Place:


Holt  Norfolk

 

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Holt like this:

HOLT, a small town, a parish, a sub-district, and a hundred, in Norfolk. The town stands on an eminence, 3½ miles from the coast, and 10 E by N of Walsingham r. station; commands a charming view over the surrounding fertile country; suffered great damage, by fire, in 1708; is now well built, and presents a pleasant appearance; is a seat of petty sessions; and has a postoffice ‡ under Thetford, a banking office, two good inns, a sessions house, a police station, a corn exchange, a church, three dissenting chapels, a free grammar school, a national school, a British and infant school, a literary institute, and charities £357. ...


The church is decorated and later English; has a square tower, formerly surmounted by a lofty spire, which served as a sea mark; and contains several monuments. The grammar school was founded, in 1654, by Sir Thomas Gresham; was rebuilt, in a handsome and commodious manner, in 1860; has an endowed income of £348, and an excellent library; holds a scholarship in Sidney-Sussex college, Cambridge, and another scholarship at either university; and had as a master, for upwards of 30 years, John Holmes, author of a Greek grammar. A weekly market is held on Friday; and fairs are held on 25 April and 25 Nov. Sir Thomas Gresham, Sir Richard Gresham, Thomas Girdlestone, the physician, and William Withers, the writer on forest trees, were natives.—The parish comprises 2, 991 acres. Real property, £5, 670; of which £13 are in gas works. Pop., 1, 635. Houses, 372. The manor belonged to the family of De Vaux; and is now divided into four. A common around the town was enclosed in 1810. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £563.* Patron, St. John's College, Cambridge.—The sub-district contains also sixteen other parishes, and is in Erpingham district. Acres, 28, 221. Pop., 6, 787. Houses, 1, 593. - The hundred contains thirty-one parishes. Acres, 43, 908. Pop. in 1851, 10, 764; in 1861, 9, 942. Houses, 2, 351.

Holt through time

Holt is now part of North Norfolk district. Click here for graphs and data of how North Norfolk has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Holt itself, go to Units and Statistics.

How to reference this page:

GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Holt in North Norfolk | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.

URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/3964

Date accessed: 29th March 2024


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