Gazetteer page 12

Shipdham. - A large village 4 m. S.W. from Yaxham station. The church, a large building in the Early English style, contains a very fine wooden lectern. Over the porch is a parvise containing a collection of rare old books, including "The Floure of the Commandments," printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1509, and an illuminated Psalter of the fifteenth century.

Shotesham All Saints. - A village 3 m. S.E. from Swainsthorpe station.

Shotesham St Mary. - A parish 2 m. S.E. from Swainsthorpe station. This parish consists of three ancient parishes, the churches of two of which have been in ruins for several centuries.

Shouldham. - A village 5 m. S.E. from Magdalen Road junction.

Shouldham Thorpe. - A straggling village 4 m. S.E. from Magdalen Road junction.

Shropham. - A parish 3 m. N. from Harling Road station.

Sidestrand. - A coast parish 3 m. S.E. from Cromer. The tower of the old church stands on the edge of the cliffs, which rise to a height of about 150 feet above the beach. Most of the farmers and cottagers in the parish and neighbourhood let rooms to visitors.

Sizeland. - A village 5 m. S. from Buckenham station. Some ruins of an ancient chapel are attached to the church.

Skeyton. - A scattered parish 3½ m. E. from Buxton-Lammas station.

Sloley. - A village 1 m. S. from Worstead station. The church, an ancient building in the Early English style, contains a font bearing carved representations of the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church.

Smallburgh. - A village 2½ m. S.W. from Stalham station and 3 m. from Worstead station.

Snarehill, Great and Little. - Form a parish adjoining Thetford. Several large tumuli in this neighbourhood are supposed to indicate the battlefield upon which Edmund, King of the East Angles, was defeated and captured by the Danes under Inguar, who caused him to be fastened to a tree and shot to death with arrows.

Snetterton. - A scattered village 2 m. N. from Eccles Road station. The church contains a painted and gilt carved screen.

Snettisham. - A village on the coast road from Lynn to Hunstanton, with a station on the Lynn and Hunstanton line. The church, a large flint and stone building, stands on high ground, and its spire is a useful landmark to seamen. At one time the tower was a central one; but part of the church has disappeared except for some scanty ruins. The west front is in imitation of that of Peterborough Cathedral, and contains a fine Decorated window. The clerestory windows are alternatively round-headed and circular. The monuments include one, with effigy, to Sir Wymond Carye, who died in 1612. There is a brass, with effigies, to John Cremer, died 1610, Anne, his wife, and seven children; and another dating from about 1500.

Snoring, Great. - A village 2 m. S. from Walsingham station. The rectory house, an ornamental brickwork building, erected by Sir Ralph Shelton in the reign of Henry VIII., was restored in 1853 and somewhat enlarged.

Snoring, Little. - A parish 3 m. N.E. from Fakenham. The church, in the Transition-Norman and later styles, contains two Norman windows and doorways. The south door of the nave is a curious mixture of styles. The font is Late Norman.

Somerton, East. - A parish near the coast, 2 m. N. from Hemsby station. The church is in ruins.

Somerton, West. - A parish 1¼ m. N.E. from Martham station. In the church are mural paintings of " The Day and Judgment," "The Flagellation," "The Resurrection," and "The Entry into Jerusalem." They were discovered about thirty years ago, and are believed to date from 1327 to 1377. An interesting Early English painting of "The Virgin and Child," which seems to have formed part of a rood screen, was discovered under the floor of the pulpit about ten years after the mural paintings were brought to light. Hales, the Norfolk giant, who was 7 feet 6 ins. in height, was born here and is buried in the churchyard. Some portions of West Somerton Hall are very ancient.

Southbergh. - A village 3½ m. S.W. from Thuxton station. The church chancel dates from about 1290 and the nave from 1320. There is a monument here to Brampton Gurdon, M. P. for Sudbury, who commanded the Suffolk Horse at the Battle of Naseby.

Southery. - A village on the Ouse, 4 m. S.E. from Hilgay station. The greater part of the parish consists of fen. Originally the place was one of the old fen " islands."

Southrepps. - A village 1 m. N. from Gunton station.

Southwood. - A parish 1 m. N. from Cantley station. The church is in ruins.

