The History of Lynn, Vol. 1 [of 2]

by William Richards

As to the Critics, annual, and quarterly, as well as monthly, he has but little to say to them. He is very sensible of the defects of the work; many of which however were unavoidable, in existing circumstances, or in a first attempt like his, where many of the necessary materials were not in his possession, or at his command, and seemed for a long while unobtainable. Should the work come before their high tribunal, he asks no favour. They will doubtless see in it many defects, but not more perhaps than he is himself conscious of. They are welcome however to be as severe as they please, provided they deal fairly, or with reason and justice. It may be less cruel to exercise their severity here, than upon some young authors, who are in quest of, and panting for popular applause, or literary fame; neither of which has ever been sought for by the present writer.

The work being now finished, after many unforeseen delays, the author respectfully submits it to the examination and judgment of the candid and intelligent reader, by whom, he doubts not, both its merits and demerits will be rightly estimated. Whatever may be said or thought of the execution, he thinks it must be admitted, that there is here brought together such a mass of interesting information relating to this town, as few people could have expected to see, when the design of this publication was first advertised. So that there may now be obtained as much knowledge of the ancient and modern affairs of this town, as of most towns in the county, or in the kingdom. He regrets that so many typographical errors escaped him in revising the sheets; the chief of which he has now pointed out, in a table of errata, (which will be found in each volume,) by the direction of which he requests the subscribers forthwith to correct the reading.

It may have been expected, that this work would contain a list of our mayors; but as no such list was known of, that might be depended upon for its correctness, it has been omitted: nor did it seem to be at all material, unless it had also been accompanied with lists of the recorders, and other functionaries, which appeared unobtainable.—It was intended to add an alphabetical Index; but as it would take up some time, and increase too much the size of the concluding number, (already almost three times as large at any of the others,) the design was given up. The Table of contents it is hoped, will supply, in a great measure, the want of an index. Be that as it may, the work is now left to take its chance and make its own way in the world—the author consoling himself with the consciousness of having faithfully and honestly performed the task he had undertaken.

Lynn, July, 1812.

