Norfolk: Thurton

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

THURTON, 7½ miles S.E. of Norwich, is a parish in Loddon and Clavering union and petty sessional division, Norwich county court district and bankruptcy court district, Loddon polling district of South Norfolk, Norfolk archdeaconry, and West Brooke rural deanery. It had 199 inhabitants in 1881, living on 756 acres of land. The rateable value is £1332 6s. 10d.

The soil belongs chiefly to Sir Reginald William Proctor-Beauchamp, Bart., J.P., who is also lord of the manor. Thurton Hall is an ancient building of Elizabethan architecture, and contains a massive oaken staircase and some finely wainscoted rooms. The tithes have been commuted for £220 per annum.

In 1707 several Roman coins were found here of Gallienus, Victorinus, Tetricus, Quintillas, &c.

The CHURCH (St. Ethelbert) is a small thatched fabric, consisting of nave, chancel, south porch, and square embattled tower with three bells. The north and south doorways are fine specimens of Norman architecture, and the east window is filled with stained glass, representing the Eucharist, Christ carrying the cross, and the meeting with the Centurion. This glass was brought from Rouen Cathedral by a former Lady Beauchamp, at the time of the first French Revolution. There are fragments of stained glass in all the other windows of the church. The church was restored at a cost of £250 in 1881, defrayed by Sir Reginald William Proctor-Beauchamp, Bart., who is impropriator of the tithes, and patron of the living.

The perpetual curacy is valued at £70 a year, and in the incumbency of the Rev. Robert Thomas Whitmarsh, who resides at Ashby. The Rev. G.W. Daubeny, B.A., is the resident curate. It was augmented from 1767 to 1824 with £1000 of Queen Anne's Bounty.

The Fuel Allotment, 6A. 2P., awarded at the enclosure in 1801, is let for £6 a year. The poor have also 20s. a year, left by Thomas Spooner in 1630.

POST OFFICE at George Leverett's. Letters from Norwich, viâ Brooke, arrive at 6 a.m., and depart at 4.30 p.m. Loddon is the nearest Money Order Office and Telegraph Office.

	ATMORE    Jeremiah         grocer & assistant overseer
	BICKERS   Samuel           victualler, Red Lion
	BRANCH    John Cossey      farmer and surveyor
	CARTER    Miss             National schoolmistress
	COSSEY    Stephen          farmer; h Langley Abbey
	DAUBENY   Rev. George
	            William, B.A.  curate, The Parsonage
	ELLIS     William          blacksmith, machinist, wheelwright and
	                             builder
	GEORGE    Isaac            victualler, George and Dragon, and farmer
	LEVERETT  George           shoemaker, sexton and postmaster
	SAYER     William          market gardener
	SMITH     Mrs Ann          shopkeeper
	SMITH     George           market gardener
	SPENCE    Robert Riches    farmer, guardian & churchwarden,
	                             Hall farm
	WHITMARSH Rev. Robert
	            Thomas         incumbent; h Ashby