Sparham. - A village on the Wensum, 2 m. N.W. from Lenwade station. The church contains an interesting screen, some very old benches, and a pre-Reformation pulpit.

Spixworth. - A village 4 m. N. from Norwich. The church contains a fine marble monument with recumbent effigies erected in 1635 to William and Alicia Peck.

Sporle-with-Palgrave. - A village 2½ m. N.E. from Swaffham station. The church, a fine building in the Early English style, contains a fifteenth century fresco representing the legend of St Katherine of Alexandria.

Sprowston. - A straggling village 2 m. N. from Norwich. The church monuments include one to Sir Thomas Adams, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1645 and died in 1667.

Stalham. - A small market town, with a station, 8 m. S.E. from North Walsham and 15 m. N.E. from Norwich. The church, a fine flint and stone building in the Perpendicular style, contains two good brasses, one dating from the fifteenth century; also a very old font upon which are stone carvings of the Apostles and the Baptism of Christ. Stalham Broad, famous for its fine reeds and water-lilies, is connected with the town by a navigable channel, as also is Sutton Broad. Anglers may hire rowing and sailing boats here, and there is accommodation for visitors at the Maid's Head, Railway, Swan, and Temperance hotels.

Stanfield. - A parish 3½ m. W. from North Elmham station.

Stanford. - A village 6 m. N.E. from Brandon station.

Stanhoe. - a village, with a station, 4 m. S.S.W. from Burnham Market. There are remains here of an ancient cross; also traces of a religious house.

starston. - A small village 1½ m. N. by W. from Harleston. The church, which is partly Norman, has a good roof, and contains a monument, with kneeling effigy, to Bartholomew Cotton, clerk of briefs to the Star Chamber, who died in 1613. It also possesses a silver chalice dated 1567. The Hall, now a farmhouse, is an old building in the Elizabethan style, partly surrounded by a moat.

Stibbard. - A parish 2 m. E. from Ryburgh station.

Stiffkey. - A village near the coast, 3½ m. E. from Wells. The church contains a brass dated 1479. The Hall, erected by Sir Nicholas Bacon, keeper of the Privy Seal to Queen Elizabeth, was once a fine but unfinished castellated mansion. Traces of some ancient entrenchments may be seen on Warborough Hill and Camping Hill.

Stockton. - A village 3 m. N.W. from Beccles.

Stody. - A village 2 m. N.E. from Melton Constable station. The church, a cruciform Perpendicular building with a round tower, contains an interesting font.

Stoke Ferry. - A large village, with a station which is the terminus of the Downham and Stoke Ferry line. The church is Early English. Inn: Crown.

Stoke Holy Cross. - A village 2 m. E. from Swainsthorpe station.

Stokesby-with-Herringby. - A village on the Bure 2½ m. W. from Acle station. The church, a Decorated building, contains some brasses, one a small but good one dated 1488 representing Edward Clere and his wife. Some of the bench ends are well carved. The tower commands a wide view of the Bure valley.

Stow Bardolph. - A village 1 3/4 m. S.E. from Stow Bridge station. Attached to the church is a mortuary chapel built in the sixteenth century, containing several fine monuments to the Hare family, who have been lords of the manor since 1553. Most of the monuments are of marble; but one has a wax effigy of Sarah, youngest daughter of Sir Thomas Hare, Bart. Stow Hall is a red-brick mansion in the Jacobean style, rebuilt by Nicholas Hare, Esq., on the site of an earlier house erected by Sir Nicholas Hare in 1589.

Stow Bedon. - A small parish with a station 1½ m. N.W. from the church, 4 m. S. from Watton. The church contains two lancet windows filled with stained glass from Hildersham Church, Cambridgeshire; also a pine carved oak screen.

Stradsett. - A village 4 m. N.E. from Downham. The stained east window of the church was made at Amsterdam in 1543. The Hall is a large and ancient house. Adjoining it is a lake of about 20 acres.

Stratton, Long. - This place, which was formerly a market town, is 2 m. E. from Forncett junction. It comprises two parishes, Stratton St Mary and Stratton St Michael. St Mary's Church, a large flint building with a round tower, contains a handsome marble monument, dated 1647, to Sir Edmund Reve, Justice of the Common Pleas; also an altar-tomb to a fifteenth century rector. In the vestry is a curious contrivance called a "Sexton's Wheel," by which a penance day known as "the Lady's Fast" was determined.

