family, also the advowson of the church with the marsh of Raveness, &c. The founder was Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in the third and fourth year of King Richard I., and in that reign the abbey was founded. His descendents assumed the name of De Clavering from their lordship of that name, in Essex, and had the patronage of this abbey. The anniversary of the founder was kept on the 18th of the calends of May. Here was an abbot and fifteen canons of the Premonstratensian Order, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and valued as Dugdale, at 104 16s. 5d. ob. as Speed at 128 19s. Od. ob. King John in his first year confirmed the grant of the founder, and gi'anted the abbot a fair and THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 445 a weekly market in the manor of Langley, with soc, sac, and many other liberties. It appears from a rent roll that they had considerable possessions, the manors of Langley, ThurtoD, Burgh cum Apton, Mundham, Ravening- ham, Sisland, Ashby, Winston, Rockland, Poringland, Framlingham, Shottesham, Kirby, Trowse, Bowthorpe, Wheatacre, Rushall, Heckingham cum Rochchage, and Hales ; also lands in many towns in Norfolk and Suffolk. Mr. Parkin gives us a tedious detail of benefactions devoutly given to this religious house, which we think would fully employ the clergy of that day to remember in their prayers. On January 27th, 1249, the Abbey or Nunnery of Marham in the Hundred of Clackclose, Norfolk, was founded by Isabel, widow of Hugh de Albany, Earl of Arundel, for Cistertian or White Nuns, was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, St. Barbara, and St. Edmund, by Richard de Wiche, Bishop of Chichester, for the health of the souls of William, late Earl Warren and Surrey, her father, and Maud her mother, daughter of William Marshal the elder. Earl of Pembroke, Hugh, Earl of Arundel, her husband, and all her ancestors deceased, &c. Many of the Kings of England confirmed the grants and privileges of this house, as did Richard II. in his ninth year, and in the twentieth year of that reign they had a patent for founding a chantry in the hermitago of St. Guthlake in Marham. The abbess had the privilege of proving the wills of those that died within the precinct or jurisdiction of this house granted to this order by the popes. This order of nuns had many large privileges from the popes, probate of wills within their own precincts, exemptions from paying tithes and procurations, &c. The monastic institutions existing in Norwich before the Reformation were nineteen in number, the principal being the Benedictine Prioiy at the Cathedral founded by Bishop Herbert. He placed sixty Benedictine monks in the priory on the south side, endowing it with sufficient lands to maintain it. The same founder established a Benedictine cell on Household Heath, and dedicated it to St. Leonard. It was much resorted to on account of a miraculous image of Henry VI. St. Michael's Chapel was near this priory cell, and it was sei*ved by the monks. The Benedictine Nunnery at Carrow was founded in 1 146 by two sisters and endowed by King Stephen. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and had a prioress and nine nuns. St. Mary-in-the-Fields was founded about 1250 by John Le Brun, as a monastic hospital, was transmuted into a college for a dean, ten preben- daries, and six charity priests, was given at the dissolution to Dr. Miles Spencer, the last dean, and is now represented by a hall, with arms of 446 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. the Hobarts, the Cornwallises, and others. The Augustinian Friary was founded in the time of Edward I., by E. Mincot ; acquired much wealth from a peculiarly privileged chapel called Scala Cceli, akin in character to two others in England, and was given at the dissolution to Sir Thomas Heneage. The Black Friars Monastery was founded in 1228, and originally built in St. George's Colegate, but afterwards removed to St. Andrew's, where the building was begun about the year 1415, in the reign of Henry V., by that celebrated knight. Sir Thomas Erpingham, who died in 1428, before it was finished. Sir Robert Erpingham, his son, continued the work till it was completed. He was a friar of the Order of St. Dominic, and a member of this convent. The Black Friars were so called from their habit ; they were also called friars preachers, from their office ; and Dominicans from St. Dominic their founder who died in 1221, and was canonized in the year 1233. The first friars of this Order came to Norwich about the year 1226 ; they then occupied the church of St. John the Baptist (which was after- wards united to St. George of Colegate), and the site of the convent was between the churches of St. George of Colegate and St. Clement. In 1307 they were licensed to settle there by King Edward I. Between that period and the year 1331 they were at difierent times presented with sundry messuages in the parishes of St. Andrew and St. Peter of Hungate ; but in 1413, their house, church and all their buildings in those parishes were burnt down. This obliged them to return to their original situation, where they continued till they were burnt out there in 1449 ; they then returned to the parish of St. Andrew's before the convent was entirely finished. Their new site extended from St. Andrew's Broad Street to the river from south to north, and from Elm Hill to the Black Friars Bridge Street from east to west. The cloister was on the north side of the church now called St. Andrew's Hall, with a burial place in the middle of it. The Convent-kitchen was at the north-west corner (converted into a work-room for the poor in 1625), the dormitory or sleeping-room was one great room over the east side of the cloister ; the west side was the freytor ; part of the south side was the infirmary ; the chapter-house joined to the midst of the east side of the cloister; beyond it and the library was a long building from east to west, near the north side of the chancel ; between the nave and choir of the church, there was a neat sexangular steeple, which had three large bells in it and a clock, and was a great ornament to the city. It was built about the year 1462, and fell down on November 6th, 1712. At the dissolution in 1538 Henry VIII. granted the convent to the city. All that now remains of it is the church called St. Andrew's Hall, and one side of the cloister, now a passage to the Commercial School. THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 447 The Grey Friars' Monastery was founded in 1226 by John de Hasting- ford, and given at the dissolution to the Duke of Norfolk. The AVhite Friars Monastery was founded in 1256 by Philip Fitzwarrcn; was given at the dissolution to Richard Andrews and Leonard Chamberlayne ; it is now represented by some remains which give a name to a tavern. The Monastery of the Friars De Domina was founded before 1290; the Monastery of the Friars of St. Mary was of similar date^ and has been confounded with the preceding ; the Monastery of the Friars De Sacco was founded in 1250; and all these four were small institutions, and either became extinct, or were united to the larger ones long before the Reforma- tion. God's House, Hildebrand de Mercer's Hospital, and four lazar houses were founded in the time of Edward I. and Edward III. respec- tively ; and they all were poor, having little or no endowed property, and they disappeared soon after the Reformation. The Hospital of St. Marj^ Magdalene was founded by Bishop Herbert as a lazar house. It sm'vived the Reformation, and was transmuted into an infirmarj\ St. Giles' Hospital was founded in 1249 by Bishop Suffield; was given at the dissolution to the Corporation and it survives as a public charity. There are some remains of monastic buildings of the Anglo-Saxon period, as in Norwich, Yarmouth, Lynn, Walsingham, and other places, but many more in the Norman period, when Norfolk contained 123 monastic institutions : abbeys, priories, nunneries, colleges, and hospitals. Some interesting ruins still remain, and present curious specimens of ecclesiastical architecture, especially at Castleacre. Norwich Cathedral as a Norman edifice has no rival in England. Walsingham Abbey and Binham Priory are fine specimens of early English architecture, while noble examples of the decorated and perpendicular period abound in every direction. AGRICULTURE. The history of the Eastern district is identified with agriculture, which is the foundation of its industrial prosperity. The authorities on this subject are Mr. Copland, the Norfolk farmer, who gave an account of agriculture in every period ; Mr. Kent, who produced his report on Norfolk farming last century, before improvements were generally effected ; Mr. Arthur Young, eight years after Kent's survey, prepared a report on the farming of Norfolk for the Board of Agriculture. Mr. R. N. Bacon, editor of the Noncich Mercury in 1841, published his elaborate report on the agriculture of Norfolk, and obtained the prize ofiered by the Royal Agricultural Society. About fifteen years later, Mr. C. S, Read, M.P., compiled a paper at the request of the same society on the improvements that liave been made in Norfolk since 1844, and after- 448 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. wards he gave a full account of Norfolk farming in " White's Norfolk/* published in 1864. Ample information may bo found in these useful publications. Mr. Copland, 'Hhe old Norfolk farmer/' in his work on agriculture, says : " The nature of the claim or right by which landed property was held in England previous to the Roman conquest of the island is involved in great obscurity. Agriculture had been introduced by the Gauls, who had crossed over from Calais and other points of their coast nearest to that of Albion, and taking quiet possession of unoccupied lands, cultivated them successfully, and thus instructed the native Britons in the art. This, according to Cgesar, was about 100 years before he arrived in the country. The Romans, who were well-skilled in husbandry, introduced their system, and effected great improvements, so that large quantities of both corn and wool were exported annually to the Continent. It is evident from this circumstance that they did not dispossess the natives of their lands, but rather by taking possession of unoccupied tracts, and cultivating them according to their own methods, conferred a benefit upon them. The smallness of the population, compared with the extent of the country, rendered land of little value ; and it is probable that the cultivation of a portion for a certain time gave the occupiers a title to it. Nor did the Romans annul the laws by which, under the Druidical system^ the Britons were governed ; these were the code of Dumuallo Molmutius, which was enacted about 400 years before the bii'th of Christ ; and the Romans, instead of cancelling, engrafted many of their own upon it, according to their usual custom. The Britons, therefore, were governed by that code until the year 408 of the Christian era, when Constantinu s the reigning Emperor, finding that the troubles of the empire at home rendered it impossible for him any longer to govern so distant a province, drew together a vast mixed army of Romans and Britons, and with them abandoned the island." {'' Agriculture Ancient and Modern," p. 7). About eighteen centuries ago, this island was a wilderness of woods, water and waste, swamps and bogs. There was scarcely a trace of the culturing hand of man over the whole country. The London of the present day was then a cluster of reed-roofed cabins by the river side ; and whilst men shared with the wolf and the "svild boar and the stag the primaeval desolation, they were worshipping at their Druidical altars, falling down to the stock of a tree, and offering up hecatombs of human beings to the flames in wicker images. With such a picture before us, may we not ask in wonder whether this is indeed a true representation of the commencement of British civilisa- tion ? and if such was ever the condition of people who now hold half the world as their own, and who have so long held a prominent position THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 449 in the councils of nations ? Yes, so it appears, and there would have been no progress but for the advent of a civilising power. The occupa- tion of this island by the Romans for the first four centuries, introduced the arts of peace and the systematic cultivation of the soil. Agriculture made considerable progress on the southern coast, and as a proof corn was even (exported annually. A.D. 359, the Romans sent over a large fleet of ships, and took away much corn, but we do not read of any supplies from the eastern or otlier counties. The Romans opened up portions of the country by constructing roads, and there is one instance on the old Roman road, traces of which are still visible from Bury to Uunwich. There are traces of other Roman roads in the eastern counties, and indeed all the great lines of roads were originally of Roman formation. After the departure of the Romans, the progress of agriculture was retarded by perpetual wars, and the invasions of the northern tribes, who spread desolation over the country. The Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Danes, after long struggles, settled themselves in the island, but intro- duced no improvements. They lived in a semi-barbarous state, socially and mentally; but as time rolled on, we observe the habits and usages of the people gradually improved, and we come step by step, with each successive period nearer to our own standard, but at the same time, with a progi'ess so imperceptible that the sturdy oak seems to be a fit emblem of our civilization. " Tlie old Norfolk farmer," Mr. Copland, says of the Saxons, " The invaders having exterminated the Britons, and taken possession of and divided their lands, found themselves on the point of starvation. Hating agriculture and the other arts of peace, they were nevertheless compelled to have recourse to it, but they enacted laws to prevent its being followed by any except women and slaves. The princes and great men amongst them who had received the largest shares, are said to have divided their estates into two parts, which were called inlands and outlands ; the formei', being those which lay contiguous to the mansion house of the oAvner, he kept in his own occupation and cultivated them by his slaves, under the direction of a bailiff, for the purpose of raising provisions for his family and numerous vassals." The most remarkable arrangement of the land of England was made under the reign of Alfred the Great, towards the close of the ninth ccutmy. Upon the expulsion of the Danes by that King, he divided the whole of the couiUry into small sections, called tithings. The towns constituted several jurisdictions, and were distitiguished by the name of town tithings, whilst the others were called rural tithings. The manage- ment of each tithing was vested in all the inhabitants paying " scot and F r 450 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. lot/^ and these also annually elected the magistrates and other officers. The chief officer of a tithing was charged with the executive authority, but the legislative power was committed to a local council. So excellent, and complete, and efficient was the system of internal policy established by this wise and great prince, that it is said, " if a gold bracelet were hung up in a place were four ways met, no man dared to touch it." "The next arrangement was the union of a number of tithings for military defence ; this was called a wapentake, or weapontake. This body in the ruder period of the feudal system, under the Anglo-Saxon govern- ment, was voluntary service ; but under the Norman Conqueror, William, when the system of feudalism assumed its full development, it was exchanged for the tenure of knight service." " The third and final division of the land consisted of a certain number of weapontakes ; and was called a shire (or scyre), or one complete shire, which united all the tithings in each shire into one compact body, subject to the laws and regulations made by the scyre-gemot, or shire-parliament. This was composed of the chief magistrates of the tithings, who repre- sented the respective districts in all matters in which they were concerned. Towards the close of the sixth century, when the Anglo-Saxons had fully estabhshed themselves in the kingdom, there arose another power, an imjp&rmm in imferio, which profited and strengthened itself by every change, civil or political, that took place from time to time, to the pre- judice of every other class of society. Under the ancient order of things, the Druids held unbounded influence over the people. When the Romans came, the Druidical system yielded partially to that of the less gloomy influence of the thousand deities of that enterprising but superstitious people. But neither of these, although they claimed a large share in the management of state afiairs, appear to have attempted to appropriate to themselves, as a sacerdotal order, the lands of their devotees. It was otherwise when the monk Augustine, at the command of Pope Gregory I., at the close of the sixth century, came into Britain to establish the Papal system. Received courteously by Ethelred, King of Kings, bis mission was successful, and from that period the Church of Rome never relaxed its encroachment upon the landed property of the kingdom. Strengthening their power and influence by usurping a right, in virtue of their office, to a share in the legislature, they passed laws which forbade the alienation of the smallest portion of their property, under pain of the ban of the church here, and eternal damnation hereafter." " It is not denied that the immense landed property formerly held by the Church of Rome was in general let to the people on easy terms, or that the monks were better landlords than many barons, who cruelly oppressed their dependents. The lands, too, held by the monks in their THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD, 451 own occupation were more productive than those held by the laity. But that tho system was injurious to the material interests of the kingdom at the same time that it was made instrumental in fettering both body and mind, and thus placing barriers to the progress of enlightenment and knowledge, will not admit of a question." " The conquest of England by the Danes in 1013 made but little change in the laws of the country. A part of their own laws, which were engrafted, like those of the Romans, upon the existing code, was submitted to, and adopted by, the national council. The difference, how- ever, between the Anglo-Saxon and Danish codes consisted rather in the scales of mulcts and penalties for infraction of the laws themselves ; nor was any great change in the form of government attempted. In fact, the Danes had but little time allowed them for establishing extensive alterations; for in 1066, upon the death of Edward the Confessor, the Norman William prevailed upon the Pope to confirm a supposed promise of the deceased King Edward to make him heir to the crown. Armed with this then formidable sanction, he fitted out a large fleet, and putting on board a numerous and well appointed army, he crossed the channel and landed at Hastings, where he defeated and slew Harold, who had been elected to the sovereignty by the wittenagemotte, or gi-eat national council." " Whatever forbearance the Danes might have shown in not forcing their laws upon the British, no such weakness was shown by William. The lands of the Barons who opposed him were wrested from them, and given to his Norman followers ; and this was carried to a still greater extent when, shortly after his accession, they revolted against him. Having overcome them, he put all the leaders to death, and confiscated their estates, which were also bestowed upon his warriors. Earl Morton thus became possessed of 793 manors ; Hugh d'Albrinsis obtained the whole palatinate of Chester ; Allen, Earl of Brittany, 442 manors ; Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, 493 ; William, Earl Warren, 228, besides twenty-eight towns or hamlets in Yorkshire ; and the large county of Norfolk was divided among only sixty-six proprietors. The owners of these large properties resided almost entirely upon them, except when engaged in war, and usually held the land in their own occupation. The elder Spencer, in a petition to Parliament about the year 1580, complaining of outrage upon his property, states his moveable effects to be 28,000 sheep, 1,000 oxen, 1 ,000 cows, 500 cart horses, 2,000 hogs, 600 bacons, 80 carcases of beef, and 600 sheep in the larder, 10 tons of cider, and arms for 200 men. This will afford a good idea of the households kept up in the baronial halls, and the largo tracts of land necessary to support them." The practice of sub-infeudation was greatly extended, and gave rise to 452 HJSTORT OF EASTERN ENGLAJ^ID. the juauorial system. The term mauerius^ or manerium, is derived from the Latiu word manire and the French manoir, and denotes a large man- sion or dwelling. In the Exchequer Domesday Book it is called manerium, and in that of Exeter a maniso^ both being equivalent to the Anglo-Saxon or French term used by the ofl&cers who made the survey. It is, however, to be observed that the characteristics of the Enghsh manor were never prevalent enough in France to demand a specific designation. A manor is commonly composed of demenses and services. The demenses are those lands within the manor, of which the lord is seized or possessed, i.e., of which ho has the freehold, whether they are in his own occupation, or that of his tenants at will or tenants at year ; the services of a manor are the quit rents and other services due from freehold tenants holding of the manor. These services are annexed with or appendent to, the seigniory over the lands liolden by such freehold tenants. These lands, however, although thus far holden of the manor, are not Avithin or parcel of it, though within the lord^s fee or manorial seigniory. At the present time, a manor rather signifies a jurisdiction or royalty incorporeal, than the land and suit; for a man may now have a manor in gross, that is, the right and interior of such a court baron, with its perquisities, whilst others possess and enjoy every foot of the laud belonging to it. At the commencement of the eleventh century, the towns in the eastern counties appear to have been of very small size. The larger towns were Norwich, Ipswich, Dunwich, Yarmouth, Colchester, Bury St. Edmund\s, Lynn, Thetford, Attleborough, Wymondham, Dereham, Fakenham, Swaffham, Downham, Diss, Harleston, not one of them having 10,000 inhabitants. In all the eastern counties the rural villages were only clusters of huts containing few residents, whose chief employment was the rearing of cattle and sheep, and who lived on the coarsest fare. Most of the land consisted of open heaths and moors, SAvamps and bogs. Enormous quantities of swine roamed in the woods and fed on the oak and beech mast. The various cereals, oats, rye, barley, and wheat, were grown in small crops, and some of the barley was malted and brewed into ale. The lands belonging to the monasteries were the best cultivated, and the monks themselves worked on the land for their own subsistence. They grew apples, pears, grapes, and other fruits in their gardens. In the seventh and eighth centuries and probably later, the ordinary price of an acre of the best land in Cambridgeshire was sixteen Saxon pennies or about four shillings of our money. For centuries after the Anglo-Saxon settlement, the houses in East Anglia were built of wood or mud, with a thatched roof, and rarely com- prised more than one room, in the middle of which the fire was kindled ; nor does it appear that any improvements were made during the whole THE ANGLO-SAXOK PERIOD. ib^ period, though stouu structures were occasionally built. The furniture was of rude manufacture, though the materials were sometimes costly. In various documents we read of benches, seats, beds, silver cups, hoi-ns, and other articles ; but the use of the more expensive was very limited. The people partook of different kinds of animal food, such as the flesh of oxen, sheep, and especially of swine. They also liked the flesh of deer, goats, hares and fowls. Fish was eaten and eels were used as much as swine. But animal diet was confined chiefly to the richer classes, and the same remark applies to wheaten bread. Barley and oat bread formed the staple diet of the peasantry. The chief beverages were ale and mead, the latter of which was made of honey. Drunkenness was one of the characteristic vices of the people, and it has always been so to the present day. Mr. Thomas Wright, in his " History of the Manners and Cnstoms in England in Early Periods," says, in reference to Saxon feasts : When tlie repast was concluded, uud tlic hands of the guests were washed, the tables appear to have been withilrawn from the hall, and tlie party commenced drinking. From the earliest times, tliis Mas the occupation of the aftcrpart of the day, when no Avarlilst ])irtli and lowest stations, one at least who took ofi' the King's hands his concubine when i62 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. he was tired of her, became the lords of Essex, and occupied its castles and manors. Of all the ninety owners of the soil whose names are given in Domesday Book, not one of them is that of an old proprietor, save perhaps that of Suene, the Dane, who having adroitly trimmed his sails and tacked about when William landed, was permitted to retain his estates, and became the first sheriff after the conquest. A few of the names in that ancient roll have something of a Saxon sound, but we shall find, says Morant, '' if we look into the places where they are mentioned, that they had the estates of Saxons dispossessed.