Hide

Norfolk: Ormesby St Margaret

hide
Hide

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

ORMESBY (GREAT,) or Ormesby St. Margaret, is a large and handsome village, about one mile from the sea, and 5 miles N. by W. of Yarmouth; and has annexed to its parish the hamlet and manor of SCRATBY, which lies about ¾ of a mile to the north-east. They contain together 776 inhabitants, of whom 645 are in Ormesby, and 131 in Scratby.

Ormesby St. Margaret comprises about 1600 acres of land, belonging to a number of freeholders, some of whom have neat mansions here; but the Rev. Gibson Lucas and the Rev. Charles Lucas are joint lords of the manor, which anciently belonged to the Ormesby family. One of the four co-heiresses and daughters of the last Sir Thomas de Ormesby, gave birth to Alice, the famous mistress of Edward III. The village is said to have been anciently a market town, and the inhabitants are exempt from toll in Yarmouth, and from serving on county juries.

Ormesby Hall, the seat of the Dowager Lady Lacon, relict of the late Sir Edmund Knowles Lacon, Bart., is a large handsome mansion, in the plain Gothic style, erected since the year 1810, and standing in a verdant and well-wooded park of 60 acres, commanding a fine view of the sea and the surrounding country. The Lacons were originally settled in Shropshire, and afterwards at Otley, in Yorkshire. Sir Edmund Lacon, who died in 1820, was created a baronet in 1818. Sir E.H.K. Lacon, the present baronet, resides at Ormesby House, in Ormesby St. Michael.

The large and pleasant mansion of R.G. Bosanquet, Esq., was purchased by him, in 1839, of the Rev. J. Symonds, and has recently been repaired at a considerable expense.

The Church, dedicated to St. Margaret, has several monuments of the knightly family of Clere, and a fine tower, surmounted by the figures of four monks in lieu of pinnacles.

The vicarages of Ormesby St. Margaret and Scratby, were consolidated with the curacy of Ormesby St. Michael, in 1548, and valued in the King's Book at £10. 10s., and in 1831, at £451, being augmented, in 1719, with £210, given by N. Symonds, Esq., and £200 of Queen Anne's Bounty. The rectorial tithes have been commuted for £796, and the vicarial tithes for £304 per annum. The Rev. Richard Foster, M.A., is the vicar, and the Dean and Chapter of Norwich are the patrons, and appropriators of the rectorial tithes, which are now leased to Sir E.H.K. Lacon.

There were anciently four churches in the united parishes, but two of them have been long in ruins, viz., St. Peter's, on an eminence between the two Ormesbys; and All Saints, at SCRATBY, a manor of 300 acres, with about 20 scattered houses, belonging to various owners.

Scratby Hall, now the seat of the Rev. Richard Foster, M.A., was purchased by him of Lady C.B. Hamilton. It was formerly the seat of the Earl of Home. It has a lofty tower at the angle of its south and west fronts, and is approached by a fine avenue from the church.

Scratby Cliff commands one of the finest sea prospects in England. The Commons of Ormesby and Scratby were enclosed under an act passed in 1842.

The FREE SCHOOL at Ormesby, for eight poor girls, was founded in 1723, by Jonathan Symonds, Esq. The endowment now consists of only three roods of land, adjoining the school, and an acre at Mautby, but is said to have originally comprised about 20 acres. It is now conducted as a National School, and the Rev. J. Symonds, the Dean of Norwich, the Vicar of Ormesby, and others, are the trustees.

The poor parishioners have six chaldrons of coal yearly from Sir E.H.K. Lacon, Bart., in consideration of a road and two pieces of [waste] land which his family were allowed to enclose in 1818 and 1828.

In the following Directory, those marked * are at SCRATBY, and the rest at ORMESBY ST. MARGARET:-

           Beck      George            corn miller
           Black     Captain Wm., R.N.
           Bosanquet Richard Godfrey,
                       Esq
           Boycott   Miss Emily
           Carr      Thomas            pork butcher
           Clowes    Jno.              solicitor (& Yarmouth)
           Derry     Stephen           blacksmith
           Dunt      John              tailor and draper
           Elliott   Thomas            butcher
           Fellowes  Wm. Manning       gent
           Ferrier   Richard Wm.       corn miller
         * Foster    Rev Richard, M.A. vicar, Scratby Hall
           George    John              vict. King's Arms
           Hallock   Chas.             plumber, glazier, &c
           Kidman    J.                plumber, glazier, &c
           Kitton    John              basket maker
           Lacon     Dowager Lady      Ormesby Hall
           Lacon     John Edw. Esq.    Ormesby Hall
           Lacon     Captain H.
           Manship   Benjamin          Overseer
           Moss      Miss Elizabeth M.
           Nichols   John              gardener
           Nichols   Robert            pork butcher
           Page      Charles           bricklayer
           Page      Joseph            schoolmaster
           Page      Thomas            farrier & cow leech
           Shalders  Samuel            shopkeeper and carrier to
                                         Norwich, Saturday
           Skoyles   Thomas            vict. Royal Oak
         * Sloman    Wm. Waters        gent. (chief constable of East Flegg)
           Tennant   Wm.               thatcher
           Underwood Wm. & Jph.        bricklayers
           Watlow    John              gardener
           Wright    John              blacksmith
 
              Boot & Shoe Mkrs.           FARMERS.
 
           Flegg     James             Agus      Wm.
           George    Jacob           * Catchpole N.
           Harris    George            Chapman   Wm., Manor House
           Nichols   Robert            Cockerill Samuel
           Read      Robert            Cooper    Wm.
           Simnet    Robert          * Dyball    Christms
           Wassey    David           * English   Mattw.
                                     * Gedge     Jonathan
              Joiners.                 Goodwin   David
                                     * Green     John
           Clark     Richard,          Page      Chas. (and beerhouse)
                       parish clerk    Page     Thomas
           Nichols   John              Parker    Robert
           Shreeve   John              Tennant   John
           Shrimplin James             Tennant   Martha
                                     * Tongate   James
              Wheelwrights.          * Woolston  Benj.
                                     * Woolston  B. jun
           Derry     Wm.             * Woolston  Robt.
           Skoyles   Thomas            Woolston  Rt. jun
 

See also the Ormesby St Margaret parish page.

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.

Copyright © Pat Newby.
October 2004