Norfolk: Pentney

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

[Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

PENTNEY is a straggling village on the north side of the river Nar, 9 miles S.E. by E. of Lynn, and 6½ miles N.W. by W. of Swaffham. Narborough railway station is in this parish. Its parish is in Freebridge Lynn union, petty sessional division and hundred, Lynn county court district, Lynn bankruptcy district, Swaffham polling district of West Norfolk, Lynn Norfolk rural deanery, and Norwich archdeaconry. It had 534 inhabitants in 1881, living on 2330 acres, and has a rateable value of £2980.

The parish extends about five miles in length and one in breadth, on the north side of the vale of the Nar. Capt. F.R. Thackeray of London is lord of the manor and owner of one-fourth of the soil; the rest belongs to a number of small owners, many of them copyholders, subject to certain fines.

Robert de Vallibus held this manor of Roger Bigod in the time of William the Conqueror, and founded here a Priory of Augustine canons, on a watery spot called the Isle of Eya, a mile west of the church. This priory was endowed with the manor, which, at the dissolution, was granted to Thomas Mildmay, Esq., from whom it passed to various families. Small portions of its walls, and the fine embattled gatehouse of the Decorated period, still remain.

The CHURCH (St. Mary Magdalen) comprises nave, chancel, south porch, and embattled tower. It was formerly a small Norman chapel with an apse. It now exhibits various styles of architecture, and was imperfectly restored and re-roofed about 1851. In the chancel are sedilia, piscina, and an aumbry.

The vicarage is valued at about £60 a year, having been augmented, from 1716 to 1816, with £800 of Queen Anne's Bounty, laid out in 28 acres of land. The patronage is in the Hankinson family, and the Rev. John Samuel Broad, M.A., is the incumbent, and has a good residence, built in 1850, and subsequently enlarged. Between the church and the aisles are the base and part of the shaft of a fine Early English roadside cross.

The Wesleyans and Baptists have each a chapel here.

The parish was enclosed in 1809, and drained under an Act passed in 1815. The Poor's Land, &c., given by unknown donors, consist of a farmhouse, out-buildings, and 8A. 1R. 9P., let for about £20 a year; and three yearly rent-charges, amounting to 25s. The poor have also an allotment of 62 acres of land, awarded at the enclosure in 1807, for supplying them with turf, &c. The herbage on this fuel allotment is let for about £10 a year, which, with interest from the dividends on £681 10s. 10d. 3 per cent., is distributed in coal.

POST OFFICE at Mr. Thomas Turner Waller's. Letters from Swaffham arrive at 8.30 a.m.; despatched at 4.30 p.m. Narborough is the nearest Money Order and Telegraph Office.

         Broad     Rev. John
                     Samuel, M.A.     vicar
         Chilvers  Henry              farmer, Old Malt kiln
         Coulton   Mr John James      Little Kitlam
         Curry     George             wheelwright
         Dye       Edward Folkes      farmer
         Dye       George             carrier
         Ellis     James              farm bailiff
         Goddard   Geo.               farmer, Church farm
         Grimes    Stephen & Richard  farmers
         Grummett  Mrs
         Hammond   Rd.                blacksth.; h West Bilney
         Howlett   Mrs Elzth.         fmr. Lr. Foldgate frm
         Hudson    Robert             farmer
         Marriott  John Lewis         merchant (J.&R. Marriott), The Chateau
         Paul      Thos.              farmer; h Ashwood lodge
         Peek      John               vict. King William IV.
         Riches    Jeremiah           vict. Rising Sun
         Rodwell   Robt.              vict. New Inn
         Storey    Henry              miller, Windmill
         Taylor    Afd.               frm. balff. to J. Stratton, Esq.
         Waller    Thos. Turner       butcher, shopkeeper, & post office,
                                        & Narborough
         Watkins   John               coal dealer
         Young     Benjm.             farmer, Great Ritlam
         Young     Chas. Valentine    cattle salesman
         Young     Robert             farmer and farrier
 

RAILWAY STATION, Narborough. - Jas. Chappel Smith, stationmaster

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.
December 2008