Wymondham is a market-town and parish in the hundred of Forehoe, 100 miles from London; it contains 694 houses and 3,567 inhabitants. This town is sup posed to be of Roman origin; the name however is Saxon, for win signifies a chosen or beloved place; so that Winmuntreham, is the village on the pleasant mount, and the situation exactly answers. It was given by William the Conqueror to William de Albini, chief butler to Henry the First, who founded a priory of Benedictines herein 1130, cell to the Abbey of St. Alban’s. In 1448 the priory was erected into an independent abbey, the east part of the church of which was made parochial. The annual revenues of this abbey at the dissolution were found to amount to 2111. 16s. 6d. In the inquiry made into the morals of these ecclesiastics, it appeared that the abbot was blameless, and all the monks, four excepted, who were convicted of incontinence. The east part of this venerable structure was at the dissolution converted into a parish church, and still remains, with the middle and west tower; the latter of which was built by the inhabitants, 1410. The choir, now ruined, was the burial-place of the Albinis.

This abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St. Thomas Becket. The present church consists of a nave with aisles, a large western tower, and another at the intersection of the nave with the transepts. At the east end, on the south side of this church, are some fragments of walls. The north aisle, porch, and towers, are of much later style than the nave and south aisle. There is a large font, greatly ornamented, and elevated by steps. An handsome organ was given to the parish, in 1793, by Mrs. Anne Farmer, which cost eight hundred pounds. There are three dissenting chapels in this town for the Independents, Baptists, and Methodists, besides the Quakers’ meeting, which is situated about a mile distance, on the site of Westwade chapel, formerly a cell to the abbey.

Wymondham is a vicarage, in the patronage of the Bishop of Ely. Queen Elizabeth founded a Free School here in 1559: there is also a parish Charity School, upon the Lancastrian plan, and a bridewell, the keeper of which, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, had forty shilling's annually, paid by the county treasurer, for his trouble. The inhabitants enjoy their writ of privilege, an ancient demesne, from serving at assizes, sessions, &c.

An old author remarks, this town "is famous for a mean manufacture, viz. the making of tops, spindles, spoons, and such like wooden ware, in abundance; men, women, and children, are continually employed in this work: an innocent employment for a maintenance, and much better than (if not so gentle as) idleness." This trade, however, has Jong since gone to decay, and another manufacture has been introduced, more profitable— the weaving bombasines and Norwich stuffs, which gives employment to numbers.

A little west of the church stands the very handsome seat of the Rev. Thos. Drake.

The two Ketts, Robert and William, who raised the dangerous insurrection in Norfolk, in the reign of Edward the Sixth, were natives of this place, and were tanners. William Kett was hanged on the church steeple, 1549, during the shrievalty of Sir W. Windham.

This town was set on fire by some incendiaries, June 11, 1615, when 300 houses were consumed; the loss sustained amounted to 40,000l. In 1631 it was visited by a dreadful pestilential disorder, which carried off a number of persons.

Wymondham gave birth to the famous and flourishing family of the Wyndhams or Windhams, which has ramified into several branches. Of this family is Henry Penruddock Wyndham, Esq. late member of parliament for Salisbury, a gentleman of approved literary talents: the Windhams of Somersetshire and Glamorganshire; of Fellbrigg, Cromer, and Earsham in Norfolk. William de Wymondham was overseer of the silver mines in Devonshire, and held other offices in the Exchequer. In 1295, Mr. W. sent seven hundred pounds of silver to the Mint. Sir William Wyndham, so celebrated for his Tory principles, was of this family: also the Right Hon. William Windham of Fellbrigg, for some time secretary at war.

The chief manor of Wymondham was sold to Sir Harry Hobart, lord chief justice of the common pleas in the reign of James I. in which family it now remains. The market day at Wymondham is on Friday; fairs, February 14, May 17, and September 7. This is a post town; there are two inns, the King’s Head, and the White Hart. The very extensive waste lands in this place have been enclosed within a few years. Within two miles on the left, is Burfield Hall, the seat of R. Burroughs, Esq.; Kimberley Hall, the seat of Lord Wodehouse, and the Grove, F. Crowe, Esq. Two miles on the right is Stanfield Hall, the seat of Rev. George Preston. One mile to the left is Wicklewood, containing 46 houses and 696 inhabitants. In this parish stands the house of industry for the poor of the hundred of Forehoe, erected in 1776. It is a very commodious building, planned under the direction and patronage of the late Sir Armine Wodehouse, father of Lord Wodehouse, of Kimberley. From Wymondham, passing through Hetherset and Cringleford, we cross the Yare river, and enter Eaton, in the road to Norwich; at the entrance of which city, on the right, is a turnpike road to London, through Ipswich.

