Norfolk: East Winch

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

[Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

WINCH (EAST) is a considerable village with several neat houses on the Lynn and Norwich Railway and on the Swaffham turnpike, 6 miles S.E. by E. of Lynn. The parish is in Freebridge Lynn union, hundred, and petty sessional division, Lynn county court and bankruptcy court district, Lynn polling district of West Norfolk, Lynn (Norfolk) rural deanery, and Norwich archdeaconry. It had 404 inhabitants in 1881, and comprises 2530 acres. The rateable value is £3356.

The soil belongs to the Kent, Jarvis, Barnard, Beckington, and Boycott families. Edmund Kent, Esq., is lord of the manors of East Winch and Carrow. In 1815 an Act was obtained for enclosing and draining the waste lands; but about 80 acres still form a common, on which the poor claim pasturage, &c. The manor of Grancourt was purchased by Thomas de Grancourt; and in 1295 by Sir Wm. Howard, the famous judge, and founder of the illustrious family of the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk. Sir William and several of his descendants during a period of 150 years, held the estate, and resided in a mansion, the moated foundations of which are still to be seen on the east side of the road leading past the church to Wormegay. The ruins and site within the moat are now called the Nunnery.

The CHURCH (All Saints) is of the Perpendicular order, and comprises nave, north and south aisles and chancel, clerestory, south porch, the tower with its battlements and pinnacles forming a conspicuous object as seen from many points of the surrounding country, particularly across the valley lying towards the north. It was refitted with open benches in 1861, but a portion of the rood-screen and the original seats still remain, together with a quaint iron-bound parish chest, and some very interesting stone coffin-lids, discovered during the restoration of 1875. One of these coffin-lids is of unique design, being battlemented at its upper edges; and on either side of the central cross, in high relief, are a hammer and square. The restoration of the whole fabric was thoroughly carried out in 1875 (at a cost of about £2000), a handsome hammer-beam roof, the design of the late Sir Gilbert Scott, being placed over the nave.

There was formerly a mortuary chapel belonging to the Howard family at the east end of the south aisle, but it, with several interesting monuments, described in Weaver's Funeral Monuments (1630), has disappeared. The arches which led to it, however, were in perfect preservation, though built up, and at the restoration an organ chamber was erected on the site of the chapel. A brass tablet is inserted in the east wall recording the burial (1309) of Sir Wm. Howard, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and of ten of his descendants. The font bears the arms of Howard.

The pulpit, which is of oak, of strikingly handsome grain, was given as a memorial of the late Mr. Jacob Curl, and in 1877 a stained glass window (by Clayton & Bell) was inserted at the east end of the chancel in memory of the late E. Kent, Esq. In 1878 an organ was purchased at a cost of £150. There are tablets in various parts of the church in memory of members of the Kent, Curl, and Forster families, and two of a very interesting character of the Barnes, particularly that in the organ chamber, whereon the quaint inscription relates of William Barnes that 'he did for many years serve his king and country with great prudence and fidelity in ye office of justice of the peace, till at length, such was ye iniquity of ye times that loyalty was esteemed a crime, when noe allurements or threats from him who usurped ye highest power could seduce him from his constant adhearance to his abandoned prince and the persecuted Church of England. He retired to a private life, devoting himself wholly to the service of God and religion, and peaceably departed hence in 1657, in the 77th year of his age, expecting a joyful resurrection.'

The vicarage, valued in the King's Book at £8, and now at £183, is in the patronage of E. Kent, Esq., and in the incumbency of the Rev. E.J. Alvis, M.A. There are 22½ acres of glebe, and a good residence.

The National School was built in 1842 at a cost of £300; and enlarged in 1872 at a cost of £150, to meet the requirements of the Elementary Education Act. It is supported by a voluntary rate and Government grant, and is attended by about 60 children.

The Town lands, of 28A, 3R. (part in Middleton), are derived from a gift by Robt. Astey, in 1607. The rents, amounting to £53, are divided equally, part for the repair of the church, and the other is expended in gifts of coal to the poor. The widows receive 10s. a year out of the Notley tithes, left by the Rev. Thomas Hope in 1615.

POST, MONEY ORDER, and TELEGRAPH OFFICE at Mr. H. Marsh's, and there is a Receiving Letter Box at the Railway Station. Letters arrive at 7.15 a.m., and are despatched at 5.5 p.m., viâ Lynn.

         Alvis      Rev. Edwd.
                      John, M.A.   vicar
         Atcheson   Miss S.        schoolmistress
         Beckington Misses         (B. & Clark)
         Childs     C.E.           farmer
         Clark      Joseph         (Beckington & C.)
         Curtis     Christopher    blacksmith
         Drew       James          bootmaker
         Harrison   Robert         bricklayer
         James      Jno.           vict. Maid's Head, & grdnr
         Kent       Mr Edmund      The Hall
         Lane       R.             carpenter, wheelwright, and builder
         Laws       Griffin        vermin killer
         Laws       W.             cattle dealer
         Marsh      Hy.            grcr. drpr. btchr. assistnt. ovsr.
                                     & registrar of births & deaths,
                                     and postmaster
         Painter    R.             parish clerk
         Small      James          vict. Carpenter's Arms
         Smallbones Jno.           statnmstr. & coal dlr
         Smith      C. Thos. &
                      John Alfred  frmrs
         Smith      Wm.            vict. Crown, & cattle dlr
         Spinks     Mr Abraham
         Wicks      Mrs Mary       farmer
         Wilson     Uriah          butcher
         Winearls   Mrs Ann
         Wix        H.F.           Station farm
         Youngman   Lewis          (L. & R.) Hall frm
         Youngman   L. & R.        frmrs. Hall farm
         Youngman   Robt.          (L. & R.) Hall frm
 

From ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS on pages 13-16:

An interesting feature also is the existence of four 'consecration crosses' on the north aisle wall; and the east window of the north aisle in 1882 was filled with stained glass, as a memorial of his wife, by Mr. J. Smallbone.

See also the East Winch parish page.

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Copyright © Pat Newby.
December 2008