Contents
Ladbrooke
19th-century
maps
Terrier of furnishings
Memorials
The font
The Customs of Hoe
Tithes
Fragments of the old church
Benjamin Armstrong
Mormons
Robert Barker
Fund-raising and the tower
Mothers’ Union
History
The churchyard
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Hoe church was extensively rebuilt in
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries on a much
reduced scale, without aisles, having fallen
into a bad state of repair. This Ladbrooke
lithograph is from 1823 when the road ran between
the church and the hall. The belfry windows were added the
same year.
In 1960 Dr Eric Puddy, who lived at the Mill
House, wrote a short history of the church.
Download
pdf
19th-century maps
The old route of the road is shown on
the enclosure
map of 1814.
[Courtesy of Norfolk Record Office
C/Sca/2/243]
The tithe map surveyed in 1847 shows
the present route.
[Courtesy
of Norfolk Record Office BR 276/1/119]
This terrier dated September 30 1716
lists the church furnishings:
A true and perfect Account of all ye Goods, Books,
Ornamts & Utensils belonging to ye Church of
Hoe in ye County of Norfolk & Diocese of
Norwich.
Imprimis
One pewter
fflaggon
Three Bells
One silver Chalice wth a Cover. weighing 14 ounces
One Carpet for ye Comunion Table
One Pulpit Cloth & Cushion of ye same
One fine Linnen Cloth for ye Comunion Table
One Surplice of Holland
Two Comon Prayer
Books
John
Oxwick
One large
Bible
Churchwardens
The book of Homilies, & Bishp
Jewell
Robert Herring
[Courtesy of Norfolk Record Office DN/TER
86/1/3]
In June 1894, George Bagnall lived at Gorgate
Hall, and at Hoe Hall from about 1900.
March 1948.
Francis Blomefield and
Charles Parkin's An Essay
towards a Topographical History of
the County of Norfolk (1739-1775)
contains this description of Hoe
church:
To this hamlet
belongs a chapel with a nave or
body, a north and south isle,
and a chancel covered with lead,
with a square tower and 3 bells;
and the cure is served by the
vicar of East Derham.
In the middle isle
before the pulpit, on a
gravestone,
Orate p. a'i'a.
Willi. Skarlet q; obijt xx die
Maij Ao. Dni. mcccclxxxiiii cuj;
a'ia. p'pitietr. Deus.
On another, [the photograph
above shows what remains]
Orate p. a'i'ab;
Johs. Dunha de Hoo, Gentilema,
Alicie ux'is ejus, et Marg'e
filic corunde' Johs. et Alice,
qui quidem Johs. obijt xxii die
Novembr. Ao. Dni. mcccclxvii
quor. a'i'ab; p'pit. Deus, cu'
hiis qui oderunt pacem erat
pacificus, et cum loq'batr.
illis impugnabant se gratis.
In the north isle
at the east end, was a chapel;
in the window, argent, a lion
rampant, sable, crowned, or,
Morley; also the figures of a
person lying as dead on an altar
tomb, and 5 priests as praying
by him, in a north widow; in the
east window of the said isle is
a representation of the
crucifixion; and here was
probably a clerk's chantry,
there being at the bottom of the
said window,
Orate p. a'i'ab;
Johs. Clerk agnet. et Alicie
uxr. ej; et p. q'ib; tenentur.
On a gray marble
stone,
Here lyeth the body
of Thomas Utber, gent. deceased,
Nov. 25, 1641.
One,
In memory of
Margaret, late wife of Thomas
Utber, gent. deceased, 17 Apr.
1622.
On an altar tomb,
of black marble, with the arms
of L'Estrange, impaling argent,
three chevronels, sable, Lane;
with this motto,
Mihi parta tueri.
Depositum Susannæ
L'estrange uxoris secundæ Rogeri
L'estrange generosi, unius de
filiabus et coheredidus
Franeisci Lane de Thuxton, in
hoc agro Norfol. generosi; quæ
annos nata xxxvii, denata est
xii cal. Martij 1687, cui ob.
pietatem, virtutem et eximiam
erga suos benevolentiam, ut
posteris etiam pietatis,
virtutis, et benevolentiæ
exemplar innotesceret, hoc
monumentum, L.M.Q.P. conjux
fidissimus.
And on a mural
monument against the east wall
here [photograph
above, the monument is now on
the north wall], the arms of
Lestrange.
