Norfolk: Horsham St Faith with Newton St Faith

William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk 1883

[Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

ST. FAITH'S is a united parish, consisting of the parishes of Horsham St. Faith and Newton St. Faith, two villages distant from 4 to 5 miles N. of Norwich, on the Aylsham Road. The parish, which has a rateable value of £5265, is in the union of St. Faith, Norwich county court district and bankruptcy district, Taverham petty sessional division, hundred, and rural deanery, Norwich archdeaconry, and St. Faith's polling district of South Norfolk. It had 748 inhabitants in 1881, living on 1650 acres of land.

At the enclosure, in 1802, 58A. 3R. 38P. of heath were awarded to the poor of Horsham. The Lynn and Fakenham Railway, in course of construction, passes near the village. The village of Horsham is situated above the small rivulet called Hor, and was once celebrated for its cattle fair, which has long been discontinued. Upwards of 100 persons are here engaged in the manufacture of hair-seating.

Hugh de Cressi had a weekly market here in 1257, but it has long been obsolete. Here were also a Benedictine Priory and an Hospital of Knights Templars. The priory, dedicated to St. Faith the Virgin and Martyr, was founded by Robert de Codomo, lord of Horsford, and Sibilla his wife, in the year 1105; after which, numerous bequests were made to it by the families who possessed this and the adjacent manor of Horsford. In the reign of Richard II. this priory was discharged from its subjection to the abbey of Couches, in France, and constituted indigeni. At the Dissolution its annual revenues were valued at £193 2s. 3½d., and granted with the rectory and advowson of Horsford to Sir Richard Southwell and Edward Ellington, Esq.

Some of the boundary walls of the priory still remain on the Abbey farm, near the CHURCH, which is a remarkably fine old edifice, chiefly of the Perpendicular period, but retaining some Early Decorated features. It was greatly restored by subscription in 1873, when a new organ was built, and six new bells hung in the tower. It consists of a lofty nave with aisles, chancel, south porch, and square tower with four bells. The porch has a fine groined roof and a chamber or parvise above. The triple lancet window at the east end is filled with stained glass representing Faith, Hope, and Charity, given by the late R. Twining, Esq. of London, in memory of his parents. A double piscina still remains; and here is also a handsomely carved screen. There is a hagioscope in the south aisle.

The benefice is a perpetual curacy, valued at only £95, though augmented in 1773 and 1801, with £400 of Queen Anne's Bounty, and in 1813 with a Parliamentary grant of £1200. The Rev. J.D. Ballance, M.A., of Horsford, is the incumbent, and Viscount Ranelagh is the patron, impropriator, lord of the manor, and principal owner of the soil. The impropriate tithes were commuted in 1842 for £711 per annum. A parsonage-house was built in 1866, on a piece of land given by the patron.

The Wesleyans have a chapel here, built in 1818, and enlarged in 1844.

NEWTON is a village, one mile N. of Horsham, but has no church; it had 243 inhabitants in 1881, living on 750 acres of land. For ecclesiastical and civil purposes it is the same as Horsham, and both combined form the parish of St. Faith's. The Primitive Methodists have a chapel here, built in 1872.

The NATIONAL SCHOOL, built in 1853, is a neat edifice with residence attached, and lies nearly at an equal distance from both villages. It is a mixed school under a mistress - average attendance, 132. R. Twining, Esq., gave £130 towards the cost of the building, and in 1858 he bequeathed to it the sum of £450 three per cent. consols. He also left the interest of £180 invested in the same securities, to provide for distributions of fuel to the poor.

ST. FAITH'S UNION has for its workhouse the old House of Industry at Horsham St. Faith, which was built in 1805, for Coltishall and thirteen other parishes, which were incorporated in that year for the support of their poor. This house has 10 acres of land attached to it, and was enlarged about 30 years ago at a cost of £1000, and in 1849 at a cost of £3000. It has room for 450 inmates, but it had only 84 pauper inmates in 1881. It comprises an area of 75 square miles, and in 1881 had a population of 11,418, of whom 5600 were males and 5818 females, living in 2512 houses. The average annual expenditure of its parishes from 1832 to 1835 was £10,525; but in 1838 it was only £5837; and in 1839, £6227; and it is now about £7000.