^' When the Normans under William I. extended their marches to Norfolk they found the citizens of Norwich, the descendants of the Angles and Danes, prepared to offer a formidable resistance. The city was besieged, and in the siege a large proportion of the houses were destroyed, and large numbers of the citizens were killed. Still, when twenty years after the return was made of the number of burgesses in the town, it was found to be 1565 who were paying public customs, while there were in addition 480 cottagers whose poverty obtained for them exemption from the payment of local taxes. The Crown dues were augmented, for the inhabitants now paid twenty pounds weight of silver to the King, 100 shillings as a free gift to the Queen, with an ambling palfrey and twenty shillings as a free gift to Godfric. The population having so much increased, a new borough was added to the old one, comprising the pleasantest part of the locality, where thirty-six French burgesses and six English burgesses had their abodes. The government of Norwich and Norfolk was vested in Roger Bigod, the earl who, seated in the Castle, had supreme power over the inhabitants. Under him, the sheriff collected the royal dues, two-thirds of which were paid over to the King's treasury, and one to the earl. At this time, the Castle ruled the city in all things, and the local self-government in civil affairs was now suspended. The citizens were also compelled to serve as soldiers when occasion required, and were consequently involved in all the ill-fortune which attended the Norman baron who forced them to do military duty. This will appear from the following event : A TALE OF NORWICH CASTLE. At Norwich a fatal marriage in high life was followed by dreadful consequences, sieges, battles, and violent deaths of all the parties con- cerned. William Fitz Osbern was the father of the two parties. He was the seneschal of Normandy, the chief promoter of the invasion of England, and actor in that enterprise, by which he obtained extensive domains and the earldom of Hereford. He was one of the greatest THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD. 463 oppressors of the English, many of whom he killed with the sword. After the conquest, he returned to his native country. A-bout 1074, William Fitz Osbern died a violent death in Flanders, where a love affair had involved him in political intrigues. The eldest of his sons, who bore the same name with himself, inherited his lands in Normandy, and Koger, the youngest, had the domains conquered in England, with the earldom of Hereford. He took upon himself the charge of providing for and portioning his youngest sister named Emma, and negotiatied a marriage for her with Eaulf do Gael, a Breton seigneur, who had been appointed Earl of Norfolk by right of the sword. For some reason or other this alliance was displeasing to the King, who was then in Normandy, and he sent an express order not to conclude it, but the parties paid no heed to this prohibition, and on the day fixed for the ceremony the bride was conducted to Norwich, where the marriage was celebrated in grand style^ and it was followed by a banquet in the castle. Bishops and Norman barons were there, also Saxons, friends of the Normans, and even several Welshmen, invited by the Earl of Hereford ; Waltheof, the great Earl of Northumberland, the Earl of Northampton, and others. After a sumptuous repast, whereat the wine flowed in abundance, the tongues of the guests became loosened. Roger de Hereford loudly censured the King for refusing to sanction this union between his sister and the Earl of Norfolk ; he complamed of this as an insult to his father, the man to whom the bastard, he said, owed his conquest and his kingdom. The Saxons, who had been ill -treated by William, vehemently applauded the invectives of the Norman Earl, and all present joined in a tumult of execration of the King. '' He is a bastard, a man of low birth," said the Normans ; " he may call himself a King, but il. is clearly seen that he is not made for one, and that he is not agreeable in the sight of God." The Bretons cried, " He poisoned Conan, the brave Earl of Brittany, for whom our country still mourns." In their turn the Saxons exclaimed, ^' He invaded the noble land of England, he massacred the legitimate heirs, or obliged them to expatriate themselves." Then the foreigners cried, " And those who came in his train or to his assistance, those who raised him higher than any of his predecessors, have not been honoured by him as they ought to have been ; he is ungrateful to the brave men who shed their blood in his service. What has he given to us the conquerors who are covered with wounds ? Sterile tracts of land, all devastated ; and when ho sees our fiefs are improving he deprives us of them." All the guests exclaimed, " 'Tis true, 'tis true ; he is odious to us all, and his death would gladden the hearts of us all." 464 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. One of the Norman Earls then rose, and addressing Waltheof, said, " Brave man, this is the moment, this is for the honr of vengeance and fortune. Join us, and we will re-estaLlish the kingdom of England, in every respect, as it was in the time of King Edward. One of us three shall be King, the other two shall command under him, and all the lord- ships of the kingdom shall be held of us. "William is occupied beyond sea with interminable afiairs, we are satisfied that he will not again cross the OhaTinel. Now brave warriors adopt this plan ; 'tis the best for thee, and thy family, and thy fallen nation." New acclamations arose at these words. The Earl of Hereford and others, already committed by carrying the forbidden marriage into effect, became eloquent and bold in their language and designs until a chorus of excited voices joined them in oaths that sealed them as conspirators against their absent sovereign. Treachery revealed the plot, and the church lent its aid to the crown to crush the rebels. Waltheof, who had thought over the matter with his head on his pillow, perceiving the danger, began to be afraid, went the next day to Archbishop Lanfranc, who was guardian of the realm in the King's absence, and divulged the plot to him, by whose advice he went over to Normandy and showed the whole to the King. The Earls of Norfolk and Hereford finding that they were betrayed, betook themselves to arms as desperate men, and endeavoured to join their forces, to oppose the troops Lanfranc sent against them. The primate, Avho acted under the title of royal lieutenant, hurled a sentence of excommunication against Roger de Hereford, couched in the following terms : " Since thou hast departed from the rules of conduct observed by thy father, hast renounced the faith that he all his life preserved towards his lord, and which gained him such great riches, in virtue of my canonical authority, 1 cui'se thee, excommunicate thee, and exclude thee from the threshold of the chui'ch and the society of the faithful." Roger de Hereford hastened to his province to collect his friends, and engaged in his cause many of the Welsh of the borders, who joined him either for pay or out of hatred to the Conqueror, who menaced their independence. As soon as Earl Roger had assembled his forces, he marched towards the east, where the other conspirators awaited him. But Avhcn about to pass the Severn at the bridge of Worcester, he found that fm-midablc preparations had been made to stop him, and before he could find another passage, the Norman Ours, Viscount of Worcester and Bishop Wulfstan, still faithful to the King, directed troops upon various points of the east bank of the river. Eghelwig, the courtier abbot, induced the population of Gloucester to rise against the conspirators. The people accordingly assembled under the banner of Count Gualtier de THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD. 465 Lac J against Roger de Hereford and his Welshmen, whose cause did not seem to them identical with the national cause. They adopted the side which appeared to involve the least danger, and served King William, whom they hated more than death. At the same time, the army of the Earl of Norfolk, encamped near Cambridge, was attacked by Eudes, Bishop of Bayeaux, Geoffrey, Bishop of Contances, and Earl William de Warrenne, with superior forces. After an obstinate battle, the Norman and Saxon conspii-ators were completely defeated, and it is related that the conquerors cut off the light foot of every prisoner, of whatever rank or station. Baulf de Gael escaped, and after hastened to shut himself up in his citadel of Norwich, whence he soon fled to Brittany, leaving his castle in charge of his bride and his vassals. We may easily imagine the horrors of the siege when the King's forces closely suiTounded the old castle walls and lived at free quarters in the city. The fortress was then defended by double entrenchments, the outer one extending eastward from the Hill, towards the river which was then a much broader stream. The brave countess held the castle for three months, and only capitulated under pressure of famine. She and her men-at-arms were allowed to depart on condition of their quitting England within forty days. While the friends of Baulf de Gael were thus defeated and dispersed in the east, those of Roger de Hereford were conquered in the west, and their chief made prisoner. When the King returned to London, he presided over the gi*eat council of barons to try the conspirators. Riiulf de Gael absent and contumacious was deprived of all his estates, Roger de Hereford appeared and was condemned to lose his lands and to pass his life in a fortress. In the depths of his prison his proud spirit made him brave with insults the King whom he had not been able to dethrone. The Saxons and the Welsh who were taken prisoners with arms in their hands on the banks of the Severn, had their eyes put out and their limbs mutilat(^d, or were hung upon gibbets by order of the Norman earls, prelates, Ijaroiis, and knights, assembled at the court of the King. The royal vengeance extended to all who had attended the wedding feast in Norwich, and nearly all came to an untimely end. The citizens were very unfortunate in this siege. Having, under the command of the newly-married countess, resisted the King's troops, the royal vengeance fell upon them in the shape of multiplied vexatious, which forced nuiny of them to flee to Beccles and Halesworth in Suffolk. They were pursued to those places by Roger Bigod, Richard de St. Clair, and William Noyers, and their persons were seized and reduced to serfdom. The city was greatly damaged in every way by the conspiracy. When these events had terminated scarcely 500 burgesses remained in Norwich. G a 466 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. It is curious to read in the valuation of land that was taken soon after the siege, how many houses are recorded as " void/' both in the burgh or that part of the city under the jurisdiction of the King and earl, as well in other portions subject to other lords, for it would seem that there were three landlords of the soil on which the old city stood ; the King or Earl of the Castle, the Bishop and the Harold family, relatives of him who fell at Hastings. At that time clusters of huts stood round the base of the Hill, and constituted the feudal town ; its inhabitants, consisting of burgesses or freemen, and villains of which there were two classes, the peasants annexed to the manor or land, and a lower rank described in English law as villains-in-gross, in plain terms, absolute slaves, transfer- able by deed from one owner to another, whose lives, save for the amelioration of individual indulgences, were in a continual helpless state of toil, degradation, and suffering. Such was the abject condition of most of the inhabitants of Norfolk and Suffolk in the olden times. THE NOEMANS IN EAST ANGLIA. After the battle of Hastings in 1066, the Conqueror granted the following lordships and manors in Norfolk to his Norman barons. To Hugh de Albrincis, his sister's son, by Richard, surnamed Gaz, he gave the earldom of Chester, to hold by the sword and with it twelve manors in Norfolk. To Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, in Normandy, by the mother's side, his brother whom he made a count palatine and allowed him power over all the earls of England and other great men, and to adminster them as justlciarias Anglkb and more particularly made him Earl of Kent, besides other large possessions he enfeoffeed him with twenty-two manors in Norfolk. To Alan Rufus or Fergaunt, son of Eudo, Earl of Bretaigne, Avhom he made Earl of Richmond, in Yorkshire, he gave eighty-one manors in Norfolk as the reward of his valour. To Walter Giffard, son of Osborn de Bolbec and Avelin his wife, sister of Gunnora the Conqueror's grandmother, whom he made Earl of Bucks, twenty-eight manors in Norfolk. To Ralph Waher or Guader, so called from his castle of Guader in France, whom he constituted Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk, he gave nine manors in Norfolk. To William, Earl Warren in Normandy, nephew to the Countess Gunnora, before mentioned, whom he made Earl of Surrey and Arundel, he gave 139 lordships in Norfolk, To Eudo de Rliye, fourth son of Hubert de Rhyle, who for his fidelity to him, he made his deputy in Normandy, and whose elder son, Hubert, TUE ANGLO-NOfiMAN PERIOD. 467 he made Governor of the Castle of Norwich, he gave nine manors in Norfolk. To William de Albini, jpincerna son of Roger de Albini, whom he made his butler, ho gave four manors in Norfolk, the possessions of one Edwin a Dane, besides the lands which he had in the county with Maud, the daughter of Roger Bigod, his wife, which were ten knights' fees. He held his manor of Buckenham by the service of being butler to the Kings of England at their coronation. To Humphry de Bohun, or With the Beard, whom he made Earl of Hereford, being a kinsman of the King, and attending him in his expedition hither, he gave one lordship in Norfolk. To Ralph de Limese one manor ; to Peter de Valoines twenty lordships, and to Ralph de Tony, son of Roger de Tony, standard bearer of Normandy, nineteen lordships in Norfolk, for his eminent services. William I. gave the lordship of Brooke, in the Hundred of Loddon, to the Abbey of Bury St. Edmund, when he first supplicated that saint's favour and protection, falling prostrate before him, and placing a small knife, wrapped up, on the altar, in the presence of many of the chief nobility. William I. as before stated, conferred the earldom of Norfolk, on one Waher or Guader, probably a native of Bretaigne. He conspired against his benefactor, and when some of the conspirators repented and disclosed the design, he persisted in it and raised forces w^hicli were defeated and himself obliged to flee to Denmark. There ho persuaded the King's son to come over with a fleet ; but finding William prepared for them they landed in Flanders. He afterwards took on him the cross, and died in Jerusalem in the crusade, under Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy. He left two sous and one daughter, but his estates in this country were forfeited. The title of Earl of Norfolk was next in the great family of Bigod or Bygod. The name comes from the German By and Gott, or the English By God ! The first of this family that settled in England was Roger, who held several lordships in Norfolk at the survey and revolted against William Rufu^J, on behalf of his brother Robert, but adhered faithfully to Henry I. He founded Thetford Abbey, where he was buried in 1107. He was succeeded by his son William Bigod, appointed steward of the household to that King, and shipwrecked with the royal children in their passage to Normandy. His brother, Hugh Bigod, succeeded in his office, whom King Stephen for his services in advancing him to the crown of England, had before created Earl of the East Angles. He was afterwards advanced to the dignity and title of Earl of Norfolk by Henry II., A.D. IIGG. 468 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Roger Bigod, before mentioned, came over with the Conqueror from Normandy, and had the capital manor and lordship of Forucett, with all its royalties, &c., granted to him for his eminent services at the battle of Hastings. That lordship has ever since passed with the Earls and Dukes of Norfolk, and it is situated in the Hundred of Dcpwade in Noifolk. We shall now proceed to give a more detailed account of the grants to Nonnan warriors in Norfolk and Suffolk. The rust of time has invaded all accounts in writing of this period. The wliole is clouded in obscurity, and proves the uncertainty of all pedigrees and possessions in years before the conquest, and previous to tlie general survey from which Domesday Book was compiled. That is the chief authority in all our inquiries of this nature, and fortunately it has been well preserved. Without it, all we can say is that one historian is more lucky in his guess than another, or more plausible in his j'easoniug. Fuller, in his " Worthies ^^ states that Edwin the Dane, Lord of Sherbourne, traversed the title of the Earl Warren to this lordship, and being a Norfolk man durst go to law with the King and question the validity of his grants. Fuller does great honour on this account to the gentlemen of Norfolk, in supposing that only a native of that county dare to contest with a King ; however, the King- made pretty free with the county in his divisions to his Norman favourites. To begin with the lordship of Sherbourne thus disputed. According to historians, Thoke was Lord of Sherbourne when Felix, the Bishop of the East Angles, came into West Norfolk, about G40, to convert the people to Christianity, and he built a church at that place. The heiress of this Thoke married Ingulfe, whose descendants enjoyed it till the time of Canute, with whom came Edwin the Dane into England. King Canute granted Sherbourne and Snettisliam to this Edwin the Dane on his mar- riage with a descendant of the family of Thoke, or rather of Ligulfe. William I. had given* the lands to Earl Warren, but on the appeal of Edwin ordered them to be restored to him. After this. Sir Ralph de Ibremijs, a Norman, imprisoned Edwin, who applying to Albini for relief, he sent for a daughter of his own out of Normandy and married her to the son of Edwin, which put an end to all the claims of Edwin, who by this match became satisfied, and retiring, died soon after in peace and quiet.^i^ After the conquest, Alan, Earl of Richmond, surnamed Rufus from his red hair, had grants of no less than 166 lordships in Yorkshire, sixty-three in Cambridgeshire, eight in Essex, 10 1 in Lincolnshire, and eighty-one in Norfolk, of all which the manor of Cossey or Costessey was the largest in Norfolk, as appears from Domesday Book, folios 62 and 63. This Alan was the son of Eudo, Earl of Bretaigne in France, and coming over the * MbS. of the ftuniJy of the iShanibounis. THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD. 469 seas with William, Duke of Normandy, into England, he commanded the rear of his army in the memorable battle of Hastings, where he behaved so bravely that he was immediately advanced to the earldom of Richmond, displacing Edwin, Earl of Mercia. The Norman Earl of Richmond built a strong castle at his capital man- sion of Gilling, in Yorkshire, and named it Richmount, for the better safeguard of himself and tenants against the dispossessed natives, whom he treated with humanity. He restored the great Abbey of St. Mary, at York, but did nothing that we road of in Norfolk. He mamed Constance, a daughter of the Conqueror, and dying -unthout issue, he was buried in the Abbey of St. Edmund's Bury, at the south door, before the altar of St. Nicholas. His brother Alan Niger, or Alan the Black, succeeded him, and died also without issue, and was buried at Bury St. Edmund's. William I. granted to one of his Norman warriors, William, Earl of Warrenne and afterwards Earl of Surrey, 146 lordships in Norfolk and Suffolk, As may be supposed he exercised great power in both counties and he became a very formidable nobleman. He built a gi'eat castle at Castleacre in West Norfolk, and it was long the baronial seat of his descendants. He also built a beautiful priory at Castleacre and extensive ruins yet remain. On the death of John the last Earl Warrenne in 1347 the estate passed into the hands of the female branch of the family who intermarried with the Arundels, the ancestors of the Dukes of Norfolk. William I. granted the town of Kenninghall in Norfolk to William de Albini or Albany and his heirs, together with the lordship of Bokeuham, to be held by the service of being chief butler to the Kings of England on the days of their coronation, upon which account he was called after- wards pincrrna regis. This manor always went with Bokenham or Buckenham till the division of the Albany's estate, between the four sisters and co-heirs of Hugh' de Albini, who died without issue leaving this manor in dower to his wife Isabel, who, in 1243 had it assigned to her l>y the King's license. The aforesaid William de Albini founded Wymondham Abbey, where he was buried before the high altar by Maud his wife, daughter of Roger Bigod Earl of Norfolk, with whom he had ten knights' fees in Norfolk, the gift of Earl Roger. He was the son of Roger de Albini by Amy de Mowbray his wife, and brother to that famous Niger de Albini whose descendants assumed the name of Mowbi-ay from that of his mother. William de Albini before-mentioned had a grant of the fee of Old Buckenham, and he was succeeded by his son William with the strong hand, so called from his having killed a lion by thrusting his arm down its throat, according to the legends of chivalry. 470 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Eainald was a Norman baron who attended William I. in his invasion of England, and on the conquest was rewarded for his services with nine lordships in the Hundred of Clackclose, three in Freebridge Hundred, one in Grimshoe, four in South Greenhoe, three in Way land, one in Launditch, one in Mitford, one in Gallow, one in Brothercross, one in Holt, three in North Greenhoe, one in Loddon, four in Eynsford, one in Taverham, five in South Erpingham, one in Tunstead Hundred, all in Norfolk. William I. made one of his warriors, William Gifford, Earl of Bucking- ham, and rewarded him for his services at the conquest, with the follow- ing lordships in Norfolk : In the Hundred of Eynesford with Bintry, Guestwick, Norton, Hailing, Swannington, Helmingham, and Ringland ; in Taverham Hundred with Attlebridge and Felthorpe ; in South Erping- ham with Stratton, Guincham, Reppetuna, Ermingland ; in South Greehoe with Fuldon ; in Grimshoe with Linford and Ickburgh ; in Holt Hundred "with Letheringsett, Bayfield, Glanford, Snitherby, Bodham, and Han- worth ; in North Greenhoe with Warham ; in North Erpingham with Barningham ; in Henstead with Shottesham, Saxlingham, and Stoke. He had also grants of three lordships in Sufiblk, nine in Bedfordshire, forty-eight in Buckinghamshire, three in Oxfordshire, five in Cambridge- shire, one in Huntingdonshire, one in Somersetshire, one in Wiltshire, and two in Berkshire. At the time of the survey he was sent with "Remigius, Bishop of Lincolnshire, and some others to make that survey. By Agnes his wife, daughter of Gerard Flutell, sister to William, Bishop of Eureux, in Normandy, he had Walter his son. When he (the father) died, on July 15th, 1102, in England, his body was carried into France, and buried at the Abbey Church of Longueville in Normandy, which he had founded in the chapel of the cloister. Walter, his son and heir. Earl of Bucks, in the twelfth year of Henry II., on an aid for marriage of that Kiug^s daughter, certified that he held ninety-four and a-half knights^ fees, de vetcri feoffumento, and one and a-half de novo. In the time of Richard I., Richard de Clere, Earl of Hertford, descended from Rohais, sister of this Sir Walter, was lord. Rohais was wife of Richard FitzGilbert, ancestor of the Earls of Clere. William de Scohies, or Escois, received a large share of the Conqueror's favours in Norfolk, lordships in Islington, Clenchwarton, Middleton, Runcton, Gayton, and Massingham in Freebridge Hundred ; Bircham in Docking Hundred and Ringstead in Smithdon Hundred ; Banham, Keniiinghall, and Harling in Guiltcross Hundred; Letton in Mitford Hundred ; Creake in Brothercross Hundred ; Sherringham, Barningham, Repps, Beeston Regis, and Runton in North Erpingham Hundred ; THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD. 471 Salthouse in Holt Hundred; Limpenhoe, Burlingliam, Plumstead, and Southwood in Blofield Hundred ; Winterton and Ashby in West Flegg, Witchingham and Weston in Bynsf ord Hundred ; Attlebridge in Taver- ham Hundred; Corpusty in South Erpingham, Paston in Tunstead, Stokesby in East Flegg, Colney in Humbleyard, Tasburgh in Depwade^ and Thirton in Clavering Hundred ; Bircliam Magna in Smithdon Hundred. He sold tLe lordship of Birchara Magna, with many others, in the reign of Henry I., to Walter GifFard, Earl of Buckingham, who was succeeded by a son of his own name, and he, dying without issue, his great inheritance was divided amongst his sisters and co-heirs. William I. granted many lordships in Norfolk to Godric, his steward, and he held the following at the survey in 1080 : In South Greenhoe Hundred, Gooderstone, Oxburgh, and Southacre ; in Forehoe Hundred, Wrampliugham and Tokethorpe ; in Walsham Hundred, Walsham and Opeton ; in Henstead Hundred, Stoke, Poringland, Framlingham, Ulverstone, Holveston, Rockland, Bramerton, South Burlingham, Kirby, and Appleton ; in Loddon Hundred,- Hcllington, Ashby, Claxton, Norton, Carleton, Weasingford, Sisland, and Alemunton ; in Eynsford Hundred, Sparham and Bintry ; in Taverham Hundred, Beeston ; in Humbleyard Hundred, Melton Magna and Parva, Hethersett, Colney, Dunston, Swardeston, Flordon, Swainsthorpe, Keswick, and Kenningham ; in Clavering Hundred, Heckingham, Hales, Southwood. Jervis, Earl of Harcourt in France, who came into England with the Conqueror, was the ancestor of the Hare family in Clackclose, Norfolk. Sir John Hare, son of the earl, married Ann, daughter of Eustace Crew, baron of the Monte Alto. They had lands at Stow Bardolph, in Clackclose, and their descendants inherited those lands to the end of the eighteenth century. Some members of the family were highly distinguished. Sir Nicholas Hare was twice chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in the reign of Henry VIII., Master of the Rolls, and Chief Justice of Chester. William, Lord Baynard, had from the Conqueror grants of many lordships in Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, including eleven manors in the Hundred of Clackclose, in Norfolk. The principal manors were at Barton Bendish, Bixwell, Fincham, West Dereham, Merton, &c. This Lord Baynard, by Juga, his wife, had Jeffrey, his son and heir, who lived in 1106, succeeded by William Baynard, who taking part with Elias, Earl of Mayne, in France, against Henry I., lost his barony of Baynard'a Castle in London, which was given by the King to Robert, a younger sou of Richard FitzGilbert, ancestor of the Earls of Clare. William I. granted l;he manors of Bex well, in the Hundred of Clack- close, and Merton, in Wayland Hundred, to Ralph Baynard, one of his principal Norman warriors, who came over with him to England. The 472 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. descendants of this Ralph Baynard continued to hold lands at Merton till Isabel, an heiress of a younger branch of the family, carried the lands to Sir Thomas de Grey, her husband, before 1306. There were many younger branches of this Baynard family, that had good estates in other parts of Norfolk, till a late period, but we need not mention them here. Alan Ruf us, the son of Flaad, and Guy L'Estrange, one of his officers, came over with the Conqueror into England. Alan married a daughter of the Conqueror, was made Earl of Richmond after the conquest, and was rewarded with 436 lordships, eighty-one of which were in Norfolk. Alan was the ancestor of the FitzAlans, Earls of Arundel. William I. gave the Hundred of Launditch, in Norfolk, to Alan, the son of Flaad, ancestor to the Barons of Clun, in Shropshire (and Earls of Arundel after), and granted by the said Alan to Siward, with the Hundred of South Greenhoe, and confirmed (as some records say) by William FitzAlan to Durand, grandson of Siward, on his paying 6 per annum rent for the two Hundreds, and 8s. per annum for lands in Wellingham, Sutton, and Bittering. Alan, son of Flaad, had also with this (by grant of William I.) the great lordship of Mileham, of which Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury, was lord before the conquest. William FitzAlan was his son and heir, and married Isabel, daughter and heiress of Helias de Say. William I., soon after the survey in 1086, granted to Alan, son of Flaad, the town and castle of Oswaldestre, in Shropshire, which belonged to Meredith ap Blethyn, a Briton, and had also a grant of the manor of Mileham in Norfolk, for his father's services in that King's expedition into England, and was ancestor of the noble family of FitzAlans, Earls of Arundel. Guy L'Estrange, an officer under this Alan, had a grant from him of the lordship of Knockyn, in Shropshire, and from this Guy descended the ancient family of the L'Estranges, lords and barons of Knockyn, the barons of Blackmere, and the L'Estranges of Hunstanton, in Norfolk. The first account of this family is by Sir William Dugdale, in his " Baronage of England." Hermerus de Ferrars was a Norman nobleman who came over with the Conqueror, and who for his services was well rewarded with twenty-five lordships in Norfolk ; but not content with these lands, he invaded and seized on other lands without any authority from the King. He seized on the lands of thirty-two freemen in West Dereham. He had sixteen manors in Clackclose, ten in Freebridge, one in Shropham, three in Launditch, eleven in Mitford, and one in Humbleyard, including what he seized on without any authority from the King. William I. granted the manor of AVormegay, in Clackclose, to Hermerus de Ferrars, on the deprivation of Turchetel, a Saxon thane, who held THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD. 473 many lordships in the Hundred and county. According to the Norman custom, the descendants of Hermcrus took the name of de Wormegay, from Wormegay, which was the chief manor of a bai'ony. William I. granted the manor of Sedgeford or Setesford to William do Beaufoe his chancellor, who was lord of it and Bishop of Nonvich when Domesday Book was compiled ; and it was held by him as a lay fee and his proper inheritance. Earl Gyrthe or Gurth, one of King Harold's brothers, had the manor before the conquest, but he was killed at the battle of Hastings, which was so fatal to many of the Anglo-Saxon thanes of Norfolk and Suffolk. William I. granted to Godwin Halden the hamlet of Nettington, afterwards Gnatyngdon in Smithdon ; also the manor of Hellesdon, near Norwich ; also the manor of Oxnead in South Erpingham, Norfolk. Godwin Halden was a Dane, and how he came to be in such favour with the Conqueror is not known, but that King did not dispossess all those who did not oppose him. Melton Constable was granted by William I. to William de Beaufoe, Bishop of Thetf ord ; Roger de Lyons held it of the bishop, with Anschetel, the provost ; from this Anschetel descended the family of De Meulton, according to the Norman custom assuming that name from their lordship, and sometimes wrote their names Do Constable, from the oflEice and place they held under the Bishops of Norwich. At Melton Constable are the manors of Astleys and Cockfields ; of the former. Sir Thomas Estelle, Lord of Estelle, had a third part of the town and of the inheritance of Jeffery de Burnwell, by the marriage of Edith, his third sister and co-heir, descended from Phillip de Estelle, Lord of Astley, in the twelfth Henry II. (which gave name to the family), and other lordships in W^arwick, of which his granddaughter had been enfeoffed in the reign of Henry I. Thomas, Lord Astley, who married the sister and co-heiress of Sir Robert Constable, was the great ancestor of this family, and was killed at the battle of Evesham in the forty-ninth of Henry III. Ralph de Beaufoe, at the time of the survey, 1086, granted the manor of Shropham, in Norfolk, to