In vicino pulvere
quiescunt exuviae Rogeri
Lestrange, generosi hujus loci
nup. incolae, qui illis vixit
virtutibus ornatus quae maxime
conveniunt sapienti. Per
universam vitam is erat qui
amicis charus, pauperi
munificus, vicinis gratiosus,
suor. memor et providus ut
esset, et negotio sibi dedit et
effecit, sacris interesse
nunquam drestitit. Æqui
attentissime observans litis
perosus. benevolentiae fere
prodigus. Hunc itaq; tam integre
et pie functum ijs officiis quae
graviter ad omnes spectant, et
illis maturum praemijs, quae
solum optimis erogantur; Deus
quasi jam emeritum sibi in
coelum vendicavit, salutis 1706,
ætat. 63, Oct. 29. Sic
parentabat Leuknor Lestrange.
He was his son by
his 2d wife. Roger's first wife
was —, daughter of— Hastings;
his 3d wife, Amy, daughter of —
Tyrell, remarried to — Crow of
Bilney.
In a north window
of the chancel are the arms of
the see of Ely, and quarterly,
gules, three goats heads,
erased, argent, attired or, in
the first and fourth, and in the
2d and 3d ermine,—Morton Bishop
of Ely.
This tomb slab in the nave floor
isn't mentioned in Blomefield,
despite being of sufficient age.
Perhaps the delightfully amateur
inscription and its commemoration
of a yeoman farmer, William
Blackhall, were reasons for its
having been omitted.
In May 2014, to commemorate the
servicemen from Hoe who served
with distinction or were
casualties of the First World War,
an exhibition was held in the
church.
George Bagnall was born at Gorgate
Hall in 1887 and became a
solicitor in London. He died at
Arras.
Pilot
Officer James
Arthur Barclay
died on 8th
December 1941
and is
commemorated
at the
Runnymede
Memorial.
Charles James
Taylor was the
son of Charles
George and
Lucy Taylor
(of
Gressenhall),
husband
of Elsie
Taylor. He died
aged 26 on 3rd
March 1945 and
is buried in
Uden War
Cemetery in
Holland. His
brother,
Allured John,
died aged 21
on 24 January
1942 in
Singapore and
is buried in
Kranji War
Cemetery.
Few of the
features described in
Blomefield survived
the rebuilding. The
15th-century font stands on
four octagonal stones which
could well be from the
shafts of the demolished
nave arcade pillars.
This document, 'The
Customs of the Towne of
Hoe…', is dated 1614 and
lists the tithes due from
parishioners to the
Rector. These tithe
customs were endorsed in
1723 by the then Rector
and churchwardens, W.
Leach, William Cobb,
Robert Herring and William
Foulgier.
[Courtesy of
Norfolk Record
Office DN/TER
86/1/4]
In 1806 a later copy
transcribed the terrier as
follows:
An Act
of Parliament in 1836
commuted payment of tithes
in kind into cash. Surveys
of land, with maps, were
produced as an assessment
of value. In Hoe the
survey was made in 1847
and sealed by the
government commissioners
the next year.
[Courtesy
of Norfolk
Record Office
BR 276/1/119]
On the tithe map the
fields are numbered to
refer to the survey list.
Here is the entry for
Spring Farm, where James
Fellows was the tenant of
the landowner, Edward
Lombe, and was assessed on
his acreage (3 rods, 7
perches) at 1s. 6d. At
Manor Farm, Samuel Norton
had to pay £53 5s. 7d on
249 acres, 2 rods, 8
perches.
[Courtesy
of Norfolk
Record Office
BR 276/1/119]
Among the few remaining
traces of the medieval
church from before its
rebuilding is this
flushwork crowned monogram
M. The M symbol in the
pre-Reformation church
denoted Mary, and possibly
in this case may also
refer to the Morley
family, sometime lords of
the manor of Swanton
Morley, whose coat of arms
appeared in a window until
the rebuilding.
On the north wall this
stone bears the date April
1622. The rest of the text
is indecipherable.
The south porch was
restored in 1999.
The initials
WG are most likely
to be those of
William Grounds who
lived at Hoe Hall.
Did he build or restore
the porch at
the
same time
as
realigning the
road to the
south of the
church,
as appears
from the maps
above?
Revd Benjamin
Armstrong was
vicar of East
Dereham,
including Hoe,
from 1850 to
1888. His
diaries
include
many entries
describing
events in the
village, such
as
these from
December 1st
1857 and March
18th 1877.
