DERSINGHAM is a village and parish on the Lynn and Hunstanton road, half a mile from the station on the Lynn and. Hunstanton section of the Great Eastern railway, 8½ miles north-north-east from Lynn and 107 from London, in the North Western division of the county, Free bridge Lynn hundred and petty sessional division, Docking union, Lynn county court district, rural deanery of Lynn; Freebridge, archdeaconry of Lynn and diocese of Norwich. The church of St. Nicholas is a large and ancient structure of flint and stone, in the Perpendicular style consisting of chancel, nave with clerestory, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower, with four carved angels in place of pinnacles, and containing 6 bells : the chancel is lighted by fine windows of the Decorated period, and is divided from the nave by a carved oak screen, some of the tracery of which has been restored ; in the south aisle is a curious altar-tomb with a brass to John Pell esq. and Margaret (Overend) his wife, ob. 5 Feb. 1607 : there are also several curious marble slabs, and an ancient font with carved oak cover: the church was thoroughly restored between 1877 and 1879 at a cost of nearly £6,000 ; the cost of the restoration of the nave being defrayed by the patron, Dr. Bellamy, and that of the chancel by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and by a sum of £600 raised by subscription: the building was entirely reseated with open pews of wainscot, and a new pulpit and brass lectern erected, and now affords 600 sittings. The register dates from the year 1710. The living is a vicarage, average tithe rent-charge £163, net yearly value £200, including 165 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Rev. James Bellamy D. D. president of St. John's College, Oxford, and held since 1875 by the Rev. Edward William Penny M.A. of St. John's College, Oxford. The rectory house, erected in 1877, is of carr stone and red brick, and stands on a pleasant elevation. Here are two Wesleyan chapels, built respectively in 1851 and I891, and a Primitive Methodist chapel built in 1878. The Foresters' hall (court Motteux, No. 1465), erected on a site given by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, in 1893, and opened by H.R.H. the Duke of York, Dec. 11th, 1893 is a building of carr stone with Bath stone dressings ; it is also used for entertainments &c. : a court is held monthly. At the inclosure of the common 75 acres of land were reserved for the benefit of the poor. There is a charity of about £21 annual value, arising from nine acres of land left by Mrs. Pell, and £5 from land at Snettisham, left by a Mr. Bummer in 1732 ; these amounts are expended in coals, which are distributed to the poor of the parish. Dersingham Old Hall, in the centre or the village, is a large and plain building of carr stone, stuccoed, and now the residence of Mrs. Clarkson. The parish comprises five manors, viz. Hunstanton-with-Mustrels, Ringstead-with-Holme, and Northall, Holme-next-the-Sea, and Hoods-in-Holme [sic, see below] of which H.H.H. the Prince of Wales and the Rev. James Bellamy D.D. are lords and the principal landowners. The soil is light mixed; subsoil, principally chalk and carr stone. The crops are generally on the four-course system. The area is 3,581 acres; rateable value, £5,492; the population in 189I was 1186.
[Error above - The manors shown above belong to parish of Holme-next-the-Sea . This should read The parish comprises five manors, viz., Pakenham, Shouldham Priory, West Hall and Brook Hall and Gelham Hall.]
Parish Clerk: James March Batterby.
Post: M. 0. & T. 0., T. M. 0., Express Delivery & S. B. & Annuity & Insurance Office; Enoch Beckett, postmaster. London & other letters are received through Lynn by mail cart; arrive at 5.30 a.m. ; delivered at 7 a.m. & 10.15 p.m. to callers & are dispatched at 10.45 a.m. & 6.20 p.m. ; sunday delivery 7 a.m. ; dispatched 6.20 p.m.
Wall Letter Boxes: Box near the Feathers hotel, cleared at 8.40 a.m. & 6 p.m. ; sundays, 7-55 a.m.; & at the Station, cleared at 9.50 a.m. & 5.35 p.m. ; Sundays, 8.10 a.m.
Church of England Schools (mixed): enlarged in 1875. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales gave the site, the cost of the building being defrayed by Dr. Bellamy; in 1891 the building was further enlarged at a cost of £240, defrayed by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales & the chief land owners ; the schools will hold 250 children ; average attendance, 180; Alfred Firth, Schoolmaster; Miss Beatrice Barnes, infants' mistress.
Railway Station: Frederick Albert Paige, station master
Carriers to Lynn: Thomas Rudd & George Mitchell, tues. thurs. & sat. returning same day
PRIVATE RESIDENTS
Balding Mrs. Rose villa
Clarkson Mrs. Dersingham hall
Cross Arthur Henry, Cantelupe house
Culyer Robert, Beech cottage
Jannoch Theodor, Brandenburg house
Mann William Henry Dersingham road
Penny Rev. Edward William M.A. Vicarage
Ringe Miss
Rix George, Wellswill house
Smith William Henry Hill house
Stanton Richard, Ling house
Thwaites Mrs
Tingey Edward, Manor house
Wells Miss, Rose cottage
COMMERCIAL
Asker John, broker
Bird Frederick J. butcher
Boothby Alfred, William & Ernest farmers & coal merchants
Boothby Arthur, grocer
Bunn James, coal merchant and agent for R. Coller & Sons
Bussey Maria (Miss), farmer
Chambers George, builder
Chambers Henry, carpenter
Chambers James Ward William James, temperance hotel
Chambers John Henry, agent for the Coventry, Quinton, Globe and other cycles
Clayton Charles, butcher
Coller R. & Sons, corn & coal merchants (James Bunn, agent); & at Norwich
Cross Arthur Henry, A.R.C.O. professor of music & organist at Sandringham
Dodman William Valentine, blacksmith
Elworthy Harry Fuller, grocer & draper & assistant overseer
Ewer William John music seller & stationer
Fitt Matthew James, baker
Foresters' Hall (William Patrick, secretary)
Goodings Harriet (Mrs.), apartments
Hardy Alfred, Coach & Horses P.H.
Hartley Frederick William, beer retailer and wheelwright
Hudson William, builder
Jackson James, farmer & dairyman, Blackheath lodge
Jannoch Theodor, nurseryman and florist. Lily of the valley grower by special warrant to H.R H. the Prince of Wales; choice bouquets, wreaths, crosses &c. The largest grower of lilies of the valley in England. See advertisement