Caurincus, whose descendants assumed the name of Hargham or Harpham. The family soon became very numerous, for in the reign of Henry I. three several branches of it flourished in good repute, but we can only notice the oldest. The head of the family was William de Herkeham, and his descendant in 1249 was lord of the manor and advowsons of S wanton and Hargham. Ralph de Bellofago, or Beaufoe, was a near relation, if not son, of William de Beaufoe, Bishop of Thetford, chaplain and chancellor to the Conqueror, and held in 108G, at the survey, forty-one lordships in Nor- folk. Ralph de Beaufoe left a daughter and heiress, Agnes, who was 474 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. married to Hubert de Rhye, castellan of Norwich Castle^ who was son of Hubert de Rhye, according to Dugdale, a trusty servant to William* Duke of Normandy. At the time of the grand survey in 1086 Beachamwell, in Clackclose, now regarded as one town^ was two distinct and separate towns, Beacham and "Well, the latter being the most southern part. Rainald, son of Ivo, had the grant of the lordship of Well, on the deprivation of Toli, a Saxon thane. Here was a fishery or fishpond. The whole was valued at G, but had paid 8. About seventeen freemen also belonged to it with land, &c., valued at 13s. 4d., which "Wihenoc had invaded or seized on. Well was one leuca long and one broad, and paid 28. to the King's gelt at 20s. Rainald had also the lands of six freemen, valued at 26s. 8d., three of these freemen were under the protection of Hermerus and Wihenoc had these. In Beacham, Rainald had twenty-four acres of land, which a freeman had been depinved of by the invasion of Wihenoc, and it paid 53. Rainald, son of Ivo, had also a lordship at Bexwell in Clackclose, which passed soon after to the Earls of Clare, and was part of the manor of Crimplesham, which also passed to the Earls of Clare. In distributing the lands of the kingdom among his followers William I. gave 629 manors in Suffolk, as follows : To Hugh de Albrincis, Earl of Chester, 32; Robert, Earl of Morton and Cornwall, 10; Odo of Champagne, Earl of Albemarle, 14 ; William WaiTon, Earl of Surrey, 18; Eudo de Rhye, steward of the household, 10; William Mallet, Lord of Eye, 221; Robert de Todeni, 4; Robert de Stafford, 2 ; Alberie de Vere, Earl of Oxford, 9 ; Jeffrey de Magnavil or Mandevill, 26 ; Richard de Tonebruge, or de Clare, 95; Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, 117; Ralph de Limesi, 11; Hugh de Grantmesnil, 1; Peter de Yaloines, 6; Robert Blund, 13 ; Ralph Baynard, 17 ; Swene de Essex, 9 ; Roger de Au^ervil, 14; Hugo de Montford, Ralph Baynard, Robert Morton, Robert de Limesi, Hugh de Grantmesnil, Peter de Valoines, Robert de Blund and others acquired large estates. Of those powerful chieftains who thus entered on possession of the lands of the despised English, the history is very remarkable, and in tracing the fortunes of themselves and their descendants, if we even question the immediate retributive justice of heaven, we must at least acknowledge the emptiness of sublunary honour and the mutability of earthly possessions. We may suppose a persecuted Saxon seer to have predicted to those proud barons on the day of their triumph, their speedy fall, and the anniliilation of their race. He might have predicted that the vengeance of heaven should soon sweep those tyrants from the earth. THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD. 475 He might have exulted in the prospect of the despised English flourishing for ages in wealth and honour after the proud Norman lords were all forgotten. Eudo de Ehye died without a male heir and left only his name. The sons of three barons were banished from the realm. The grandson of Swene de Essex, standard bearer to Henry II. was depiivedand disgi-aced for cowardice. The lines of three barons became extinct in the persons of their sons. Three became extinct in the male line in the third generation and totally in the eighth ; two became extinct in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the sixth, and one in the ninth generation. The line of Alberic de Vere after various forfeitures, misfortunes, and violent deaths continued till the beginning of the eighteenth century, when it was extinguished in the person of Aubrey de Vere, who died without male issue in 1702. Robert de Stafford is represented through the female line by a descendant of a more ancient Dane, Robert de Todeni merged in female heirs in the seventh descent, and is represented, like the great Earl de Warrenne, through female heirs by the house of Howard, but not one of them has left his name among the noble and the great. William I. granted six manors in Suffolk to Peter de Valeins, and his descendants were early established at Dunwich. One of the family, Johan de Valeins, was mayor there in 1216, which shows the probability of the family having been residents in Dunwich long prior to that date. The name occurs frequently in the annals of the town. Andreas was mayor in 12aO, Roger in 1242, and Walter de Valeins in 1260. William, Earl of Pembroke, was lord of a manor at Westleton, near Dunwich, called Valeins, where stood a castle belonging to that family, demolished during the wars of the barons. According to an extract from the great survey of Edward the Con- fessor, at some time between 1041 and 1065, it appears that Ailmarin the thane, held Framlingham, and he had extensive possessions in Suffolk and Norfolk, and Edric of Laxfield, who held the fee farm of Dunwich, had also a portion of land as a berwite within its limits. At the conquest it appears that Hugh de Albrincis had the lands of Framlingham granted to him by William I., who retained the castle for himself on account (A its strength. William II. also kept possession of the castle through his whole reign, but it was held by the Bigods in the following reigns. Of the great proprietors who were established in Norfolk and Suffolk by the Norman Conqueror, but few of their descendants held their estates for any great length of time, and after the abolition of the feudal system there was as great a diffusion of real property in the Eastern district as in most other parts of the country. There are now in Suffolk 7000 free- holders and more than 2000 copyholders. The principal baronial castles 476 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. erected in Suffolk by its early Norman lords were at Framlingham, Bungay^ Claro^ Felixstow, Haughley^ Ipswich, Mettingliam, Offton, Ousdon, Wingficld, Orford, and Burgh. Of these there are still interesting ruins. AVilliam I. granted Bungay to Roger Bigod, with 116 other manors, and he is supposed to have built the castle there, which, from its com- manding situation on a bold eminence overlooking the Waveney, and the great strength of its fortifications was boasted of by Hugh, the next earl, as being quite impregnable, but in 1 140 it was taken and stormed by King Stephen, though the earl had said^ "Were I in my Castle of Bungay upon the waters of the Waveney, I would not set a button by the King of Cockney." If the reader, retracing in his own mind the facts before stated, would form a just idea of East Anglia after the conquest, he must picture to himself not a mere change of rulers, but a change of proprietors of the soil, not the mere triumphs of a few warriors, but the intrusion of a foreign people into the bosom of the nation, now quite broken up and reduced to slavery. The farmers were driven out of house and home and made serfs. We may imagine two nations, the Normans and the English, living on the same land, speaking different languages, the Normans rich, the English poor, dependent and oppressed with taxes, the Normans dwelling in vast mansions AAath battlemented castles, at Norwich, Bungay, Framlingham, Castleacre, Castle Rising; the English lodging in thatched cottages and ruined huts ; the Normans happy, idle nobles and knights ; the English men of toil and sorrow, farm labourers, and mechanics. On the one side luxury and insolence, on the other misery and despair. On the accession of William Rufus to the crown in 1087, Roger Bigod, who held the castle of Norwich, retained it, which, as it happened, was unfortunate for the city, he being in the interest of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, elder brother to the King, whom he assisted to the utmost of his power by garrisoning the castle, wasting the city and adjacent country, and spoiling such as would not join with him. These troubles were quieted or appeased by the King's promises to the English that he would restore such laws as they desired ; but things were not settled till 1091, when the King made peace with his elder brother Robert. William II. placed the government of Colchester under Eudo Dapifer, the Norman noble who held large possessions there in the former reign, and shared largely in the spoil of other parts of Essex. He was appointed at the request of the inhabitants, who hoped, beneath the shelter of his power, to escape the confiscation and outlawries by which many of them had suffered under the Conqueror. Under his rule the people enjoyed peace ; the town was improved in its architecture, the castle was THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD. 477 strengthened, and the walls were repaired. The noble Abbey of St. John was erected with a splendour and liberality almost unknown in our day. In 1087, a confederacy being formed against William Rufus by the barons, the Castle of Norwich was seized for awhile by Roger Bigod, who grievously ravaged the country round about. In 11 30, Hugh Bigod did the like upon a rumour of King Stephen's death; but upon the King- coming hither in person, the castle was surrendered to him. The King then gave this castle to his son William, Earl of Moreton, but he was dispossessed of it by King Henry II., a.d. 1155, contrary to his agreement. William II. granted the lordship of Stanhoe, forfeited by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, to AVilliam de Albini, the pincerna regis; or King's butler, and from him it descended to the Earl of Arundel and Sussex. AV^illiam II. also granted the lordship of Snottisham, then the largest in Norfolk, to the same William de Albini. The manor had been forfeited by the same Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who rebelled against the King. In the reign of William Rufus, many Jews came from Normandy into England, and settled in London, Cambridge, Bury St. Edmund's, Lynn, and Norwich. Many of them were located in the new burgh of the city, situated between the Market Place and Chapel Field. Their object seems to have been to buy such goods of oppressed Englishmen as Christians would not purchase, or to lend money at exorbitant interest. Hence we may account for the hostility of the people to the Jews for many ages. ANTIQUITIES OF THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD. Eastern England is richer in Norman remains than any other part of the country. These consist of castles, convents, abbeys, priories, and churches. 'J'lie castles appear to have been built about the same period, as part of a general plan of defence. Four royal castles were built in Essex at Colchester, Languard Fort, and Tilbury Fort, and eight others belonging to Norman barons. Colchester Castle, perhaps the most perfect of them all, is only an object of interest to the antiquary. The other castles in Essex only excite wonder at the massiveness of their ruined walls. It is difficult to trace the sites of the strongholds at Pleshy, Ciimpheld, and C)ngar, the buildings having been razed to the ground. Tlie princi])al Norman castles in Suffolk were at Walton, Orford, Framlingham, Hanghley, liungay, and ^Mettingham. These castles were all massive structures, built on a similar plan and intended to last for ages. They were demolished long ago. Their founders are almost forgotten, and have shared the same fate. The voice of merriment or of wailing has ceased in the deserted courts, the weeds choke the entrances, and the long grass waves over the hearth-stones. 478 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. HADLEIGH CASTLE_, A picturesque and venerable ruin_, stands about three miles to the west of Rayleigh, in the Hundred of Rochf ord. The mouldering walls and broken towers, memorials of former ages, on the brow of a steep hill which rises boldly from the water, impart a peculiar interest to the surrounding scene. All historians agree that the castle was built in 1231 by Hubert de Burgh, who had a grant of the honour of Rayleigh, and of Hadleigh as part of it, from Henry III. After the fall of Hubert de Burgh, the government of the castle was for a time in the De Tony family, from whom it passed successively into many hands. FRAMLINGHAM CASTLE. There is no record of the building of this castle, or any other preceding it here, so that any attempt to fix the date of its erection is unavailing ; but there is evidence that a fortress stood here in the early ages of the East Anglian kingdom, and that it was held by Ufia and Redwald, and subsequently by Edmund the Martyr. The present structure appears to have been built during the Norman period, when many castles were erected by the Norman Kings, who held it for some time as a royal castle during the reigns of William I. and William II., but their successors granted it to the Bigods, Earls of Norfolk. This pile of unknown antiquity is evidently a Norman structure, the present appearance of which, with its embattled towers, its ivy-mantled walls and venerable aspect excites the admiration of all classes of visitors ; and now covers an area of 1a. 1e. Up. of land; but according to the old MSS. it anciently covered a much larger space before the outer walls inclosing the same were demolished. This shows that there was an outer ballium inclosed with walls, which were no doubt built on the inner bank of the outer ditch. Camden furnishes a brief description, and says : " This is a very beautiful castle, fortified with a rampire, a ditch, and a wall of great thickness, with thirteen towers ; within it has very convenient lodgings." Dr. Henry Sampson^s History contains a more minute description, written in 1663, and he being a local historian, his account is the best, he having been acquainted with the interior of the castle before it was demolished. He says : " This castle was very faire and beautif ull, fortified with a double ditch, high banks, and rampiers ; the walls, which are of great height and thicknesse, are strengthened by thirteen towers square built, all which are yet to be seene, as are likewise the remains of twoe watchtowers or barbicans on the west side. These barbicans are now corruptly called by the common people, ' the Burganys.' This castle was inwardly furnished THE iNGLO-NOEMAN PERIOD. 479 with buildings very commodious and necessary, able to receive and entertain many. In the first court was a very deepe well of excellent workmanship, compassed with carved pillars which supported a leaden roofe, and though out of repair, was in being anno 1651. In the same court also was a neat chappell, now wholly demoHshed, anno 1657, and transported into the highways." " This castle had a drawe bridge and a portcullis over the gate, which was the strongest tower, and beyond the bridge, without was a half moon of stone, about a man's height, standing anno 1657. There was on the east side a posteme, with an iron gate, leading over a private bridge into the park, wherein the castle standeth, which was not long since thick beset with trees, as the stumps yet show." "On the west side of this castle spreadeth a great lake, which is reported to have been once navigable, and to have filled the double ditch about the castle." Another local historian, Zaccheus Leverland, who, between 1653 and 1673, was the first master of the Free School in Framlingham, adds some- thing more to the account of his contemporary by entering more minutely into details of the interior of the building. He states " that between the hall and the chapel, fronting the great gate of the castle, was a large chamber with several rooms and a cloister under it." And as to the exterior he says, " That out of the castle were three passages, one a postern with an iron gate, on the east side over a private bridge leading into the park, where were arbours, pleasant walks, and trees planted for profit and delight. Another passage was on the west side, leading to a dungeon and forth on to the mere ; but the largest passage, and that the most used, was that towards the town, there being formerly a portcullis over that gate, which was made in one of the strongest towers, and a drawbridge without, defended by a half -moon of stone, but long since removed or gone to decay." On the north side of the castle lies what was formerly the park, which is three miles in circumference, containing 650 acres of land, long since disparkcd and cultivated. Anciently it was enclosed with palings, and no way or passage was allowed for carts, carriages, or horsemen, except for the lords and their tenants. The lords also reserved a purlieu or breadth of sixteen feet without the palings for themselves or their park-keepers to walk or ride round, and claimed to have all trees growing within that distance, though the soil was vested in the tenants. The paling was kept up by such of the copyhold tenants as held their lands of certain tenements called Crane's, Verdon's, and Hayward's who were exempted from paying rent or performing other service to the lords for the same. 480 HiSTOKY Ot EASTERN ENGLAND. OKFOKD CASXLE. Orford is a parish^ formerly a market town, twenty miles (east by nortli) from Ipswich. At tlie west-end of the town are the remains of an ancient castle, supposed to have been built very soon after the Norman conquest, and evidently of Norman architecture. It may have been one of those castles which the Conqueror built as part of a comprehensive plan of defence for his ilewly-acquired dominions. Its Norman origin is evident from its being coigned and in some places cased with Caen stone. As Orford is not mentioned in Domesday book probably the castle had no existence at the time of the conquest. There were few castles in England before the time of the conquest, but a large number were built in the times of William I. and his sons ; and Orford being a convenient landing place from Flanders, was no doubt selected as a suitable situation for a castle. Around it dependent habitations soon began to cluster, and a chapel-of-ease to the church at Sudbourne was built for the convenience of residents in this hamlet. Grose said that Orford had a market as early as the reign of King Stephen, and the right to hold markets was often conferred upon the owners or wardens of castles. According to Dugdale, the house of Valoius made Orford the capital seat of their barony and a separate manor of Orford must then have come into existence. In 1210, Hugh Bigod and John Fitz-Robert were appointed joint governors of this Orford Castle and Norwich Castle, and on their removal in 1215 the command was given to Hubert de Burgh. In 1261, the office of governor was conferred on Phillip Marmion, son of the elder Robert Marmion, who, during the troubles in the reign of John, attached himself to the side of Arthur and Constance, and had charge of the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, with the custody of the castles at Norwich and Orford. In 1264, the barons then in arms against the King, whom they had taken prisoner, entrusted Norwich Castle to Hugh Le Despencer, who was also governor of other strongholds. After his death this castle may have again come into the possession of De Valoins ; but at any rate, in 1331, Robert de Uffbrd, who married Cecilia, daughter of Cohen of Robert de Valoius, had a grant for life of the town and castle. Possession of the castle has been traced from the De Uifords in the female line to Lord Robert Willoughby de Eresby in 1419, and it probably came with the estate at Sudbourne to Sir Michael Stanhope, and thence to Viscount Hereford, whose executors sold it in 1 754 to the Earl of Hertford. The Normans introduced a new style of architecture, and built most of the castles, monasteries, and many of the churches in East Anglia. In Norwich, the castle, cathedral, and some of the churches are Norman THE ANGI^-NORliIAN PERIOD, 481 structures built of flint ; in Lynn several churches; in Yarmouth the fine old parish church ; in Norfolk the castle at Rising, Bromholm Priory, Binham Priory, Walsingham Priory ; in Suffolk the abbey at Bury, the castle at Franilingham, and the castle at Bungay. CA8TLEACRE. The early Biitish warriors appear to have recognised the importance of the position of Castleacre, and formed there massive earthworks, which the Romans afterwards incorporated in their own more extensive entrench- ments. The circular and horse-shoe works were perhaps constructed by the Britons, and the Romans, finding the situation advantageous for a summer camp, formed the remaining banks and ditches in such a way as to include the existing ramparts without deviating much from their established plan of castramentation. After the departure of the Roman legionaries, the deserted fortress pro- bably became alternately the property of the Saxons and Danes for several centuries. At the time of the Norman Conquest, Castleacre belonged to a wealthy Saxon thane named Toch or Thoke, and formed part of his fertile and richly -wooded estate of Acra, which comprised several neigh- bouring paiishes, including those of Southacre and AVestacre, both near the river Nar, which was considerably broader during the Anglo-Saxon period. William 1. granted Castleacre, with other lordships in Norfolk, to Wil- liam, Earl of Warrenne, and afterwards Earl of Surrey, who founded here a great castle and a beautiful priory, the former of which was long the baronial seat of his descendants, who received in it several royal visits. On the death of John, the last Earl Warrenne, in 1347, this estate passed into the hands of the female branch of the family, who had intermarried with the Arundels, ancestors of the Dukes of Norfolk. The earthworks, of which considerable portions still remain, cover an area of about twenty acres, and consist of a circular hill, 150 feet in diameter ; an outer ballium on the south side, shaped like a horse-shoe and measuring 300 feet by 280; an irregular parallelogram to the west, 675 feet by 630, and a small earthwork at the north-east angle. These earthworks arc supposed to have been of British formation, but that is mere conjecture. William de Warrenne built a magnificent Norman castle, of which considerable ruins still exist. The principal entrances to the castle were from the north and south, and gave admittance to the bailiwick through double gateways, flanked by circular turrets of solid flintwork, formerly machicolated and provided with a portcullis. The northern gate still remains, and is a poor rude specimen of early English work of later H H 482 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLANJJ. date than the original castle. It stands at the top of Bailey Street^ the chief street of the village, which crosses the middle of the Roman camp, and was the place of residence of the numerous dependents, traders, a^d armourers, whose business was almost exclusively connected with the castle. A similar double gateway, of which scarcely anything remains, gave entrance to the outer ballium, or horse >shoe work, in which the habitable portions of the castle were situated, but only a few traces of their existence can now be discerned, and the curtain wall which sur- rounded and protected them is entirely gone. From this enclosure, the inner ballium or circular work, which is more elevated than the other, seems to have been gained by a stone stair, of which some steps are still visible on the steep slope of the bank. Here stood the keep or dungeon, a lofty and massive tower of oblong form,, of A\'hich only the foundations remain, though the ruins of the buttressed cur- tain wall which encircled it are still extensive. The ditches were always dry and had Avails built across them in various places to prevent an enemy from making the circuit of the defences in case of attack. CASTLE RISING. William I. gave Castle Rising and other property to his half-brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and on his rebellion against William Rufus, that King granted the same to William de Albini, jiinccnia whose son and namesake married Adeliza, widow of Henry I., and assumed in her light the title of Earl of Arundel. He was shortly afterwards created Earl of Sussex, and to whom is usually attributed the erection of the Norman castle at Rising about the middle of the twelfth century. It stands on a hill on the south side of the town from whence there is a fine prospect over the land and an arm of the soa. Great part of the walls of the keep are still standing, being a Norman pile, much resembling that at Norwich, and little inferior, the walls being about three yards thick, consisting chiefly of free stone, with iron and carr stone. On the south side of the village of Rising are the stupendous earth- works which encompassed the remains of the once splendid castle, con- sisting of an extensive circular space surrounded by a bank and ditch, with square additions to the east and west protected in a similar manner, that to the east being the larger and more perfect of the tvv^o. The early Norman owners of the lordship, finding such formidable defences already in existence, extended them and built upon them a spacious and almost impregnable castle, which was altered and enlarged by the succeeding owners. It appears to have only occuj^ied the central earthwox-k, but of the numerous buildings which once filled that large area, nothing now remains but the keep^ the chapel, the gatehouse, and a few foundations THE ANULO-NOEMAN PERIOD. 483 and walls of the coiisfcable^s lodgings. The wall and towers, which formerly crowned the bank are gone, except a fragment or two of a brick wall. The keep is very similar in outward appearance to the keep of Norwich Castle, and both seem to be of the same date. The road to the castle crosses the ditch by a bridge of the perpendicular period, nearly in the centre of the eastern side of the enclosure, and passes through a Norman gate-house, opposite to which is the great tower or keep, a mas- sive square structure of the Norman period. The only means of gaining access to the ground floor of this tower was by newel staircases at the north-east and south-west angles, descending from the upper story, which is reached by a covered staircase on the eastern side, at the top of which an arch of tine proportions , opens to a room on the first floor of the entrance tower. This room is lighted on three sides by Norman windows, and the fourth contains a beautiful recessed Norman doorway, originally forming the main entrance to the hall of the great tower, but now blocked up. In the decorated period, this room received a heavy vaulting, which rests on corbels and supports a third floor, above which is a shingle rooi with ancient brick gables. The roof and floors of the great tower have long since disappeared, and the building is now a mere shell ; but most of the interior walls and some portions of vaulting remain. All these Norman castles in the eastern counties are now in ruins, proving the instability of the strongest works of man ; the ivy clings to the mouldering towers, the wallflower springs from the disjointed stones of the thickest walls ; the halls, which were once crowded with all that taste and labour could procure, which resounded with revelry, which were adorned with beauty, are now scenes of desolation. East Anglia contains many old castellated mansions, some of which were built by Norman barons, or their descendants. Those in Suffolk are generally surrounded by moats meant for defence. Norfolk, however, contains more ancient halls than any other county, especially in the western division. Some of these old halls have been already noticed. At Middlcton near Lynn, there is a flue gatehouse or tower which formed the entrance to a castellated mansion, and it has been admirably restored by the present owner. Caistor Hall near Yarmouth, Oxburgh Hall, Winwall House near Wareliam, Hunstanton Hall, Scarles' Hall, Fincham Hall, and Baconsthorpe Hall are ancient mansions, all of which exhibit some features of a castellated character, though they do not appear to have been regularly or completely fortified. The walls of these buildings and other ancient edifices in Norfolk are composed chiefly of flint, embedded in strong mortar, the county producing scarcely any stone except an iron-coloured caiT stone. The flints abound in great abundance in nearly cveiy part of the county, and with the carr stone are much used in 4S4 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. modern erections, but the coigns and the windows and door-cases are generally constructed of free stone, THE CHURCHES OF EAST ANGLIA. The first age of ecclesiastical architecture is called the Anglo-Saxon, from the earliest erection of Christian churches to the Norman Conquest. The characteristics of this age were plainness and solidity, with low columns and semi-circular arches. The capitals sometimes exhibited a rude imitation of some of the Grecian ornaments, but sparingly introduced. The windows had generally one light, with semi-circular heads, some of them so narrow as to be little more than loop-holes or embrasures expand- ing through the thick walls, which were plain, without external buttresses, seldom rising higher than one tier of arches. The form of these churches was generally a parallelogram, consisting of a nave and two side aisles, with a chancel of smaller dimensions, the east end turned into a semi- circle. Some churches of this period had no distinct chancel j the towers were very low, and were placed between the chancel and the body of the church, and were chiefly intended to give light to the interior of the edifice. We have very few remains of the churches of this period, and those are of doubtful date. The second, or Norman age, was from 10G6 to 1200. In this period most of the cathedrals in this country were built, and the style is sujSi- ciently distinguished by the semi-circular arches, rising to three tiers of windows, the walls very thick, with very few external buttresses, these projecting but little, and entirely plain, as seen on the outside of Norwich Cathedral. The windows have round arches, but higher than in the former age, as is observable in the ti'ansepts. Norwich Cathedral is perhaps one of the best specimens of this style of architecture. The general style of our cathedrals is like that of Norwich a long cross ^though the transept aisle in most of them appears to have been added some years after the original foundation of the church, which explains the difference in the style of architecture, the appearance being more modern as in Ely and Peterborough, superior in point of building to the naves, as the eastern end or chancel generally exceeds both in these particulars. At the junction of the four roofs, the towers rise in all the cathedrals except that at Bangor. Some of the transepts are built like the naves, with a body and side aisles. From the plan we pass on to notice the style which prevails in these national monuments of antiquity, which are the best specimens of Gothic architecture. Most of our cathedrals are a compound of Norman and what is termed early English architecture, each prevailing in different THB ANGLO-NORIUN PERIOD. 