Crostwight is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Honing, in the North Norfolk district, in the north-east of the county of Norfolk, England. In the past, it was sometimes called Crostwick, but this should be avoided, for fear of confusion with the different village of Crostwick, also in Norfolk. In 1931 the parish had a population of 61.[1]
Apart from the church, the village consists of Crostwight Hall, its cottages and outbuildings, an old rectory, and a few other houses.
Name
The name of Crostwight is considered to be Old Norse in origin (kross, 'cross' + þveit, 'clearing'). There are seven such names in Norfolk ending in -thwaite, and one in Suffolk, showing early Scandinavian settlement. While the suffix -thwaite was familiar north of the Humber and has survived there, it has been corrupted elsewhere. Forms of Crostwight's name recorded include Crostwit in 1086, Crosthueit in 1198, and Crostweyt in 1810.[2][3]
History
Crostwight is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, which spells its name 'Crostwit'.[4] At that time, it was held by Geoffrey Baynard under Ralph Baynard. Tempore Regis Eduardi (in the time of King Edward the Confessor), twelve freemen at Crostwit had one hundred and 50 acres (200,000m2) of land, and there were twelve borderers, with 16 acres (65,000m2) of meadow. The whole was described as one league (leuca) in length and seven furlongs broad.[3] There is a reference to the church of St Benet's of Hulme, and the people mentioned include Esger the staller and Geoffrey Baynard.[5]
At the time of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, the area of North Walsham was "the cradle, the supreme fortress, and the tomb of the Norfolk rebels", generating surveys of households, and Crostwight is one of the few places for which complete records survive. Its heads of households were found to consist of nine cultivators, three weavers, two spinsters, one dyer and one fuller.[6]
Medieval wall painting of the Seven Deadly Sins in the nave of All Saints' Church, Crostwight (c. 1370), drawn by Mrs Gunn in 1849
According to William White's Gazetteer of 1845:[7]
CROSTWIGHT parish, 4 miles (6.4km) E. of North Walsham, has only 69 souls, and 777 acres (3.14km2) of land, mostly the property of Martin James Shepheard, Esq., of the North Walsham and Crostwight Hall, a large old mansion near the ruin of the ancient manor house, which was a seat of the Walpoles. Mr Shepheard is Lord of the Manor, and patron of the church (All Saints') which is a rectory, valued in the King's Book at £5. 6s. 8d. and enjoyed by the Rev. Henry Atkinson. The glebe is 10½ A, and the tithes were commuted in 1838 for £153 per annum.
More was said in the 1883 edition of White's Gazetteer:[8]
CROSTWIGHT parish... is in Smallburgh union, Tunstead hundred, North Walsham county court district, Norwich bankruptcy district, Happing and Tunstead petty sessional division, North Walsham polling district of North Norfolk, Waxham rural deanery, and Norfolk archdeaconry. It has a rateable value of £879. It had 74 inhabitants in 1881, and comprises 777 acres (3.14km2) of land, mostly the property of Mrs Anna Maria Shepheard, of North Walsham, who is also lady of the manor. Crostwight Hall, a large old mansion near the ruins of the ancient manor house, which was a seat of the Walpole and Le Groos families, is occupied by Mr Frederick Gibbs. The CHURCH (All Saints) is a small rubble building, comprising nave, chancel, south porch, and short square tower with one bell. It is of the early Decorated period and retains its elegant rood-loft screen, from which, however, all traces of painting are obliterated. There are some fragments of stained glass in the windows; and on the bosses of the roof the heads of a king and queen may still be seen. In the pavement are two stone coffin lids with crosses, and a small brass; and in the churchyard is a remarkable stone of considerable thickness, shaped like a cross, and about six feet long. In 1848 some curious paintings were discovered on the north wall of the church, representing the seven deadly sins, St Christopher, the Crucifixion, St Michael, Our Saviour before Pilate, and other subjects, treated with great spirit, and displaying a tolerable knowledge of art. There is a piscina in the chancel and a stoup-niche in the porch. An organ was purchased in 1861 by subscription. Mrs Anna Maria Shepheard is lady patron of the rectory, which was valued in the King's Book at £5 6s. 8d. and is now in the incumbency of the Rev. John Bartholomew Vale, M.A., who has a good residence, 13½ acres of glebe, and a yearly rent-charge of £150, awarded in 1838 in lieu of tithes.