WYMONDHAM is a small market town and parish, and the head of a county court district, with a station on the main line of the Great Eastern railway, which is also the junction of the branch from Forncett through Dereham to Wells, 99 miles by road and 115 ½ by rail from London, 9 ½ south-west-by-west from Norwich, 20 north from Thetford and 11 south-east from East Dereham, in the Mid division of the county, Forehoe hundred, petty sessional division and union, rural deanery of Hingham, Forehoe division, archdeaconry of Norfolk and diocese of Norwich: the parish is arranged for civil purposes in six divisions, viz. Wattlefield, Suton, Silfield, Downham, Market Street and Town Green: the town occupies an elevated site at the junction of the Bays and Tiffey rivers and is lighted with gas from works near the Fairland, the property of a company formed in 1848 and since made a limited company; the water supply is derived from wells. The church of St. Mary the Virgin, formerly the church of the abbey of SS. Mary and Alban, is a noble edifice of flint with stone dressings, consisting now only of the central octagonal tower (at present forming the eastern termination of the structure), a clerestoried nave of nine bays, aisles, north porch and a stately western tower, 142 feet in height, built in 1410—70, with octagonal buttress turrets at the angles, and containing a striking clock and 5 bells: the transepts and the choir (60 by 30 ft.), with a lady chapel on the north side, are either in ruins or have wholly disappeared, but the gable end of the chapter house still remains; the nave retains its original Norman structure, and has a noble Perpendicular clerestory and a superb ceiling: the north aisle, which is the wider of the two, is also Perpendicular, with a fine roof, repaired in 1845: the south aisle was rebuilt in the late Perpendicular period; the choir, with its adjacent chapels, formed the conventual church, the nave and north aisle having been assigned in 1349 to the parishioners, who, on account of disputes which arose as to the respective rights of the regular and secular clergy to ring the bells, erected the western tower: there is a finely carved font, and three tabernacled arches in terra cotta, of 15th cent, date, perhaps intended for sedilia: the portion of the building now used as a chancel was restored about 1868 by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners: there are memorials in the church to the Seaborne family, 1689—91: Thomas King, 55 years clerk and sexton, ob. 1680; Jeremiah Burroughes D.L., J.P. d, 1767, and others of that name; Rev. John Drake A.M. d. 1791, and others of the Drake family; Rev. Peter Petit A.M. commissary of Norfolk, d. 1788; to the Buckle family, 1707—40; and to the Talbot, Jermy, Proctor, Cann, Clarke, and other families: the church was reseated in 1837, and affords 1,017 sittings, 600 being free. The register dates from the year 1615. The living is a vicarage, commuted tithe rent-charge £799, average £608, net yearly value £497, including half an acre of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Norwich, and held since 1854 by the Rev. Robert Eden M.A. late fellow of Corpus Christi college, Oxford, hon, canon of Norwich, and surrogate. The rectorial tithe now taken by John Homer esq. as lay impropriator was commuted at £2,192 15s. 4d. A Mission Room was erected in 1892 on Norwich common, and is served by the curate. The Primitive Methodist chapel. Town Green, erected in 1870—1, at a cost (including site) of £1,300, has sittings for 500 persons: in 1877 a minister’s house was erected adjoining. The Congregational chapel, Fairland, erected about the year 1710, and since enlarged and refitted in 1877, is a structure of brick and will seat 550 persons. The Wesleyan chapel, Damgate street, erected in 1879, is also of brick, and has 300 sittings. The Baptist chapel, Back lane, erected about 1800, will seat about 200 persons. The Plymouth Brethren have a meeting house with about 100 sittings. The meeting house of the Society of Friends, on the Crownthorpe road, seats about 400 and has a burial ground attached. There are Salvation Army barracks in Fairland street with 200 sittings. A Cemetery of 9 acres was opened on 1 May, 1882, at a cost, including site and two mortuary chapels, of £1,765; it is under the control of a committee of the Parish Council. The Public Hall, erected in 1890 by a limited company, at a cost, including fittings, of £1,000, is of red brick in the Elizabethan style, and comprises a hall 60 by 30 feet and 33 feet high, with ante-rooms. The Police Station, formerly House of Correction, comprises a court house and superintendent’s residence. The Fire Brigade was established in 1882: the station, in Market street, erected and fitted in 1883—4 at the cost of the late Mrs. E. P. Clarke, is of brick with stone dressings, and comprises a hall, office, workshop and hose shed: there are two manual engines and other necessary appliances. The market cross, standing in the centre of the town, and erected in 1616, is an octagonal structure, supported on wooden pillars at the angles: in 1863 it was repaired and is now used as a news and reading room and library, the latter containing about 500 volumes: on the cross are various carved devices, representing different articles of turnery, which originally formed one of the