GENUKI: Norfolk: Morningthorpe, Norfolk

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

MORNINGTHORPE, or Mourningthorpe, 11 miles S. of Norwich, and 8 miles N. by W. of Harleston, is a parish in Depwade union, hundred, and petty sessional division, Harleston county court district, Ipswich bankruptcy district, Long Stratton polling district of South Norfolk, Depwade rural deanery, archdeaconry of Norfolk, and diocese of Norwich. It had 119 inhabitants in 1881, living on 1001 acres of land. The rateable value is £1552. The soil is held by several owners. Mrs Fanny Howes is lady of the manor of Morningthorpe.

Mrs. Isabella Irby is lady of Boyland manor, which extends into this and several other parishes, and resides at Boyland Hall, a large and handsome Elizabethan mansion with pleasant grounds, in a picturesque valley in this parish. This mansion was built in 1571, and was thoroughly repaired in 1804, by a late owner, Rear-Admiral the Hon. F.P. Irby, who collected on the coast of Africa a large quantity of cowrie shells, with which he studded the interior of an alcove, in a shrubbery, near the hall, which has over its entrance porch a fine bust of Queen Elizabeth, removed from a niche at the demolition of Tilbury House. It has recently been much improved and enlarged, and the dining-room contains a number of valuable portraits, including one of Queen Elizabeth, painted from life by Lucas de Heere.

In this parish is an orchard of 30 acres in extent, supposed to be the largest in the county, in the occupation of Mr. Samuel Westgate.

The CHURCH (St. John the Baptist) comprises nave, chancel, and round tower with three bells, and was restored in 1840. Here are several mural monuments, a fine piscina, and two handsome stained glass windows in memory of Admiral Irby and his wife. In front of the gallery is a fine carving of the royal arms, cut from a solid block of oak, by Ollett.

The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the King's Book at £7, and now having 7 acres of glebe, and a yearly rent-charge of £300 in lieu of tithes. The Lord Chancellor is patron, and the Rev. Edmund Nelson Rolfe, M.A., incumbent. The rectory-house is a good residence with pleasant grounds, and was built in 1840. The Rev. Thomas Howes, a former rector, who died in 1814, aged 86 was a learned divine, and author of 'Critical Observations on Books, Ancient and Modern,' in 4 vols. 8vo.

The Town Lands, 18A. 2R. 18P., is at present farmed by the churchwarden for the benefit of the church. The sum of £16 left by John Ward, to provide fuel for two poor families, was laid out in 1646, in the purchase of 1½ acre of land at Stratton St. Michael. A piece of land near the common consisting of 2A. 3R. 37P., left for the benefit of the poor, is now occupied by the churchwarden.

POST - LETTER BOX cleared at 6.20 p.m., viâ Long Stratton, which is the nearest Money Order and Telegraph Office.

         Alexander   Arthur              farmer
         Barnes      John Mathew         farmer
         Clark       Mrs Ann             blacksmith
         Curteis     Miss Eleanor Sarah
         Dickerson   George              thatcher
         Formby      William             farmer
         Howes       Mrs Fanny           Manor house
         Hylton      Henry Hayward       farmer
         Irby        Mrs Isabella        Boyland hall
         Mickleburgh Frederick           farmer
         Rolfe       Rev. Edmund, M.A.   The Rectory
         Westgate    Samuel              farmer, brickmaker, and merchant
         Wright      Alfred              shoemaker

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Norfolk: Morningthorpe

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