Norfolk: Buckenham

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

[Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

BUCKENHAM FERRY is a pleasant village, on a bold elevation above the Yare, 9 miles E. by S. of Norwich, having a Station on the Norwich and Yarmouth Railway. It is in Blofield union and hundred, Norwich county court district and bankruptcy district, Blofield and Walsham petty sessional division, Blofield polling district of South Norfolk, Blofield rural deanery, and Norwich archdeaconry. It had 113 inhabitants in 1881, living on 931 acres of land, of a rateable value of about £1400.

Sir Reginald Proctor Beauchamp is lord of the manor and owner of the soil. The Godsalve family were lords of the manor, till after the reign of Henry VIII., and their arms may be seen in the carved wainscot of the old hall, now a farmhouse. When the railway was constructing in 1844, several Roman urns were discovered in excavating the ground.

The CHURCH (St. Nicholas) is a small but handsome building of Perpendicular architecture, and consists of nave, chancel, south porch, and tower. The latter is octagonal, and contains one bell, and the south porch is used as a vestry, [the] entrance to the church being through a handsome new Norman doorway in the tower.

The interior of the [edifice] was well restored in 1829 by the late rector. The seats are of oak, and the roof is panelled [and] decorated with gold stars on a blue ground. The east window is filled with stained glass, representing St. Nicholas and the four Evangelists. In the chancel is a piscina, and also a tablet of the Newbery family; and on the south side is a Norman doorway.

Sir Reginald Proctor Beauchamp, Bart., is patron of the living, which is a rectory, valued in the King's Book at £6. The Rev. George Elwin, B.A., is the incumbent, and has a good rectory house, built in 1828 in the style of a Norman chateau. The tithes were commuted for £137. There are 29 acres of glebe.

A School is supported by a voluntary rate, and is placed under Government inspection, and attended by over 40 children.

POST viâ Burlingham. Despatch at 3.30 p.m. Blofield is the nearest Money Order and Telegraph Office.

         Chester   William            stationmaster
         Elwin     Rev. George, B.A.  The Rectory
         Gilbert   Arthur William     farmer
         Stanley   Miss Mary Ann      schoolmistress
 

See also the Buckenham parish page.

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Copyright © Pat Newby.
May 2003