At the time of the 1841 census, the surnames recorded for Crostwight are Atkins, Bacon, Burton, Cinlon, Colman, Crowe, Flowerday, Frary, Furnace, Hubbard, Lane, Jarvis, Mays, Salmon, Reed, Shephard, Webster and Wright.[9]
At the census of 1921, the parish's population was seventy-one, and by 1931 it had fallen to sixty-one. On 1 April 1935, Crostwight was abolished as a civil parish and incorporated into its larger neighbour, Honing.[10]
The parish records, dating from 1698 to 1988, are held by the Norfolk Record Office at its Archive Centre in Martineau Lane, Norwich.[11]
Church of All Saints
Nave of the church, medieval paintings at left
The parish church stands on its own not far from the Old Rectory, but is distant from the rest of the village.[12] It is grade I listed.[13]
The CHURCH of Crostweyt is dedicated to All-Saints, and is a rectory; it appears by a fine levied in the 20th of Henry III. that the advowson was appendant to the manor of Walcote and then belonged to Lecia de Eggefend, widow of William Rosceline, and was excepted in her grant of Walcote manor, to Roger de Turkelby for life. In the reign of Edward I. Sir Peter Roscelyn was lord and patron: the rector had a manse and 20 acres (81,000m2) of land, and was valued at 5 l. - Peter-pence 5d. The church is a single pile covered with reed, and has a square tower, with 3 bells, and has a chancel covered with reed.
The church has a series of late medieval wall-paintings (see below). Its massive tower of flint and local stone was reduced in height in 1910, after ivy had made part of it unsafe, and the bells were hung lower. Inside the church is a rood screen carved with dragons, wild men, and flying hearts, but the carving may be modern or restored. The chancel arch, like some walls, is decorated with paintings, but not the screen. There is an octagonal Purbeck stone font, which stands on pillars and on a substantial two-tier octagonal base. The church has no electricity and is lit by oil lamps.[12] The church is a Grade I listed building .
Crostwight lost only one man during the Second World War, and he is commemorated by his own memorial inside the church, which reads: "In honoured memory of HUBERT ARTHUR FRANCIS, who gave his life aboard H.M.S. Royal Oak at Scapa Flow 14th October 1939 Faithful unto death".[12]
Despite the smallness of its ecclesiastical parish, the church is still used.[15] Crostwight is now part of the Church of England united benefice of 'Smallburgh with Dilham with Honing and Crostwight', which has a rector.[16]
The Crostwight Passion Cycle
The medieval wall paintings on the church's north wall date from the late 14th or early 15th century and have been called the Crostwight Passion Cycle. An article at paintedchurch.org considers that this is "...despite its fragmentary condition, one of the most interesting Passion Cycles in England".[17]
All of the scenes are in fragments and few are clear. The order of the scenes is illogical, beginning on the bottom left with Christ's Entry into Jerusalem. To the right of that is the Last Supper, and further right comes the Washing of Feet. Above is the Arrest in Gethsemane, and to the right of that a scene which may be Christ before Herod or Pilate, then the Crowning with Thorns, above which is the Crucifixion. This includes one of the crucified thieves, and behind him is the Roman Stephaton with a bucket of vinegar and a spear. On a lower tier, underneath the Last Supper, is the Ascension. In the splay of a window is the Agony in the Garden, with Christ kneeling in the foreground, St Peter, St James and St John the Apostle behind him. Above this are the remains of another scene which may be the Resurrection.[17]
Other paintings
Other paintings in the parish church include one of the Seven Deadly Sins.[17] This is estimated to date from the late fourteenth century and was discovered in the 1840s by a Mr Gunn.[18] It centres on a tree growing out of the jaws of hell, which appears as the mouth of a giant fish, full of sinners who are being pushed down into hell by a devil. Above, the seven deadly sins grow on the tree like fruit.[12] One of these is clearly marked in Latin with the name of one of the deadly sins, Socordia, or Sloth.[18]
Another painting shows two women approaching the gates of Heaven, with an angel to greet them and a devil watching from below. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner suggests that this is a warning against gossip, and it has also been compared to a church painting at Swanbourne which is an allegory of penitent and unpenitent souls.[12]