Had a good
gallop on a
hired pony
with my
Newfoundland
galloping
alongside, to
Hoe, where
visited Mrs
Norton &
Mrs Blomfield
who is likely
to die, &
like too many
prefers the
ministrations
of the Vicar
to
that of a
curate.
Explained to
her that all
priests are
equal &
she promised
to receive the
curate in
future.
Preached for
the last time
from the old
'three-decker'
pulpit in Hoe
Church, the
churchwardens
having erected
a new pulpit
near the
chancel steps.
When a huge
sounding board
was removed,
the iron by
which it was
suspended over
the head of
the preacher
was found to
be worn away
to a mere
thread which
might have
given
way at any
moment.
This little
mustard-pot
lid came from
Dereham
Vicarage.
Peggy
Butterfield,
who lived at
Spring Farm,
Hoe, until
1978, was
given it by
her aunt,
Elizabeth
Barker, who
worked at the
Vicarage.
In March 1851
a census was
conducted of
churches and
their
congregations.
Armstrong
describes the
church as a
'Chapel …
annexed to the
Parish of East
Dereham' and
gives the
numbers of
attendees at
morning and
afternoon
services.
Crown
Copyright
HO-129-242_3
On September
24th 1852,
Armstrong
visited Hoe's
thirty-four poor
families, all
of which
possess a copy
of the Holy
Scriptures,
and are all
baptized. The
whole of them
belong to the
Church, except
two families
who are
Mormonites… .
Dereham's
branch of the
Mormon church
was founded on
24th March
1849.
1861 census
for Hoe.
Jeremiah Jones
(the younger),
his wife and
children were
one of those
Mormon
families. They
emigrated to
America in
1862, by then
with three
children,
sailing from
Liverpool to
New York.
Robert
Barker
(1830-1904)
was Parish
Clerk for
thirty years.
He worked as a
farm labourer.
Excerpt from
the will of
Thomas Warner
of Hoe, dated
1558, in which
he leaves a
sum of money
'… to the
reparacion of
the the steple
in Hoe …'.
Evidence that
the problems
with the tower
go back a very
long way.
National
Archive
PROB-11-42B-421
So
far as we
know, this is
a unique
photograph of
the church
showing
the tower in
its taller state
before
it
was damaged
in a storm and
subsequently
rebuilt.
In
the early
years of the
twentieth
century
fund-raising
events were
held
in aid
of the
rebuilding of
the tower.
In June 1907,
this bazaar
was 'a
dazzling
spectacle'.
Nearly
£50 had been
raised by
August 1907.
Who paid
the remaining
amount
is unknown, but
when work started
the
tower fell
again,
apparently
caused by weak
foundations,
and the fund
was used
instead to
build the
parish hall,
which opened
in 1912.
The
tower was
rebuilt
in its present
form, ending
below the line
of the nave
roof. A single
bell was
rehung.
This letter is
from Patience
Puddy, wife
of the local
doctor, Eric
Puddy, to
Grace Kenny
about her
mother, Emma
Dawson (see 8-9 Hoe).
In 1959 a new
banner for the
Mothers'
Union was to
be dedicated,
along with
an offertory
bag in Mrs
Dawson's
memory.
Emma Dawson's
grave at her
funeral in
1958.
Hoe resident
Dr Josephine
Lloyd wrote
and published
a history of
St Andrew's
church in
2010. Among
those present
at the launch
were (left to
right, from
the font)
Jenny
Tuckwell,
Ernie Lloyd,
who took the
photographs
for the book
and John
Tuckwell,
churchwarden.
Josephine
Lloyd is
standing in
front of the
door.
In 1954,
Bunnings of
Gressenhall
made this iron
gate
for the
churchyard.
David
Bunning's
grandfather
George
was
photographed
at its
installation
(we have not
yet
found this
photo, sadly).
In 2010 David
(left)
refurbished
the gate in
his
grandfather's
memory and is
photographed
here with
Charles Carey,
then the
churchwarden
who looked
after
the churchyard.
The cherry
trees, which
were planted
for the 1977
Silver
Jubilee,
looking
spectacular.
Cliff Hudson
took the photo
while his dogs
waited.
In 2016, John
Tuckwell
remade the
wooden crosses
marking graves
in the church
yard
extension. The
originals had
rotted and
some of their
positions were
uncertain.
Surveys made
in the 1970s
by the Swanton
Morley Family
History Group
were consulted
to establish
the names of
the interred,
among whom was
Emma Dawson.
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