CONTENTS.
OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

PARTI.—INTRODUCTION. CHAP. I. Site of Lynn—account of its harbour, and thatof Wisbeach—ancient and present state of itsrivers—inland navigation—drainage—projects ofimprovement—state of its shipping, commerce,and population, at different periods.
	Page
SECT. 1. Situation of the town—its distancefrom the sea. &c.—its harbour—river Ouse and itstributary streams.	[1]
SECT. 2. Further account of the riverOuse—remarkable phenomenon—the poetCowper—supposed etymology of the name of Wisbeach—theOuse diverted from its ancient course and outlet—kingJohn’s disastrous passage over that river, in his lastprogress from Lynn—Extracts from Vancouver.	[8]
SECT. 3. Effects of the desertion of the Ouse andNene, on Wisbeach and parts adjacent.	[15]
SECT. 4. Effects on Lynn and its harbour andnavigation, of the great accession of fresh waters in the reignof Henry III.	[22]
SECT. 5. Eaubrink Cut and other projects of formertimes—with slight hints on the comparative state of theshipping, commercial consequence and population of Lynn atdifferent periods.	[27]
CHAP. II. Of Marshland and adjoiningparts, or great Fen Country—View of their situationand revolutions in remote ages, or sketch of their ancienthistory.
SECT. 1. Account of their state before and after thearrival of the Romans—character of thatpeople—establishment of their power here—improvementsmade by them in these parts.	[32]
SECT. 2. Further strictures on the ancient state ofthis country, and on the wonderful change it appears to haveundergone at a very remote and unknown period; from DeSerra’s account of a submarine forest on the coast ofLincolnshire.	[37]
SECT. 3. Further observations from samepaper—Epoch of the destruction of the saidforest—agency by which it was effected,&c.—similar appearances eastward along the Norfolkcoast.	[42]
SECT. 4. Some further geological observationsrelating to the fens, extracted from Dugdale’s Letters toSir Thomas Browne.	[49]
SECT. 5. Concise view of the ancient and modernhistory of the Fen country, from Pennant’s Preface to his3rd. vol. of Arctic Zoology.	[52]
SECT. 6. Further account of the Fens, from theBeauties of England.	[58]
SECT. 7. Of the Fens from the time of Henry VIII, orrather that of Elizabeth, to the Revolution; giving an account ofthe different projects of improvement proposed and carried onduring that period.	[64]
SECT. 8. Same subject continued to the presenttime	[70]
SECT. 9. Miscellaneous observations on the presentappearance, produce, and state of the Fens.	[74]
SECT. 10. Miscellaneous observationscontinued—fen-reeds and theiruses—starlings—tame geese, and singular management ofthem—insalubriousness of Marshland—ancient celebrityof the smeeth—decoys.	[77]
SECT. 11. Brief remarks on the parish churches ofMarshland and Holland; with a short sketch of the history of thecastle and town of Wisbeach.	[87]
SECT. 12. History of Wisbeach continued.	[99]
SECT. 13. Additional account ofMarshland—Parkin—bishop of Ely’s manor inTerrington—queen Henrietta—admiralBentinck—cross keys demolishers of banks prosecuted andsuppressed—high tides—destructiveinundations—principal divisions of Marshland.	[112]
SECT. 14. Biographical sketches of some of the mostdistinguished personages of other times in Marshland and itsvicinity.	[121]
CHAP. III. Of the parts about Lynn,on the eastern side of the Ouse.
SECT. 1. Aspect of the country—its agricultureand rural economy—Wayland wood—memoir ofShuckforth—parish churches and other edifices, ancient andmodern.	[135]
SECT. 2. Further account of cables, edifices, andplaces of ancient note in theseparts—Brancaster—Rising—Hunston—Castle-acre—Wormegay—Middleton—Gaywood,&c.	[146]
SECT. 3. Account of modern palaces, and othernotable mansions in theseparts—Houghton—Holkham—Rainham—Narford—Narborough—Oxborough	[162]
SECT. 4. Biographical sketches of some of the mostcelebrated or memorable personages who were of this part of thecountry—Coke—Sir Henry and Sir JohnSpelman—L’Estrange—Walpole—Fountain—Folkes—HoraceWalpole—Nelson—Bewley.	[174]
SECT. 5. Of the animals, and particularly the birds,of this country	[193]
SECT. 6. Brief account of places hereabout, beforeomitted—Sechey—Runcton—Downham—Denver—Helgay—Southery—Feltwell—Methwold—Stoke,&c. Feltwellnew-fen-district—Fincham—Swaffham—Babingley—Sharnborne—greatmalthouse—Hunston Light-house &c.	[201]
Part II. Of the origin and antiquity of Lynn,with a sketch of the history from its firstrise to the norman conquest. CHAP. I. Of Lynn while Britain formed apart of the Roman empire.
SECT. 1. Present town or borough of Lynn of no greatantiquity—its site not the same with that of the originaltown—the probable site of the latter, and era of itsorigin.	[213]
SECT. 2. Digression relating to the firstintroduction of Christianity into Britain—Bardism.	[216]
SECT 3. Ancient history of Lynn continued—townsupposed to have been founded by a colony of foreignersintroduced by the Romans—etymology of itsname—mistakes of Camden, Spelman, &c.	[220]
SECT. 4. Lynn the mother-town of thefens—further account of its supposed founders and originalinhabitants—remarkable works executed by them—greatimprovers of the country—account continued to theextinction of the Roman power.	[223]
CHAP. II. Immediate consequence of the abdication of the country bythe Romans, and probable fate of Lynn.
SECT. 1. Character of the Anglo-Saxons, with generalobservations on the invasion and conquest of this country bythem, and their barbarous treatment of the inhabitants.	[228]
SECT. 2. Of the Angles,from whom England and the English language derive theirnames—they seize on the parts about Lynn, and the wholeprovince of the ancient Iceni, whichreceives the denomination of East Anglia, and forms one of thekingdoms of the Heptarchy—revival of Lynn in the meantime—with remarks on the adjacent country.	[235]
SECT. 3. Of the Saltworks formerly at andabout Lynn—paucity of appropriate materials to elucidatethat subject—apology.	[239]
CHAP. III. Of the religious profession of the first Anglianinhabitants of Lynn—their renouncing heathenism, andassuming the christian name—account of theirconversion, and character of their Christianity.
SECT. 1. Heathenism the religion of this town at thecommencement of the Heptarchy—our townsmen and the rest ofthe East Angles, with the other branches of the Heptarchy, becomeprofessors of Christianity—account of their conversion.	[241]
SECT. 2. Effects of the conversion of the EastAngles, and the sister kingdoms—character of theirChristianity.	[244]
SECT. 3. Christianity of the ancient inhabitants ofLynn and of this country further characterized—whether verymaterially improved during the reign of Alfred—remarks on thatreign—papal instructions to the first missionaries.	[248]
