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stable, the seat of Lord Hastings: Rainham Hall, the seat of the Honourable Captain John Townshend; and Houghton Hall, the seat of the Marquis of Cholmondeley.

MELTON CONSTABLE stands in the village of that name, to the east north-east of Fakenham, about midway between that town and Holt-a pleasant markettown, standing in the midst of thriving plantations, and greatly improved of late years. The house at Melton was built about 1680. The family of Lord Hastingsthe Astleys-have been in possession of the manor of Melton Constable for centuries.

RAYNHAM HALL, in the parish of East Raynham, lies about four miles to the south of Fakenham, and is a large and handsome mansion of brick and stone. It was erected in 1630 by Sir Roger Townshend, the architect being the celebrated Inigo Jones; but there are many modern additions. It stands on an eminence, in an extensive park; and the view over the finelywooded grounds is diversified and picturesque.

HOUGHTON HALL, in the parish of New Houghton, or Houghton-in-the-Brake, is considered the first seat, in point of size, in Norfolk; Holkham being second, Raynham third; and Melton Constable the fourth. It was built by Sir Robert Walpole when he was prime minister of England; and thirteen years, from 1722 to 1735, passed over before it was completed. The material is freestone. It has two principal fronts, to the east and west, with wings for the servants' apartments and offices, connected with the fronts by hand

some colonnades.

The main building is 166 feet long; with colonnades and wings, it extends 450 feet. The apartments, in the interior, correspond in magnificence with the exterior; they are sumptuously furnished,but it must always be a matter of regret that the large and valuable collection of pictures, collected by Sir Robert at an enormous outlay, was sold in 1779, by the Earl of Oxford of that day, to Catherine of Russia for £40,555. Many of these pictures were engraved by Boydell before they were removed, but the impressions are now scarce. There are still some good paintings in the hall; but the original collection was of European fame. There is a fine park attached to the mansion, and the gardens are tastefully laid out. Here, in the zenith of his power and fame, the great statesman was in the habit of retiring occasionally, and receiving the visits of the first men in the kingdom, and of distinguished foreigners. And here every year he held a meeting of his friends, which generally continued a fortnight, and was called "the congress." Here he spent the few years of his life after he retired from office (when he was created Earl of Orford), and here, in 1745, he died; and the title, having been held by his son and grandson, fell to his second son, the celebrated Horace Walpole, in 1751, with whom it expired; but it was revived in his cousin, the father of the present Earl,--previous to which the manor of Houghton, and the hall, had passed into the possession of the first Marquis of Cholmondeley.

But we must now hie us back to Lynn, and proceed

from thence by rail to Norwich. The East Anglian the lawyers say, "hear of something greatly to his Company was organized in 1845; and the line from advantage." He took no heed of this "vision of the Lynn to Dereham was opened in 1847. There is night;" but it returned to him a second and a third little, except a highly-cultivated country, to be seen in time, and he then resolved that he would go to the traversing this line. It passes through MIDDLETON, metropolis,-no slight undertaking in those days, about near which are the ruins of Blackborough Priory, in the middle of the fifteenth century. On reaching the vale of the Nar; EAST WINCH, where is seen a London, he repaired to the bridge, where he walked dilapidated mansion called the Nunnery, in the reign backwards and forwards for some time; and as he of the first of the Edwards the seat of Sir William neither heard nor saw anything which was likely to Howard, a famous judge, and the founder of the now benefit him, he got weary of his task, and was about noble family of that name; WEST BILNEY; and NAR- to leave the spot, no wiser than he was when he arrived BOROUGH, said to have been a British city in the time there. As he was retiring, a man who had noticed him of Utex Pendragon, about the year 500, but which is for some time, accosted him, and asked him what he now only a village, though the hall, the property of wanted? He replied, that he had been induced to Charles Chamberlain, Esq., is a handsome mansion: come there from a dream. "Alas! my good friend,” and it has a fine church, in which are some monu- replied the man, "if I had heeded dreams, I might mental brasses of the Spelman family, who formerly have proved myself as very a fool as thou hast; for 't is not long since I dreamt, that at a place called Swaffham, in Norfolk, dwells John Chapman, a pedlar, who has a tree at the back of his house, under which is buried a pot of money."-" Oh, oh!" thinks John, who knew there was a tree on the spot indicated, "this will just do for me." So home he posted, repaired to the tree, commenced digging, and soon found a large brass pot full of coin. There was the following inscription. on the lid :

resided here.

"Under me doth lie,

Another much richer than I."

This was in Latin, which honest John did not understand: however, by some chance or other it was decyphered for him, and he dug again, and found another pot larger than the first, and containing more money. John then altered his style of living, became churchwarden, and built the north aisle and tower of the church, as an acknowledgment for the good fortune brought him by the dream.

