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Watton in Norfolk County England History and GeographyWATTON, a market town and parish in the hundred of WAYLAND, county of NORFOLK, 24 miles (W. by S.) from Norwich, and 94 (N.N.E.) from London, containing 894 inhabitants. This town, which suffered severely, in 1673, from an extensive fire that destroyed property to the amount of £10,000, is situated in the centre of the hundred, on the verge of that part of the county called Filand, or 'the open country:' the streets are lighted with oil, and the inhabitants are supplied with water from springs: the neighbourhood is noted for supplying the metropolis with large quantities of butter, called Cambridge butter. The market is on Wednesday; and the ancient fairs are on July 10th, October 11th, and November 3rd; two others, of modern establishment, being held on the first Wednesday in July and the first Wednesday after Old Michaelmas-day. A manorial court is held annually, and petty sessions for the hundred every month. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Norwich, rated in the king's books at £7. 0. 4., and in the patronage of John Raby Hicks, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, appears to have been originally built in the time of Henry I., and to have been re-dedicated in that of Henry VI.; the tower is circular at the base, and octangular above; the north porch is surmounted by a much admired crucifix, now partly dilapidated; there are a few brasses. In the centre of the town is a small building, with a clock and one bell, the latter rung on Sundays preparatory to divine service: the lower part is used as a lock-up house. There is a place of worship for Independents, a short distance from the town. A National school, in which about one hundred children are educated, was erected, in 1819, by William Lane Robinson, Esq., and is supported by voluntary contributions. Almshouses for four poor widows were founded and endowed with a small rent-charge by Mr. Goff. In Wayland wood, near this town, supposed to be the scene of the tale of the Babes in the Wood, and which gives name to the hundred, the sheriffs' torn, or court, was anciently held. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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