James Dickerson and wife, master and matron; Ellen R. Jeckell, schoolmistress; M.L. Runn, nurse; Geo. Woodcock, porter; Rev. J.D. Ballance, chaplain; Geo. R. Cooke, clerk; Thomas Johnson and Herbert A. Carman, relieving, enquiry, and vaccination officers; James Fielding, Hugh Taylor, Edmund Reeve, and George Tayler, medical officers and public vaccinators; William Birkbeck, Esq., treasurer; Shephard T. Taylor, medical officer of health; John Dunt, inspector of nuisances.

The following enumeration of the parishes in the union shows their territorial extent, their population in 1881, and present rateable value:-

HORSHAM ST. FAITH'S.

POST OFFICE at Mr. Thomas Fox's. Letters received at 4.30 a.m., despatched at 6.10 p.m., and on Sundays at 5.55 p.m., viâ Norwich, which is the nearest Money Order and Telegraph Office.

Barker    Edmd. M.R.C.V.S. and farmer, and inspector (Contagious
Diseases Animals Act) for Taverham
hundred
Bloom     Francis Stephen  horsehair manufacturer; h Norwich
Bonnick   Richard          vict. The Swan
Brown     Mrs Elizabeth    market gardener
Bullard   Robert           farmer, Mill farm
Cable     Mrs Hannah       vict. King's Head
Carman    Mrs Mary         The Moyse
Coldham   Hy.              butcher & vict. Crown Inn
Cook      Robins           farmer, Heath farm
Cook      William Warner   farmer
Eglington Richard          miller and shopkpr
Farman    William          basket maker
Flaxman   Mrs Ann Lacy     victualler, The White House
Forster   William          bricklayer and bldr
Fox       (Thomas)
& Gold     (John)         carpenters and builders
Fox       John             shoemaker
Fox       Thomas           joiner & sub-postmaster
Hawkes    John, M.D.,      surgeon to Union workhs & public
M.R.C.S.         vaccinator
Jermy     William          engineer, iron and brass founder, &c.
Laws      John             victualler, Cross Keys
Lovick    Mrs Mary Anne    shopkeeper
Lovick    Thos.            wholesale butcher & frmr
Mathews   Samuel           surgeon; h Dereham road, Norwich
Moore     -                manager
Morgan    Rev. Alfd.       curate of St. Faith's
Pearce    William Neale    blacksmith
Potter    Henry            joiner and shopkeeper
Pratt     Mrs Martha
Randall   Henry            harness mkr. & saddler
Randall   Henry Pestell    grocer, &c.
Reynolds  George Edward
Reynolds  George           shoemaker
Reynolds  Jno. Wm.         frmr.; h Keswick
Reynolds  Owen             shoemaker
Rice      James            butcher
Smith     Chas.            organist St. Faith's Church
Spruce    Robert           grocer
Thrower   George           market gardener
Woodcock  William          market gardener and beerhouse,
Jolly Butchers
Woolsey   Wm.              butcher and cattle dlr

CARRIER - A carrier passes through St. Faith's every week day to and from Aylsham

NEWTON ST. FAITH'S.

POST OFFICE at Horsham St. Faith's. Wall Letter Box at Mrs. Bullard's, cleared at 6 p.m.

Bateley   John             carpenter and builder
Bircham   John             vict. The Crown
Bone      Wm.              pork butcher & shopkeeper
Bullard   Mrs Anne         grocer and farmer
Carman    Herbert A.       relieving officer
Cooper    Mrs Rachel       shopkeeper
Lacy      John             farmer, Meadow farm
Newton    Wm. jun.         beerhs. The Fir Tree
Newton    William          poultry dealer
Reynolds  William          farmer, Wood farm
Woodcock  Fred             market gardener
Woodcock  Joseph           farmer
Woodcock  Jph.             frmr. & assist. overseer
Woodcock  Peter            market gardener
Woodcock  Richard          cattle dealer
Woodcock  Wheeler          cattle dealer

CARRIER - A carrier passes every week day through the village to and from Aylsham to Norwich

See also the Horsham St Faith with Newton St Faith parish page.

These pages are for personal use only. They may not be copied, and the links within them may not be harvested for use on your own web pages. Please see the Copyright Notice.

Copyright © Pat Newby.
February 2015