486 parts of the same building ; and corresponding with tho succeeding periods in which they were severally erected. Ely Cathedralj begun in 1081, and not completed till 1534, is a splendid cruciform structure, displaying through almost imperceptible gradations, the vai'ious changes which have characterised the progress of ecclesiastical architecture, from the earliest times of the Norman to the latest period of the English style. The plan differs from that of other cathedrals in the length of the nave, which is continued through an extended range of twelve arches, and in the shortness of the transepts, which have only a projection of three arches. The west front, though incomplete from the want of the south wing of the facade, is very magnificent ; in the lower part it is in the Norman style. Norman architecture is of very frequent occurrence in tho churches of Suffolk. In many examples a low ponderous square tower rises between the nave and the chancel, sometimes accompanied with transepts and very frequently terminating at the east end with a semi-circular apse. The most curious of these is the chancel at Fritton, near Yarmouth. It is very remarkable that the Domesday Book only mentions one church in Cambridgeshire, and 364 are enumerated in Suffolk ; most of them were probably small structures. Fuller says that the churches in Suffolk are all humble fabrics, but such an assertion proves ignorance of the subject. What is to be said of those glorious structures at Lavenham, Melford, Bury St. Edmund^s, Framlingham, Southwold, Lowestoft, Blyth- bo rough, and Beccles ? These and others are all so many examples of grandeur of design and consummate skill in execution. Several of them display unparalleled specimens of open timber roofs which borne aloft by figures in busto or occasionally by effigies in full proportion exhibit a very singular combination of boldness and picturesque effect and geometrical skill. Despite the wear and tear of centuries and the yet more hurtful botching of unskilful restoration they put to shame the paltry imitations of modern design. Of late years, however, there have been careful restorations of many Suffolk churches in accordance with the original design. The third or early English age was from 1200 to 1300. The sharp- pointed arch and lancet-shaped windows properly mark this period. High- pitched roofs, with many intersections, springing from columns much more slender, the intersections decorated with flowers, faces, legendary stories and sacred histories, convey the idea of a grove overshadowed by the intersecting branches of a double row of lofty trees. In this period we find lofty towers, cupolas, lanterns, and spires, of which Norwich Cathedral presents the first and most perfect specimen in existence. The fourth age, or ornamental English style, is from 1300 to 1460. 486 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. Progressive improvement is observable in the churches of this age. The form of the arches was changed^ and gradually assumed a less and less acute head in the windows. Many in Norwich Cathedral are nearly square. The larger arches now reached the perfection of what is called Gothic, as in the three beautiful gates of the precincts in Norwich. The spires are decorated with crockets, erected at every angle of the city cathedral. The fifth age was that of the florid English style, from 14G0 to 1540. In this period, works of the more ornamental kind were carried to the highest degree of perfection, more especially roofs of fret-work, in exuberance of decoration, in every part of the building, figures of saints and angels in relievo, niches, shrines, canopies, mouldings, fascias, pen- dants, and finials, of the richest design and elaborate workmanship, both of stone and wood. Stained glass windows were brought to the highest perfection in this age, and efiigies of angels, saints, kings, and bishops, reflected a dim, religious light in the interior of these grand structures. The churches of Norfolk and Sufi'olk present admirable examples of every variety of style, from the early Norman to the latest pei'pendicular. Norwich Cathedral and many Norfolk churches retain much of their original massive Norman architecture ; but some have been more or less spoiled by subsequent alterations, carried out in styles totally dissimilar, though no doubt an improvement was eSected in some instances, as in the erection of the clerestory over the choir of the cathedral. The early English period is exemplified at Yarmouth, Walsingham, &c. ; but the larger proportion of the Norfolk churches are in the decorated and perpendicular styles, usually intermixed and seldom completely distinct. Noble specimens of these styles are to be found along the whole coast line, and still finer ones exist in the fen country and between Lynn and Wisbech. Many of these churches display beautiful specimens of flint and stone panelUng, in which the flints are so regularly squared and so evenly faced as to be almost said to represent a sheet of glass. Not the least interesting features of the churches are the numerous fine rood loft screens, the lower panels of most of which are enriched with beautiful paintings of apostles and saints. The round towers in Norfolk and Sufi'olk are numerous and nearly all built in the Norman period. Historical documents seem to show that in the middle ages those counties were regarded as far behind others in the march of improvement in building. So many of these round towers appearing in clusters would lead us to suppose that the round tower was a style preserved by many local builders from father to son in some dis- tricts. Some of these round towers are found along the coast and some- times in towns, as in Norwich and Bungay. THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD. 487 THE DIOCESE OF NORWICH. Herbert de Losinga, the first Bisliop of Norwich and founder of its cathedral church, was, according to Pitts and others, born in Orford, in Suffolk, but the inscription on his tomb informs us Thcsmes, in Normandy, and tliis appears to be the most correct statement. In his youth he entered the monastery of Fiscamp, in that dukedom, of which he in time became prior, and it is said attained the like dignity in the priory of Bee. William Rufus, in 1088, brought him to England, appointed him his chamberlain. Abbot of Ramsay, in Huntingdonshire, and bestowed other preferments on him, by which he became so rich as to be able in three years from his arrival to purchase the abbey of Winchester for his father, at the price of 1000, and the bishopi'ic of Thetford for himself, at 1900 a very large sum in those times. We are told, however, that the bishop^s conscience reproved him so much for these practices that he intended to go privately to Rome, and obtain absolution from the Pope ; but the King having notice of this intention stopped him, and stripped him of his pastoral staff, but shortly after granted him permission to pro- ceed. Arriving at Rome, Pope Paschal II. enjoined him, as a penance, to build several churches and monasteries amongst which were the catlie- dral (with its priory for sixty monks) and other churches at Norwich, the church of St. Nicholas' at Yarmouth, St. Margaret's at Lynn, St. Mary's at Elmham, and others, forming a number which, considered as the work of one man, is truly astonishing. While he was at Rome he obtained license to remove his see from Thetford to Norwich, and returning em- ployed himself in the religious performance of his vows and the duo regulation of his diocese. On the accession of Henry I., Bishop Herbert enjoyed the favour of that monarch, who made him Lord Chancellor, and, in lllG, sent him ambassador to Rome. He died on the 22nd day of July, 1119, and was buried before the high altar in the cathedral church of Norwich ; a tomb an ell high was placed over him, but was pulled down in the time of the rebellion, and left in ruin till 1G82, when the present altar-tomb was erected by the Dean and Chapter on the same spot. Bishop Herbert has been accused of perfidy, of deceitful and servile methods of procuring preferments, and of simony ; from the last charge we have seen it is impossible to exculpate him, but in the others it is very probable that envy and detraction have borne a considerable share. He raised a great many enemies by cordially seconding Ansehn, the Primate, in his endeavours to enforce celibacy amongst the clergy, a proceeding which must bo attributed more to an error in judgment than to any badness of disposition, and the surname of Losinga, a liar or flatterer, might very naturally be applied by the rude courtiers of that ago to a man who in learn- ing and affability is acknowledged to have far exceeded his contemporaries. CHAPTEE X EASTEEN ENGLAND IN THE TWELFTH CENTUEY. fHE Norman Conquest of England was completed^ and nearly all the Anglo-Saxon or Danish owners of the soil were dispossessed in every county. Two Norman Kings, Henry I. and Stephen, continued the line in the first half of the twelfth centuryj and under their despotic sway the country was in a miserable state. Three of the Plantagenet Kings followed ; Henry II., Eichard I., and John, and then a great change for the better took place in the political system of society. REIGN OF HENRY I., A.D. 1100 to 1135. Henry I. was the brother of the last King and fourth son of the Conqueror. He married first Matilda, or Maud, daughter of Malcolm III., King of Scotland, and neice of Edgar Atheling, and second Adelicia, daughter of Geoffrey, Duke of Louvain, and niece to Pope Calixtus. He had one son William, and one daughter Matilda. According to agreement between William II. and his brother Eobert, as well as from priority of birth, the latter was now entitled to the throne, but he had delayed his return from the crusade, and in consequence Henry hurried to Win- chester and demanded the royal treasures. William de Breteuil, to whose care they had been entrusted, opposed himself to Henry's preten- sions and told him that the treasures belonged to Robert, who was now their King, and that he was determined to maintain his allegiance to him. Henry immediately drew his sword, threatened him with instant death if he dared to disobey him ; and, as some of their mutual friends interposed, Breteuil was prevailed upon to withdraw his opposition. Having secured the treasure and the castle, he was saluted King, and on the third day after his brother's death he was proclaimed at Westminster. In the following year, 1101, Robert, who had arrived in Normandy shortly after his brother's death; resolved to assert his right to the English EASTERN ENGLAND IN" THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 489 crown, and many of the Norman barons engaged to support his cause. He landed at Portsmouth and proceeded towards Winchester, but he was overtaken in his march by Henry, who persuaded him to agree to a recon- cihation. Robert renounced his claim to the crown, and received in lieu thereof an annual pension of 3000 marks and all the castles which Henry held in Normandy except Domfront. By the terms of this treaty, the King had bound himself not to punish those of his barons who had shown their preference for Robert ; but he soon evinced great animosity against them, and every means was employed to bring them within the grasp of the law, so that he might gratify his revenge. The most powerful of these disaffected barons was Robert de Belesme, the bold, haughty, and cruel Earl of Shrewsbury, who had large possessions both in England and Normandy. He was cited to appear at the King's Court on no less than forty-five charges, and as he resisted the royal authority he was dispossessed and banished in 1102. The Duke of Normandy had up to this time religiously observed the peace, and had even ravaged Belesme's land on hearing of his rebellion, but when he found that the earl and other barons were punished, notwith- standing the amnesty, for their previous delinquency, he paid a visit to his brother, in the hope that he might persuade him to adopt milder and more generous counsels. He found, however, that by his imprudent visit he had imperilled his liberty, and he was glad to secure his return, in 1103, by relinquishing the pension that had been granted to him. The duke was afterwards imprisoned for life. So much of the general history of the period is given in order to explain the course of local events. To Matilda of Scotland, who was Queen of Henry I., we owe the restoration of the laws of Alfred the Great and of the privileges which he had granted to the nation. Henry was enamoured of the Scottish princess, and on his accession to the throne he gave back those laws of which the nation had been robbed. After his marriage, he restored the Saxon nobles to their rank and placed them on an equality to the Norman barons. At this time the difference in the size of London and Norwich was only slight compared with what it became in the following centuries. It thus happened that the municipal regulations which were found suitable for London were considered desirable by the men of Norwich, and had in all probability been asked for by them in an interview with the King while enjoying the festivities of the winter season in the castle. The clauses of the charter make us acquainted with the state of municipal administration both in London and Norwich. These clauses relate chiefly to the administration of justice and to local taxation. About the year 1100 Bishop Herbert de Losinga, the founder of 490 HISTOKY OP EASTEEN ENGLAND. Norwich Cathedral, built a church and priory at Yarmouth. The church is now the parish church and the largest in the kingdom. The black monks of the priory were in great repute for sanctity and devotion under the control of the priory at Norwich. In 1109 King Henry I. placed Yarmouth under the government of a povost, whose magisterial office was in or near the Broadway, now called the Conge. The King thus took the tovai under his protection for the pui*pose of terminating the frequent disputes between the inhabilants and the barons of the Cinque Ports, or the five ports in the southern counties. Those barons had for a long period despatched bailiffs to Yarmouth to superintend and regulate the business done during the great mart or free fair held yearly for the sale of herrings. The barons of the Cinque Ports appear to have exercised this prerogative long subsequent to the period when the town was constituted a borough, their bailiffs having been admitted into court to hear and to determine causes in conjunction with the magistrates of the borough. Bishop Herbert founded a priory at Lynn, for the Benedictine Order (1100), and he endowed it with all his property in rents, lands, and men, as far as the church of William, son of Stanguin, on the other side of Sedreldesfeld, &c. All the grants were made to the priory of the Holy Trinity in Norwich, of which this convent at Lynn was a cell. Bishop Herbert at first placed only a prior and three monks in his Lynn convent. It was situated on the south side of St. Margaret's church, but all the buildings were pulled down soon after the dissolution of the priory to enlarge the burial ground of St. Margaret's church. Bishop Herbert was the founder of St. Margaret's Church at Lynn as well as of the priory adjoining. The ground plan is cruciform, having a nave with side aisles, and two towers at the Avest end, a choir with side aisles, and north and south transepts. The west front is remarkable, exhibiting at one view specimens of English architecture of several periods. The earliest portion showing the Norman style of the twelfth century, is at the south-west corner, where, in the basement story, is an ornamental row of intersecting arches, springing from corbels, above which appers a zigzag moulding, surmounted by another row of trefoil arches, springing from columns with Norman capitals. During the reign of Henry I. in 1121, Eborard, Archdeacon of Salis- bury, son of Roger, Earl of Arundel, succeeded Herbert as Bishop of Norwich. He continued the work begun by his predecessor and built the nave of the cathedral. He also built the Church and Hospital of St. Paul. He persecuted the Jews, and is stated to have been deposed for his cruelty in 1145, when he i-etired into Yorkshire, where he died in 1149. There is a figure of him on the south side of the west window of the cathedral. EA8TEEN ENGLAND IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 491 King Henry I. visited Norwich in 1122, and kept his Christmas there, and he was so much pleased with the reception of the citizens that ho granted them by charter the same franchises and hberties as the city of London tlien had. And from this time they were governed by. a provost chosen by the King, who had to collect all the King's dues, and this was the first charter of the city by which its government was severed from that of the castle, where felons were put in prison at this time. There are no records of what liberties were granted to the city in this reign. In 1132, Henry I., returning to England after his interview at Chartres with Pope Innocent III., was overtaken by a violent tempest. Considering it as a judgment of Providence for his sins, he made in the hour of danger a solemn vow to amend his life, in pursuance of which, as soon as ho had landed, he repaired to Bury to perform his devotions at the shrine of St. Edmund. Nearly all the Norman Kings subsequently visited tho shrine of the saint, and performed their devotions. William, Lord Baynard, of Norfolk, rebelling against Henry L, forfeited his estates in that county, and one of them, at Bexwell, in tho Hundred of Clackclose, was granted by the King to Eobert, a younger son of Richard FitzGilbert, ancestor to the Earls of Clare. From this Robert the noble family of Fitz Walter, barons of the realm, descended. In the time of Henry III., John de Aula, or Hall, held the fourth part of a fee in Bexwell (Nether Hall) of Robert, Lord Fitz Walter ; and in the reign of Edward III. it was in the same family. Henry I. built a country seat at Thetford, and often resided there. It was the only town in eastern England which could boast of a royal palace, which remained till the reign of James L, when it was pulled down and a more magnificent house built in its place. Thetford, under the Norman Kings, was a town of large extent and great importance, containing many churches and monasteries, the remains of which may be traced at the present day. The early history of the industry of the eastern counties, and indeed of all others in England, was almost entirely agricultural. Down to a comparatively recent period. East Anglia was a great grazing district, and wool was its principal production. Matthew Paris wrote, "The ribs of all nations throughout the woi-ld are kept warm by the fleeces of English wool.'' The people being as yet unskilled in the arts of manufacture, the wool was bought up by foreign merchants, and exported abroad in large quantities, chiefly to Flanders and France, where it was spun and woven into cloth, and partly returned in that form for sale in the English mar- kets. The wool and its growers were on the English side of tho sea, and the skilled workmen who made it into cloth on the other. When wars broke out, and intercourse between tlie two shores was interrupted, as 492 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. much distress was occasioned in Flanders as in England. In the reign of Henry I., the Flemings began to emigrate from their own country to Eng- land in consequence of the severity of the regulations enforced by the guilds or trades^ unions in various towns. Many of them came into Norfolk, and first settled at Worstead, then at Norwich, where they intro- duced the manufacture of worsted stuffs, which soon gave rise to a great trade in the city and county. King Henry I. granted the manor of Diss, with the advowson and Hundred of Diss, to Sir Richard de Lucy, a Norman knight, a man of great renown in those days, for his services to the crown. This knight was governor of Falaise, in Normandy, the third year of King Stephen, which place he manfully defended against JefFery, Earl of Anjou, who had besieged it. The Tower of London and Castle of Winchester were put into his hands on condition that he should deliver them up on King Stephen's death to King Henry IL, and this he did, and it so far advanced him in royal favour that the King made him Chief Justice of England, and in his absence he was appointed Governor of the Realm. During the time he was Governor, in 1 1 73, he encountered an army of Flemings near Fornham, in Suffolk, and in a pitched battle he took prisoner Robert, Earl of Leicester, together with his Amazonian proud Countess Petronell, and routed 10,000 Flemings which the Earl of Leicester had brought into Suffolk. Most part of these Flemings were buried in or about Fornham in 1173. Their sepulchres are to be seen in mounds near a place called Rymer House, on the right hand of the road leading from Watford to Bury St. Edmund's, and are now called the Seven Hills, though there are many more, but seven of them being much larger than the rest are more particularly noticed by those who pass that way. In 1179 Richard de Lucy, Chief Justice of England, died and was buried in the choir of the Abbey Church at Lisnes in Kent, which he had founded, and where he had taken upon him the habit of a canon regular in the previous year. From this Richard de Lucy the manor of Diss passed to Sir Walter FitzRobert, son of Robert de Tonebrigge, the fifth son of Richard FitzGilbert, surnamed de Tonebrigge, who came in with the Conqueror, of whose gift he had the castle and town of Clare, in Suffolk, and Tunbridge, in Kent, and other lordships in England. He was Justice Itinerant in Norfolk and Suffolk, and died in 1198, being buried in the midst of the choir of the priory church of Little Dunmowe, in Essex, of which Robert de Tonebrigge, his father was the first founder. He left Robert the Valiant his heir. This Sir Robert Fitz Walter, called Robert the Valiant, was leader of those barons who rose against King John, and Mr. Weaver in his book on Dunmow, states the cause of the revolt of the barons. EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 493 REIGN OP STEPHEN, A.D 1135 tO 1154. King Henry I. died in 1135 in Normandy, thinking that he had left a crown undisputed to his daughter and his grandson ; but it happened far otherwise, for on the first news of the King's death, Stephen of Blois, his nephew, sailed for England, where he was elected King by the prelates, earls, and barons who had sworn to give the kingdom to Matilda. The Bishop of Salisbury declared that this oath was void because the King had married his daughter without the consent of the lords ; others said it would be shameful for so many knights to be under the orders of a woman. Stephen of Blois was very popular for some time ^vitll the Anglo-Normans on account of his tried valour and his affable and generous disposition. The first portion of his reign was peaceful and happy, at least for the Norman race. Geoffi'oy of Anjou, the husband of jMatilda, agreed to remain at peace with him for a pension of 5000 marks, and Robert of Gloucester, natural son of the late King, who at first intended to vindicate the rights of his sister, took the oath of allegiance to Stephen. But this calm did not last long. Towards the year 1137 many young barons and knights, who had fruitlessly demanded of the ncAV King a portion of his demesne lands and castles, proceeded to take forcible possession of them. Hugh Bigod seized Norwich Castle ; one Robert, that of Badington ; the King recovered both, but the spirit of opposition went on gaining strength from the first moment of its manifestation. The bastard son of King Henry I. suddenly broke the peace he had sworn to Stephen, and sent a message from Normandy defying him and renouncing his homage. The malcontents, encouraged by the defection of the late King's son, were in movement throughout the eastern counties and indeed all England, pre- paring for the contest. '^They have made me King," said Stephen, ^^and now they abandon me ; but by the birth of God, they shall never call me a deposed King." In order to secure an army on which he could depend, he collected mercenaries from all parts of Gaul. As he promised good pay, the soldiers hastened to enrol themselves ; horsemen and light infantry, especially Flemish and Bretons. The Normans in England were thus divided into two hostile factions, but the English stood apart. In the quarrel between Stephen and the partisans of Matilda they were neither for the King nor the princess. They resolved to act for themselves and formed a conspiracy for the freedom of the country. On an appointed day all the Normans in Norfolk, Suffolk, and all other counties, were to be killed. The enterprise failed because a disclosure of it reached the Norman Richard Lenoir, Bishop of Ely, under the seal of confession. He soon communicated his discovery to the other Bishops, but notmthstanding the promptitude of their measures many of the conspirators had time to fly. The numbers 494 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAlli). who were takeu perisliod on the gibbet or by other means. This event took place sixty-six years after the last defeat of the insurgents of Ely and seventy-two after the battle of Hastings. Whether the old chroniclers have not told us all, or whether after this time the tie which bound Saxon to Saxon could not be rene^Yed, it certainly appears that no further pro- jects of deliverance formed by common accord among all classes of the oppressed people occurred in the succeeding ages. But the Norman inhabitants of East Auglia did not tamely submit to King Stephen, While engaged in a troublesome war, an insurrection broke out in the eastern district. Again the marshy lands of Ely which had served as a refuge to the last of the free Saxons, became a camp for the Normans of the Angevin faction. Baldwin do Riviers, or Red vers, Earl of Devonshire, and Lenoir, Bishop of Ely, raised against the King inti-enchments of brick and mortar in the very place where Hereward had erected a fortress of wood. It was not out of personal zeal for King Stephen that Lenoir served the King against the Saxons, but from patriotism as a Norman, and as soon as the Normans had declared against Stephen, Lenoir joined them, and undertook to make the islands of his watery diocese a rendezvous for the friends of Matilda. Stephen attacked his adversaries in this camp successfully. He constructed bridges of boats over which his cavalry passed and completely routed the troops of Bald- win and Lenoir. The Bishop then fled to Gloucester. During the reign of the usurper Stephen, eastern England lay in the sullen quietude of despotism. There are few events on record, but there