staple branches of the trade of this place. The market, on Friday, is unimportant and little business is now transacted. Three fairs are held annually, on the 14th of February, May 17th for cattle, and on October the 12th for pleasure. Here is the large brush manufactory of Messrs. S. D, Page and Sons Limited, of Norwich; the saw mills and turnery works of R. Semmence and Sons; the extensive granaries belonging to Messrs. J. Standley and Sons and the boot and shoe factory of Messrs. P. Haldinstein and Son, of Norwich. The Young Men’s Society, formed in Nov. 1891, occupies premises in the Market place, consisting of gymnasium, reading and game rooms and a smoke room: the management is in the hands of a committee of six members; the present number of members (1896) being 40. The Loyal Agincourt Lodge of Oddfellows, of the Attleborough District, No. 314, Manchester Unity, has at present (1896) 230 members and a capital of £4,521; secretary, Robert V. Reyner: connected with it is a juvenile lodge, with 40 members and a capital of £92. Here also is the registered office of the Attleborough District (Manchester Unity), which has 5 lodges, viz.-Attleborough, Wymondham, Hingham, Kenninghall and Carleton Rode, with a total of 1,172 members and a total capital of £20,244; and 161 juvenile members, capital £198 18s. 6d.; Robert V. Reyner, Prov. C. S. The Ancient Order of Foresters, Court Loyal “Windham” lodge, No. 2,904, has now (1896) 400 members and a capital of £5,300; Josiah Wade, secretary. The Wymondham Canary Breeding Society hold an annual exhibition in the Town Hall. The local charities for the benefit of the poor include the Town Lands Charity: the charity property, under a new scheme framed by the Charity Commissioners, is now administered under the name of the “Wymondham Grammar School Foundation,” by 13 governors, 8 being representative and 5 co-optative governors: the income amounts to about £150 yearly, out of which £60 is paid to the master of the Free Grammar School, £15 to the clerk, £12 16s. 6d. for apprenticing one or more boys of the parish and £7 6s. is applied to the relief of the poor of the hamlet of Suton and to the repairs of Grammar School, master’s house and other buildings. A sum of about £50 a year, derived from the fuel allotments of 53 acres, is expended in the purchase of coals, which are sold to the poor at reduced prices. The Benedictine abbey of SS. Mary and Alban was founded here before 1107, by William de Albini, ancestor of the Earls of Arundel of that family, as a cell to St. Alban’s and was erected into an abbey by a papal bull in 1440; the greater part of the church, as previously described, still remains; at the dissolution of the monastery there were 12 monks, and revenues estimated at £211 16s. 1 ¼d. The Old Green Dragon inn, formerly attached to the abbey, is an ancient and interesting structure. There is an ancient timbered building in Bridewell street supposed to have formerly been a hostelry, over which is the inscription, “Nec mihi glis servus, nec hospes hirudo.” St. Thomas a-Becket’s chapel, an interesting ecclesiastical structure in Church street, founded by William de Albini, son of the founder of the monastery, was restored by the trustees of the Town Lands charity and is now used as the Grammar School. Near the church is St. Thomas a-Becket’s well, formerly much resorted to by pilgrims, and from which flows a copious supply of beautifully fresh water. Stanfield Hall is an ancient mansion in the Tudor style, encompassed by a moat, and occupies the site of the original manor house, of the 12th century; the house, which stands in a park of about 50 acres, has a large entrance hall, with richly groined roof, is now the property of Reginald Philip Jermy Gwyn esq. and is in the occupation of William Gilmour Cuthbertson esq. Burfield Hall, the residence of Mrs. Parker, about 2 miles south on the London road, is a mansion of the Queen Anne period, erected in 1709, and contains a fine entrance hall and an old oak staircase; many of the rooms are panelled and some of the walls are of considerable thickness; it was originally surrounded by a moat, traces of which still remain. Cavick House, the property of Crosier Bailey esq. is now unoccupied. Gunvil Hall, now a farm house, is a building in the Elizabethan style, and was also formerly surrounded by a moat; it is now occupied by Mr. George Bowhill. There are several manors in this parish, the chief of which are those of Grisaugh, Cromwells and Rustens, of which the trustees of the late Lieut.-Col. Charles Robert Hobart, of Bath (d. 1886) are lords; Queen's manor, of which the trustees of the late Mrs. J. de R. B. Clarke are lords; and Gunvils, of which Edward William Routh Clarke esq. of Wattlefield Hall, is lord 3 the other manors are Brockdish, Stalworthye’s and Burfield Hall, Stanfield Hall, Choselies, Downham, Wadkers, and Wymondham Hethersett. The principal landowners are the Earl of Kimberley K.G., P.C. Edward William Routh Clarke esq. Lieut.-Col. C. R. Hobart’s trustees, Henry Randal Burroughes esq. of Burlingham Hall, and Col. Samuel Parr Lynes R.A. of Henley-on-Thames. The soil is varied; subsoil, clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley, turnips and hay. The number of acrcs is 10,950; rateable value, £23,603; the population of the whole parish in 1891 was 4,764.

