Norfolk - Wendling

Francis White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory, of Norfolk 1854, pp. 799-800

WENDLING, 4 miles W. by S. of East Dereham, is a parish with 78 scattered houses, 385 souls, and 1,330 acres of land, mostly the property of Jno. Margerson, Esq., the executors of the late J. Mason, Esq., Mrs. Skikelthorp, Wm. Burcham, Page Scott, and Jno. Hudson, Esqrs. ; the former is lord of the manor. Wendling House is a neat residence, on the Lynn and Swaffham turnpike-road, the seat and property of Mrs. Eliz. Skikelthorp. Wendling Abbey was founded by Sir Wm. de Wendling, in the 52nd of Edward III., for canons of the Premonstratensian order. The last remains of the ruins and foundations were used some years ago in repairing the roads. The Church is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, and has a square tower and three bells. The living is a perpetual curacy, augmented with £600 Qeen Anne's bounty, and valued in 1831 at £52. The Earl of Leicester is patron, and is enjoyed, with that of Longham, by the Rev. Robt. Howlett. The Fuel allotment is 10a. The Poor's Stock, £400 three per cent. consols, was derived from the sale of a house and land in 1816. The dividends, for some years, were improperly carried to the poor rates. The Widows' Land, 6a. 1r. 36p., is let for £12 a year. The East Anglian Railway, opened Sept. 1848, has a neat station here.