Gazetteer page 10

Other places of interest in the city are the Old Bridewell in St Andrews; the gateway and staircase of the Strangers' Hall in Maddermarket; Curat's House in the market-place; the Maid's Head Hotel (said to date from 1287) in Tombland; the Boar's Head in St Stephen's; the old Music House (formerly occupied by the Pastons and Sir Edward Coke, the Lord Chief-Justice) in King Street; and George Borrow's House in Willow Lane.

The following parishes are included in the city: - Earlham. - The parish church contains a fine carved oak screen and a splendid marble monument to the Bacon family. The Hall was the birthplace of Joseph John Gurney, the author and philanthropist, whose sister, Elizabeth Fry, spent her youth here. Eaton. - A parish extending 2 m. S.W. from the city. It has two churches, a modern building and an ancient one in the Early English style.

In the latter the parents of Henry Kirk White, the poet, are interred. Heigham. - Here is the Dolphin Inn, formerly the residence of Bishop Hall of Exeter, who died here in 1656. Lakenham. - A parish on the Yare, extending m. S. from the city. New Lakenham. - An ecclesiastical parish formed of Trowse and Lakenham. Thorpe Hamlet. - An eastern suburb, with a modern church and the ruins of an old one.

Ormesby St Margaret (or Great Ormesby). - A village, with a station, 5 m. N. by W. from Yarmouth. The church contains some brasses, including one to Lady Alice Clere, aunt to Anne Boleyn.

Ormesby St Michael (or Little Ormesby). - A parish 1 m. W. from Ormesby station. The church contains a fine modern carved oak reredos.

Oulton. - A village 1 m. N. from Bluestone station.

Ouse, Little. - An ecclesiastical parish, a portion of which is in Cambridgeshire, 4.5 m. N.N.E. from Littleport station. It contains the parishes of Feltwell Anchor and Redmore.

Outwell. - A village partly in Cambridgeshire but principally in Norfolk, 6 m. W. from Downham station. The church is a fine building in which the three periods of Gothic architecture may be easily traced. The roof of the north chapel is beautifully painted. Here is a curious rectory house with a detached tower.

Overstrand. - A coast parish 2 m. S.E. from Cromer. There are two churches here; but one, containing the tomb of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, the slave emancipator, is in ruins. Of late this village has attracted many visitors, for whom there is accommodation in a considerable number of new lodging houses. The neighbourhood is exceedingly picturesque, and its proximity to Cromer gives it many advantages. The cliffs here rise to a height of about 90 feet above the beach. Cromer Lighthouse and the Royal Cromer Golf Club's Links are in this parish.

Ovington. - A village 1½ m. N.E. from Watton station. The church has a Norman doorway, and there are traces of old dedication crosses on the outer walls.

Oxborough. - A parish 3½ m. E. from Stoke Ferry station and m. W. from Swaffham. The church is a large building in the Early English and Perpendicular styles, with a chapel south of the chancel, founded by the Bedingfields in 1513. In the church is an altar-tomb, under a marble Corinthian canopy, to Sir Henry Bedingfield, who was constable of the Tower in the reign of Queen Mary, and died in 1583. Oxborough Hall, a castellated mansion built by Sir Edmund Bedingfield in 1482-3, is surrounded by a wide moat, but the bridge which leads to the entrance tower is modern. The entrance tower itself is eighty feet high and has an octangular turret on each side of the archway. The house was formerly quadrangular, but the banqueting hall which occupied the south side was pulled down in 1778, when two wings were added. The most interesting part of the building is the King's Room, over the gateway. It contains some tapestry of the time of Henry VII., and is traditionally reported to have been occupied by that king when he was the guest of Sir Edmund Bedingfield. A bed in this room has a coverlet and curtains pf green velvet, worked with curiously named representations of birds and beasts by Queen Mary of Scotland and the Countess of Shrewsbury. Queen Elizabeth stayed at Oxborough when she visited Norfolk and slept in the room immediately above the King's Room. In a turret of the east tower is a " priest's hiding-hole." Oxborough Hall is one of the finest moated and castellated buildings in England, and many visitors to Norfolk will regret that it is closed to strangers. The Bedingfield family were originally lords of the manor of Bedingfield in Suffolk, and an ancestor of Sir Henry George Paston - Bedingfield, Bart., the present occupant of the Hall, first settled at Oxborough in the early part of the fourteenth century. The estate passed out of the possession of the family during the Commonwealth, when it was taken from Sir Henry Bedingfield by the Parliament, but it was repurchased at the Restoration.

