GENUKI: Norfolk: Old Catton, Norfolk

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

CATTON is a delightful suburban village and parish, 2 miles N. of Norwich, in Taverham hundred, St. Faith's union, Norwich county court and bankruptcy district, Norwich polling district of South Norfolk, rural deanery of Taverham, and archdeaconry and diocese of Norwich. It contained 751 inhabitants in 1881, and about 900 acres of land, belonging to a number of proprietors, many of whom reside here, and have purchased the rectorial tithes of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, who are lords of the manor.

There are numerous picturesque mansions and villas in this parish. The chief are, Catton Hall, a splendid mansion in a well-wooded park of 70 acres, the residence of S. Gurney Buxton, Esq.; the Grove, occupied by Thomas John Carter Rackham, Esq., and used as a private asylum; the Firs, the well built residence of Walter Overbury, Esq. Fred. Bullard, Esq., T. Carter, Esq., Donald Steward, Esq., and others have beautifully situated and splendid residences here.

During the repairs of a large barn in this parish in 1850, a considerable number of fragments of pillars and capitals, shafts, mouldings, &c. in Caen stone was found imbedded in the walls. They were chiefly of the Transitional Norman period, and appeared to have been merely used as building material, having probably belonged to some ecclesiastical building in the immediate locality.

The CHURCH (St. Margaret) is in the Perpendicular style, and comprises nave, chancel, south aisle, a double transept, a large porch, and an ivy-covered tower, round at the base and octagonal above. The aisle was built in 1850, at a cost of £400, and a double transept was added in 1851 by George Morse, Esq., at a cost of £1500. The transepts are separated by arches resting on pillars, having richly foliated capitals. A handsome organ was presented to the church in 1880 by S. Gurney Buxton, Esq. Many of the windows are well executed and filled with richly stained glass from the designs of the Rev. Richard Hart, a former vicar. Here are numerous mural monuments to the Corie, Greene, Bignold, Chamberlin, Ives, Buckle, Brereton, Bushby, Lincoln, Morse, Adams, and other families.

The living, valued in the King's Book at £4 13s. 9d., is a vicarage, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, and incumbency of the Rev. Gerrard Alexander Crookshank, M.A., who has £158 17s. a year vicarial tithes, £10 a year in lieu of rectorial tithes, and 17 acres of glebe.

The National School was built in 1874 by Samuel Gurney Buxton, Esq., and is in receipt of the government grant. It is attended by about 70 children. There is a reading room for working men, and a lending library attached to the school.

Mr. Mark Addey gave by will, in February 1729, and that of his wife Elizabeth, dated December 1732, certain lands in Scottow, now belonging to Sir Thomas Durrant, which are charged with the yearly payment of £15, to be applied as follows: £1 to the minister for preaching a sermon yearly, and 2s. to the clerk; 10s. to be applied in the purchase of bread for the poor, and the residue in the education and apprenticing of 6 boys, or whom 2 are to be taken from the parish of St. Peter Mancroft Norwich, and 4 from this parish. William Bussey bequeathed the sum of 20s. for the use of 20 of the neediest poor, to be paid yearly; John Warner 10s., to be distributed in bread; a Mr. Wall 2½ acres of land, which was exchanged in 1826 for 3A. 1R. 16P., the rents of which are applied in the purchase of bread for the poor.

John Norman, Esq. bequeathed 6d. each to 20 poor people, to be distributed yearly on November 1, and 20s. to the vicar, and 2s. 6d. to the clerk, for a sermon to be preached in the church once in 2 years. By virtue of a commission out of the Court of Chancery, an inquisition was held at Norwich Castle in June 1701, when it was decreed that 'Robert Greene, his heirs and assigns, in respect of certain lands in the parish (now the property of S. Gurney Buxton, Esq.) pay the sum of 10s. 2d., and that William Sutton, his heirs and assigns, by the same decree pay the sum of 9s. 4d.' These sums are also distributed by the churchwardens in bread for the poor.

POST and MONEY ORDER OFFICE at Mr. Henry Harrowven's. Letters are received at 4.30 a.m., and despatched at 6 p.m., viâ Norwich. Wall Letter Box at Catton Grove villas, cleared at 6 p.m. Nearest Telegraph Office, Norwich.

         Attoe      Geo. Wm.          farmer & lime burner
         Attoe      Henry             assistant overseer
         Attoe      William           lime burner
         Badcock    William Edward    blacksmith
         Berney     The Misses
         Boyce      John              brewer (Bullard & Son)
         Bright     Mr Henry
         Brownsmith Mr John
         Bullard    Frederick         brewer (B. & Sons)
         Buxton     Samuel Gurney,
                      Esq., J.P.      Catton hall
         Carter     Mr Thomas         The Elms
         Clarke     George            market gardener
         Cooke      Mr Henry
         Crookshank Rev. Gerrard
                      Alexander, M.A. vicar of Catton
         Cubitt     William Jary      wine and spirit merchant, Norwich
         Dennington William           market gardener
         Gowing     George            farmer; h Hellesdon
         Guymer     Mrs Mary Anne
         Harrowven  Henry             blacksmith
         Harrowven  William           gamekeeper
         Hart       Mrs Jane
         Holmes     Mrs Harriet
         Howlett    Miss Ellen        schoolmistress
         Jackson    Rev. Michael      rector of St. Paul's, Norwich,
                      Satterthwaite     St. Paul's Vicarage
         Jermy      William           vict. The Maid's Head
         Lubbock    Miss Marianne
         Marsh      William           chemist's assistant
         Mason      John              brick merchant
         Millard    Mrs Isabel
         Orris      Alfred            farmer
         Orsborn    Mrs Anna          builder
         Orsborn    George            builder and contractor (Orsborn Bros.)
         Orsborn    Robert            builder and contractor (Orsborn Bros.)
         Overbury   Walter            solicitor, Norwich, The Firs
         Plowman    Robert            saddler and vict. The Magpie
         Rackham    Elisha            market gardener
         Rackham    Thomas Carter     private asylum, Catton grove
         Rackham    Thomas Hanworth   solicitor, Norwich, The Cottage
         Sewell     Mrs Mary
         Sidney     Mr William John
         Stevens    Mr Henry William
         Steward    Donald            brewer (S. & Patteson)
         Thurgar    William John      grocer and draper
         Walpole    Mrs Helen
         Wells      Mr Henry          Rose lodge

CARRIERS from Norwich to Aylsham, etc. pass through daily

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Norfolk: Old Catton

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