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, Freebridge Lynn hundred and petty sessional division, Docking union, Lynn county court district, rural deanery of Lynn (Norfolk). archdeaconry of Lynn and diocese of Norwich. The church of St. Nicholas is a large and ancient structure of flint and stone chiefly 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 and a clock, erected at a cost of £160, to commemorate the coronation of His late Majesty King Edward VII. : the chancel is lighted by fine windows of the Decorated period, and is divided from the nave by an ancient carved oak screen, with twelve panels, six of which display painted figures, and some of the tracery has been restored : in the south aisle is a piscina and in the chancel an altar-tomb to John Pell esq. and Margaret (Overend) his wife, ob. 5 Feb. I607, with two effigies in marble: there are also several marble slabs and other memorials, mostly to the Pell and Kerrich families, including a brass in the north aisle to one of the former, dated 1636: and memorials to Mrs. Elizabeth Pell, lady of Bosters [sic Booters] Hall manor, Cranworth, d. 1732: to the Rev. Thomas Kerrich, vicar of this parish, d. 1828, and Sophia, his wife, d. 1835; the oaken church chest is very finely carved and the ancient font has a 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 late 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 provided : a new organ chamber and clergy vestry were erected on the north side of the chancel in 1911, and the south aisle and side chapel have been restored : there are 600 sittings. The register dates from the year 1653. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £300, and now includes 19 acres of glebe, some lands having been sold since 1900, with residence, in the gift of Mrs. Tylden, of Manor House, Ingoldisthorpe, and held since 1910 by the Rev. Robert Walter Michael Lewis M.A. of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The vicarage house, erected in I877 is of carr stone and red brick and stands on a pleasant elevation. Here are two Wesleyan chapels, built respectively in 1851 and 1891, and a Primitive Methodist chapel, built in 1878. The Foresters' Hall (Court Motteux, No. 1465), erected on a site given by His late Majesty King Edward VII. in 1893, and opened by H.M. King George V. (then Prince of Wales), 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. The Church Institute was erected in 1912. 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 Hall, in the centre of the village, is a large and plain building of carr stone, stuccoed, and now the property and residence of Theodor Jannoch esq. The Mill House, a building of brick and carr stone, erected in the 17th century and enlarged in 1909, the interior being decorated with oak panels, is now the residence of Capt. Bryan Godfrey-Faussett R.N., C.V.O., C.M.G. The parish comprises four manors, viz., Pakenham, Shouldham Priory, West Hall and Brook Hall, of which His Majesty the King is lord of the manor, and Mrs. Tylden lady of the manor, and these are also 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 3,573 acres of land and 8 of water ; rateable value, £6,025; the population in 1911 was 1,499.
Deputy Parish Clerk, George Lees.
Post, M. 0., T. & Telephonic Express Delivery Office.- Miss Alice Maud Beckett, sub-postmistress. London & other letters are received through Lynn by mail cart; arrive at 5.10 a.m. ; delivered at 7 & 10.15 a.m. & are dispatched at 10.55 a.m. (direct to London) & 6.20 & 8 p.m.; sunday delivery, 7 a.m.; dispatched 6.20 p.m
Wall Letter Boxes. - Box near the Feathers hotel, cleared at 10.45 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.; Heath road, cleared 10.45 a.m. & 6 p.m.; sundays, 7·55 a.m
Public Elementary School (mixed), enlarged in 1875. His late Majesty King Edward VII. 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 His late Majesty & the chief landowners; the schools were again enlarged in 1904, for 326 children; average attendance, 220 ; Alfred Firth, master; Miss Mabel Tomlin, infants' mistress
Railway Station, Arthur James Chilvers, station master
Carriers to Lynn. - Thomas Wyre & George Mitchell, tues. thurs. & sat. returning same day
PRIVATE RESIDENTS
Asker William
Balding Mrs. Rose villa
Bartlett Clarence, Southgate
Brown Capt. J. Coronation villa
Bryant Ernest, Sandringham road
Chambers Jabez, Providence house
Cole Robert, The Chestnuts
Copple James, Park view
Davidson William Andrew, Maryville
Diggle Thomas, Worthams
Dodman Mrs. Rosedale
Dorer Arthur Lawrence, The White house
Drew Frederick, Seaford haven
Firth Alfred, The Shrubbery
Freeman Miss, Blackheath lodqe
Godfrey-Faussett Capt. Bryan R.N., C.V.O., C.M.G. (equerry to His Majesty the King), The Mill house
Hall John Efflinch
Irven Lieut. John Paul R.N. Brandenburg house
Jannoch Theodor. The Hall
Keen Frederick Andrew, Mansfield
Langley William W. The Oaks
Lewis Rev. Robert Michael M.A. (vicar), The Vicarage
Parker William Theodoric
Prince Charles Ernest, Ellerslie
Rainbow Joseph George, The Retreat
Riches George
Riches George Henry, Summerdale
Smith William Henry, Hill house
Stanton Richard Hugh, Ling house (letters through Anmer)
Terrington Douglas, Fern villa
Tingey Edward, Manor house
Tuck Frederick James, Hill side
Wells Misses, Rose lodge
Whitehouse Miss, Oak cottage
Wilkin Robert A. Wellswill house
Wood Mrs. Mecklenburg house
Woodward Mrs
COMMERCIAL
Alderton Herbert Edward, jobmaster T N 2
Bird F. J. (Mrs.), butcher
Bird Isaac David, Alexandra hotel
Bunn James, coal merchant, & agent for R. Coller & Sons
Chambers Bros. builders & contractors
Chambers James Ward William, temperance hotel
Clayton Charles, butcher
Clayton William, shopkeeper
Coller R.& Sons Ltd. corn & coal merchants (James Bunn, agent) ; & at Norwich
Cross William, boot repairer
Dodman George William, blacksmith
Drew Henry James saddler & harness maker
Ducker Alfred Ernest, carriage builder
Elworthy Harry Fuller, painter
Ewer William. John music seller & stationer
Firth Alfred, schoolmaster & clerk to the Charity trustees, The Shrubbery
Fitt Matthew James, baker
Foresters' Hall (Court Motteux, No 1465) (Robert G. Walton, sec)
Goodings Harriet (Mrs.), apartments
Green Emma (Mrs.), dress maker
Hartley Frederick William beer retailer
Hudson Ann (Mrs.), builder & wheelwright
Jackson James, farmer & dairyman, Blackheath lodge
Jannoch Theodor, horticulturist Lily of the valley grower by special warrant to the their Majesties the King & Queen Alexandra. See advertisement
