Norfolk Hundreds

White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk 1845

EYNESFORD HUNDRED

Is of an irregular, oblong figure, 12 miles in length from north to south, and about seven miles in breadth; bounded on the south by Forehoe and Mitford; on the west, by Launditch and Gallow; on the north, by Holt Hundred; and on the east, by South Erpingham and Taverham Hundreds.

The soil is in general a fertile loam, with substratums of chalk and marl, and a large portion of it lies in the vale of the river Wensum, which forms the western boundary from Guist to Bylaugh, from whence it crosses the hundred by a circuitous channel to Attlebridge, where it again turns to the south, and forms the western border as far as Ringland, flowing from thence in an easterly direction to Norwich. This river, in several places, expands into a broad stream, and the tides are said to have anciently flowed up it as far as Billingford. Several smaller streams also contribute to the beauty and fertility of this hundred, which comprises 30 parishes, of which the following is an enumeration, shewing their population in 1841, the annual value of their lands and buildings, as assessed to the county rate in 1843, and their territorial extent, in assessable acres:-

	+========================================================+
	|                        |        |   Annl.  |           |
	|    PARISHES.           |  Pop.  |   Value  |    Acres. |
	|                        |        |     £.   |           |
	+--------------------------------------------------------+
	| * Alderford                 44        656          429 |
	| + Bawdeswell               582       2118         1163 |
	| + Billingford              353       2072         1797 |
	| + Bintree                  409       2104         1417 |
	| * Brandiston               137       1276          737 |
	| + Bylaugh                   85        968         1545 |
	| + Elsing                   457       2190         1407 |
	| Foulsham                  1048       5796         3180 |
	| + Foxley                   293       2170         1619 |
	| Guestwick                  200       2158         1625 |
	| + Guist                    425       2664         1637 |
	| Hackford-by-Reepham @      694       2600          809 |
	| * Haveringland             160       1770         2000 |
	| Hindolveston               839       3352         2487 |
	| + Lyng                     601       2844         1879 |
	| * Morton-on-the-Hill       165        834          976 |
	| Reepham-with-      }       389                         |
	|  Kerdiston @       }       201       4420         2423 |
	| * Ringland                 386       1436         1119 |
	| Sall                       267       2812         1758 |
	| + Sparham                  321       2274         1666 |
	| * Swannington              358       1814         1281 |
	| Themelthorpe                94        884          652 |
	| Thurning                   166       1932         1484 |
	| + Twyford                   94        908          522 |
	| * Weston                   411       3596         2697 |
	| Whitwell @                 519       2686         1434 |
	| * Witchingham (Great)      624       3762         2083 |
	| * Witchingham L.            45       1106          714 |
	| Wood-Dalling               560       3382         2396 |
	| Wood-Norton                325       2498         1700 |
	+--------------------------------------------------------+
	|      TOTAL !            11,252     69,082       46,637 |
	+========================================================+

[There is more information about individual parishes]

* + UNIONS. -- The ten parishes marked thus + are in Mitford and Launditch Union, (see page 307; [this is in Mitford Hundred description]) the nine marked thus * are in St. Faith's Union; and the other 11 are in Aylsham Union. Before the formation of these Unions, there was an incorporated Workhouse at Bawdeswell, for seven parishes, and another at Reepham for four parishes.

@ Hackford, Kerdiston, and Whitwell, comprise the chief part of the market town of REEPHAM, where there are two churches in one churchyard, for the four parishes.

! The population of Eynesford Hundred, in 1831, was 10,643. Its annual value, as assessed to the property tax, was £48,259, in 1815, and £76,334 in 1842. Its territorial extent, including wastes, roads. &c., is upwards of 50,000A.

PETTY SESSIONS for this Hundred are held every Monday, alternately at Foulsham and Reepham. Mr. Robert Dench, of Foulsham, is clerk to the magistrates.

For more information see :-

General description and layout of Hundreds.
Other hundred descriptions from White's 1845.
Parishes are mostly in the Deanery of Sparham except for Hindolveston which is in the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich Cathedral.

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.