Norfolk: Pulham St Mary the Virgin

William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk 1845

[Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

PULHAM ST. MARY THE VIRGIN is a large village on an acclivity, 3 miles N.W. of Harleston, and has in its parish 924 souls, and 2998A. 3R. 32P. of land. Robert Copeman, Esq., of Aylesham [sic], is lord of the manor, in which are many copyholds, subject to arbitrary fines. The large commons here and in Pulham St. Mary Magdalen, have been enclosed under an Act of Parliament, passed in 1838.

The Church is a large antique fabric, with a lofty square tower, six bells, and a handsome porch in the florid Gothic style, ornamented with large figures of angels, &c. The stained glass in the east window was destroyed by a storm in 1818, when the south chancel window was also blown out. The rectory, with Pulham St. Mary Magdalen annexed to it, is valued in the King's Book at £33. 6s. 8d., and the tithes of the two parishes were commuted in 1837 for £1308 per annum. The glebe is 36A., with a good residence. The patronage is in the Crown, and the Rev. Wm. Leigh, M.A. is the incumbent.

In 1670, Wm. Pennoyer charged certain property which he left to Christ's Hospital in London, with the yearly payment of £4 for the poorest parishioners, and £5 for schooling poor children. He also directed that the future lords of the manor should pay one-fifteenth part of the rents and profits of the manors, so as to make up £20 a year for a schoolmaster, to teach 30 or 40 boys of the two parishes of Pulham and the adjacent places. Only £10 a year is paid by the present lord of the manor, and the master receives the above-named £5 out of Vaunces farm. The school is kept in a building called the Old Chapel.

The Town Farm, 16A., is let for £25. 10s. a year, of which £10 is paid to the master of the Sunday School, and the remainder is applied with the church rates. A meadow, which had been long held by the Overseers, was sold about forty years ago, for the purpose of paying off a debt that had been incurred in erecting a Parish Workhouse, and enclosing 10A. of land from the South Common. The workhouse is now converted into five cottages. These and 73 allotments are let to the poor at low rents. A small estate here is held by the service of blowing a horn at the opening of the manor court, and 7A. by being "the lord's hangman," but the duties of the latter office have long been obsolete.

         Allured    John              tailor
         Brown      John              maltster
         Canham     Thos.             vict. Maid's Head
         Cooper     Miss              ladies' school
         Cross      Robert            butcher
         Drane      Mrs Abigail       gentlewoman
         High       John              schoolmaster
         Leigh      Rev Wm. M.A.      Rectory
         Mills      Charles           surgeon
         Mullenger  George            wheelwright
         Parkerson  Miss                          [see note below]
         Pratt      Wm.               gent.       [see note below]
         Rodwell    Chas.             gent.       [see note below]
         Stanton    Eliz. & Robt.     corn millers
         Webb       Miss I.                       [see note below]
         Youell     John              carpenter
 
            Blacksmiths.                 Bricklayers.
 
         Clarke     Daniel            Goldsmith Thos.
         Lovelace   Thos.             Harrison  Saml.
         Thrower    John
 
                              FARMERS.
 
         Bentfield  Edw.              Harvey    John
         Bond       Thomas            Howe      Thomas
         Borrett    Michael           Mays      Wm.
         Burgess    James             Nurse     John
         Burgess    Thomas            Nurse     Wm.
         Colby      Caleb             Peak      Thomas
         Ebbage     John              Poppy     David
         Feek       Wm.               Pratt     Simpson
         Folkard    James             Reeve     John
         Gooderham  John              Webb      My. Ann
                                      Whaites   Ann
 
            Shopkeepers.                 Shoemakers.
 
         Brown      Mary and Maria    King      James
         Saunders   Wm.               Pritty    James
         Sidney     Churchyard        Vipond    Joseph
         Thirkettle Wm.
 

Note: in the original, these are
     Parkerson Miss and Webb Miss I.
     Pratt Wm. & Rodwell Chas. gent.

See also the Pulham St Mary the Virgin parish page.

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Copyright © Pat Newby.
June 2011