Stratton Strawless. - A village 1½ m. S.W. from Buxton-Lammas station. The church contains a black marble altar-tomb, with an effigy in a shroud, above which are the figures of two angels, to Thomas Marsham, who died in 1638; also a cross-legged figure in mail, supposed to be that of Sir Ralph Marsham, who died in 1250. The Marsham family had the manor from the time of Edward I., and one of them, a naturalist and F.R.S., who died in 1797, planted most of the fine trees which surround the Hall.

Strumpshaw. - A village 1 3/4 m. N. from Buckenham station. The church contains a painted rood screen and some brasses.

Sturston. - A village 6 m. S.W. from Watton station. The church is in ruins.

Suffield. - A parish 1½ m. N. from Felmingham station.

SURLINGHAM. - A village on the Yare, 1½ m. S. from Brundall station. The church of St Saviour is in ruins. St Mary's Church is a small Gothic building. This place is a favourite Broadland angling resort, and contains Surlingham Broad, a sheet of water about 70 acres in extent. The broad is connected with the Yare by channels navigable to small sailing craft. Boats can be hired at the Yare Hotel (Brundall) and Cold- ham Hall Inn. The latter is reached by a ferry which crosses the river a few minutes' walk from Brundall station.

Sustead. - A parish 1½ m. S. by W. from Cromer. The old Hall was built in 1663.

Sutton. - A village about 1 m. from Catfield and Stalham stations.

Swaffham. - Amarkettown, with a station, 28 m. W. from Norwich and 14½ m. S. E. from Lynn. The church is a large Perpendicular building erected about 1474. Its north aisle is said to have been built by John Chapman, whose device, carved in certain parts of the church, probably gave rise to the tradition that Swaffham Church was built by a pedlar. Among the monuments is one to John Botwright, D.D., seventh master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and chaplain to Henry VI.; another to Catherine Steward, who died in 1590. The roof of the chancel is finely carved and supported by angels with outspread wings. A priest's chamber over the vestry contains some armour and books.

A monument and drinking fountain in the market-place was erected in memory of Sir William Bagge, Bart., M.P. The market cross was rebuilt in 1783 by Horatio, Earl of Orford, and is surmounted by a figure of Ceres. Inn: George.

Among the places of interest in the neighbourhood of Swaffham are: Castle Acre Castle and Priory, distant miles; Oxborough Hall, distant miles; Cressingham Manor House, distant 5 miles.

Swafield. - A village 2 m. N. from North Walsham.

Swainsthorpe. - A village, with a station, 5 m. S. by W. from Norwich. The church has a fine restored Perpendicular roof and Norman font.

Swanington. - A scattered vttlage 1 m. N. from Attlebridge station and 3½ m, S. from Cawston station. Robert Kett, the Wymondham tanner who raised an insurrection in Norfolk in 1549, was captured in this parish after the defeat of his followers by the Earl of Warwick's troops. Swanington Lawn contains some fine old oak carving brought from the house of William Rogers, mayor of Norwich in 1543 and 1548.

Swanton Abbot. - A parish 2§ m. W. from Worstead station. The church contains a good brass, dated 1477, to Stephen de Multon.

Swanton Morley. - A village on the Wensum, 2\ m. from North Elmham station. The church, built by William, third Baron Morley, about 1379, is a flint building in the Perpendicular style. Portions of the foundations and cellars of the ancient castle of the Lords Morley may be seen on the bank of the Wensum, opposite Bylaugh Park.

Swanton Novers. - A village 2 m. S.W. from Melton Constable station.

Swardeston. - A village 2 m. N. from Swainsthorpe station. Its Early English church contains a fine screen.

Syderstone. - A small village 4½ m. S.E. from Stanhoe station. This place disputes with Stanfield Hall, Wymondham, having been the birthplace of the unfortunate Amy Robsart, who married Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and whose death occurred under mysterious circumstances at Cumnor Hall, near Oxford, in 1560.

Tacolnstone. - A village 1½ m. S. from Ashwellthorpe station. The church contains a Jacobean pulpit, an ancient font, and part of a finely carved and painted screen. The Hall, built in the reign of Queen Anne, but recently enlarged, is surrounded by a moat.