is no doubt that the whole district suffered in the wild struggle for the throne, and was scourged by the feudal system, then at its height. The family of Suene, the hereditary Earl of Essex, appear to have embraced the cause of Matilda, as we find the monarch conferred that title which carried with it the rule of the county of Essex upon the Geoffrey de Mandeville ^vho ruled in baronial state at Safi'ron Walden. This nobleman, however, soon deserted him. Lured by the winning smiles and more substantial offers of the princess, which included ample grants of land, he prepared to go over to her standard. The King being informed of this, seized him at St. Alban's, stripped him of his honours, and extorted from him the surrender of the castles of Walden and Fleshy. The proud earl, thus deprived of his fortresses, and with them of the power he had plotted to carry over to the rival of Stephen, became the chieftain of a band of political outlaws, was excommunicated for plundering Ramsay Abbey, and was at length killed by an arrow before Burwell Castle, in Cambridgeshire. It is related that a party of Knights Templars, who were accidentally passing, took his body, enclosed it in a leaden coffin, and carrying it with them, hung it upon a tree in the orchard of the old Temple, Loudon. So teASTEKN ENGLAND IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 49^ fearful was the sentence of excommunication in those days, that they durst not bury it. At this time eastern England was desolated by the fierce wars which tlie barons, freed from the control of government, earned on with each other to such an extent that the laud was left untilled, the instruments of husbandry were abandoned or destroyed, and a grievous famine was the result. These feuds clothed by the cliaractcr of the reign of Stephen in the garb of a public cause, devasted the villages in the eastern counties. The knights and vassals of the nobles mustered against each other, fought battles, and the victors carried away captives, but there are no records of the strife, like that of so many kites and crows. In the reign of King Stephen the citizens of Norwich used all the interest they could with that monarch to have a now charter, and to be governed by coroners and bailiffs instead of their provost, but the affair took a contrary turn to what they expected, for before the end of the year 1135, the King fell into a lethargy which caused a' report that he was dead. Then Hugh Bigod refused to render up the custody of the castle because he found that WiUiam do Blois, natural son of the King, wanted to supplant him, but the King seized the liberties of the city and gi-anted it to his natural son AVilliam. In 1140 the liberties were restored to the citizens. In this reign more Flemish weavers came over the seas to the eastern counties ; and these successive migrations hither were a real blessing to the land. England hitherto had not been a country of manufactures till the arrival of the foreigners, who introduced the arts of the preparation, spinning, weaving, and dying of wool, so that in process of time not only the home market Avas abundantly supplied with woollen cloth, but a large surplus was made for exportation. King Stephen created Hugh Bigod Earl of Norfolk, which was again eonlirmed to him by King Henry II., together with the stewardship of that King's household. Yet notwithstanding all these favours he took part with the Earl of Leicester in his rebellion, adhering to young Henry in his rebellious practices, but meeting with no success he was forced to make liis peace with the King for a fine of lOOO marks. Not long after he went into the Holy Land with the Earl of Flanders and thero died in 1 1 77, upon v/hicli the King seized all his treasure and kept possession of it. King Stephen, by letters patent, granted the Hundreds of East and West Flegg in I'jast Norfolk to Henry, his nephew, then abbot, and the monks of St. Bennet, in that Hundred. In the 18th of Henry III., the year 1294, a composition was made between the Abbot of St. Bennet and the Prior of Nonvich about wreck at sea between Palling Cross and Yarmouth Cross, two parts of the wreck being assigned to the abbot and 496 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. the third part to the prior. The two Hundreds with the Hundred of Happing were valued in 1250 at 18, and farmed by William de Brugh for that sum in 1266. In 1153 Ipswich and Bungay were besieged by Eang Stephen ; and his son Eustace committed great ravages at the same time in the neighbour- hood of Bury St. Edmund^s. Soon after the treaty concluded by King Stephen with Henry, son of the Empress Maud, by which the latter was acknowledged his successor, Eustace came to Bury and demanded of the abbey and convent considerable supplies of money and provisions to enable him to assert his claim to the throne. On the refusal of the abbot to comply with the requisition that prince ordered the granaries of the monastery to be plundered, and many of the farms belonging to it to be ravaged. In the midst of this violent proceeding he was seized with a fever, and expired at Bury on St. Lawrence Day, 1153, in the eighteenth year of his age. The condition of the eastern counties, and indeed of all England, during Stephen^s reign was the worst in our entire history. Both the competitors connived at the excesses of their adherents, and both parties were eager to retaliate. Baronial castles, as at Nor-wich, Bungay, Framlingham, covered the country ; even abbeys and other religious buildings were converted into fortresses, and the occupiers, secure within their walls and moats, set the restraints of law and justice at defiance. They plundered the country, maltreated the people, and imprisoned those who had property. REIGN OF HENRY IL, A.D. 1154 to 1189. Henry II., the first King of the House of Plantagenet, was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Earl of Anjou, by his wife Maud or Matilda the Empress, daughter and heir of Henry I. Matilda was the daughter of Malcolm III., King of Scots, by Margaret his wife, the daughter of Edward, the son of Edmund, surnamed Ironside, King of England of the Saxon race. Thus in him the blood of the Saxon race was restored, greatly to the joy of the English, avIio detested the Normans and cherished with veneration the memory of their former sovereigns. As soon as Henry II. was crowned in 1155 he prevailed with Hugh Bigod to yield up all his castles to him, which he did acccordingly, by which the whole right was vested in the Crown, and the King governed the city of Norwich by the sheriff for some time, and he paid the profits accruing from it into the Exchequer. About 1163, Hugh Bigod came again into favour Avitli the King by means of Henry, the King^s son, who did him what service he could in order to draw him over to his party, whenever he, (the Prince Henry) should attempt to wrest the crown from his father. EISTERN ENGLAND IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 407 Prince Heuiy, the second son of Heury II., was crowned King in the lifetime of his indulgent father. The prince mamed Margaret, Princess of Franco. Lewis, King of France, persuaded his son-in-law, that by the coronation ceremony, he had acquired a title to sovereignty. Young Henry on his return from France to his father's court, desired the King to resign to him either the Crown of England or the Duchy of Normandy, and in con- sequence of the King's refusal, went to Paris, and he, with his brothers, united against their father, being aided by many powerful barons in England, including several in Norfolk and Suffolk. Prince Henry rebelling against his father the King, promised to Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, amongst other things, that he and his heirs should have the custody of Norwich Castle, in order to keep the earl in his interest. The prince was also joined by Robert Bellemont, the Earl of Leicester, in conjunction with Mowbray, Robert Ferrars, Earl of Derby, and others. Robert Bellemont, or Blanchmains, as he was otherwise called, assembled an army at Leicester, and made war in favour of the prince ; but being defeated by the friends of the King, he was so closely pressed that he was obliged to fly to France. He soon collected an anny of 3000 Flemings and passed over to England, and attempted to land at Dunwich, then a fortified city, but failing to land there he disembarked his troops at Walton, on September 21st, 1173. Aft^r ravaging the county of Suffolk he besieged Dunwich, but Walter de Valeins the governor, forced him to raise the siege. He then retired to the castle of Framlingham, held by Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk. Mr. Bird the Suffolk poet, has admirably depicted the scene of the siege : ( )'cr All)i(u's Wiihu the \oi(c ol" faclioii ro.se. From Heuiy's luilc and disuontoiitod foes ; The kiiul iiuUil<4eut fatlier with his sou, .Shared tlio l)riglit crown his wi.sdoiii valour woii, While the i)roud yontli by euvious baroirs swayed, Against tlie King an aheii liost arrayed, Aud haughty Leicester who in arms liad shone, First of the brave dehed him and his tlu'one, Aud leagued witli fearless spirits si)road afar The flame of diseonl and the rage of war I liound Leicester's banner many a Avarrior pressed, Earl Feri" Earl of Ilainault, as Countess Dowager of Norfolk, took posses- sion of this aud all Earl Roger^s otiier castles, manors, &c., in England and Wales ; but having survived her husband only about tliree years, the whole passed in virtue of the grant to Edward II., as heir to liis late father ; upon whicli he appointed John de Bottetourt, Esq., governor of Framlingliam Castle, but who taking part with the Earl of Wai*wick against Piers de Gaveston, King Edward's favourite, he displaced him. In 618 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENQLA-ND. 1302, John do Hastings, Esq., was steward of tlie Manor of Framlingliam ad Castrum for the last earl, and continued in that office during the life of Alice his countess dowager. THE FAMILY OF DE WARRENNE, CASTLEACRE. Generally sj)eaking, there is so much obscurity and intermixture of legendary lore in the annals of our ancient worthies, that it is no easy task to sift the incongruous mass of matter in order to arrive at something near the truth ; and this remark applies with peculiar force to the records which relate to the founder and members of that once illustrious family of whom we here present a sketch. The very name of De Warrenne exists but in the faint traces of the past ; and a family once conspicuous for its power- ful influence and princely wealth, associated with royalty, and distinguished for military prowess, has long ceased to have a living representative. For some centuries they occupied a prominent station in the courts of princes, and enjoyed a measure of prosperity and influence vouchsafed to few, until at length their grandeur passed away as a dream of the night, and their large possessions were dispersed into various channels unasso- ciated by title or kin with the original proprietors. William first Earl de Guarrenne (Warrenne in Normandy), and of Surrey and Norfolk in England, was the chief of a family among the most powerful and illustrious of his native land. He enjoyed the intimate friendship of the Duke of Normandy, with Avhom he was nearly connected by his marriage Avith Gondrcl, the fourth daughter of that Prince, and it was natural that he should form one of that reckless band of daring adventurers who followed the fortunes of their ambitious master on his invasion of England. Among those who took an active part in the battle of Hastings, none was more conspicuous than the Knight William do AVarrenne, whose zeal and devotion met with prompt attention and reward. His royal master first created him Earl of Surrey, and then put him in possession of lands of such vast extent as amounted to a princi- pality. The official situation which he occupied in the Court of William I. was that of Justiciary of the Kingdom. His colleague in this responsible office was Eichard de Bienfait, and these names occur among those of the Counsellors of State, associated with Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, the half- bi'other of the King, in the Government when William I. revisited Nor- mandy after his first partial subjugation of the country. The substantial acknowledgments received by De Warrenne as his share of the plunder may be summed up in a few words. In Norfolk alone he had grants of 139 lordships, in Suffolk eighteen more, and at least an equal number in Sussex, besides vast possessions in the Northern counties enough to s.\tisfv the Cleavings of the most rapacious spirit. EASTBEN ENGLAND IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 519 Of all his extensive territories, his Lordship C'f Acre (Castlcacre) at- tracted his peculiar regard, no doubt on account of its situation ; and here, as soon as the partial settlement of affairs consequent on the Conquest would permit of his applying to the work, he hastened to erect his castle or baronial residence, wherein he took up his permanent abode. Vast as were the resources which so wealthy a noble might bring to bear v.pon this imdertaking, the work must have been one of great labour as well as of time, nor was it finished till some years after the earFs decease. In the meanwhile, however, once fairly established in possession of his broad lands, he appears to have applied himself with considerable activity to a work of a more peaceful character, as proved by this castle at Acre. An opinion has prevailed amongst antiquaries that this venerable stronghold of feudal grandeur was built on Koman foundations, and that traces of their work may be found in the existing remains. The inference does not appear sufficiently supported by evidence to be deemed conclusive, and a careful examination of the site does not confirm the supposition. The whole structure of the castle appears to be entirely Norman work. A distinguishing trait in the Norman character was the mania for founding and endowing religious houses, and this disposition prevailed to a groat extent among them. De Warrenne, partaking of this spirit, determined to apply some portion of his vast resources to purposes which might bequeath to him a fairer position in the annals of fame than he might otherwise have attained. It is simply related that upon some occasion he, with his countess, went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and at an early period of their progress they availed themselves of the hospitality usually profiered by the monasteries to those who were bent on a like pious errand. The reception they experienced at Clugny, and the genera] character of the religious profession exercised within its walls, so charmed the noble pilgrims, that when in after years an opportunity was presented for carrying into effect a long-cherished desire to found some religious house for the welfare of their souls, they determined to bestow on the foundation at Clugny the house they proposed to establish. Tlius the priory of Lewes was endowed for the support of twelve Clmiiac monks, who with Lanzo at their head were despatched about the year 1078 from the parent establishment to take possession of this new retreat. Their privileges were then duly confirmed to them by charter. Within six years after this, the earl commenced the foundation of another religious establishment, immediately contiguous to his Castle of Acre, which he appropriated to the same order and annexed j s a cell to his previous foundation at Lewes, both being thus subordinate to the wealthy abbey of Clugny. Scarcely, however, was the first stcne of the new priory of Acre laid, than its munificent founder sustained a bereavemeut 520 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. for which he was ill prepared. His wife Gondrel, to whom he appears tohave been tenderly attached, died in childbed at his baronial castle, on May 27th, 1085, and was removed for interment to the new priory church of St. Pancras at Lewes, and there deposited. From this period the bereaved earl seems to have passed the remainder of his days in com- parative seclusion, devoting his time to religious exercises and works of piety. Within four years after the loss of his lamented countess, he was himself gathered to his fathers, and expired in the month of June, A.D. 1089. It is said that his remains were deposited with those of his countess in the priory church of St. Pancras at Lewes, where priests prayed for the repose of their souls. William, second Earl de Warrenne and Surrey, succeeded to the titles and vast possessions of his father. Yery scanty details of his life remain to us, but it appears that he was a suitor, not altogether unfavoured, for the hand of Matilda, daughter of Malcolm, King of Scotland, and subse- quently Queen Consort of Henry I. The marriage, however, was not sanctioned by William II., named Rufus, to whom the demand was made, and not to the relatives of the lady. Rufus had good reasons for the prohibition, in the simple fact that it would have been impolitic on his part to encourage a union between so powerful a vassal and a princess of the ancient Anglo-Saxon line ; and this project failing, there is no account of the earl taking a wife. We find him on the accession of Henry I. associated with the Earl of Shrewsbury and Arundel, Walter GifFord, Arnulf de Montgomery, Robert de Mallet, and other barons, in supporting the pretensions of Robert of Normandy, the elder brother of Henry, to the crown of England. These powerful nobles promised to join the duke with all their forces, upon his landing to assert his right to the throne, and they were true to their engagement. But the result was a failure, and the leisure-loving Robert was speedily won over by his wily brother to effect a compromise. The defection of the barons was punished by the confiscation of their estates, but De Warrenne escaped without any molestation. Of William de Warrenne, the third earl, the historical particulars are equally meagre ; but he is said to have obtained high consideration for services rendered to King Stephen. In requital for these services, that monarch bestowed on De Warrenne the demesnes of the borough of Thetford, together with the advowsons of all the churches on the Suffolk side of that place, then of great importance. The earl, already in the enjoyment of princely possessions, determined forthwith to apply his new acquisitions to pious purposes, and accordingly he commenced at Thetford the foundation of an extensive monastery, which he appropriated to the use of regular canons of the holy sepulchre. This foundation he EASTERN ENGLAND TN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 521 endowed with all that he had received from the King, adding further grants and privileges. This example was followed by his brothers, and other successive members of his family, until the establishment acquired much wealth. He fostered the ancestral founda- tion at Acre, to which ho was a liberal benefactor, causing a founda- tion to be built at Stevesholm, as a cell to that establishment. At this period the torch of enthusiasm about the Holy Land kindled a flame all over Europe, and sharing the common zeal, De Warrenne hastened to join the ranks of the crusaders, carrying groat aid to the army under Louis King of France. He met an honourable death in the Holy Land, and his possessions devolved upon his only child Isabel, who married Hamlyn Plantagenet, of the house of Anjou. Hamlyn Plantagenet, a member of the illustrious house of Anjou, and nearly connected with the reigning sovereign as fourth Earl do Warrenne and Surrey, succeeded to the titles and estates solely in right of his marriage with Isabel, the only child of the deceased earl. By her he lefl issue William, who succeded to the family honours. Hamlyn was not a man of much spirit, for we read of him that having been appointed during the reign of John to serve the office of Justiciary of the Cinque Ports, he declined sei'ving, and was thereupon required to pay the fine of a palfrey to the King for his contumacy. And upon another occasion, in the same reign, he is mentioned as having, in conjunction with the Arch- bishop of Canterbury, paid a second fine to the same monarch, in order to be released from the obligation of sending their knights and retainers over into Poictou. From these little traits, we infer the earl to have been of a retiring and domestic disposition ; but he was by no means indifferent to the stirring events of the reign of King* John. We find the seal of De Warrenne amongst others appended to Magna Charta, proving that he was one of the bold barons who wrung that clinrter from the reluctant and unprincipled King. William, fifth Earl De Warrenne and Surrey, survived his father but a short time, but having married ^laud, a daughter of Wm. Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, he left issue John Plantagenet and Isabella. The former was destined to become a conspicuous character in the annals of his country, as taking part in the serious difterences which arose between Henry III. and his barons, under the influence of the celebrated Simon do Montfort, Earl of Leicester. De Warrenne appears to have adhered to the King's party, and enjoyed the friendship of Prince Edward. Upon the serious reverses sustained by the royalist forces at the battle of Lewes, De Warrenne escaped to the Continent, accompanied by liis half-brothers, to the King. From thence he subsequently returned, and landed in Wales at the head of 120 knights and a troop of archers. His loyal example 522 HISTORY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. was speedily followed by other barons who joined his standard, and after a series of successful manoeuvres, De Montfort sustained a complete overthrow at the battle of Evesham. It cannot be doubted that the devotion of De Warrenne to his master^s cause obtained for him the favour of that monarch. John Plantagenet, the sixth Earl de Warrenne and Surrey, became a historical character. Possessing undaunted firmness, undoubted courage and great military talent, he could not fail to attract the special regard of one of the most chivalrous monarchs who ever ruled in England. Edward I. on his return from a long sojourn in France, found that his exchequer was low, and that vigorous efforts were required to raise money. For this purpose he had recourse to some arbitrary measures, which roused the opposition of the barons. Commissioners were appointed, before whom the barons of the realm were summoned to give an account of the titles by which they held their estates, under the pretext that encroach- ments had been made on the rights of the crown. Earl De Warrenne appeared before the commissioners in obedience to the summons, and Avhen required by them to produce his title, he drew his ponderous sword, and pointing to it, said, " By this instrument do I hold my lands, and by the same I intend to defend them. Our ancestors coming into this realm with William the Bastard acquired their possessions by their good swords. William did not make a conquest alone or for himself solely ; our ancestors Avere helpers and participators with him.^^ The fearless earl was no longer urged, for the King was not prepared to dispute the validity of such title deeds, and De Warrenne escaped unscathed from the ordeal. But others were not so fortunate, for in cases wherein title deeds had been lost or destroyed, the King seized upon the manors or estates, and wovild not release them except on the payment of large sums of money by way of ransom. This Earl de Warrenne became veiy distinguished in the wars against Scotland, and his name will always be associated with the annals of that country. The particulars of the domestic career of this distinguished member of the family are extremely uncertain. It appears that he had one son, who married and died within the lifetime of his father, leaving issue alSo one son, who at an early age succeeded to the titles and estates on the decease of his grandfather. John de Warrenne, the grandson, was the seventh and last earl, a weak, mercenary, and dissolute man, who by his vices degraded the family name and diminished the patrimony. He married twice, but had no issue. He sold his estates and bought them again, and in 1336 he made a grant of them to the reigning King Edward III. ; but that sagacious monarch, disgusted with the recklessness that could so readily tamper with the EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 523 llme-lionoiired possessions of an illustrious family, returned them on the hands of the earl, with the express stipulation that in the event of his decease, as he had no issue, the property should revert to Richard, son of Edward, Earl of Arundel, and Alice his wife, a sister of this same worth- less Earl de Warrenne. By this expedient the King effectually secured those noble domains from further detriment or misappropriation at the caprice of a weak-minded man. This last male scion of the noble house of De Warrenne suiwived the re-settlement of his estates eleven years, and died June 30th, 1347. The castle and manor of Acre, and the greater part of the vast posses- sions of the De Warrcunes, now passed to Richard Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel, a nephew of the last De Warrenne, in conformity with the prudent arrangement of the King to that effect. Of this earl no facts of importance are recorded, save that to avoid the recurrence of such an arbitrary transfer of property as disgraced the career of his predecessor, he adopted the precaution of entailing the castle and manor of Acre on his heirs male only. He married Eleanor, daughter of Henry Earl of Laiioastor, and by her had one son. He died in 1375. THE SHARNBOENE FAMILY SHEEBOURNE. This ancient family dated from the time of King Canute, who in 1010 came over the sea to Norfolk, and brought with him Edwin the Dane, to whom he granted lands in Sherbourne, from which place the family was named. A son of this Edwin married a daughter of Albini the Norman, who held lands in the neighbourhood, and from them descended a long lino of the Sliarnl)ornos, as appears from a manusci'ipt account of the family. The >-5liarnbornes hold two manors in Shcrbourno GOO years, the name continuing in a succession till the beginning of the eighteenth centurj-. Tliis family of the Sharnbornes was one of the most distinguished families in all England, having produced many gi'cat warriors whose names are c(>lebrated in history. Amongst others. Sir Adam de Sharnbome, knighted in the Holy Land in the roign of Richard 1. Sir Andrew de Sharnborne, knighted in the Holy Land-^n the reign of King John. Sir I'eter de Sharnborno served in the Holy Land in the time of Henry 111. Sir Andrew de Sharnborno was knighted in the Holy Land, 1248, at the holy" sepulchre, in presence of many French, Spanish, and German nobility. Sir Andrew do Sharuborne, his son, was at the battle of Crcssy, and at the siege of Calais, and died afterwards at the siege of Rhenes, being killed bv a trreat stone. 524 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Thomas de Sharnborne was cliamberlain to the famous Queen Margaret, consort to Henry VI. Sir Henry do Sharnborne, knighted by Henry VIII., was Provost-Marshal and Vice-Admiral of England, and was killed in a sea fight with the French. His son and heir, Thomas de Sharnborne, was with his father when killed, being then eighteen years of age. He became deaf from the explosion cf the great guns in the aciion. Francis Sharnborne, Esq., was the k st of this family that bore the name of Sharnborne. His daughter and heiress married Sir Augustine Sotherton, of Taverham, near Norwich, in the time of the Common- wealth. Miles Branthwayte, Esq., married Maria, the only daughter of Thomas Sotherton, Esq., of Taverham, and who was then the last heiress of the Sharnbornes. The son of Miles Branthwayte, of the same name, became a descendant in the right line of this ancient family. Mrs. Branthwayte, who was living in 1780, was the sole heiress of the oldest family in Norfolk, which is now extinct. THE TAMILY OP LE STRANGE, HUNSTANTON. This family was very ancient in France and originally of the province of Limosin, where is the castle of Le Strange in a parish of the same name. It is most probable that Guy Le Strange, so called in the time of the Conqueror, brought that name with him from France, and did not assume it as being a stranger, but took it as most of the Norman chiefs did, from the lordship or place in France where they lived. Guy Le Strange, an officer under Alan the son of Flaad, had a grant from him of the lordship of Knockyn, in Shropshire ; and from this Guy Le Strange descended the ancient family of the Le Stranges, lords of Knockyn, the barons of Blackmere, and the Le Stranges of Hvmstanton, where the family have been owners of the land for 650 years. The first account of this family is by Sir William Dugdale, in his *"' Baronage of England,''^ where he says, " At a great joust or tournament held at Castle Peverel, in the peak of Derbyshire, among other persons of note were Owen Prince of Wales, a son of the King of Scots, two sons of the Duke of Bretaigne and the youngest of them, being named Guy, was called Guy Le Strange, from whom the several families of the Le Stranges do descend.'