Petty Sessions are held the first & third Tuesdays in every month at the Police Station at 11 a.m. The following places are included in the petty sessional division:-Barford, Barnham Broom, Bawburgh, Brandon Parva, Bowthorpe, Carleton Forehoe, Colton, Costessey, Coston, Crownthorpe, Deopham, Easton, Hackford, Hingham, Honingham, Kimberley, Marlingford, Morley St. Botolph, Morley St. Peter, Runhall, Welbourne, Wicklewood, Wramplingham & Wymondham.

Forehoe Incorporation

Board day, Monday, fortnightly, at the Union house, Wicklewood, at 11 a.m.

The union comprises the following 23 parishes Barford, Barnham Broom, Bawburgh, Bowthorpe, Brandon Parva, Carleton Forehoe, Colton, Costessey, Coston, Crownthorpe, Deopham, Easton, Hackford, Hingham, Kimberley, Marlingford, Morley St. Botolph, Morley St. Peter, Runhall, Welborne, Wicklewood, Wramplingham & Wymondham; the population of the Incorporation in 1891 was 11,988; area, 38,528 acres; rateable value in 1896, £59,411.

Workhouse, Wicklewood, a building of brick, built in 1777, to hold 450 inmates.

Volunteers

4th Volunteer Battalion (Norfolk Regiment) (F. Co.), Drill hall. Town green, Capt. Walter C. Crawshay.

Schools —

The Grammar school was founded & endowed by King Edward VI. & various sums have been subsequently left by benevolent persons for its support: under a new scheme of the Charity Commissioners in 1886, it is now managed by a body of eleven governors, of whom six are representative & five co-optative, the Earl of Kimberley, K.G, being chairman: the large schoolroom, formerly St. Thomas a Becket’s chapel, is arranged for 100 boys, & the school house for 30 boarders, there being now (1896) 48 boys, of whom 16 are boarders: the Parker scholarship, of £18 yearly, founded by Archbishop Parker in 1569, is tenable at Corpus Christi college, Cambridge; there are also five foundation scholarships, in the form of total exemption from the payment of tuition fees, awarded to boys who have been not less than three years in any of the Public Elementary schools in the district: a fives court was erected by subscription in 1885, & a covered gymnasium & a chemical laboratory in 1891: there are also two large playing-fields attached to the school: the school is registered as a science school & art class in accordance with the requirements of the South Kensington Science & Art Department; John Warrick Burnside B.A. of Clare college, Cambridge, headmaster.

The Commercial school, established in 1888, has excellent buildings, & is available for 60 day boys & 33 boarders, the numbers in 1896 being 32 dayboys & 33 boarders; various junior County Council scholarships are tenable at this school.

A School Board of 7 members was formed 7 November, 1872; the board meet the last Tuesday in every month at the clerk’s office. Vicar street; George Plumstead, clerk to the board & H. F. Gotts, attendance officer.

Board, Browick road, erected in 1876, for 180 boys, 180 girls & 200 infants; average attendance, 183 boys, 172 girls & 124 infants.

Board, Spooner row (mixed), erected in 1875, for 120 children; average attendance, 110.

Board, Common (mixed), for 80 children; average attendance, 58.

Board, Silfield, enlarged in 1895 for 80 children; average attendance, 27 boys & 29 girls.

Places of Worship, with times of services: —

St. Mary & St. Thomas a Becket’s Church, Rev. Robert Eden M.A. vicar; Rev. Henry Goodman Johnson M.A. curate; 11 a.m. & 4 & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

Wattlefield Chapel of Ease, 2.30 p.m.

Mission Church, The Common; 7 p.m.

Congregational, Fairland, Rev. William Parry, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 lecture.

Primitive Methodist, Town green. Rev. Charles Higgins, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 2.30 & 6.30p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Silfield, 2.30 & 6.30 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Suton, 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.

Baptist, Back lane, 2.30 & 6.30 p.m.

Wresleyan, Damgate street, 6.30 p.m.; Tue. 7.30 p.m.

Society of Friends, Chapel lane, 11 a.m.

Plymouth Brethren, Browick lane, 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.

Salvation Army Fairland street, 7 & 11 a.m. & 3 & 6.45 p.m.; daily 8 p.m.