Norfolk: Great Plumstead

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

[Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

PLUMSTEAD (GREAT), 5 miles E. of Norwich, is a parish in Blofield union, rural deanery and hundred, Blofield and Walsham petty sessional division, Norwich county court and bankruptcy court district, Blofield polling district of South Norfolk, and Norwich archdeaconry. It contained 334 inhabitants in 1881, living on1383 acres, and has a rateable value of £2753. The Earl of Rosebery is lord of the manor and chief landowner, but W. Birkbeck, Esq., C.W. Unthank, Esq., and Sir Henry Stracy [sic] have estates here.

The CHURCH (St. Mary) is in the Perpendicular style, consisting of nave, chancel, and tower. The nave and chancel were thoroughly restored in 1876, the nave out of funds collected by the then vicar, the Rev. E. Cole, M.A., and the chancel by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. In the year 1878 the tower was restored, and the bells rehung, mainly out of the balance of the funds collected by the late vicar, Mr. Cole, and the nave was then reseated at the sole expense of William Birkbeck, Esq., of Thorpe St. Andrew. The holy-water stoup, a fine carved rood-screen, and the piscina still remain.

The living is a vicarage, recently augmented by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to £191 3s. 3d., with augmentations from Queen Anne's Bounty amounting to about £35. A vicarage has now been built out of a sum of £1500 granted by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and the Rev. John T. Howard, M.A., is now vicar. The Dean and Chapter of Norwich are the patrons. A new vicarage was erected in 1881 on land given by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who also contributed £1500 towards the expense.

A BOARD SCHOOL was erected in 1876, at a cost of £950, for the parish, and is attended by about 50 mixed children. The board now consists of Mr. R. King (chairman), Mr. A. King (vice-chairman), the Rev. J.T. Howard, M.A., Mr. Benjamin Bales, and Mr. John Ellis. Mr. H.H. Cole, of Norwich, is clerk to the board.

The fuel allotment (29A. 3R. 5P.) is let for £50 per annum, which is distributed in coal half-yearly to the poor of the parish.

POST OFFICE at Mr. Raymond Read's. Letters arrive at 8.50 a.m., and despatched at 4.55 p.m., viâ Norwich. Blofield is the nearest Money Order and Telegraph Office.

         Bales     Benjamin        farmer, Smeeth farm
         Bidwell   John            farmer
         Brister   Henry           farmer
         Calke     Thomas Lond     farmer
         Cole      Mrs Frances
                     Josephine
         Ellis     John            shopkeeper
         Ellis     John, jun.      fmr. & vict. Hare Inn
         George    Robert          wheelwright
         Goddard   John Marfrey    farmer
         Howard    Rev. John
                     Thos., M.A.   vicar
         King      Arthur          farmer
         King      Robert          farmer
         Maidstone George          parish clerk
         Maidstone Leonard         bricklayer
         Newman    Henry           farmer; h Norwich
         Read      Raymond         flour dealer and sub-postmaster
         Shingles  William         shopkeeper
         Shreeve   Benjamin        market gardener
         Shreeve   Mrs Rebecca     market gardnr
         Simmons   Mrs Elizabeth   shoemaker
         Simmons   John            blacksmith
         Wright    Miss Alice L.   schoolmistress
 

CARRIER from Ranworth to Norwich passes through on Saturday

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Copyright © Pat Newby.
August 2008