^ About the end of the eleventh century Eoland Le Strange obtained Hunstanton in marriage with Matilda Le Brun, daughter and sole heiress of Ralph Fitz Herluin and Helewisa do Plaiz, who were respectively the children of Herluin and Hugh de Plaiz, the original owners of the soil, and in his direct posterity the manor has remained till the present time. EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE ITVBLFTH CENTURY. ' o25 The more immediate ancestor of the Le Stranges of Hunstanton was Sir Hamon, third son of John fifth Baron Le Strange Knockyn, in Shropshire. This Hamon was infeoffed of Hunstanton by his eldest brother John in 1310. He married Margaret, daughter of Ralph Vernon, and co-heir of Richard Vernon, of Mottram, in Cheshire, and died in 1317. Hunstanton Hall, the ancient seat of the Le Stranges, was built at different times, and is a fine specimen of domestic architecture, built much in the style of a college. There is a rivulet in front of the hall, and a beautiful park around celebrated for the fineness of the pastures. The iamily of Le Strange held this manor of old on condition that they should send two soldiers to defend Rising Castle, not far distant. Hamon Le Strange, son and heir of Sir Hamon, married Catherine, daughter and heir of Lord Camoys. He died in the reign of Richard II., and was buried in Hunstanton Church. Sir John Le Strange, his son and heir, accompanied John Duke of Lancaster into Spain, which duke, being lord of Smithdon Hundred in Norfolk, granted to him for his services, " that his tenants there should be exempt from serving on juries in his courts of the Duchy of Lancaster in Norfolk." He married Eleanor, daughter and heir of Sir Richard Walk- fare, and dying in 1417 was succ3eded by his eldest son. John Le Strange, the fourth k rd of Hunstanton, had two brothers : 1. Christopher, returned in the roll of the gentry of England, 1433. 2. Leonard Le Strange, who had lands in Suffolk and died young. He married Alice, daughter and lieii' of Nicholas Beaumont, gentleman, and co-heir of John l^ike and John Lushbrook, and by her had Roger Le Strange, Esq., who by his wife Jane Bebe had two sons, viz. : 1 . John Le Strange, Esq., of Norwich, returned in the roll twelfth of Henry Vi. He died without iss:ie, and was buried in St. Mary^s Chapel, Field College, Norwich. Of this college no remains now exist. 2. Sir Heni'y Le Strange, Kit., who succeeded his brother at the age of thirty, and married Katherine, daughter of Roger Druery, of Halsted, in Essex. He died, seized of m mors in Hunstanton, Holme, Ringstead, lleacham, and Sedgeford, in the Hundred of Smithdon, in Norfolk. He v.-us buried in the chancel of tlie church at Hunstanton. He left three sons and one daughter Sir Roger, Sir Robert, John, and Ann. Sir Roger Le Strange, the eldest son, was esquire of the body to Henry VIL, and High Sheriff of Norfolk of the eleventh of that reign, 1197. He married Amy, daughter of Sir Henry Heydon, by whom he left no issue alive, and died on October 27th, 1506, and was buried in the church at Hunstanton. Sir Robert Le Strange, who succeeded his brother, was the ninth lord of Hunstanton, and married Ann, the daughter and co-heir of Thomas, 526 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. son of Sir Thomas Lo Strange^ of Wellisburue, in Warwickshire, who was lord-deputy of Ireland in 1429. Sir Robert died in 1511, leaving an only sou and three daughters. Sir Thomas Le Strange, Knt., the tenth lord of Hunstanton, born in 1497, was High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1532, and married Ann, daughter of Lord Vaux. He died in the thirty-sixth Henry VIII., leaving sixteen children, one of whom, Koger Le Strange, was highly distinguished for his military services for the house of Austria against the Turks. Sir Nicholas Le Strange, Knt., aged thirty, the eleventh lord of Hunstanton, was knighted in Ireland, was High Sheritt" of Norfolk in 1548, Knight of the Shire, and died February 20th, 1579. By his first Avife Eleanor, daughter of Sir William Fitz Williams, he had three sons and a daughter. Sir Hamon Le Strange, Knt., the twelfth lord of Hunstanton, was High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1573, and married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Sir Hugh Hastings, of Elsing, by whom he had five sons and four daughters. He enjoyed his inheritance but one year, and died October 7tli, 1580, leaving his eldest son, Thomas Le Strauoc, who died in 1590, aged eighteen years, leaving no issue. Sir Nicholas Le Strange, Knt., the fourteenth lord of Hunstanton, was knighted in Ireland in 1586, and Vv'as married to Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Bell, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. He died December 22nd, 1592, and was buried in Nottinghamshire. He was succeeded by Sir Hamon Le Strange, Knt., the fifteenth lord of Hunstanton, who married Alice, daughter and co-heir of Richard Stubb, of Scdgeford, .and had three sons. He w^as High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1G09, and died, ngcd seventy-one, in June, 1G54. He was a learned man, and a very active magistrate, esteemed for his benevolent disposition. Sir Hamon Le Strange was succeeded by his eldest son. Sir Nicholas Le Strange, Bart. He was created baronet on June 1 st, 1629, in the fifth year of Charles L, and married Ann, daughter of Sir Edward Lewkuer, of Denham, in Suffolk, by whom he had several children, who married into honourable families. His eldest son dying February 15th, 1655, before his father, who died July 24th, 1656, was succeeded by Sir Nicholas Le Strange, Bart., the sixteenth lord of Hunstanton. His first wife was Mary, daughter of John Coke, of Holkham, by whom he had a son and daughter, who died young. His second wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Justinian Isham, Bart., of Lamport, in Northamptunshire, by whom he had a son and two daughters. He died in 1669, and was succeeded by his only son and heir. EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 527 Sir Nicholas Le Sti-augc, Bart., who married Ann, daughter of Sir Thomas Wodehouse, Bart,, of Kimberley. He died December 18th, 1724, leaving three sons and two daughters. 1. Hamon Le Strange, Avho died unmamed in Italy. 2. Sir Thomas Le Strange, Bart., who married Ann, daughter of Sir Christopher Culthorpe, but died without issue. 3. Sir Henry Le Strange, Bart,, the eighteenth and last lord of Hun- stanton of that name. He married Mary, daughter of Eoger North, Esq., of Rougham, and died September 9th, 1760, also without issue. 4. Armine Le Strange, sister to Sir Henry, married Nicholas Styleman, Esq., of Snettisham, and had two sons. 1. Nicholas Styleman, Esq., of Snettisham. He married Catherine, daughter of Henry Holt Henley, Esq., of Leigh, in Somersetshire, by whom he had no issue. 2. The Rev. Armine Styleman, of liingstcad, in Norfolk, who married Ann, daughter of James Blakeway, Esq., of the Royal Navy, and had sons and daughters. 5. Lucy Lo Strange, sister to Sir Henry, married Sir Jacob Astley, Bart., of Melton Constable, and had 1. Isabella, who died young. 2. Blanche, married to Edward Pratt, Esq., of Riston, in Norfolk, who had a son and two daughters. o. Sir Edw^ard Astley, Bart., of Melton Constable, knight of the shire in 1780 for Norfolk. He married first Rhoda, daughter of Francis Blake Delaval, Esq., of Scaton Delaval, in Northumberland. By her he had two sous, Jacob and Francis. He married second Ann, daughter of Milles, Esq., of Kent, and by her had several sons. 4. The Rev. John Astley, of Thoniage, in the Hundred of Holt, who married Catherine, daughter of Bell, Esq., of Watlington, in the Hundred of Clackclose, and sister to Henry Bell, Esq., of the same place. THE JERNEGAN FAMILY AT SOMERLEYTON. The ancestor of this ancient family is said to have come over the sea from Denmark to England in the reign of Canute, but there is no authentic record till after the conquest. The first that we meet with on record of this family was named Hugh, mthout any addition, whose son was named Jemegan, and was always called Jemegan Fitz Hugh, or the son of Hugh. He died in 1182, and his son was called Hugh, or Hubert, son of Jernegan, who gave a large sum of money to Henry II., and paid it into the treasury in 1182. He first took the surname of Jemegan, and married Maud, daughter and co-heiress of Thorpine do Watheby, of Westmoreland. He died in 1203, and the King granted the o28 HIStOEY OJ? EASTERN ENGLAlfD. wardship of all his large possessions and the marriages of his wife and children to Robert de Vetre Pontc, or Vepount, so that he caused them to be married without any disparagement to their fortunes. Sir Hubert Jernegan, of Horham, in Suffolk, Knt., his son, succeeded, who had been a rebel against King John, but on the accession of Henry III. to the crown, submitted himself and obtained his pardon, but he had not recovered all his estates in 1239. He died in 1239, and was succeeded by Sir William Jernegan, his son and heir, who married Julian, daughter and co-heiress of Gimmingham, of Burnham ; and Hugh de Polstead married Hawise, the other co-hoires.s, and levied a fine of all the Gim- mingham estate in Barnham in 1209. He died young and without issue, and was succeeded by Sir Hugh Jernegan, of Stonham, Jernegan, Knt., his youngest brother Godfrey, and brother being dead, who, in 1243, came to an agreement with his mother Margery, and settled on her in lieu of the dower of Sir Hubert, her late husband, during her life, the capital messuage of the manor of Holkliam, with the park, &c., and in considera- tion of this settlement Margery released all her right in dower in all his other estates in Norfolk and Suffolk. In 1249 he had lands in Hillington and Congham, in Freebridge Hundred, and lived to be very old, for in 1269 he held of Roger Fitz Osborn divers lands in Stovene and Bugges, for which he did homage. He married a second wife, Ellen, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Thomas de Ingoldisthorpe, Knt., who survived him. After the death of his mother he settled Sir Walter Jernegan, his son, in the manor of Horham, upon his marriage with Isabel, daughter and at length co-heiress of Sir Peter Fitz Osbert, or Osborn, of Somerleyton, in Suffolk, who it seems died before him, lea\ang Sir Peter Jernegan his son, who became heir to his father and grandfather, and also co-heiress to the Fitz Osbert^s estate in right of his mother, and on a division made with John Norn, Somerleyton was settled on Sir Peter Jernegan, who came there, making it the seat of the family, and it continued so for many generations. Sir John Jernegan built the old hall at Somerleyton, in Suffolk, and it was the residence of this ancient family for a long series of years. It was surrounded by a park very tastefully planted. At one end it was adorned by a fine grove of lime trees, with avenues like a grand cathedral, and decorated with other trees in great variety. The situation of the hall fully justified the enthusiastic expression of Fuller, who visiting it, exclaimed, "That it well deserves the name of Somerley, because it was always summer there, the walks and gardens being planted with perpetual evergreens. ^^ The old hall was a brick building, having a high roof, with dormers, stone pilasters, and i\ cornice. The coigns and dressings of the windows EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 529 were of stone, the centre was very bold and imposing, and the extremities had carved pediments, terminating in scrolls of considerable magnitude. The windows in the great room were gorgeously decorated with heraldic figures and arms, the tinted and glowing blazonry of which carried the thoughts of the spectator back to the age of chivalry. The old hall is now quite covered by the new structure. THE MORTIMER FAMILY, ATTLEBOROUGH. The family of the Mortimers came into England in the reign of William I., if not before, and settled in the ancient town of Attleborough^ in Norfolk, where they had a good estate. The first of the family was Sir William de Mortimer, of Attleborough, Knt., whose effigy, riding full speed on horseback, with his drawn sword in one hand and his shield in the other, was appendant to an original deed of his in Cotton library. The next of the family that we find was Sir Robert Mortimer, Knight, who lived in the reign of Henry II. He was succeeded by William, his son and heir, who in the year 1194 was forced to give sureties to Richard I. because he presumed to hold a tournament without royal license. A tournament was an exercise of armed knights encountering each other with spears or lances, a favourite diversion in those days. In 1218 Sir William de Mortimer held one knight's fee at Bamham Broom, Little Ellingham, Tofts, and Attleborough ; half a fee at Sanford and Buckenham Parva, and another half in Scoulton, of the Earl of Wavrcn. In 1250 he had a charter for free warren in his manors of Attleborough. He was succeeded by his son and heir. Sir Robert de Mortimer, who lived in the year 12G3, whom we shall notice under that date, aud his successors also who lived at subsequent periods. Sir Robert de Mortimer lived at Attleborough, Norfolk, in 1263, when the barons rose against Henry III., among whom Sir Henry Hastings, who was vci*y active against the King, came and besieged the castle of Buckenham, because Sir Robert Tatteshale, the second of that name, who was owner of it, held it, declaring openly for the King, aud great part of the neighbouring gentry sent men and arms to him in order to enable him to endure the siege. Among others. Sir Robert de Mortimer sent a servant of his, called Leonine, to the castle during the siege with some private information to the besieged (as it would seem), for the siege being raised upon it, Sir Henry went to Sir Robert's manors in Norfolk, burnt the houses, and wasted the flocks upon them. Whether Sir Robert himself was killed does not appear, but he died that very year. His son and heir. Sir William de Mortimer, was in the custody of the Earl Warrenne, who now was on the King's side, so that he and his goods were safe and protected by the castle at Buckenham, Norfolk. Sir William LL 530 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. being always attached, as well as his father, to tLe King's side, was sum- moned by the King to attend his service among his judges and council. In 1285 he had the King's letters of protection, during his absence beyond sea about the King's business, and during the same year had liberty of free warren, assize of bread and ale, view of frankpledge and waif allowed him, in his manor of Attleborough. In 1293, King Edward going to Gascoigne, he had command to fit himself with horse and arms (as did the chief men in England at that time), and to attend the King at Portsmouth to assist him against the French. He died at Paris, Novem- ber 12th, 1297. In 1297, Constantine de Mortimer was son and heir of Sir William de Mortimer, of Attleborough, but he being then only sixteen years old, the King seized him as his ward, but in 1298, John Earl Warrenne sued the King for his wardship, which belonged to him in right of the Manor of Attleborough, which was held of him. In 1307 he was one of the great men in the retinue of John de Warrenne, Earl of Surrey, who was then with the King in France at the interview and marriage with Isabel, daughter of Phillip, King of France. He died in November, 1329. In 1329 Sir Constantine Mortimer succeeded his father, and in 1335 was steward of the household to Eleanor, Countess of Gueldres, the King's sister, and had an allowance of 22 for the charges of his men and horses in that service. In 1337 he had a charter for free warren on all his lordships and lands. In 1341 he was summoned to Parliament among the barons, but never after. In the same year he went with the King's expedition to France. He died in 1354, leaving no issue. Sir Robert de Mortimer, his brother, succeeded him, and founded the College or Chantry of the Holy Cross at Attleborough, where he was buried in 1387. He had two sons. Sir Thomas Mortimer, his eldest, who died before him beyond sea, leaving issue by Mary his wife, who died May 2nd, 1406. Constantine Mortimer, his younger son, was possessed of the manors of Great Ellingham,. Barnham, Bekerston, and Carston, in Norfolk, and had free warren allowed him to them all in 1405. THE FAMILY OF THE DE GREYS, OP MERTON. At the Conquest, William I. gave the lordship of Merton to Ralph Baynard, one of his Norman warriors. William Baynard, who succeeded, took part with other conspirators against Henry I., and lost his barony of Baynard's Castle, which was given by the King to Robert, a younger son of Richard Fitz Gilbert, from which Robert the family of the Fitz Walters descended, of which family the manors of Merton and Bunwell were held as of Baynard's Castle, the head of the barony, by a younger branch of EASTERN ENGLAND TN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 531 the Bajnard family, to whicli these manors were given, and they continued in that branch till Isabel, a co-heiress of it, carried them to Sir Thomas Grey, her husband. The family of the De Greys, of Merton, Norfolk^ are all descended from Anschitel de Grey, a Norman who came over with the Conqueror, being surnamed from the place of his residence, and had large possessions of that prince's gift. His son Richard de Grey was a benefactor to Eynesham Abbey, and Avas succeeded by John de Grey, his son and heir, whose second brother, John do Grey, was Bishop of Norwich, and his third brother, Henry de Grey, was in great favour with Richard I., as proved by the grant that prince made him of the manor of Tunse, in Essex, in 1194. That he was in the good graces of his successor. King John, is evident not only from the confirmation of his predecessor's gi-ant, but from his public charter of special privilege to have the hare and fox in any lands belonging to the Crown, excepting the King's own demesne parks. Ho was in favour with Henry III., who gave him Grimston Manor, in Notting- hamshire, to support him in the King's service, the said manor being part of the possessions of Robert Bardolph, whose sister Isolda he married, and in 122 1 had the third part of all his estate in his wife's right. Henrj"^ do Grey aforesaid left four sons : first, Richard, whose principal seat was at Codnovre, in Derbyshire ; the second, John, who was sometime a justice of Chester; the third, William de Grey, of Sundford, in Notting- hamshire ; the fourth, Robert de Grey, of Rotherfield, whose descendants were Parliamentary barons. Sir Thomas de Grey, of Coi*nei'th, in Suffolk, son and heir of John do Grey, of Grey2 Hall, in Cavendish, was married before 130G to Alice, daughter and solo heiress of Sir Richard de Cornerth, after which match, perceiving the paternal arms of Grey to be borne by so many families, he totally omitted them and assumed those of Cornerth. His descendants live at ISferton till this day, and bear the same arms. Thomas de Grey, Esq., lord of Merton, was elected member for Th(.'tford in 170.") and again in 1708. After that time h(> worthily served in Parliament for the County of Norfolk, and was a justice of the peace. On .June 7th, 1721, an Act was passed for discharging several estAtes in Norfolk and Suffolk from th(> uses contained in the marriage settlement of Thomas de Grey, l^scj., and for settling other estates to the said uses. Tlie said Thomas left issue by Elizabeth, daughter of William Windham, Esq., of Felbrigg, first, Thomas de Grey, who succeeded him; second. Sir AVilliam do Grey, Knight ; third, Elizabeth, manned to the Rev. Edward (^hf.mbe^-lain, of (jrreat Cressingham. Thomas de Grey, Esq., the next. loi'd, was (Mlucated at Christ College, Cambridge, and was afterwards in the office of the Secretarv of State. In the war when the Norfolk Militia 532 HISTORY OP EASTERN. ENGLAND. was embodied, he served as captain in the Western battalion, and in the year 1759, wlicn the kingdom was threatened with an invasion, he marched with that corps to Portsmonth, and afterwards became Colonel. On the decease of Viscount Townshend ho was elected a member of Parliament for Norfolk, being considered of equal abilities to any other gentleman in the county. Sir William de Grey was born in 1719, and after having been appointed successively Solicitor-General, Attorney-General, and Lord Chief -Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, was created Baron Walsing- ham, of AValsingham, October 17th, 1780. The late Right Hon. Thomas de Grey, fifth Lord Walsingham, was born in 1804, and succeeded his father in 1839. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he gn-aduated M.A. in 1824, and LL.D. in 1842. He died in 1871, THE REEDHAMS, OF REEDHAM. Richard de Reedham took the name from the place, as he held the lordship there in 1086, at the time of the grand survey. He was the father of Asketel de Reedham, who lived in 1125, as testified by the register of Holm Abbey. Osbern de Reedham seems to have been his son, and was lord of Reedham about the year ] 150. William de Reedham conveyed by fine in the fifty-second of Henry III. 160 acres of marsh in Reedham to Langley Abbey in Norfolk. Sir VV^illiam de Reedham gi'anted in the tenth of Edward I. to the Abbot of Holm all his right of fishery from Weybridge to the abbey. Sir William de Reedham, the grandson of the aforesaid knight, married Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Caston by Joan his wife, daughter and heiress of Richard Barry, Esq., lord of Rockland Tofts, by whom he had a daughter and heir, Margaret, who married Thomas Berney, Esq., of Witchingham. She carried the estate into the Bemey family. They took their nauie from the village of Borney, in the Hundred of North Greenhoe, in Norfolk. In the reign of Henry 1., the family of De Reedham possessed the Manor of Stokesby, in Norfolk ; from them it passed to the Berney s, of whom Thomas Berney, second son of John Berney, of Witchingham, married Margery, daughter and heiress of William de Reedham. John, the son of Thomas, presented to the living in 1356, and in this family the presentation continued for many generations, Richard Berney, of Worstead being rector in 1748. The manor passed by marriage to the Cleres, of Ormesby, and the marriage of Susan Clere, daughter of Thomas Clere, of Stokesby, Avith a Wyndliam, it came to a branch of that family who had property at Mileliam. Le Neve in a MS. says Sir Henry Wyndham, of Mileham, was knighted on July 23rd, 1603, and was buried at Great Walsingham. Thomas Wyndham, his son, married the EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 533 above Susan Clore^ and was the first of the family resident at Stokesby. Thomas Wyndham of that place succeeded him, and he - had a son Charles who died there, and was buried in the church, February 6th, 1 6G8, and liis son, another Charles, seems to have had no male issue, and the estate on his death passed to his brother, Clero AVyndham, the second sou. About 1710 he sold the property to George^ England, Esq., Mayor of Yarmouth, and went to Holland, where he died in 1712. THE^ FAMILY OP DE VAUX, NOK'TOLK. Soon after the Conquest the family of Vallibus of Vaux were enfeoffed of the lordship of Holt, in Norfolk. Robert do Vaux held it in the fifth of King Stephen, and then gave oo Gs. 8d. livery for lands of his wife's inheritance. It continued in the Vaux family till the death of Sir John de Vaux in 1288, who was a parliamentary baron, and held it of the Earl of Albemarle. Margaret de lliparigs. Countess of Devon, recovered her dower in seven knights' fees in Holt, Cley, &c., held by Baldwin, the late earl, her husband, and the freemen's tenures that Giffard held were united to the capital manor afterwards. William de Vaux, son of Robert de Vaux, held a manor at VV^atton, and left it to John de Vaux, his third son, who obtained a charter for a weekly market to be held in this manor every Friday. Mut in 120 A there was a writ brought to eiu|uirc whether it was not prejudicial to the market of Saham, and it being found so, the charter was recalled. Before tho expiration of this year, however, Oliver de Vaux, having the manor conveyed to Jiim by his brotliei-, obtaincnl from the King a new charter, in which the market was granted to l)o held I'verv W^Mlnesday, as it is to the present time. Afterwards finding tlie liberties i)i the jK'ople infringed, he became one of those barons who met together at Stamford, and sent the King word to Oxford that if he tli, the Serjeants of the City of London were empowered by Royal charter to carry maces of gold or silver, or plated with silver and ornamented with the Royal arms. In the reign of Edward III, lived John Baconthorp, commonly called the subtle doctor. He was born at an obscure village in Norfolk, and educated in a monastery of Carmelites at Blakeney, after which he went to Oxford and thence to Paris, where he distinguished himself by his metaphysical knowledge. On his return to England, he was appointed principal of his order, and was sent to Rome to deliver his opinion on some points then in dispute concei'ning marriage, when he declared that tlio Pope had an inherent right to dispense with the laws of God, for which ho was severely censured by his brethren, and obliged to sign a formal recantation. He was a strong supporter of the philosophy of Averrves, and wrote many books, which are all forgotten. He died in London in 1346. In this reign of Edw^ird HI., the manor of Docking, Norfolk, was possessed by William Zouch, Lord Haringworth, in right of his wife^ the daughter and heiress of John, Lord Lovell. This William, Lord Zouch, was a great warrior, and accompanied the King in many of his expeditions into France and Scf)tland. From John, Lord Zouch, this manor passed to Sir Thomas L'Estrange in the twenty-first of Henry VIIL, and it remained in the family of L'Estrange till the end of the reign of Elizabeth. It then came to the female heirs of Sir John Zouch of Derbyshire, and from them to the family of the Hovells in the time of James I. Sir Oliver Ilingham, of Hingham in Norfolk, flourished in the reign of Edward III. He was a valiant man, whom that King left governor of Aquitaine, in France, with but a few men against a numerous enemy, yet he gave a good account of his trust, for wlien the French lay before 588 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Bourdeaux, the citizens there set open their gates, and raised the golden liUes upon their towers as if they surrendered, but brave Oliver, who was governor of the city and country, gave them so warm a reception, '^ that they did not drink so much claret in the city as they left blood behind them." He lived many years after, and when he died he was buried at Hingham, under a tomb of freestone. William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich, was born at Norwich in the latter reign of Edward I. He was from his tenderest years of a docile and ingenuous disposition. Having, therefore, made a good proficiency inl earning, wherein he surpassed all his equals, he was sent to the University of Cambridge. After having gone through the usual course of the sciences, he applied himself to the study of the civil law, in which he took the degree of doctor before he was thirty years of age, a thing then uncommon. On the 8th of December, 1328, he was collated to the Archdeaconry of Norwich. Soon after this he went and studied at Eome for his further improvement ; and so distinguished himself by his knowledge and exemplary behaviour, that he was promoted by the Pope to the place of auditor of his palace ; he was likewise advanced by him to the Deanery of Lincoln, and so great an opinion had he of his prudence and capacity, that he sent him twice as his nuncio to endeavor to procure a peace between Edward III., King of England, and the King of France. Upon the death of Anthony de Beck, Bishop of Norwich, the Pope, by his usurped provisional power, conferred that bishopric upon him on the 23rd of January, 1343, and consecrated him with his own hands. He was confirmed on the 23rd of June, 1344. Being invested with that great dignity, he returned to his native country after many years absence, and lived in a regular and withal in a generous and hospitable manner. Of Pope Clement VI. he obtained for himself and successors the first fruits of all vacant livings within his diocese, which occasioned frequent disputes between himself and his clergy. In the year 1347 he founded Trinity Hall in Cambridge, for the study of the civil and canon laws, and another hall, dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, for the study of philosophy and divinity. Being a person of great wisdom, eloquent, and of a fine address, he was often employed by the King and Parliament in affairs of the highest importance, and particularly was at the head of several embassies, sent on purpose to determine the great diflferences between the Crowns of England and France. In 1354 he was, by order of Parliament, despatched to the Court of Rome, with Henry Duke of Lancaster and others, to treat in the Pope's presence of a peace then in agitation between the two Crowns above mentioned. This journey proved fatal to him, for he died at Avignon, where the Pope then resided, EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. o8\) on the Otli of Januaiy^ 1354-5, and was buried with great solemnity in the Cathedral church. Thomas Percy, brother of Henry, Earl of Northumberland, was chosen Bishop of Norwich, January 15th, 1356. During his prelacy the tower of the Cathedral at Norwich was blown down by a high wind, which, falling on the choir, damaged the building. He gave 400 out of his own ^urse, and obtained an aid from his clergy of ninepence in the pound, which enabled him to rebuild the tower with the lofty spire in its present elegant form. In 1368, the dread of the French invasion was so prevalent that this bishop with all the clergy in the diocese were put under arms. He died, August 8th, 1309, and was buried in the nave on the west side of tho organ in the Cathedral. Henry le Spencer, a relative of King Richard II., Canon of Salisbury, was nominated Bishop of Norwich in 1370. He was bred to arms in his youth, and may be called the military bishop. After being advanced to that dignity, he still continued to distinguish himself in liis former pro- fession by going to Franco at the head of a gi'eat military force to assert the pontifical rights of Pope Urban VI. against the anti-Popo Clement VII,, and with his sovereign against the French King. He was a perse- cutor of all heretics, not suffering any of the followers of Wickliffe to live in his diocese. He died August 23rd, 1406, and was buried near the steps of the altar in Norwich Cathedral. KEIGN OF RICHAED II. 1377 to 1399. Richard II. began his reign on June 22nd, 1377. He was tho only son of Edward the Black Prince, and the grandson of Edward III. His first wife was Anne of Bohemia, sister of tlie Emperor Wencislaus ; his second, Isabella, daughter of Charles VI. of France. He had no issue. The young King's accession was hailed by the acclamations of the people, and his coronation was conducted with unusual splendour on July 16th. Next day the barons held a great Council, and twelve persons were selected to assist the Chancellor and Treasurer in carrying on the Govern- ment during tho minority of the King. As the French took advantage of the youth of Richard to renew the war, and plundered the coasts of England, it became needful to raise supplies ; and the new Parliament granted an aid of two-tenths in the towns, and two-fifteenths in the counties ; and in order to secure its proper disbursement, two eminent citizens of London were appointed treasurers of the fund thus voted. Nearly the whole of the subsidy was expended in an expedition undertaken by John of Gaunt on behalf of the Duke of Brittany, but he returned without having engaged in any important operation against the enemy. 