Oxnead. - A parish on the Bure, 1 m. N. from Buxton station and 3 m. S.E. from Aylsham. The church, almost hidden by trees, contains a marble tomb, with alabaster effigy, to Clement Paston, a naval commander who died in 1599. He lived for some time at Caister Castle, where he held prisoner the French admiral Baron de Blanchard, whose ransom was fixed at 7000 crowns. He was the builder of Oxnead Hall, a magnificent mansion of which only a portion now remains, forming part of some farm buildings. It contained a fine banqueting hall, in which Charles II. was entertained. A fountain basin and some statues which stood in the grounds are now at Blickling Hall. There are frequent references to Oxnead in the "Paston Letters."

OxwiCK and Pattesley form a parish 3½ m. from Fakenham.

Palling. - A small coast village 4 m. N.E. from Stalham station. There is some accommodation here for visitors.

Panxworth. - A village 3 m. N. from Lingwood station. A ruined tower is all that is left of the old church.

Paston. - A coast parish 4 m. N.E. from North Walsham station. The church contains a fine monument by Nathaniel Stone to Catherine, wife of Sir Edmund Paston, who died in 1628, and other memorials of the Paston family.

Pensthorpe. - A parish on the Wensum, 2 m. S.E. from Fakenham. What is left of the church forms part of some farm buildings.

Pentney. - A scattered village in which is Narborough station, 6 m. N.W. by N. from Swaffham. The fine gateway of an Augustinian priory, founded by Ralph de Vaux, is still standing about 2 m. W. from the church.

Pickenham, North. - A village 1½ m. W. from Holme Hale station. The church contains a reredos of Italian workmanship, and a carved oak pulpit.

Pickenham, South. - A parish 3 m. S.W. from Holme Hale station.

Plumstead (by Holt). - A parish 4 m. S.E. from Holt station.

Plumstead, Great. - A village 2½ m. E. from Whittlingham junction.

Plumstead, Little. - A village 2½ m. S. from Salhouse station.

Poringland, Great and Little. - United parishes 4^ m. S.E. from Norwich. The church, which has a round tower with an octagonal belfry, has some fine old (restored) oak benches with poppy heads.

Postwick. - A village on the Yare, 2 m. E. from Whitlingham junction. The church, an ancient building, contains a mural brass and memorial window to Archibald, fourth Earl of Rosebery, who died in 1868. The present Earl of Rosebery is lord of the manor.

POTTER HEIGH AM. - A Broadland village, with a station, n m. N.W. from Yarmouth and 15 m. N.E. from Norwich. This is a well-known angling resort, the river Thurne, Hickling Broad, and Heigham Sounds being easily accessible from the village. Hick- ling Broad is open for sailing and rowing, but a charge of a shilling a day is made to anglers. Boats may be hired at the Pleasure Boat Inn at Hickling and at Potter Heigham. There is some accommodation for visitors in the village.

Pudding Norton. - A small parish 1½ m. S. from Fakenham. The church is in ruins.

Pulham St Mary Magdalen (called Pulham Market). - a large village, with a station, 4 m. N. by W. from Harleston. The Hall was formerly the residence of a younger branch of the Percies, Earls of Northumberland.

Pulham St Mary the Virgin - A village, with a station, 3 m. N.W. from Harleston. The exterior of the church is ornamented with some curious carved figures. Some of the windows contain old glass, one dating from 1380 and another, called the Apostles' window, from 1420. The ancient chancel screen has been restored.

Quarles. - A parish adjoining Holkham, 4 m. S.W. from Wells.

Quidenham. - A village 1½ m. S. from Eccles Road station. The church has a Norman south porch, and in the vestry wall are three pillars which probably formed part of a Saxon font. There are several memorials here to the Keppels, Earls of Albermarle, whose seat is Quidenham Hall, a fine modern house standing in a well-wooded park. In the midst of a grove of firs in the park is a barrow. There is also a mere about 7 acres in extent which affords good fishing.

Rackheath. - A village 2 m. W. from Salhouse station.

Ranworth. - A Broadland parish 5 m. E. from Salhouse station. The church contains one of the first rood screens in the county. Ranworth Broad, about 90 acres in extent, is connected with the Bure.

