In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Attleborough like this:
ATTLEBOROUGH, or Attleburgh, a small town, a parish, and a subdistrict, in the district of Weyland, Norfolk. The town stands adjacent to the Norfolk and Eastern Union railway, 16 miles SW of Norwich. It was the capital of East Anglia, and had strength enough to check the incursions of the Danes; and it retained fortifications of some note till the time of Henry II. ...
It is now decayed and small; yet serves still as a county centre. It has a station with telegraph on the railway, a head post office,‡ a banking office, and a chief inn. A corn-market hall was built in 1863, at a cost of £1,000. A weekly market is held on Thursday; and there are three annual fairs. A college, for a custos and four fellows, was founded, in the time of Richard II., by Sir Robert de Mortimer; and given, in the time of Henry VIII., to Robert, Earl of Sussex. The church of the college still stands; is a spacious cruciform edifice in Norman and early English, with square tower rising from the centre; and contains monuments to distinguished members of the families of Mortimer, Ratcliffe, and Blickley.—The parish comprises 5,260 acres. Real property, £12,682. Pop., 2,221. Houses, 494. The property is much subdivided. A. Hall, Hill House, and the Point are chief residences. The first turnpike road in England was made in this parish. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £1,226.* Patron, Sir W. B. Smith. There are three dissenting chapels. Charities, £76 and 57 acres of poors' allotment.-The subdistrict includes eleven parishes. Acres, 22,885. Pop., 5,506. Houses, 1,223.
Attleborough through time
Attleborough is now part of Breckland district. Click here for graphs and data of how Breckland has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Attleborough itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Attleborough, in Breckland and Norfolk | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/2300
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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