SHOULDHAM is a parish and pleasant village 5 miles from Watlington railway station, 6 north-east from Downham Market and 9 south from Lynn, in the Western division of the county, Clackclose hundred, Downham union and county court district, rural deanery of Fincham, archdeaconry of Norfolk and diocese of Norwich. The church of All Saints is in the Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave, with a fine open oak roof, and a square tower containng 6 bells; the church was restored and re-seated by subscription in 1870, and the chancel was rebuilt at the same time by the late Sir Thomas Hare bart. who was the patron and impropriator: it contains a marble monument of Thomas Allen esq. bearing a finely executed figure of Faith. The register dates from the year 1656. The living is a vicarage (not in charge), consolidated with that of Shouldham Thorpe, joint yearly value £292, in the gift of Thomas Leigh Hare esq. of Cadhay House, Ottery St.Mary, Devon, and of Stow Hall, Stow Bardolph, and held since 1850 by the Rev. William Maxey Allen M.A. of Christ's College, Cambridge. There are chapels for Wesleyans, Methodist Reformers and Primitive Methodists. The charities are of £35 yearly value, derived from the poor land and fuel allotment. Two fairs for cattle are held yearly, on September 19th and October 11th. Thomas Leigh Hare esq. who is lord of the manor; Sir Arthur Townley Watson bart. and the Rev. Stephen Allen D.D. are the principal landowners. The soil is loam and clay; subsoil chalk. The chief crops are wheat, barley, roots and turnips. The area is 3,888 acres; reateable value, £4,307; the population in 1881 was 633.
_____
POST OFFICE.— James Rolfe Dawes, receiver. Letters arrive from Downham at 8.45 a.m.; dispatched 5 p.m. The nearest money order office is at Fincham, & telegraph office at Downham.
Here is a National school for boys and girls, built in 1866 & enlarged in 1872, with an average attendance of 125; Miss Hannah Pickersgill, mistress.
CARRIERS TO:—
COMMERCIAL.
Bowen Robert, butcher & shopkeeper
Clifton Dan. miller (wind) & tax collector
Coe Henry, higgler
Cocks William, beer retailer [possibly ?]
Craft Robert, beer retailer
Dane Robert, bricklayer
Dawes James Rolfe, grocer, & postmaster
Drake Oliver George, blacksmith
Dye Frederick, baker & grocer
Dye Harry, shopkeeper & carpenter
Edwards Robert, farmer
Edwards William, farmer, Abbey
Edwards William, shoe maker
Gilbert Henry, Chequers
Hawes Susannah (Mrs.), Victory
Hovells Robert, shoe maker
Lemmon Charles, farmer, Colts hall
Offley Brothers, farmers
Pikett Daniel, butcher
Pikett Fountain, carrier
Preston Harvey, Kings Arms & carrier
Proctor Anthony, farmer, Heath farm
Southgate William, plumber & painter
Starke John, farm bailiff to Rev. Stephen Allen D.D.
Starne Peter, Rampant Horse, & blacksmith
Steeles Robert, wheelwright
West William, farmer
Witherington Joseph, farmer & machine owner
© Transcribed by E.C.Apling, January 1999
1891Census Name Index
White's 1854 Directory entry
Shouldham postmill [Jonathan Neville]
More on Shouldham [GENUKI-NFK]
More Parish information [Geoff Lowe & Andrew Rivett]
Return to villages index
Paddy's home page