CHAP. IV. Miscellaneous observations, on the socialdistinctions and the general state of the community among theAnglo-Saxons.
SECT. 1. State of society at Lynn, and in thiscountry, before the conquest.	[253]
SECT. 2. Of the Wittenagemote and othercourts—maxims of jurisprudence—institution oftythings—nuptial and funeral rites—sacerdotal,domestic, and other customs among the Anglo-Saxons.	[258]
SECT. 3. State of learning, and of the medicalprofession, among the Anglo-Saxons.	[264]
SECT. 4. Expressive and remarkable names of themonths—state of the coinage or currency—general valueof different commodities in this country before theconquest—slavery—comparison with the present courseof things.	[266]
SECT. 5. Probability that Lynn was formerlyconcerned in the exportation of slaves—comparison betweenthe ancient and modern English slave dealers—slavesand horses the chief exports of this country in thosedays—corn not then exported, though it had beenformerly—imports, commerce, miscellaneous hints andobservations.	[270]
SECT. 6. Population of Lynn and the country ingeneral, before the conquest—condition of the bulk of theinhabitants in the mean time—sufferings of the inhabitantsof Lynn and the adjacent country from theDanes—intrepid and ferocious character of thatpeople—instruments of vengeance on theAnglo-Saxons—their despotism and character not much changedby their conversion to Christianity, so called—remarkableinstances of imposition, superstition, and credulity.	[277]
SECT. 7. Of the Heptarchy and itshistory—remarks on Egbert, Alfred, and theirmost renowned successors—character of Canute andEdward the Confessor—the latter the first of ourmonarchs that touched for the Evil—remarks on thatcircumstance, and the prevalence of that complaint in theseparts.	[284]
SECT. 8. State of Lynn in the confessor’stime—chief sway borne here then by Stigand, Ailmer, andHarold—great power of the latter, and sketch of hischaracter—obtains the crown at the confessor’sdeath—is soon disturbed by two formidable invasions; onefrom the Danish or Norwegian shores under Halfagar, whomhe vanquishes; the other from France, under William the Normanbastard, in opposing whom he is himself vanquished and slain, whichplaces the conqueror on the English throne without furtherstruggle, through the defection and machinations of our bishopsand clergy.	[289]
SECT. 9. Sketch of the practice of the royaltouch in England, or a historical essay on the memorableempiricism of our English sovereigns, from Edward theconfessor to George the first—credulity of Whistonand Carte—quackery, medical, political, andtheological still prevalent among us, though that of the royaltouch has ceased—Richard Brothers, JoannaSouthcote, and William Pitt—memoir of theDumb doctor.	[298]
Part III. History of Lynn from the establishment of theFrench or Normans in England to the Reformation. CHAP. I.
Observations on the Conquest—account of the changesthen introduced—their effects on the kingdom in general,and on Lynn and its vicinity in particular.	[327]
CHAP. II.
Further remarks on the revolutionary effects of theConquest, throughout the whole kingdom as well as atLynn—Catalogue of bishops to whose civil rule the town usedto be subject, or who bore temporal sway here till theReformation.	[342]
CHAP. III.
State of Lynn previously and subsequently to its becominga corporate town, or free burgh; or general remarks on thatevent, and on the progressive state of society in the cities andtowns of this country, as well as at Lynn, in thosetimes—John, Henry III, and Henry VIII, great benefactors tothis town; the latter of whom put an end to the temporaldomination of the bishops here, and ought to be held in gratefulremembrance.	[374]
CHAP. IV.
Further observations on the history of Lynn during thesame period—horrid treatment of the Jewshere—probable state of the town as to its internal policeand municipal economy previously to its being declared a freeburgh and receiving its first royal charter—changesresulting from that event—statement of subsequentoccurrences.	[390]
CHAP. V.
State of society at Lynn during this period—thesubject elucidated from documents relative to the ancientgilds—observations on the nature of thoseinstitutions—very common in the country before thereformation—names and number of those of Lynn.	[408]
SECT. 1. Observations on the origin of thegilds.	[411]
SECT. 2. Names and number of the Lynn gilds, withadditional observations.	[415]
SECT. 3. More particular account of some of ourgilds.	[419]
SECT. 4. Account of the gilds continued.	[439]
SECT. 5. Account of the Holy Trinity company, orgreat merchant’s gild.	[450]
SECT. 6. Account of the remaining gilds, andparticularly those of St. Francis and St.William.	[474]
CHAP. VI. Account of the monasteries andreligious houses formerly here.
SECT. 1. Account of the house of Benedictinesin priory lane, with a sketch of that religious order.	[489]
SECT. 2. Account of the convent of theCarmelites or White Friars, with a sketch of thatorder.	[493]
SECT. 3. Account of the convent of theFranciscans, Friars Minors, or Grey Friars, with a sketchof that order.	[498]
SECT. 4. Account of the convent of theDominicans or Black Friars, with a sketch of thatorder.	[503]
SECT. 5. Account of the convent of the Augustinians,or Austin Friars, with a sketch of that older.	[513]
SECT. 6. Of the Friars de Penitentia, or brothers ofrepentance, and their convent here—also the college ofPriests, and the hospital and church of St. John.	[519]
SECT. 7. Account of St. Mary Magdalen’sHospital, Lazar Houses, St. Lawrence’s Hospital&c.	[530]
SECT. 8. Of the Red Mount and ourLady’s chapel there—also her chapel by the Bridge,and the chapels of St. Ann, St. Catherine, and St. Lawrence.	[554]
SECT. 9. Account of St. James’s Chapel(now the Workhouse) from its first erection, in the 12th.century, to the present time; including an account of themanagement of the in-door pensioners there, as well as theout-door ones, and our present enormous poor-rates.	[564]
CHAP. VII.
Brief Biographical notices of the mostremarkable and distinguished personages who appeared among theinhabitants of Lynn in the intervening period between theConquest and Reformation. Nicholas—Sawtre—Alan—Wallys—Baret—DeBittering—Wentworth—Petipas—Miller.	[585]
Postscript or supplement to the History of the RoyalTouch

PART I.
INTRODUCTION.

CHAP. I.

Site of Lynn—Account of its harbour, and that of Wisbeach—Ancient and present state of its rivers—Inland Navigation—Drainage—Projects of improvement—State of its shipping, commerce, and population, at different periods.

Section I.