The next station from Narborough is SWAFFHAM, one of the principal market towns of the county. It occupies a very picturesque situation, on elevated ground, but has nothing particularly worthy of note, except its church. The shire-hall is a neat modern building, in the Grecian and Italian styles; there is an assembly-room in the market-place, a plain brick edifice; and a market cross, erected in 1787 by the Earl of Orford, which is rather an elegant structure, consisting of "a peristyle of circular columns, supporting a dome covered with lead, and terminated by a statue of Ceres." The church, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, is built of brick, flint, and freestone. Commenced in the reign of Edward IV., it was not finished till 1510, and it is a noble specimen of the architecture of the time. Like most of the churches of the period, it is built in the form of a cross, having nave, aisles, transepts, and chancel, with a tower of considerable height and handsome appearance, from its enriched Necton Hall, the seat of Colonel Mason, is about embrasures and purfled pinnacles. There are twenty-four miles from Swaffham to the east; and about the six interesting windows in the nave; and the oak roof same distance on the north is CASTLE-ACRE, which was is supported by sixteen slender pillars, eight on each a British settlement, a Roman station, and a Norman side, from which spring fourteen arches of the pointed town, and is now a large village, famous for the restyle. The east window is composed of painted glass,mains of a castle and a priory, built by the Earl de representing the Resurrection; and in the other windows are the remains of figures of stained glass, supposed to be portraits of persons who contributed to the erection of the building. There are, also, some monuments, the principal of which is an altar-tomb, with the figure of John Botewright, D.D., who was chaplain to Henry VI., and master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Formerly, there were seven altars in the church, belonging to as many "guilds," or brotherhoods, associated for religious, charitable, or convivial

purposes.

We must not leave Swaffham without adverting to the legend of the pedlar, which, though evidently a fable and discredited by every antiquary, nine out of ten of the Swaffham men implicitly believe. This legend runs as follows:-John Chapman was a travelling tinker, or pedlar, who dreamt that if he went to London, and walked on London Bridge, he would, as

Warrenne, the son-in-law and favourite of William I. The priory was founded, A.D. 1078, for the monks of the Cluniac order, who were subjects to the abbey of Lewes, in Sussex. The castle, with its outworks and fortifications, formerly occupied an area of eighteen acres; it was a massive building, but the remains convey very little idea of its magnificence. The FitzAlans, the Earls of Arundel, and the Howards, were its owners after De Warrenne; and it was purchased of the Howard family by Sir Edward Coke, from whom the present Earl of Leicester inherits it. Of this priory, which, like the castle, was a magnificent edifice, very little remains; it was dissolved in the twenty-eighth of Henry VIII., who bestowed it on the Duke of Norfolk. Sir Edward Coke purchased it with the castle and other estates.

Leaving Swaffham, the railway takes us again through a country, in which the fields look like gardens, and

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here and there a pretty farm-house, a rustic cottage, or a village church, burst upon the sight as the train rushes past, but, so quick is its motion, "that they move like shadows, so depart." The first station is DUNHAM, the next FRANSHAM, and the third WENDLING, where stood Wendling Abbey, founded in the reign of Edward III., by Sir Warde Wendling, for brethren of the Premonstraterian order. A few minutes more steaming and we arrive at EAST DEREHAM, which, prior to 1737, was supposed to be the dirtiest town in the county; but it is now one of the cleanest, neatest, and most improving places that Norfolk can boast of. It is pleasantly situated on the cast side of a rivulet, and in the midst of so many highly cultivated and productive farms, &c., that the district has been named the "Garden of Norfolk." The town is of great antiquity, and a priory was erected here as early as 650, by St. Withburga, a daughter of Anna, one of the East Anglian sovereigns, who was its first prioress, in subjection to the abbey, erected by Ethel freda, another daughter of Anna, in the Isle of Ely.

There is an interesting legend connected with St. Withburga. She died A.D. 655, and her corpse was interred in the church-yard, at the west end of the church, and a chapel was erected over her tomb. In 798, her body, being found "uncorrupted," was disinterred, and removed to the body of the church, from whence it was, "out of extreme attachment to the sacred relic," stolen by the abbot and monks of Ely. Whilst the inhabitants were feasting, the sacrilegious despoilers of the dead got safe off with the precious prize, which they enshrined at the east end of Ely cathedral. The crime of these pious depredators is termed by the historian, "a holy sacrilege-a pious fraud-a soul-saving robbery." After the removal of the body, a fine spring of water flowed from the saint's original grave in the church-yard, to which extraordinary miraculous powers were ascribed. The spring remains, and an ancient arch from which it issues, is supposed to be the remains of the tomb. A building was erected over it in 1752, for a bath-house. The present plain brick edifice, used for that purpose, was built in 1793.

