Norfolk: West Somerton

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

SOMERTON (WEST) village is pleasantly scattered at the foot and on the declivities of a gentle eminence, 9 miles N. by W. of Yarmouth. Its parish contains 248 inhabitants, and upwards of 1100 acres of land. Thomas Grove, Esq., is chief owner, and lord of the manor, which is mostly copyhold, subject to arbitrary fines. Joseph Hume, M.P., and Wm. Rising, Esqrs., have estates here.

The Church (St. Mary) is a thatched edifice, and its tower, like several others in this neighbourhood, is half circular and half octangular. The curacy was certified at £16, but it has been aumented with £1600 of Queen Anne's Bounty, and £200 given by Thos. Grove, Esq., the patron and owner of the tithes, in 1825. These sums were laid out in the purchase of land, and the living was valued at £60, in 1831. The tithes were commuted in 1840 for £317. 10s. 6d. per ann. The Rev. Richd. Daniel is the incumbent, and the Rev. J. Morton officiating curate.

In the reign of Henry II., Ralph de Granville, Lord Chief Justice of England, founded a Hospital here for lepers, subject to the priory of Butley, in Suffolk. On the Hall estate, human bones have occasionally been found, and in 1844, a stone jug and skeleton were dug up near the churchyard.

	Anderson James     farmer
	Dawson   Frederick farmer
	Dyball   James     shopkeeper
	Gaze     John      blacksmith
	Gedge    John      shoemaker
	Howes    Geo.      joiner & wheelwright
	Kipping  John      shopkeeper
	Leach    Stephen   farmer
	Plane    Hannah    schoolmistress
	Rising   Wm. jun.  gent., chief constable, Somerton Hall