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Norfolk: Hempnall

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

[Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

HEMPNALL, a large scattered village, 9 miles S. of Norwich, and 7 miles N.W. of Bungay, is in Depwade hundred, rural deanery, union, and petty sessional division, Harleston county court district, Ipswich bankruptcy district, Stratton polling district of South Norfolk, and Norfolk archdeaconry. It had 881 inhabitants in 1881, living on 3626 acres of land, and has a rateable value of £5073. The soil belongs to many proprietors, and mostly lies in J.T. Mott, Esq.'s manor of Hempnall and Canons, and partly in Mrs. F.W. Irby's manor of Boyland-cum-Fritton. J.T. Mott, Thomas Nash Ward, Esqs., Mrs. Ward and Mrs. Irby own most part of the soil. The fair has been discontinued.

The CHURCH (St. Margaret) is a large structure, comprising nave, aisles extending the whole length of the building, and a square tower with clock and one bell. It was partly rebuilt and thoroughly restored in 1857, at a cost of £1400, when several mural paintings, two piscinas, and a quantity of painted glass were discovered. Eighteen new windows were inserted, and a new bell turret was erected on the tower. Here are several tablets of the Rolfe and other families. The church is said to have been almost entirely destroyed by fire at some remote period, and was again burnt down over 300 years ago.

J.T. Mott, Esq., is impropriator of the rectory and patron of the vicarage, which was valued in the King's Book at £6 13s. 4d., and is in the incumbency of the Rev. George Thomas Hall, B.A., who has 48 acres of glebe. The tithes were commuted in 1841 for £611 15s. to the impropriator, and £388 5s. to the vicar.

The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have each a small chapel here.

The SCHOOL was erected in 1847, at a cost of £500, and was capable of containing over 100 children. It has since been enlarged, and is now capable of containing 200 children, while a library for the use of the parishioners is connected with it. It is now under the management of the Hempnall School Board.

The Town Lands which have been held in trust from a period earlier than the reign of Elizabeth, for paying the tenths, fifteenths and other taxes, and for the relief of the poor, consist of 72A. 1R. 21P., let for about £100 a year, and is apportioned thus:- one-fourth to repairs of the church, one-fourth to the school, and the remainder for general parish purposes, subject to the approval of the Charity Commissioners. The poor have a yearly rent-charge of 10s., left by Robert Row in 1662, and another of 3s. 4d. given by an unknown donor. Part of the town lands was exchanged at the enclosure in 1815.

In June, 1854, an ancient British cemetery was discovered in a field to the east of Hempnall, containing a quantity of cinerary urns, burnt bones, and ashes. The deposits seemed to have been made at regular distances of ten or twelve feet in parallel rows, and in some instances two pots of ashes were found together. Most of the urns were broken, and of the rudest description; but in one spot, a few feet south of the general interments, a mass of black soil and ashes was found mingled with fragments of dark pottery of a superior character, apparently Anglo-Roman.

POST, MONEY ORDER, and SAVINGS BANK at William Alpe's. Letters arrive at 7 a.m., and are despatched at 5.15 p.m., viâ Norwich.

	Alpe       William          postmaster
	Arnold     William          farmer
	Binley     John             schoolmaster
	Brock      Robert           farmer, Park farm
	Buck       Henry            farmer and corn miller
	Buck       William          farmer and owner
	Buck       William, jun.    farmer
	Bullen     John             watchmaker & jeweller
	Burrage    -                baker and shopkeeper
	Cunningham John             beerhouse, The Two Friends
	Dickerson  John             basket mkr. & thtchr
	D'Oyly     Henry French     frmr. & owner
	Earle      George           vict. Swan Inn
	Ellis      Wm.              farmer & veterinary surgeon
	Feltham    Elijah           blacksmith
	French     John             shopkeeper and farmer
	Frost      James            vict. Horse Shoe Inn
	Goose      William          farmer
	Goose      William, jun.    farmer
	Hall       Rev. George
	             Thomas, B.A.   The Vicarage
	Harrison   Charles          shoemaker
	Harvey     Thomas           painter and glazier
	Hickling   Colby            pork butcher
	Hickling   Frederick        harness maker
	Hipperson  Samuel           farmer and owner
	Howard     Mrs Elizabeth    fmr. & owner
	Kennedy    Wm.              shopkeeper and tailor
	Knights    William          baker & shopkeeper
	Lansdell
	  Bros.                     blacksmiths
	Lansdell   Frederick        (Brothers)
	Lansdell   Lewis            (Brothers)
	Lansdell   Walter           (Brothers)
	Laskey     John             shoemaker & shopkeeper
	Leggatt    Jas.             vict. & carrier, King's Hd
	Matthews   John             vict. Queen's Head
	Mullinger  Henry            farmer
	Muskett    George           miller and baker
	Nash       John             farmer and owner
	Nash       Wm.              farmer and machinist
	Payne      John             farmer and owner
	Peacher    Robert           farmer
	Rackham    William          shoemaker and parish clerk
	Read       Edward           farmer
	Read       Saml.            carpenter, bldr. & cntrctr
	Read       William          bricklayer
	Riches     John             farmer
	Roberts    Edwin & James    wheelwrights
	Roberts    Henry            farmer and dealer
	Roberts    Henry            shoemaker
	Roberts    James            farmer and owner
	Roberts    James, jun.      farmer
	Robinson   Mr James
	Roper      Benjamin         farmer
	Scarnell   William          carpenter
	Seaman     Frederick        corn miller
	Smith      John             farmer
	Smith      William          vict. Nelson Inn
	Spaul      Isaac            shoemaker, Lunda green
	Sporl      William          farmer
	Stammers   John Jph.        grocer & draper
	Tooley     Charles          farmer and owner
	Ward       Mrs Susan        farmer and owner
	Ward       Thomas Nash      farmer & owner
	Wilson     John             beerhse. The Woodman

CARRIER - James Leggatt, to Norwich, Wed. and Sat.


See also the Hempnall parish page.

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Copyright © Pat Newby.
December 2005