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Norfolk: Stratton Strawless

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

[Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

STRATTON-STRAWLESS is a small village, 4½ miles S. by E. of Aylsham, and 7½ miles N. of Norwich, and its parish is in Aylsham union and county court district, South Erpingham hundred and petty sessional division, Norwich bankruptcy district, Aylsham polling district of North Norfolk, Ingworth rural deanery, and Norwich archdeaconry. It had 186 inhabitants in 1881, and comprises 1583 acres of land, including an open heath of 341 acres, and several large plantations. The rateable value is £1634.

The whole is the property of Charles Robert Marsham, Esq., who is lord of the manor, owner and occupier of the Hall, a large white brick mansion in a well-wooded park, where there is a large sheet of water crossed by a three-arched bridge. In the grounds is a large cedar tree, upwards of 150 years old.

This manor has been held, since the time of Edward I., by the Marsham family; one of whom, Robert Marsham, Esq., F.R.S., who died in 1797, aged 90, was a distinguished naturalist, and excelled much in the art of planting and rearing trees, as may be seen by the flourishing plantations round the Hall. Several others of this family have been mayors of Norwich, and one of them represented that city in Parliament about the middle of the 16th century. The Hall was built by William Marsham, Esq., at the latter end of the 17th century.

The CHURCH (St. Margaret) has a massive but short square tower, rebuilt in 1422, and now containing six bells, all bearing inscriptions showing them to have been cast in the early part of the 17th century. It has some curious specimens of stained glass, and several handsome monuments, one of which has a recumbent effigy; and on an altar-tomb of black marble is the white marble effigy of Thomas Marsham (ob. 1638), in his shroud, leaning on a pillow, above which are two angels, blowing trumpets. In a chancel is a very fine altar-tomb of black and white marble, with four effigies of Henry Marsham (ob. 1692), his second wife and his son and daughter. Here were formerly many brasses of the Marshams, but most of them have disappeared.

The building was re-roofed and repewed in 1844 at a cost of £240. In 1882 the chancel was partly restored; also a new pulpit, prayer desk, and lectern were placed in the church by the rector; a new organ was presented by Miss Helen Gordon Matchett, daughter of the rector, at a cost of £150.

The rectory, valued in the King's Book at £8 8s., was augmented in 1794, with £200 of Queen Anne's Bounty, and is in the patronage of the Rev. Henry Philip Marsham, M.A., of Rippon Hall, Hevingham. The Rev. Henry Horace Matchett, M.A., is the rector. The rectory house was built in 1873 at a cost of £1000. The glebe is 32 acres, and the tithes were commuted about 20 years ago for £287 per annum.

The SCHOOL was built in 1871, and is supported by voluntary school rate.

In 1693, Thomas Bulwer left £100, to be laid out in land, &c., for the relief of the poor of the parish, whether resident in it or not. There are now belonging to this charity 21A. 2R. 6P. of land, let for £28, and £133 three per cent. consols, purchased partly with money arising from the sale of timber. In 1683, Henry Marsham charged the Hall estate with the yearly payment of 20s. for the poor, 20s. for a sermon, and 20s. for the ringers.

POST from Norwich, viâ St. Faith's. Wall Letter Box cleared on week days at 3.45 p.m.; Sundays 8.30 a.m.

         Bircham    John            parish clerk
         Bowman     Benj.           farmer and steward
         Bowman     Wm. Jas.        farmer & surveyor
         Browning   Thomas Osborne  farm bailiff, Hill farm
         Case       Thomas Henry    farmer, Hill farm, and Hevingham
         Claxton    William         farmer, Wood end, and Park farms;
                                      h Norwich
         Dunning    James           blacksmith
         Fiddy      John            carpenter & wheelwright
         Fitz-Roy   Mrs Hugh        The Hall
         Gladden    John Miller     farmer, Ivy hs
         Grice      Jonathan Lee    grocer
         Horningold Miss            schoolmistress
         Marsham    Chas. Robt.
                      Esq., J.P.    The Hall
         Matchett   Rev. Henry
                      Horace, M.A.  rector & chaplain, R.N. The Rectory
         Powell     Alfred Edward   farmer and overseer, The Beeches
         Savage     Robert          gamekeeper
         Sergeant   Robert          farmer
         Smith      James           farmer
         Stannard   Jeremiah        gamekeeper
         Vincent    Davis           farm steward, Dairy farm
 

See also the Stratton Strawless parish page.

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Copyright © Pat Newby.
March 2006