590 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. There was another urgent demand for a subsidy in the next Parliament ; and after requestmg and receiving permission to examine the public accounts, they laid additional duties on wool, wool fells, and skins ; and about seven months after, in 1379, on the King spontaneously offering the Treasury accounts for the inspection of Parliament, a capitation tax was granted, which varied from 4d., the payment required from a laborer, to 6 los. 4d., the sum at which a duke was assessed. The amount raised was insufficient for the exigencies of the Government, which was burdened by a war with Scotland as well as with France ; and in 1380 a tax was imposed of " three groats per head ou every male and female of fifteen years of age, except beggars, the sufficient people in every town to contribute to the assistance of the less able, so as none should pay above sixty groats for himself and wife." This impost, which fell most oppressively on the poor, and was farmed out to collectors in each county, led to the famous rebellion of 1381, of which a particular account must now be given, as it commenced in the Eastern Counties, and extended through Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. WAT TYLER^S REBELLION. In 1380 the Parliauivnt granted the King, as before stated, a now and at that time strange subsidy byway of poll-tax; to be levied on every person above fifteen years of age, monks and nuns not excepted. This poll- tax caused great discontent amongst the people, and the year following an open rebellion broke out, for the common people thinking themselves aggrieved thereby, and galled with the oppression of the lords and gentry, rose in many parts of the kingdom, resolved to force the King to make them free, and to release them from the state of villanage or serfdom under which they groaned, for England was at that time a land of bondage. The insurrection first began in Essex, in consequence of some indecent conduct by a collector of the poll-tax towards the daughter of one Walter, a tiler, for which the father knocked out his brains with a hammer. The common people applauded the deed, and promising tp stand by him, he soon found himself at the head of 100,000 men, who declared him their chief, and protector of the poor. They were presently joined by one John Ball, an excommunicated priest, who by his seditious discourses greatly influenced the minds of the people, telling them that, all men being the sons of Adam, there ought to be no distinction between them, that property was a robbery of the poor, and that the great difference in men^s estate was directly contrary to Christianity. The favourite subject on which he commonly preached was comprised in the following distich : " When Adam delved, and Eve span, " Who was then the Grontleman 1" EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 591 These risings were universal throughout the kingdom. Suffolk people collected to the number of 50,000 men, and committed numberless out- rages. Sir John Cavendish, Lord Chief Justice, and Sir John Cambridge, prior of Bury, fell a sacrifice to their fury. So unbounded was their rage against every kind of literature, that they burnt all the ancient charters in the Abbey of Bury St. Edmund's and the University of Cambridge. Another body of rebels, collected from Lynn, Thetford, and Yamiouth, proceeded to Norwich, where they were headed by John Litester, a dyer and citizen, who styled himself King of the Commons. In the course of their proceedings they seized and carried along with them all the gentlemen they met with, some of whom Litester obliged to sei-ve him at table on their bended knees. Sir Stephen de Hales, being a very handsome man, was appointed his chief carver. The citizens treated with the rebels, and advanced them a large sum of money to save the town from fire and plunder ; but notwithstanding this. King Litester entered the city, and demolished the houses of the gentry and lawyers, pretending that they were not comprised in the agreement. Henry le Spencer, then Bishop of Norwich, a man as remarkable for his bravery as his charity, hearing of these commotions, set out from his manor-house of Burleigh, near Stamford, and entered the city with all the troops he could collect. The rebels had retired to North Walsham, where they lay strongly encamped. The bishop followed them there, and attacked them in their trenches, which he soon carried, and after a severe contest obtained a complete victory. A dreadful slaughter of the rebels ensued. Litester, their king, with the principal leaders, were taken prisoners, tried, condemned, hanged, drawn, and quartered, according to the barbarous custom of the times. Others soon after received the just reward of their crimes. The rebels in Essex and Kent dispersed on the death of their leader, Wat Tyler, who was killed by William Walworth, Mayor of London, at the head of his followers. Thus this terrible rebellion was quelled more easily than might have been expected. Mr. Coller gives the following account of the rebellion in Essex : 8oon after the acce.ssioii of liiclianl II., a new, and at tliat time it was consi- dered a f^trauge, .sjiirit began to manifest itself in the lower orders of society. The concessions wlvich the barons had exacted, as a sop to induce the common people to support their pretensions, liad awakened a desire for a larger degree of inde- pendence, A revolt of the peasants in France was talkeil of among the serfs, and added to their sense of personal slavery, whiclr was more general in England tlmu in any other country in Europe. John Ball, who called himself " St. Mary's priest of York and now of Colchester," taking advantage of this feeling, went about Essex preaching the doctrine of ecpiality in its widest sense, the right of all 502 HISTOEV OP EASTEEiJ ENGLAND. to the soil, and inveighing against the insolence of one class in setting up distinc- tions of superiority over another. This was eagerly listened to and pondered over by the multitude, the mine of insurrection was thus prepared, and the spark which exploded it was struck from the anvil of an Essex blacksmith. A poll-tax of three groats a-head on all above the age of fifteen gave'edge to the uneasy dis- content of the degraded and, it may be truly said, the oppressed population. This impost had always been one of the most hated of government exactions, and in this instance an attempt to levy it with vigour drove the people to desperation. The ruling powers, pressed by a war with France, for the support of which the poll-tax was professedly laid on, finding it not suffi- ciently productive, sent out Special Commissioners to quicken its flow into the treasury. The Essex collectors were rej^rimanded for their remissness in not reaping a full harvest of groats from every head that had seen fifteen summers ; and thus urged, they went forth with that stern sense of duty which power is so apt on all occasions to place in the foreground as an apology for its want of feeling. One of them entered the shop of a sturdy blacksmith at Brentwood, while he was engaged in the business of his craft. Attracted by his tread, a yoimg maiden, just in her teens, came boiinding forth from where she had been gambolling or watching her father weld the iron shoe. The quick eye of the tax-gatherer scanned her womanly height, and in the name of the King, demanded the tax upon her head. The blacksmith demurred ; the girl, he said had not arrived at taxable maturity. The dispute grew warm; and the townsfolk gathered round to Ksten. At lengtli the taxing-man "offered to produce a very indecent proof that the girl Avas above fifteen, and at the same time laid hold of the maid." Heated by the quarrel, and exasperated by the insult to his chUd, the blacksmith with brawny arm raised his ponderous sledge hammer, and smote the tax-gatUerer dead to the earth. This was the first blood shed in Wat Tyler's rebellion. The bystanders applauded the deed. Cries for further vengeance and demands for liberty were heard. The people instantly began to arm ; and as the news spread throughout the surrounding county, midtitudes flocked into the town, to take a part in this desperate and tumultuous movement of the common people. Thomas Bam2:)ton, one of the magistrates of the district, proceeded to the arrest of some of the leaders; but they were instantly liberated. The commissioners of the poll-tax* and their attendants fled hastily to London ; and the mob, left uncontrolled, l)roceeded to the most atrocious excesses. Houses were plundered, property was destroyed, several active officers of the government were -murdered, and their heads were carried about on poles in triumph. " The flame," says Hume, "spread in an instant over tlie county ; it soon propagated itseK into that of Kent, Surrey, Suff"olk, Xorfolk, Hertford, Cambridge, and Lincoln. Before the govern- ment had the least warning of the danger, the disorder had grown beyond control ov opposition ; the populace had shaken off all regard to their former masters, and being headed by the most audacious and criminal of their associates, who assumed the feigned names of Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, Hob Carter, and Tom MiUer, by which they were fond of denoting their mean origin, they committed everywhere the EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 593 most outrageous violence on such of the gentry and nobility as had the misfortune to fall into their hands." The Kent rebels assembled in a vast multitude, on Blackheath, from whence they sent a message to the young King requesting an intei-view. The Essex men in the meantime imistored in thousands, and, marc] ling upwards, swarming through Eomford and Stratford, took a position on the opposite side of the river to second the demands. The King acceded to the proposed conference, but as he approached the mob he became alarmed at the signs of insolence amongst them, and hastily returned to the Tower. The Kentish peasants, enraged at tliis, rushed into the Metropohs and committed the most horrible excesses. Amongst those who perished was Eichard Lyon, the owner of Liston Hall manor at Gosfield, a famous wine merchant and lapidary, who was one of the Sheriffs of London in 1374. He had been in former days the master of Wat Tyler, and in gratitude for all favours the rebel leader seized and beheaded him. While the Kent rebels thus devastated the city, the insurgent serfs of Essex appear to have lain quietly at Mile End. The King, with the Queen mother and party of nobles, met them there, and listened to their demands. It is a proof of the moderation of these men that at a time when they must have thought themselves irresistible, they asked only for the abolition of slavery, freedom to buy and sell in all market towns, a fixed rent instead of the services of villanage, and a general pardon. The sovereign gi-anted their requests ; the mob dispersed ; and the following proclamation appeared : " Eichard, &c. Know ye that of our special grace, we have manumitted or set free all and singular our liege subjects and others, of the county of Essex, and them and every one of them from all bondage do release and acquit by these presents. And also we pardon to our said liegemen and subjects all manner of felonies, treasons, transgressions, and extortions by them, or any of them, in any naanner whatsoever done or committed, by riding about, going through divers places with men-at-arms, archers, and others, with armed force, tiags and pennons flying. Witness ourself at London, the 15th of June, and the fourth year of our reign." Having rid himself of one body of the rioters, the King turned with the same soothing mien to the other division of the city. The result of his interview with Wat Tyler and his baud in Smithfield is well known. The rebel leader was struck down by the city mace, wielded by the hand of Walworth, the Lord Mayor ; but the young King adroitly extricated liimself from the consequences of this act, cajoled the rioters out of the city, and dispersed them with the promise that they should participate in all the privileges of the charter of enfranchisement ho liad just gianted to the Essex men. While tliLs wius proceeding in London, fearful atrocities Avere committed by straggling bands of the seditious in variotis parts of the county. Colchester had caught the taint, and some excesses were committed in that district. Sir John Cavendish, the Lord of Pentlow, who had been Chief Justice of the King's Bench, was seized by a party of the " revolted clowns," as they Avere called, who were incensed against him because it was his sou who killed Wat Tyler, after ho had been prostrated at Smithfield. His house p P 594 HISTOEY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. was plundered and laid waste, and the judge liimself was hun-ied into Suffolk and beheaded. But little resistance was offered to these excesses. Spencer, the celebrated military bishop, who had a seat at Lambourn, mustered a slender force and defeated the rebels in Js^orfollc. Tlie arm of authority and the spirit of the nobles, however, appear to have been paralyzed by the sudden audacity of those who had been regarded as part and parcel of their estates ; and for weeks the county lay in this state of anarchy, with society turned upside down, peasants dictating to kings, and the barons trembling at the footsteps of the serfs. Ven- geance, however, was not far off. The King called a Parliament and laid before it the letters of enfranchisement, observing, "It is for you to decide whether the peasants shall enjoy the rights of freemen or not." " God preserve us," responded the barons " from subscribing to such charters, though we were all to perish in one day." They backed their bold words by a rally of their retainers, and the King soon found himself at the head of an army of 40,000 men. A part of this force, headed by the King, marched into Essex to thrust the serfs back into slavery, and took up a position at Waltham. The disaffected, on their side, mustered in vast force at Billericay, where they unanimously resolved to retain their half-fledged freedom, or die in the conflict. A distracted and undisciplined mob, hoAvever, was no match for mailed knights and men-at-arms ; and when the King's force came up they were surrounded, smitten down, and scattered in all directions. Some sought shelter in the surrounding woods ; and old ISTorsey, which has so often since then echoed the music of the fox hound, was surrounded by the armed horsemen, and disturbed by the cry of the overtaken fugitive. A remnant fled to Colchester ; but the discreet bujgesses and former abettors there would have nought to do with them, and they were either captured or killed. Chelmsford in consequence of these disturbances was honoured by a Eoyal visit. The King, with a large part of his force, took up his quarters in the town the ancient palace of Writtle probably affording accommodation to the monarch and his court and proceeded to hold an assize of blood. The first act Avas to call in the letters of enfranchisement, entire villages being menaced with wholesale military execution if they witliheld them and these were burnt in presence of the people. A proclamation Avas issued com- manding that all freemen and knaves should, as heretofore, perform all the Avorks and services Avhich they OAved to their lords, according to ancient custom, and should not be allowed any right or privilege they did not enjoy before the insur- rection, " inasmuch," it Avas said, " as the letters of enfranchisement issued from our court Avithout mature consideration, and seeing that the granting of them tended to the great prejudibe of us and our croAvn, and of the prelates, lords, and barons, of our kingdom, and of the most holy church." The pardons Avere revoked; and those who had taken the lead in the insurrection were seized, condemned, and executed, some Avith form of laAA^, but many others Avithout. A court AA^as opened at Chelmsford for the trial of the offenders, and it is stated that 500 persons, Avho repaired to that toAvn, and thrcAV themselves at the King's feet, obtained pardon ; but the county wore the aspect of a common slaughter-house. Cruelties of the most horrible description Avere accompaniments of the executions. Men were half EASTERN ENGLxVND IN THE POTJRTEENTH CENTURY. 595 strangled at one corner of a street, and then taken to be hanged at another. In this way some were "hanged four times at the cornel's of towns." These were the terrors and atrocities by which the spirit of that day sought to crush the freedom wliich every peasant in the land now enjoys, without being conscious of its value, or the price set upon it on former days the right to choose his own master, and sell his labour where he likes to rise, if he can, in the social scale, without being held in menial bondage, and disposed of as a chattel to the next possessor of the soil on which he happens to be born." Bichard II. granted a charter to the city of Norwich, which is dated at Wostminster_, February 26th, 1377, by which all the former charters were confirmed, and also " that if there are any customs contained therein which they have not used, yet for the future occasion they might use them with- out having a non-user or dis-nscr pleaded against them,'' and further there is a clause added that no privileged person should enter the city and buy victuals beforehand, &c. Kichard II. held a Parliament at Cambridge in 1381, in the buildings of Trinity College, which were then of sufficient magnitude for the pur- pose. Much dissatisfaction was expressed on account of the state of public affairs. The King, as ho advanced towards manhood, did not exhibit that firmness which had been anticipated, but suffered himself to bo guided by two arrogant favourites De Vere, whom he created Marquis of Dublin ; and De la Pole, whom he had made Earl of Suffolk and Chancellor. The Parliament, at the instance of the King's uncle, requested the dismissal of the Chancellor, whom they charged with mal- administration. Eichard petulantly replied that he would not at their desire remove the meanest scullion from his kitchen. Thoy threatened the King that if he continued obstinate they would depose him, and he removed his minister, who was impeached. De la Polo was convicted of some charges, ordered to pay a fine, and to be imprisoned during the Royal pleasure (1380). The De la Poles are an ancient family in SufTolk, and have been prominent in public affairs. In the seventh of Richard II. (1384), Sir William Elmliam, of Elmhani in Norfolk, was accused in Parliament and condemned for having received of the King's enemies in Franco 3 100 francs of gold for making peace with them whilst in the army commanded by Henry Spencer, Bishop of Norwich ; and the King wrote to the Sheriff of Norfolk to levy the same on the lands and goods of Sir William, to arrest him and to bring him before the King and Council, to be imprisoned till he should satisfy him by a fine and ransom ; but ho was afterwards pardoned in the same year. In the thirteenth of Richard II., a descendant of the Fitz Alans of Norfolk, Richard Earl of Arundel, subscribed the letter to Pope 59G HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. Boniface complaining of the great miscliicf to the kingdom by- papal previsions to benefices and other papal grievances which had become intolerable, and were the subjects of general indignation and complaint. In the eleventh year of Richard II. (1388) Henry Spencer, Bishop of Norwich, had a license to build a castle at North Elmham in Norfolk, and he seems to have re-built the old manor house which is now in ruins. The site of the castle was on a mount, surrounded with a deep intrenchment, containing about five acres, formerly no doubt full of water, to which belonged a noble demesne and a park. That it was always a place of strength is highly probable, most of the bishops in ancient days having castles for their seats. In ] 389, when John of Gaunt visited Norwich, the citizens received him with the highest honours, and ten years after they openly espoiised the cause of the house of Lancaster by declaring themselves for his son afterwards crowned Henry IV. During this reign the trade of Norwich continued to increase, and laws were passed for regulating the sale of worsted stufis. The citizens were then a plain, homely sort of people, and, like their forefathers, were con- tent with coarse woollen cloths for their plain clothes. Great enormities were committed in 1395 by some Danish pirates cruising off the eastern coast. Several small ships were fitted out to engage them at the expense of Norwich, Yarmouth, and other towns. Those ships falling in with the Danes, a sharp conflict ensued, in which the Norfolk vessels were defeated, and carried to Denmark, where the Danes obliged the crews to pay large sums of money for their liberation. The pirates took 20,000 in specie from some merchant vessels sailing northward. In 1396 Thomas Lord Mowbray, Earl Marshal of England, went on an embassy to demand in marriage Isabella, daughter of Charles VI. of France, who became Queen of England, on which the Duke of Gloucester, the King's uncle, as also the youngest son of Edward III., not approving of the marriage, projected a conspiracy, which he formed at Arundel Castle, with Richard Fitz Alan, Lord Mowbray, and other lords, for taking the King Richard II. prisoner and hanging the lords of his Council; but this Lord Mowbray apprised the King of it. On this information the King went with an armed force to the duke's country seat at Fleshy, near Romford, in Essex, where by stratagem they inveigled him from his home towards London ; when having at the midnight hour reached a solitary glen near Stratford, in Essex, the King designedly rode off, upon which the Earl Marshal, with a posse of horsemen, seized upon the duke and carried him on board a vessel which lay ready in the Thames, wheAce EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 597 he was conveyed to Calais, where he was smothered between two feather- beds in September, 1397. Soon after, the Earl of Arundel was arrested, arraigned, and found guilty of treason, and beheaded in Cheapside, London, the King himself being a spectator and the Earl Marshal the executioner. In 1397 Richard II. advanced Thomas Lord Mowbray for his base services, to the title of Duke of Norfolk, with remainder to him ajid his heirs male, and granted him the castles, manors, and lands which were late the Earl of Arundel's, and gave him also the arms of Edward the Confessor, but his greatness did not last long, as in 1398 the King, who had been seeking an opportunity of exercising his arbitrary power over him, readily lent himself to the occasion of a quarrel between him and the Duke of Hereford (afterwards Henry IV.), which originated by the latter accusing the former in Parliament of ha\ang spoken seditious words against his Majesty in a private conversation. The Duke of Norfolk, denying the charge, gave the Duke of Hereford the lie, and offered to prove his innocence (according to the law of chivalry) by single combat. As proofs were wanting for legal trial, the lords readily acquiesced in that mode of determination, and the combat was fixed to take place at Coventry in the presence of the King, whei*e, on the day appointed, the champions appeared, when the King stopped the combat, and proclaimed that both should be banished, Norfolk for life and Hereford for ten years. They were sent into exile accordingly. In February, 1399, Henry the Duke of Hereford became Duke of Lancaster by his father's death, and being informed of the state of the nation, he landed with a small force at Ravcnspur, and was at once joined by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland. He declared on oath that his sole design was to recover the estates which had been detained from him, and this moderation, coupled with his popularity, soon placed him at the head of GO,'JOU men. A fortnight elapsed before Eichard II. heard of his cousin's invasion, and after some delay he landed at Milford with several thousand troops, who nearly all deserted him, and the King in disguise proceeded to Conway, where he expected to find a numerous force under the Earl of Salisbury. Most of the earl's followers, however, had disbanded, only a hundred remaining with him. When the place of the retreat of llicliard became known, Henry l^uke of Lancaster sent the Earl of Northumberland to visit him, and he by solemn assurances of safety made lumself master of tho King's ])orson and led hiiti to his enemy at Flint Castle. The King was conducted to Chester and thenco to Loudon, where he was lodged in the Tower. He was soon after deposed and imprisoned in Pomfret Castle, where it was said ho died or was stai-ved to death. 