Dereham has a spacious market-place, and several excellent streets, lined with good houses and wellstocked shops. The church, an ancient structure, in the collegiate style, is dedicated to St. Nicholas. It has a nave, two aisles, chancel, four chapels, and a centre tower. The font is very beautiful. It was erected in 1468, and is adorned with elaborately carved figures, representing the seven sacraments, the apostles, &c.; but they were much injured at the Reformation. There are some handsome monuments in this church,- -one being to Cowper, the poet, who, born at Berkhampstead, in 1732, died at Dereham in 1806. The parish is divided into three manors; one of which is called "East Dereham, of the Queen," because Queen Elizabeth compelled the Bishop of Ely to give it to her; she protesting she would “unfrock him" if he did not. The unfortunate Earl of Essex was lord of Old-hall

manor, it having been bestowed upon him by Queen Elizabeth, when he was high in favour with her majesty. There are several gentlemen's seats within a few miles of East Dereham-QUEBEC-HOUSE, the seat and property of Mrs. Lee Warner, is only about three-quarters of a mile from the town. It is an extensive and beautiful Gothic mansion, with a verdant park, and tastefully laid-out pleasure-grounds. It was built by the late Mr. Rash, who gave it the name it bears, in compliment to Lord Townshend, who was second in command at the siege of Quebec. ELMSALL-HALL, the seat of Lord Sondes, five miles from Dereham, is a large brick building, erected on an eminence, rising gently from the margin of a fine sheet of water, supplied from a small brook flowing through the park to the river Wensum.

At East Dereham, we leave the East Anglian line, and pass on to the Dereham branch of the Norfolk railway; which conveys us through the parishes of YAXHAM, WHINBERGH, THUXTON, MATTESHALL, HINGHAM, and HARDINGHAM, to KIMBERLEY. There is little to note in the places we have mentioned; except that Domesday-book mentions several towns as standing in the hundred of Yaxham, of which there are now no vestiges; that Hingham was the property of King Athelstane, and has a church, in which there is a large window, filled with beautiful stained glass, representing, in figures as large as life, the Crucifixion, the Descent from the Cross, and the Ascension; and with full-length figures of Adam, Eve, Moses, Aaron, St. Andrew, &c.; and that Hardingham was the native place of Sir Thomas Gresham, the founder of the Royal Exchange. Kimberley is one of the most picturesque villages in the county. The whole of the parish is the property of Lord Wodehouse, whose principal residence in the county is Kimberley Hall, which stands in the parish of Wymondham; but the park is in the parish of Kimberley. There is a small and neat church in the village, dedicated to St. Peter. It was beautified and repaired in 1835, by the late Lord Wodehouse, who also filled two of its windows with stained glass.

KIMBERLEY HALL is one of the finest mansions in the county. The Fastolffes were the early owners of this seat; and their mansion stood on the west side of the village. In the reign of Henry IV. it came into the hands of Sir John Wodehouse, by his marriage with the heiress of Sir John Fastolffe; and he demolished the old house, and erected a moated hall, with a tower, at the west end of the park. Here the Wodehouses lived, dispensing all the amenities and courtesies of life around them: and here, in 1578, in the time of Sir Roger Wodehouse, Queen Elizabeth lodged in her progress through Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. The mansion, however, fell into decay, and, in 1659, Sir Philip Wodehouse levelled it with the ground, and removed to the present edifice, erected by Sir John Wodehouse on the east side of the park. It is of brick, and the interior is extremely convenient, containing many excellent rooms, the library being especially spacious and commodious. There are some good paintings in the

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sant mount, a name well warranted by its situation." Wymondham gave name to the flourishing and distinguished family of Wyndham, or Windham; from which the Wyndhams of Wiltshire, Somersetshire, and Glamorganshire have sprung, with those of Cromer, Burnham, and Felbrigg in Norfolk.

Now the railway passes through CROWNTHORPE, a small parish belonging to Lord Wodehouse, to WYMONDHAM; and as we approach the town, a fine view is obtained of its church, and of an old ruined ivy-covered tower, the only memorial of an ancient, massive, cruci- About two miles to the north-east of Wymondham form structure called the Abbey Church. The town is the line runs through the parishes of Ketteringham, generally supposed to be of Roman origin; but the Hethersett, Intwood, Cringleford, and Keswick; and the name is Saxon-"win signifying a chosen or beloved hamlets of Eaton, Lakenham, and Trouse. Shortly after place, so that Winmuntre-ham is the village on the plea-passing the boundary of the latter, we arrive at

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NORWICH.

