Norfolk: Cley next the Sea

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

[Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

CLEY-NEXT-THE-SEA is a small town and port on the river Glaven, about a mile from the beach, 10 miles E. of Wells, 12 miles W. of Cromer, 4 miles N.N.W. of Holt, and 25 miles N.N.W. of Norwich. It is in Erpingham union, Holt county court district, Norwich bankruptcy district, Holt petty sessional division and hundred, Holt polling district of North Norfolk, Holt rural deanery and Norwich archdeaconry. It had 721 inhabitants in 1881, living on 2150 acres, and has a rateable value of £3675 8s. 9d., and a gross estimated rental of £4185.

The Eastern and Midlands Railway (formerly Lynn and Fakenham), now in course of construction, is planned to pass through this parish, and a station is proposed to be built near the centre of the village. About 300 acres of the parish is good marshland. W.H.C. Hardy, Esq., is lord of the manor and owner of most of the soil: but W.J.J. Bolding, Esq., and Lord Calthorpe have estates here. Cley had formerly a small market on Saturday, and a pleasure fair on the last Friday and Saturday in July.

The Harbour is small and shallow. The water-way leading from it to the sea forms a junction with the Blakeney channel. Cley is now under the port of Wells, and the Custom House is at Blakeney. The exports are chiefly corn, and the imports coal, cake, &c.

The CHURCH (St. Margaret) is a handsome edifice, comprising nave with aisles and clerestory, south porch with parvise, and square embattled tower at the north-west angle containing one bell. The transepts and western porch are now in ruins, but the chancel was restored in 1882, when the ancient staircase to the rood loft was thrown open and a credence table erected. [The] chancel contains the sedilia and piscina, and near the west doorway is a holy water stoup. The seats are modern, the ends are ancient and exhibit poppy-heads. There is an elegant oak pulpit, with the date 1611 on it. The font is octagonal, and bears carvings of the seven sacraments.

In the north aisle is a brass, dated 1429, representing John Yslington in a priest's habit, and in the south aisle is a fine brass with representations of John Symonds, his wife and eight children. In the churchyard is the altar-tomb of Captain John Grieve, who assisted Sir Cloudesley Shovel in burning the ships in the port of Tripoli, in Barbary, in 1676.

The parish Register dates from the year 1538.

The rectory, valued in the King's Book at £22 13s. 4d., is in the patronage of the Purdy family, and incumbency of the Rev. John Chanter Blackmore, who has 21A. of glebe, a yearly tithe rent-charge of £405, and a spacious Elizabethan residence, built in 1859 at a cost of £1300.

Here are chapels belonging to the Primitive Methodists and Methodist Free Church.

A School Board was established here in 1874, and now consists of Messrs. C.W.H. Cozens-Hardy (chairman), George Haycock (vice-chairman), William Lown, James Fox, and Stephen Starling. Mr. E. Hudson is clerk. The Board now use what was formerly the British School, built in 1860 in the Elizabethan style, at a cost of £600. There is an attendance of 140 children.

A Reading Room and Library was established in 1876, and has upwards of 400 volumes and 30 members. Mr. J.J. Lane is honorary secretary.

In 1406, James, son of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, and heir-apparent to the crown, being on a voyage to France, was driven by stress of weather on this coast. and was detained by the mariners of Cley. He was sent to King Henry, who, learning from the Prince's protector, the Earl of Orkney, that he was going to France for his education, said, 'My brother of Scotland might as well have sent him to me, for I can speak French;' and forthwith remitted the Prince and his guardian to prison, where they continued for seventeen years, till the third year of Henry the Sixth's reign, when the prince immediately ascended the throne of Scotland.

POST, MONEY ORDER OFFICE, SAVINGS BANK and TELEGRAPH OFFICE at Mr. Edward Hudson's. Letters viâ East Dereham.

         Allen      Philip            farmer
         Anderson   John              beerhouse
         Blackmore  Rev. J.C.         rctr. The Rectory
         Blyth      Mrs Elizabeth A.  pork butcher
         Brett      Howard            joiner & wheelwright
         Brown      Rev. John         U.M.F.C.
         Burroughes Stephen Barnabas  miller, and corn merchant and baker
         Chasteney  James             tailor
         Clarke     Thomas            bootmaker
         Codling    John              vict. The Swallows Inn
         Cooke      Henry             vict. King's Head Inn
         Cozens
           -Hardy   Clement Wm. Hardy (brewer), The Hall
         Dawes      Edward            carrier, and agent for G.E.R.
                                        Parcels Office
         Fox        Jas.              frmr. & oversr. Newgate farm
         Haycock    George            farmer
         Hearne     Miss Mary Ann     shopkeeper
         Hooke      William Hy.       tailor & draper
         Howes      William           vict. Fishmongers Arms Inn,
                                        & horse & trap letter
         Hudson     Edward            postmaster, clerk to School Board,
                                        assistant overseer, & rate
                                        collector, stationer and fancy
                                        dealer, tobacconist, dyers agent
                                        and dealer in patent medicines
         Hudson     Mrs Martha        Randall's bldgs
         Jarvis     Charles           bricklayer
         Jarvis     Samuel            joiner and carpenter
         King       William Edward    coast guard boatman
         Lane       John Geo.         Board schoolmaster
         Lee        George            blacksmith and farmer
         Leeder     Robert John       butcher
         Lewis      Robert            master mariner
         Long       George            shoemaker
         Lowne      Wm.               farmer & vessel owner
         Mitchell   Mrs Elizabeth
         Moore      Jeremiah          master mariner
         Page &                       corn, coal, &c. merchants;
           Turner                       and at Blakeney
         Parker     Hy. Nichols       butcher
         Parlett    David             master mariner
         Pinchen    Henry             master mariner and vessel owner
         Pitcher    John Batterby     baker
         Porritt    James William     farmer
         Porter     Mrs Eliza
         Proudford  Richard           earthenware dlr
         Randall    Laurence          coal, corn & frntre. dlr.
                                        & vict. George and Dragon Inn
         Rayner     Jno.              statnr. newsagt. & tea dlr
         Skoyles    Miss              Board schoolmistress
         Stangroom  Fredk.            grocer, draper and druggist,
                                        ironmonger, and wholesale and
                                        retail glass, china and
                                        earthenware dlr. agt. for the
                                        Reliance Life, Imperial Fire,
                                        & Accidental Insce Cos
         Stangroom  James             tailor
         Starling   Stephen           grocer, draper and registrar of
                                        marriages
         Sumpter    Walter, M.D.,     surgeon to Erpingham union and
                      L.S.A.            surgeon to Coast Guard
         Taylor     Edward            farmer, Swan's lodge
         Turner     Mrs
         Twiddy     John              baker
         Williamson James             sexton
         Wilson     Henry             horse and trap letter
         Woodhouse  James             shopkeeper
 

See also the Cley next the Sea parish page.

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Copyright © Pat Newby.
January 2009