In June 1848, The Gentleman's Magazine noted that Dawson Turner had exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries "two sets of drawings, illustrative of the fresco paintings, and other ancient remains, in the parish churches of Gateley and Crostwight, in the county of Norfolk."[19] Turner later reported on the Seven Deadly Sins and other paintings at Crostwight in the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society's Norfolk Archaeology for 1849, with drawings by Mrs Gunn.[18]
Crostwight Hall
Valentine to Miss Jenny of Crostwight Hall, 1862
Crostwight Hall is a notable country house and is described by Michael Sayer in Burke's & Savills Guide to Country Houses (Volume III, East Anglia).[20] Its garden is one of thirty-three Historic Parks and Gardens listed in the Local Plan for North Norfolk.[21] The historic main house, Old Crostwight Hall, was considered as a project by the Norfolk Historic Buildings Trust but was instead rebuilt by a developer.[22]
The house has sometimes been called 'Crostwick Hall', for instance in Parkin's Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk (1810), where it is called "an agreeable old seat".[23]
The Strangers' Hall Museum at Norwich has an unusual survival from the mid-19th century: an anonymous St Valentine's Day card dated and postmarked 1862, said by the museum to be addressed to "Miss Jenny Lowe [query Love], Crostwight Hall, Smallburgh, Norfolk". The coloured card is embossed with couples, cherubs and roses, and in the middle is a silver bird on a silk panel. On the pictorial side of the card are the printed words "My dearest Miss, I send thee a kiss", and on the other is written by hand "Good Morrow Valentine".[24] As the Hall was then occupied by the Lane family, the addressee may be Miss Jenny Lane.
Geography
Crostwight Heath (dense acidic scrubland) and Crostwight Common (broad-leavedcoppiced semi-natural woodland) are both designated in the North Norfolk Local Plan as County Wildlife Sites.[25]
The River Ant is a tributary river of the River Bure in the county of Norfolk, England. It is 27 kilometres (17 mi) long, and has an overall drop of 27 metres from source to mouth. It is said that the Ant was formerly known as the River Smale and that this is the origin of the name of the village of Smallburgh.
Aylsham is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly 9 mi (14 km) north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, 11 miles (18 km) upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, although it was only made navigable after 1779, allowing grain, coal and timber to be brought up river.
North Walsham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England, within the North Norfolk district. The town is located 8 mi (13 km) south of Cromer and Norwich is 15 mi (24 km) south.
Rev. Francis Blomefield, FSA, Rector of Fersfield in Norfolk, was an English antiquarian who wrote a county history of Norfolk: An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk. It includes detailed accounts of the City of Norwich, the Borough of Thetford and all parishes in the southernmost Hundreds of Norfolk, but he died before completing it. This was done by a friend, Rev. Charles Parkin. The Norfolk historian Walter Rye related that although no portrait of him was known to exist, Blomefield closely resembled the astronomer John Flamsteed, whose portrait was used to depict Blomefield on the frontispiece of one of his volumes. His history of Norfolk was reissued in London in 11 volumes by William Miller in 1805–1810, the last seven being by Parkin.
Sprowston is a town and civil parish in the Broadland district of Norfolk, England. It is bounded by Heartsease to the east, Mousehold Heath and the suburb of New Sprowston to the south, Old Catton to the west, and by the open farmland of Beeston St Andrew to the north. It is close to Norwich. The 2011 census recorded a population of 14,691 making Sprowston the most populous civil parish in Broadland district.
Trimingham is a coastal village and a civil parish in the North Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. The village is 5 miles (8 km) north of North Walsham, 4 miles (6 km) east of Cromer, 20 miles (32 km) north of the city and county town of Norwich, and is on the B1159 coastal road between Cromer and Mundesley.
Sloley is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 11.9 miles (19.2 km) north-north-east of Norwich, 13.6 miles (21.9 km) south-south-east of Cromer and 128 miles (206 km) northeast of London. The village lies 4.7 miles (7.6 km) south of the town of North Walsham. Worstead railway station, on the Bittern Line between Cromer and Norwich, is about 1 km (0.62 mi) from the centre of the village. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. The parish had a population of 257 at the 2011 Census.