NEARLY two centuries ago Thomas Fuller thus wrote in his British Worthies: "Norwich is (as you please) either a city in an orchard, or an orchard in a city, so equally are houses and trees blended in it. Yet, in this mixture, the inhabitants participate nothing of the rusticalness of the one, but altogether of the urbanity and civility of the other."

Time has wrought in Norwich, as elsewhere, many changes; but it still merits, to a considerable extent, the eulogy of the lively old writer. For its population, and the number of its houses, Norwich occupies an unusually large space, and, from a distance, houses and trees appear to be blended in it pretty equally; while the suburbs are richly wooded and very cheerful. Glancing over the city from the neighbouring heightsfrom Mousehold-hill, for example, from which the engraving (Engraving) is taken-the stranger is still tempted to regard it as fairly entitled to be characterized as 66 either a city in an orchard, or an orchard in a city." A nearer examination will somewhat alter the first impression. Districts will be discovered mean, crowded, and filthy. The inhabitants will be found, if not rustical,' yet certainly not altogether civil and urbane.' But it will be remembered that these are circumstances not peculiar to Norwich, but common to nearly all our larger towns, while Norwich will still retain its somewhat peculiar advantages-a tolerably ample area, a situation in a fine, open, fertile country, and a social 'urbane' population. Before we proceed to explore its streets, we will run over the history of the city.

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a fortress was erected, and houses were soon collected on the islands protected by it. The fortress became, at least occasionally, the residence of the East Anglian kings; and Northwic grew by degrees into a city, while Castor, no longer approachable in ships, and unprotected by military works, gradually sunk into insignificance. Under the Saxons it was a place of considerable importance: coins are still in existence, which were struck here by Alfred and his successors, as the inscription, Northwic,' on the reverse, testifies. The present city, however, may date its origin from the early part of the eleventh century. In 1003 the Danes, under Sweyn their king, sailed with their whole fleet up to Norwich, which they took and entirely destroyed. The city lay desolate till 1010, when Sweyn returned, and in some measure restored it, and rebuilt the castle, the command of which he gave to Turketil, a Danish nobleman, who played a prominent part in the stormy events of the following years. From the time of Sweyn's return, the city increased so rapidly that in the reign of Edward the Confessor it had become, according to Blomefield, one of the most important cities in England, being surpassed in wealth and population only by London and York. At the Domesday Survey it was in a less flourishing condition. William had created one of his followers, a Breton, named Ralph de Waiet (or De Gaël), Earl of Norfolk, and given him. the government of the city and castle. De Waiet was desirous of marrying Emma, the sister of Roger FitzOsbert, Earl of Hereford, one of the most powerful of the Norman nobles, and a day was fixed for the marriage. The king, who was then in Normandy, disapproved of the match. Thierry says he cannot tell why, but the reason was, probably, his fear of these already powerful nobles consolidating their strength, by this union of their families, beyond what he deemed prudent; and he accordingly sent an express interdicting its conclusion. The parties not only set his order at nought, but on the marriage-day assembled in Norwich Castle a large party of the Norman bishops and nobles, and some of the Saxon chiefs. These nuptials, says the Saxon chronicler, were fatal to all who were present at them." When the guests were warmed with wine, the Earl of Hereford spoke out against the interference of the king with the marriage of his sister, which he declared to be an affront on the memory of his father, William Fitz-Osbert, to whom, he said, "the Bastard incontestably owed his kingdom." The Saxons vigorously applauded the bold speaker, and the Norman nobles added loud plaints of the Conqueror's ill-treatment of them, and declaimed bitterly against his person and his birth. The resolution to rise against him was generally taken. Only Waltheof, the principal Saxon noble in the country, refused to enter into the engagement, and he took On an oath of secrecy; which, however, he failed to keep, divulging the intentions of the rebels to his wife,

Norwich is an old town, and, like other old towns, has its legendary annals. We may, however, be spared their repetition. Local chroniclers have fixed the foundation of the city at a very early date, affirming that it owes its origin to a British prince. Others make it to have been founded by Claudius Cæsar. Others, again, are content to carry back its foundation only to the year 446. But the majority of modern writers appear to be of opinion, with "the right worshipful Knight, Sir Henry Spelman," that "her very name abridgeth her antiquity, as having no other in histories but Norwich, which is mere Saxon, or Danish, and signifieth the north town or castle." (Spelman, in Speed's England.) Norwich was pretty clearly not a Roman city. The old rhyme appears to convey very nearly the historical truth:

"Castor was a city when Norwich was none;

And Norwich was built of Castor stone."

Castor, now a poor village standing about three miles from Norwich, was the Venta Icenorum of the Romans, while the larger part of what is now Norwich was covered with water-the great æstuary of this part of the country probably extending at that time some distance farther inland. But the sea gradually retreated, and the waters became separated into channels.

a commanding promontory-the present Castle-hill

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