Raveningham. - A scattered village 4 m. N.E. from Beccles. The church, which stands in Raveningham Park, contains eight canopied memorials to the Bacon family.

Raynham, East. - A village 1½ m. S. from Raynham Park station and 4 m. S.W. by S. from Fakenham. The church, re-built by the Marquis Townshend, has, in the tower, a stained glass window, presented by the late Sir Arthur Phayre. In the north aisle is a small brass, with effigy in academical robes, to Robert Godfrey, LL. B., who died in 1522, and another to George, son of Roger Townshend. The Hall, the seat of the Marquesses of Towns-hend, was built about 1630 for Sir Roger Townshend from designs by Inigo Jones, and occupies the site of an earlier moated hall. It was altered and enlarged by Viscount Townshend, who was Secretary of State under George I., and who married Dorothy Walpole, sister of Sir Robert Walpole. The ghost of this lady, " The Brown Lady of Raynham," was believed to haunt the grand staircase of the hall, and also that of her earlier home, Houghton Hall, where George IV., when Prince Regent, was said to have been so frightened by her supernatural appearance that he shortened his stay in the house. The hall contains some very fine pictures, including the famous "Belisarius" of Salvator Rosa, presented to Charles, the second Viscount Townshend, by Frederick the Great of Prussia, and valued at £10,000. Here are also portraits by Vandyck, Kneller, Sir J. Reynolds, Lely, and Wilkie. The park is some 1200 acres in extent, and contains a sheet of water nearly two miles long.

Raynham, South. - A scattered village 2 m. S. from Raynham Park station.

Raynham, West. - A parish 2 m. S. from Raynham Park station. The church is in ruins.

Redenhall. - See Harleston.

REEDHAM. - A Broadland village, on the Yare, with a station 8 m. S.W. by W. from Yarmouth. The church contains a tomb, with kneeling effigies, to Henry Berney, who died n 1584. Reedham Hall occupies the site of an earlier building, some portions of which are incorporated in it. This place is said to have been a seat of the East Anglian kings, and a local tradition asserts that it was here Ragnar Lodbrock was murdered. Lodbrock was a Danish chief, who one day '' while hawking for birds among the islands on the coast of Denmark, was surprised by a sudden storm, driven across the North Sea, and found himself at the mouth of the Yare, which he entered, and landed at Reedham, where the court of Edmund, King of the East Angles, was at that time held. He was received into royal favour, and in hunting was frequently attended by the king's huntsman Bern, whom he soon excelled in his own profession. Bern became jealous, and at length murdered Lodbrock in the woods; but the murder came to light through the affection of Lodbrock's dog, who searched the woods till he found his dead master buried under a heap of brushwood and leaves. The baying of the hound attracted attention, and the scared look and craven manner of the king's huntsman betrayed his guilt. Bern was tried, and condemned to be cast away in a boat. Strangely enough, he drifted to the coast of Denmark, where, being tortured on the rack, to learn what he knew of Lodbrock's death, he concealed his own guilt, and attributed the assassination to King Edmund. The consequence was that 20,000 Danes, under the leadership of Hinguar and Hubba, Lodbrock's two sons, invaded East Anglia, burned and slaughtered indiscriminately as they went, overcame Edmund, took him prisoner, and, after a mock trial, beheaded him." - The Land of the Broad.

Wherry yachts, yachts, and boats may be hired here, and there is accommodation for visitors at the Eagle Tavern and Railway Hotel.

Reepham. - A large village with a station, 12 m. N.W. from Norwich. The church contains some good brasses, and an altar tomb, with a fine cross-legged effigy to Sir Roger de Herdeston, who died in 1337. Inn: King's Arms.

Repps-cum-Bastwick. - A small village near Hickling Broad, and m. S.W. from Potter Heigham station.

Reymerston. - A village 1½ m. S.W. from Thuxton station. The east window of the church contains some fine Flemish glass, and the communion rails are also Flemish work.

Riddlesworth. - A parish on the Little Ouse, 5 m. S. from Harling Road station.

Ridlington. - A parish 3½ m. N. by E. from Honing station. Figures of the four evangelists serve as pinnacles to the church tower.

Ringland. - A parish on the Wensum, 2½ m. S. from Attlebridge station. The church, a fine Gothic building, has an elaborately groined nave roof, springing from sixteen shafts supported by carved heads.