Norfolk: Bergh Apton

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

BURGH-APTON, or Bergh-Apton, is a pleasant village, in the detached part of Clavering hundred, 3½ miles W. by N. of Loddon, and 6½ miles S.S.E. of Norwich, on a branch of the river Yare. It is in Loddon union, Norwich county court district and bankruptcy district, Clavering petty sessional division, Loddon polling district of South Norfolk, East Brooke rural deanery, and Norfolk archdeaconry. It had 464 inhabitants in 1881, living on 1936 acres, and has a rateable value of £3690, and a gross rental of £4038.

Its parish belongs to a number of owners, some of whom reside here. The Rev. R.C. Denny, M.A., is lord of the manors of Burgh-cum-Apton and Washingford; and Sir Charles H.S. Rich, Bart., is lord of the manor of Hillington, which includes part of this parish.

Several tumuli on White Heath in this parish have been examined at various periods, and a sword, several urns, and other remains, evidently of the British or Celtic age, have been found. There is a tradition that a battle was fought here, one force occupying White Heath, whilst the enemy was placed on Barnes Heath; and it is not improbable that this spot was the scene of an engagement between the Romans and the Iceni. The churchyard stands in the centre of the site of a Roman camp, of about the same area as those at Tasburgh and Caister.

The CHURCH (St. Peter and St. Paul) is a cruciform structure of rubble and flint, and comprises nave, chancel, transepts, and tower. The latter contains six bells and a clock, and is square and embattled. The organ was presented by the present rector. In 1881 the side galleries were taken down and the entire church re-seated with oak, and a pulpit and reading desk added, at the expense of the present rector and friends. In the chancel is a painted window in memory of Clara, wife of Colonel Thursby.

The Rev. William Thursby, M.A., of Ormerod House, Burnley, Lancashire, is patron of the rectory, valued in the King's Book at £13 6s. 8d., and now having a mediety of Holverstone (£5 5s. a year) annexed to it, in the incumbency of the Rev. William Ford Thursby, B.C.L., who has a commodious rectory house. The glebe is 47A. 2R. 38P., and the tithes have been commuted for £598 10s. per annum.

Here was anciently another church (St. Martin), but it was dilapidated in the 15th century, and its remains were cleared away in 1834.

Here is a commodious National School, built in 1839, at a cost of £700, and attended by about 80 scholars.

A farm of 60 acres was left by Christopher Tenwinter in 1599, for the general benefit of the parish, but subject to the yearly distribution of 20s. among the poor. Since 1660 the rent has been applied in defraying the churchwardens' and constables' expenses. The Poor's Allotment, awarded at the enclosure in 1801, is 22 acres, let for £28, which is distributed in coal.

POST OFFICE at Mr. William Weddup's. Letters viâ Norwich, arrive at 5.20 a.m., and depart at 4.55 p.m.

	Badcock     -                      farmer
	Cotten      Robert                 farmer
	Cummins     Rev. William Henry,
	              M.A.                 vicar of Hardley, Holly lodge
	Denny       Miss Harriet           Verandah cottage
	Denny       Rev. Richard Cooke,
	              M.A., J.P.
	              (county Suffolk)     Manor house
	Harvey      Charles                beerhouse
	Hurrell     John                   farmer
	Hurring     George                 wheelwright
	Hyde-Clarke Edward, Esq.           Burgh-Apton cottage
	Lamb        Robert Spence          farmer and assistant overseer,
	                                     Street farm
	Lamb        William                farmer
	Leeder      Edmund Albert          farmer, surveyor, and assessor
	                                     of taxes, Hillside farm
	Leeder      Palmer                 farmer; h Brooke
	Lovell      David                  blacksmith
	Lloyd       Stephen                sexton
	Nursey      Hy. Wm.                farmer, Town farm
	Nursey      Richard                farmer, Hall farm
	Parfitt     George                 farmer and surveyor
	Plumpton    Wm.                    National schoolmaster
	Redgrave    Moses                  bricklayer
	Stiles      Rev. George Edward
	              Carter, B.A. (Oxon)  curate
	Thursby     Rev. William Ford,
	              B.C.L. (Camb.)       rector, Rectory
	Weddup      William                postmaster
	Wyld        William                shopkeeper

From ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS on pages 13-16:

In the first paragraph,
"for 'East' Brooke, read 'West.'"