598 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. The state of the roads in the country is indicated by the fact that when Henry Duke of Lancaster, afterwards Henry IV., rode with his kinsman, the unfortunate Richard 11., from Conway to London in such haste that he would not even allow the deposed monarch time to change his clothes, the journey occupied eleven days upon the road. They rested the whole Sunday at Lichfield. The greatest distance that they accomplished in any one day was 24 miles, but 14 miles was the usual average. (See Hollingshed.) John Coltou, D.D., born at Terringfcou iu West Norfolk, was made for his excellent endowments Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of Ireland, by Richard 11. He was first chaplain to William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich, and appointed the first master of Gonville Hall (now Caius College,) in Cambridge, by the founder of it. He Avas employed in an embassy to the Court of Rome, about the schism made in it by Urban VI. and Clement VII., which gave him occasion to write a learned treatise De Causa Schismatls, and afterwards another Be Bemedm Ejusdem. He resigned his Archbishopric a little before his death in 1404. T1!ADE GUILDS. There arc few subjects that might be more profitably handled than the history of religious guilds iu East Auglia, and indeed in all England, especially with reference to their great increase about the commencement of the 14th century. This, we may conjecture, was the work of some master hand in ecclesiastical polity, having most important results in increasing the temporal power of the church. The materials before us were scanty^ till three large bundles of the returns made by these guilds, according to the Government order of Richard IL, were discovered among the miscellanea of the Chancery records. These guilds seem to have had a good deal of a social and convivial character. From the regular rules it seems that the guild served not only for religious purposes, but also as sick and burial clubs of the period. At Norwich especially, the rules of nearly every guild provided for the com- fortable maintenance and decent interment of any member falling into poverty ; while at Bury the primary and sole object of the guild seemed to be to provide for their exclusive spiritual benefit as many masses, psalms, lights, etc., as possible. Most of the Bury guilds appear to have been ecclesiastical, founded by priests who were desirous of showing extra devotion, and this idea is confirmed by the fact that while the rules of all the Bury guilds were in Latin, those of the Norwich trading guilds were in English. Each guild was held in some church where it had an image of its patron saint, before whose shrine wax candles were kept burning continually, and the decorations of the shrines of the richer EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 599 guilds were no doubt very splendid. The richer guilds had also a Guild- hall, where they held meetings, biat the great event of the year was the day of the patron saint. Some guilds commenced their devotions on the preceding evening, and after hearing vespers, and praying for the souls of all deceased brothers and sisters, they had a light supper of bread and cheese and beer. On the day itself the scene was a very impressive one. All the members living within a certain distance, or not hindered by infirmity, met at a trysting place, probably the Guildhall, dressed in hoods and uniform, and after forming in procession, carried candles for the use of the guild to church. Here they heard mass, and after each had made an ofiering, returned to the Guildhall, where they dined together, sometimes at the expense of the guild, and sometimes, in the case of the more thrifty guilds, at their own expense. They probably dined jovially, as the rules mentioned money as applicable to the supply of drink ; and fi'om these guilds probably descended the gorging propensities of the city companies. At Norwich the guild-day was long devoted to feasting, and the Mayor for the year generally invited the members of the old Corporation to dine with him in St. Andrew^s Hall. About twenty guilds or companies flourished in Norwich for a long time ; and they held their annual feasts in the Hall in St. Andrew's, now called St. Andrew's Hall, whereon their arms were hung on the walls. Besides these trade guilds there was the St. George's Company, which on all public days contributed greatly to the splendour of the shoAv by the magnificent dresses, rich banners, &c., that were displayed. This com- pany or fraternity first began in 1885, and were incorporated by Charter in 1416. It was called an Association of Brethren and Sisters in Honour of St. George the Martyr ; and had power to maintain a chaplain, whose ofiicc it was to pray daily for the health of the King with their brethren and sisters whilst alive, and for their souls when dead. During the reigns of Henry V. and Henry VI. this society was in high reputation ; in the year I 150, tho number of members is stated to have been 264 ; amongst whom we find the names of the Bishop of Norwich, the Earl of Suffolk, Sir John Fastolff", Sir Thomas Erpingham, Sir William Phclip, Lord Bardolf, and Lady Joan his wife, the Lady Joan Thorpe, and many other celebrated persons of those times. The trade guilds held annual feasts and pageants, for which Norwich was celebrated during the Middle Ages. Before the Tudor period, the most popular festival days were Whit-Monday and Tuesday eveiy year. On these auniversaiy days the citizens assembled, and the people from the surrounding districts flocked into the city, to witness gorgeous pro- cessions, pageants, and rude dramatic exhibitions. Miracle plays were performed in the open air, and were got up at an enormous cost to please 600 HISTOEY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. the spectators. St. Luke's Guild had for many years the management of these Whit-Monday exhibitions ; but the expense being very heavy, St. Luke's Guild presented a petition to th^ Mayor and Corporation, praying that every other guild should bear the expense of one pageant in the Whitsuntide procession. The Mayor and Corporation agreed to this, and accordingly each guild had to pay the expense of a pageant on Monday in Pentecost week. The assembly-book in the Record-room in the Guildhall contains a list of the early pageants, entitled " Creation of the World,'' "Helle Carte," " Paradyse," " Abell and Cain," "Noyse Ship," and other Scripture subjects. The pageants were exhibited on movable stages constructed for the purpose. Each company brought forward its pageant on the stage, where it was played. These stages comprised two rooms, one above the other, open at the top. The lower room was used as a dressing-room; the upper room was the place of performance. Each play was performed in the principal streets and public places of the city, and scaffolds were erected to enable some of the spectators to sit during the performance. The first probably began on Tombland, and then moved on to the Market Hill, where the Mayor took his position at the show. By the time this pageant was ended, the second was ready to take its place, and then it moved forward to another street, and then to another, &c., so that all the pageants were exhibited at different places about the same time. Order was thus to some extent well preserved, notwithstanding the great con- course of people. The pageants were introduced by proclamation of three heralds, who, after a flourish of trumpets, announced in a lengthy prologue the various parts of the pageant that were to be exhibited. The performances, as described, would now appear very ludicrous, and very like burlesques of the Bible. In connection with Guilds, there wore celebrations of Plough Monday in agricultural districts. Plough Monday was the name given to a rustic festival held on the Monday after the feast of the Epiphany, commonly called Twelfth-day. The members of the Guild went on Plough Monday to church, and kneeling before the plough rood prayed God spi^dc the pIoAv ; And scud us ale and corn enow, Our purpose for to make that is, to carry on their I, hours on the land and to spend a joyful day at the plough light of Ly^ate ; and then to show their behef in the need of good ale to enable them to work they said Be merry and glad ; 'Twas good ale this work mad. After which, gaily dressed, they passed in procession through the village^ EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE POUETEENTH CENTURY. 601 dragging a plough that }md been censed with incense by the priest, and gathering largesses as they went along. It may seem strange to us to pray for ale, but in those times ale was the common beverage of the common people everywhere in England, and was thought as necessary as bread for the support of life. Therefore it was as natural to pray for ale-corn as to pray for daily bread. STATE OF AGRICULTURE. In this fourteenth century, all England had only a population of 3,000,000, and most of the land continued to be uncultivated. The Eastern Counties contained about a fourth part, or half a million, half of whom were little better than slaves. The towns were all small with but a small number of inhabitants, like the country market-towns of the present day. After the Norman Conquest, several centuries elapsed before the (oppressed people made any attempts to regain their liberty. Continental writers of the eleventh and twelfth centuries express astonishment at the great number of serfs in England, and the harshness of their servitude. iVll the cultivators of the land were called bondmen, and could be sold with their wives and children by the Norman lords. In 1378 a poll tax was levied of three groats per head upon all persons above 15 years of age. This led to disorders in Essex, and ultimately to Wat Tyler's rebellion, causing thousands of men to take up arms. On account of the internal wars and commotions that continued without a pause from the arrival of William I. to the death of King John, the pro- gress of agricultural or any other industry must have been slow indeed. The monasteries in East Anglia were the chief seats of agriculture. Wo owe the reclamation of a great part of the district entirely to the monks. They chose, for the sake of retirement, secluded retreats, and they culti- vated tli(3 lands with their own hands. The wars of the Middle Ages so occupied the time of the nobility and gentry that agriculture was almost entirely neglected, and rendered land of comparitivcly small value. The Norman Kings and barons by their excessive passion for the chase desolated entire counties. Military goveruincnts for several centuries did not even protect life and property. Conse([uently all industry and trade languished. The condition of the people must have been very bad indeed. Agricultui'al operations were not carried on with very great success in the Eastern Counties. There was a great excess of meadow land, which was deemed much more valuable than arable land, as the large tlocks of sheep that were fed on the pastures furnished so much wool, the most prohtable export. Many of the larger estates were farmed by the owners 602 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. who employed villains or serfs. A full average crop on an acre of wheat was estimated at nine or ten bushels, but now it is forty or fifty bushels per acre on good land. In 1359 the lord of the principal manor of Hawsted in Suffolk held in his own hands fifty-seven acres of arable land, estimated at from 4d. to 8d. per acre, and eight pieces of meadow land, valued at 202s. 4d. a-year, the quantities being about fifty acres; forty acres of wood at Is. per aere, and the cropping of the trees and hedges at 6s. 8d. per year. In 1420, at Hawsted, eight acres of arable land were let at 6d. per acre, thirty- eight acres at 9d. The hay was worth 5s. per acre. It should be remembered that money was then ten times its present value. In coming to the social condition of the rural population, we must confess that our information is still very scanty. From gleanings that may be made among the accounts of agriculture, we gather that some of the estates must have been veiy large, as well as plentifully provided. From the estate of the elder Spencer, it is stated that at the commence- ment of the fourteenth century, his enemies carried off 1000 oxen and heifers, 1200 cows and their calves, 500 cart horses, 28,000 sheep, and 2000 hogs. Such in all probability were the estates of the highest of the English nobility, whose wealth then consisted chiefly in these herds and flocks, more especially in the Eastern Counties. But in descending from these extreme to more common cases, let us take, as an example, the parish of Hawstead in Suffolk, as detailed in Sir T. Cullum's history of that district. The manor-house, Avhich was of very large extent, was surrounded by a moat, and had two court-yards and three gardens, with its due establishment of pigeon -houses, rabbit warrens, and fish ponds. The tenants were thirty-two in number, who held of the lord of the manor and did him service for the land they occupied, the wages with which they were repaid being in kind and money ; and independently of the tenants, he held in his own hands 572 acres of arable and fifty of meadow land, with sufficient pasturage for the live stock of the manorial farm. The persons employed in such an establishment were a steward, who presided at the manor courts, kept the accounts of the farm and family, and took charge of the domestics ; a bailiff, who superintended the whole of the farming operations ; a head hai-vestman, elected by the tenantry ; a sufiicient staff of ploughmen, plough drivers, carters, shep- herds, swineherds, and men of all work. This was a large establishment to provide for ; but in looking to the live stock, we find that the manor of Hawstead had ten horses, ten oxen, one bull, twenty cows, six heifers, ninety-two sheep, two hundred two-year-old sheep, five geese, thirty capons, one cock and twenty-six hens. Thus we find that the manor was well victualled, not only for all the inmates, but also for hospitality. EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE FODRTEENTH CENTURY. 603 One evidence of the happy change in the state of society in the four- .teenth century is to be found in the condition of the rural population. This no longer consisted only of master and slave, their sole inheritance was no longer that of enjoyment or endurance. From both ranks, but especially the latter, a middle class was being formed, created by the political necessities of the times, and the yeomanry of England were soon both in point of influence and number to form a sufficient counterpoise between the oppressors and the oppressed. There was now a peasantry in the land who could sit under their own roofs without fear of dislodg- ment, and eat the fruits of their own industry. THE DUKES OF NORFOLK, PRAMLINGHAM. We have now to introduce to our readers a long line of distinguished characters in the persons of the Mowbrays, and subsequently, the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk, who great in the senate, and ever conquer- ing in the field, became the successive possessors of Framlingham Castle and all its domains, with estates in Suffolk and Norfolk, except when banishment, attainders, or executions placed their estates for a time in regal hands. The Mowbray family generally resided in the Castle at Framlinghain. Thomas MoAvbray, the first of these ancient personages, was the second and only surviving of John MoAvbray, lord of the Isle of Axholm, in Lincolnshire, who had married the lady Margaret's daughter, Elizabeth, by her first husband, the late John, Lord Segrave. In 1398, by the regular course of descent, he had possession of the castles, honours, manors, and lands of the Lady ]\iargaret, the late duchess, his maternal grandmother. Kichard 11. constituted him Earl Marshal of England for life in 1385, and as a reward for his base services advanced him to the title of Duke of Norfolk in 131)7. He married first Elizabeth, daughter of John Lu Strange, of Blackmore, in Essex, who died August 23rd, 1383, without issue; secondly, Elizabeth sister and co-heiress of the unfortunate Earl of Arundel, by whom he had two sons, Thomas and John ; and two daughters, Isabel and Margaret, who married Sir Robert Howard, Knt., from whom sprung the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk, whose names as well as deeds will form a prominent part of this history. Thomas i\lowbray, the first Duke of Norfolk, having been banished, died in Venice about a year after his sentence, and was buried in the Abbey of St. George in that city. Thomas .Mowbray, son of the late duke, succeeded to the title and (>statcs by a grant from the King Henry IV. in 1403, and he married the King's niece, the Lady Constance, daughter of John Holland, first of that name, Duke of Exeter. His career was very short, as he conspired with 604 HISTORY OF EASTERN ENGLAND. other lords against the King. He was, with others, arrested and beheaded at York. His head was set upon the city walls, and his body was buried in York Cathedral. The next consequence of this act of treason was the forfeiture of the duke's real and personal estate to the Crown, but the King granted it again to his brother, John Mowbray. In 1413 this John Mowbray had the office of Earl Marshal confirmed to him by Henry V. on his accession to the throne. In 1415, though then very young, he was with the King at the siege of Harfleur, and in 1417 at that of Caen, which was taken, and he continued there until the King's death in 1422. The father of this earl having died without attainder in 1424, he presented a petition to Parliament for the dukedom of Norfolk, which being allowed, in 1426 he was declared Duke of Norfolk as the son of the first duke. Next year he came into possession of all his lands, castles, &c. Lady Catherine, his wife, was the daughter of Ealph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland, by whom he had one son, named John, who succeeded when he died, in October 19th, 1434, at his manor of Epworth, in the Isle of Axholm, and his remains were interred in the chapter house of the Abbey of the Carthusians, within a tomb of alabaster. John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, being a minor, was placed under the guardianship of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. In 1439 he went on an embassy with other lords to negociate a peace between this country and France, but they failed in that object. Within six years after this, upon confirmation of the title of the Duke of Norfolk to him and the male heirs of his body, he had a grant of place and a seat in Parliament and all other meetings. In 1447 the Duke, dreading the factions which were engendering between the rival houses of York and Lancaster, set out on a pilgrimage to Rome, but after remaining there a short time, he returned, and conveyed the castle and manor of Framlingham to John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury and others. He married Eleanor, only daughter of Lord William Bourchier, and by her had one son. In 1461 he died, and was buried at Thetford. John Mowbray, the fourth and last of that name, Duke of Norfolk, son and heir of the former duke, succeeded at the age of seventeen to his father's title, having been in the lifetime of the latter created Earl of Surrey and of Warrenne, by Henry VI. in 1450, as being lineally descended from those earls. It does not seem that this nobleman took any part in the distressing contentions of his time, as the only instance in which he apppears was after the twelfth battle fought between the contending houses at Tewkesbury Park, on May 4th, 1471, when in his official capacity as Earl Marshal he presided at the summary trial and condemna- tion of Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and others of the supporters EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 605 of the house of Lancaster, who were all beheaded at Tewkesbury. On January, 17th, 1475, the short-hved grandeur of this duke was suddenly brought to a close, and ho breathed his last in the castle at Framlingham. This last of the Mowbrays appears to have been frequent in his visits to " our Lady of Walsingham," and two of his pilgrimages on foot are specially noticed in the Paston letters. The male line of this noble family having become extinct, the Lady Anne Mowbray, who was then about four years old, succeeded to her father^s estates. This infant lady, being the richest and most noble match of the time, was on January 15th, 1418, when only six years old, married to Richard, second son of Edward IV., Duke of York, who on the eve of the alliance had received first the additional title of Earl of Nottingham, next those of Duke of Norfolk and of Earl Warrenne and of Surrey. He was also constituted Earl Marshal of England, and in right of his lady he became Lord of Segrave, Mowbray, and of Gower. His arms were France and England, a label of three points argent charged with a canton, in the first file gules, most of which were to be seen in various parts of the castle at Framhngham, Suffolk. On account of the extreme youth of the parties, the castle and manor of Framlingham were settled by Act of Parliament upon Thomas Bourchier, Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury, and others, in trust for the duchess and his heirs. The duchess died in very early liie, and before the consummation of the marriage ; and the Duke of York, her ill-fated husband, with his brother Edward V., were conveyed to the Tower, where they were smothered in a dungeon at midnight by assassins obeying the order of their barbarous uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, who thus com- pleted his usurpation and became King Richard III. On the death of these infants, their large inheritance descended to their cousins, John Howard and William Berkeley, the sons of Margaret and Isabel, daughters of Thomas Mowbray, first of that name Duke of Norfolk. THE FAMILY OP FASTOLFP, CAISTER. The Fastolfi* family was one of the oldest in Norfolk, and flourished in honourable distinction in different part of England before the Norman Conquest. The first of this family who had any possessions in Norfolk was Thomas Fastolff, Esq., to whom Oliver de Ingham granted in the seventh of Edward II. his right in the manor of Rudham at Caistcr; and in 1356 John Fastolff, Esq., purchased the lordship of Vaux, which was confirmed to Hugh Fastolff in 13Go. John Fastolff was lord of Vaux, Rudham, and Caistcr manors, held of the Abbot of Holme, and was buried in the chapel of St. Nicholas, in tho church of Yarmouth, leaving John, his son and heir, afterwards the famous Sir John Fastolff. He was 606 HISTOEY OP EASTERN ENGLAND. bom at Yarmouth in 1389, but his father dying before he was of age, he became the ward of a nobleman, and was trained up according to the custom of the times in the Norfolk family. About the year 1401, Thomas of Lancaster, afterwards Duke of Clarence, second son of Henry IV., was sent as Lord-Lieutenant to Ireland, and it is supposed that Sir John attended him, for it appears that he was with him in 1405 and 1406, when Sir John was in the 25th year of his age. Two years afterwards he married, in Ireland, Melicentia, Lady Castlecombe, daughter of Sir Robert Tibelot, and relict of Sir Stephen Scrope, a lady of great beauty and fortune ; soon after which, being appointed to some posts of trust in Gascony, he went to reside there. In 1415 Sir John was intrusted, in conjunction with the Earl of Dorset, with the government of Harfleur, and it appears that he was present with Henry V. at the battle of Agin- court, where he behaved with great bravery. After the death of that King, he was appointed by the Regent Bedford grand-mSster of his household, and seneschal of Normandy. In 1423 he was* constituted lieutenant for the King and Regent in that province, in the jurisdiction of Rouen, Evreux, Alencon, and the countries beyond the river Seine, and also governor of Anjou and Maine. Afterwards he captured the castles of Tenaye, Beaumont le Vicompt, and Silliele, the latter in 1425, from which he was dignified with the title of baron. And in the same year, this active warrior took also St. Ouen, D'Estrius, near Luval, and the castle of Graville, with other places of strength, from the enemy, for which services he was about the same time elected in England a Knight of the Garter. In 1428 he gained great honour by his valour at the memorable battle of Herrings, in which he defeated the French and suc- ceeded in conducting a convoy of herrings in triumph to the English camp before Orleans. On this signal victory a witty Frenchman wrote the lines : God was wholly turned unto the Eugiisli side, And to assist the French tlie devil had denied. In 1430 the Duke of Bedford, then regent, appointed him to the lieutenancy of Caen in Normandy. Two years after he was sent ambas- sador to the Council at Basil, and was subsequently appointed to nego- ciate a permanent or temporary peace with the French. The same year, Sir John, with Lord Willoughbj'', commanded the army which assisted the Duke of Brittany against the Duke of Alencon. After this he was for some time in England, but in 1435 he was again with the regent in France, and the same year he was appointed one of the ambassadors to conclude a peace with the French. The Duke of Bedford dying that year, showed his regard for Sir John by constituting him one of his executor.s. EASTERN ENGLAND IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 607 His successor in the regency, Richard'Duke of York, gave Sir John an annuity of 20 out of his own estate for his good services and counsel. After 1436 he appears to have been settled for four years at his govern- ment in Normandy. In 1440 he returned home to Caister near Yar- mouth. There he built the castellated mansion, part of which now stands as a monument to the hero. He died on November 6th, 1459, and was buried in a chapel erected by himself at the Abbey of St. Benet's in the Holme, near Ludham. It appears that at the time of his death he was extremely rich, and possessed estates in Norfolk, Suffolk, Yorkshire, and Wiltshire, the greatest part of which he bequeathed to charitable purposes. While ho lived at Caistor in Norfolk he was highly esteemed for his virtues and great hospitality. He was a benefactor to both the Universities, and bequeathed a large legacy to Cambridge for the schools of civil laws and philosophy, and he' was very liberal also to Magdalen College, Oxford. A manuscript in the possession of Austin, formerly Garter King at Arms, states that Sir John Fastolff having taken the Duke of Alencon prisoner at the battle of Agincourt, the duke agreed, as a ransom, to build a castle at Caister similar to his own in France, in consequence of which agreement this castle was erected at his expense. The battle of Agincourt was fought on October 25th, 1415, but probably the castle was not built till Sir John returned to his home at Caister. The mansion enclosed a court, in figure a rectangled parallelogram, whose south and north sides were larger than those in the east and west. At the north- west angle is the tower ; the grand entrance was over a drawbridge on the west side. A manuscript in St. Benet^s College, Cambridge, written by William de Worcester (who was officer of arms or herald to Sir John Fastolff), says that " on the right hand on entering the great hall, which measured forty-nine feet in length and twenty-eight feet in breadth adjoining to the tower, was the dining-room." The great fire-place is still visible. Directly east of this, communicating by a drawbridge, stood the college, encompassed by three sides of a square, whose area was larger than that enclosed in the walls of the mansion. The west side was bounded by a moat, having two round towers on the north-east and south-east angles, and the great avenue was at the west end of the north side. The Worcester MSS. before mentioned says that this castle was twice besieged in the reign of Edward TV., in consequence of the disputes between Sir John Fastolff's executors, and has preserved the names of the assailants and defenders upon those occasions. Anthony Lord Scales first took possession of it in the name of the King, under pretence that Sir John Paston was the King's villain (which was untrue), and destroyed much of the furniture and goods within the castle. 608 HISTORY OP EASTEEN ENGLAND. Sir John Fenn, in a collection of letters relating to this obscure period of Norfolk history, preserved one from John Paston, Esq., to his brother the knight, in which, referring to the siege, he says, " Wo were sore lack of victuals and gunpowder. Men's heart for lack of surety of rescue were driven thereto to take appointment,' ' by which it appears the garrison suffered much inconvenience and distress during tlie siege. Sir John Paston, however, was afterwards, through the favour of the Eang, restored to his possessions, for on the 6th of July, 1466, the King granted him a warrant to take possession of all the lands ot his late father, mother, and grandmother, which lands had been seized by the King on evil sur- mises made to him against his deceased father, uncles, and himself, of all of which they were sufficiently and openly acquitted before his majesty. John Mowbray, the Duke of Norfolk, next claimed the castle, under the pretence of having purchased it and lands of William Yelverton; but this act of the duke's was illegal and contrary to the will of the founder, who had ordered that it should not be sold, but kept as a college for priests and an hospital for poor men. John Paston, jun., acting as governor of the castle on behalf of his brother. Sir John Paston, who was absent, refused to surrender the possession, but the duke appeared before the walls with 3,000 men armed with guns, and forced the surrender in about a fortnight. The duke continued in possession of the castle from September, 1469, till 1472, when John Paston, jun., presented a petition for his brother. Sir John Paston, and himself, to be restored to the manor of Caistor, from which they had been put out of possession more than three years. The towers and ruins of the college have been converted into barns and stables ; and the whole building wears an air of melancholy and deserted grandeur, forming a striking contrast to its former character for magnificence and hospitality. It conveys to the mind an impressive lesson on the mutability and uncertain duration of human labours. END OF VOL. I. 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