Knodishall, a village in Suffolk, England, lies 3.5 miles (6 km) south-east of Saxmundham, 1 mile (2 km) south-west of Leiston, and 3 miles from the coast, in the Blything Hundred. Most dwellings are now at Coldfair Green; just a few remain in the original village by the parish Church of St Lawrence, which falls gently on the north side of the Hundred River valley. It is now an outlier of Knodishall Common, a settlement a mile to the south-east. The estimated parish population was 790 in 2019.
Great Snoring is a rural village in North Norfolk by the River Stiffkey, in the east of England. It is situated approximately 25 miles (40 km) north-west from the city and county town of Norwich, and 2 miles (3 km) north from the larger village of Little Snoring.
Redgrave is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England, just south of the River Waveney that here forms the county boundary with Norfolk. The village is about 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) west of the town of Diss. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 459.
Gresham is a village and civil parish in North Norfolk, England, five miles (8 km) south-west of Cromer.
Lamas is a village in Broadland, Norfolk, England. Administratively it falls within the civil parish of Buxton with Lamas.
Honing is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 15 miles (24 km) north-northeast of Norwich, 13 miles (21 km) south east of Cromer and 4 miles (6.4 km) east of North Walsham.
Swafield is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 16.4 miles (26.4 km) north north east of Norwich, 10.1 miles (16.3 km) south south east of Cromer and 133 miles (214 km) north-east of London. The village lies 1.4 miles (2.3 km) north of the town of North Walsham. The village sits astride the B1145 Kings Lynn to Mundesley road that bisects North Norfolk west to east. The nearest railway station is at North Walsham for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. The parish had in 2001 census, a population of 273, including Bradfield and increasing to 315 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of North Norfolk.
Smallburgh is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is fourteen miles (21 km) south-east of Cromer, fourteen miles (21 km) north-east of Norwich and 132 miles (212 km) north-east of London. The village lies five miles (8 km) south-east of the nearby town of North Walsham. The nearest railway station is at Worstead for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham, Cromer and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. At the 2001 census it had a population of 518 in 219 households. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of North Norfolk.
Paston is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of North Walsham and 9.1 miles (14.6 km) south-east of Cromer. It is 19.2 miles (30.9 km) north-east of the city of Norwich. The village sits astride the coast road between Mundesley and Bacton. The nearest railway station is at North Walsham for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham, Cromer and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International.
Thurning is a small dispersed village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk and district of North Norfolk, near the border with Broadland. The population at the 2011 Census remained less than 100 and is recorded together with the neighbouring civil parish of Hindolveston.
Sir Francis Gawdy was an English judge. He was a Justice of the King's Bench, and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. His country seat and estates were in Norfolk.
Marsham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Norwich. It covers an area of 7.40 km2 (2.86 sq mi) and had a population of 674 in 282 households at the 2001 census.
Thomas Thursby (1487–1543) of Ashwicken was a notorious land encloser in Norfolk in the 1510s–1540s.
↑ Bandle, Oskar, The Nordic Languages: An International Handbook of the History of the North Germanic Languages volume 2 (Walter de Gruyter, 2005) p. 2069 online at books.google.co.uk (accessed 23 March 2008)
1 2 3 4 Parkin, Rev. Charles, An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk Volume XI (London, William Miller, 1810) pages 8-13 online at books.google.co.uk (accessed 21 March 2008)
↑ Crostwight, Norfolk online at nationalarchives.gov.uk (accessed 23 March 2008): Folio 248r, Little Domesday Book (1086)
↑ Hilton, Rodney Howard, Bond Men Made Free: Medieval Peasant Movements and the English Rising of 1381 (1973, new edition by Routledge, 2003, ISBN0-415-31614-6) pp. 173-174
1 2 White, William, History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk, 1845
1 2 William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk, 1883
1 2 3 Norfolk Archaeology, or Miscellaneous Tracts relating to the Antiquities of the County of Norfolk Volume II (Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society, 1849) page 352 et seq. online at books.google.co.uk (accessed 21 March 2008)
↑ urban, Sylvanus, The Gentleman's Magazine for July to December 1848, p. 72 online at books.google.co.uk (accessed 22 March 2008)
↑ From the Vicar, March–April 2007 (including extract from the North Walsham and District Parish Magazine for April 1899) online at saint-nicholas.org.uk (accessed 22 March 2008)
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