GENUKI: Norfolk: Fordham, Norfolk

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

FORDHAM is a parish and small village, 3 miles S. of Downham, having a station on the Downham and Stoke Ferry Railway, near the river Wissey, which is here crossed by a bridge. The parish is in Downham union and county court district, Lynn bankruptcy district, Clackclose petty sessional division and hundred, Downham polling district of West Norfolk, Fincham rural deanery, and Norfolk archdeaconery.

It had 180 inhabitants in 1881, living on 2133 acres, and has a rateable value of £2862 10s. Miss Rebecca Martin owns 762 acres of land, and the rest belongs to E.R.M. Pratt, Esq., the lord of the manor. An ancient farm-house, in this parish, called Snore Hall, was long the seat of the Skipwiths, one of whom is said to have received King Charles here, a short time before he surrendered to the Scotch at Newark.

The CHURCH (St. Mary) is a small edifice, built in 1730, after the old one had fallen down. It has a nave and chancel, and turret at the west end, containing one bell.

The Dean and Chapter are patrons of the benefice, which is a perpetual curacy, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners are appropriators of part of the tithes. The benefice was augmented, from 1757 to 1824, with £800 of Queen Anne's Bounty laid out in land, and was consolidated with Ryston and Roxham in 1876, the present value of the united livings being £300 per annum. The benefice is held by the Rev. Robert Rogers, M.A., who has here a handsome residence of white brick, standing in pleasant grounds, and erected in 1880, at a cost of £1770, towards which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners gave £1550.

The School, built in 1856 by the late E.R. Pratt, Esq., is attended by 19 children, and is supported by the lord of the manor and by Government grant. In 1844 some farm buildings and two cottages near the church were destroyed by fire. Here is a station on the Downham and Stoke Ferry Railway.

POST from Downham, which is the nearest Money Order and Telegraph Office.

         Clarke    Miss Elizabeth     schoolmistress
         Engledow  William            farmer
         Gill      Matthew            farm bailiff
         Humphrey  Charles            farmer, High house
         Matthews  Abraham            farmer, Snore Hall
         Pell      William            bootmaker
         Rogers    Rev. Robert, M.A.  incumbent
         Russell   Thomas             farmer

Here is a station on the branch railway from Downham to Stoke Ferry.

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Norfolk: Fordham

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