Part 7

These violent quarrels and commotions continued to agitate the respective parties, with little permission, until the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when a proposal was made for compromising their differences and establishing a durable reconciliation, by making Yarmouth a member of the cinque ports; but this attempt, however laudable in its intention, proved wholly ineffectual in its execution: nevertheless, we find, that in the year 1576, every circumstance which had afforded matter of dispute was amicably adjusted, and finally settled to the mutual satisfaction of the respective parties: and accordingly an award was published, which contained the following article, namely, “That whereas for every fishing vessel coming to the said free fair, in ancient times, fourpence for toll or custom was paid to the bailiffs of the cinque ports, which afterwards, by composition was reduced to a certain sum of six pounds yearly: but for the sake of restoring peace and quiet it was hereby agreed that the bailiffs of Yarmouth should pay to the bailiffs of the barons of the cinque ports, at their departure from Yarmouth, three pounds and ten shillings only, in recompense and full satisfaction for the said toll.”

After the conclusion of this agreement, the several parties maintained a more peaceable and friendly correspondence with each other than had subsisted for many years before; and persevered in this amicable intercourse until the year 1662, when the annual composition of three pounds and ten shilling being either refused or neglected to be paid by the burgesses of Yarmouth to the bailiffs of the ports, the said bailiffs never repaired to Yarmouth any more in a public capacity. {41a}

The town of Yarmouth having thus driven away the bailiffs of the cinque ports, that place became the general rendezvous of all such vessels as were employed in the herring fishery; and thereby monopolised, in a great measure, the whole fishery to themselves, by confining to the narrow limits of their own haven, the purchasing of all such herrings as were not caught by the boats belonging to the neighbouring towns, and where they were compelled to pay the custom demanded by the town of Yarmouth: for the town of Lowestoft, and all other towns on the coast, an indisputable right to fit out what number of vessels they pleased from their own towns, for the purpose of catching herrings, without being subject to any customs payable to Yarmouth, and also to purchase herrings at sea from certain vessels called ketchmen; but if they could not be sufficiently supplied with herrings by these means, they were then under the necessity of repairing to Kirkley road or Yarmouth haven, where they became subject to the customs due to the town of Yarmouth; for the right of the burgesses of Yarmouth to levy these customs was confined solely to the haven and Kirkley road; and therefore the ketchmen, who sold herrings at sea, thereby evaded the customs and injured the town of Yarmouth; which formerly had occasioned many disputes, particularly in the reign of queen Elizabeth, and probably was the principal motive which induced the burgesses of Yarmouth to force away the portsmen.

The town of Yarmouth, not being satisfied with their late acquisitions, began to extend their views much farther, even so far as to endeavour to exclude the town of Lowestoft from having any share in the herring fishery; and in order to give their designs the greater appearance of justice, they pleaded the Charter, 46 Edward III., for uniting Kirkley road to Yarmouth haven; and pretended that the seven leuks, inserted in that charter as the boundary of their liberties, were not miles, but leagues; and also, that the said leuks were not to be measured from the key of Yarmouth, but from the mouth of the haven which at this time had extended far to the south, and formerly as far as Corton; thereby expecting to extend their liberties beyond the roads of Lowestoft, and consequently wholly to exclude the merchants of that place from a privilege which they had enjoyed from time immemorial, viz., that of purchasing herrings near their own town.

Corton is situated about a mile to the north of Lowestoft, and comprehends upwards of a thousand acres, chiefly cultivated, and prettily diversified with rising grounds and some woods; and contains about thirty-eight dwelling houses, mostly situated in a street, tolerably compact, on a high cliff that commands an extensive prospect of the sea. This parish is a vicarage, and the impropriation, before the dissolution of the monasteries, belonged to the abbey of Leystone, in Suffolk. {41b} It was granted by Henry VIII. to Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk, and has passed through various hands since to the present owner, John Ives, of Yarmouth, Esq. The advowson of the vicarage formerly belonged to the proprietors of the impropriation; but, by some neglect or other, has been suffered to lapse to the Crown.

The body of the Church is now dilapidated, and the chancel is the only part of it appropriated to divine service. The ruins which are now remaining give evident proof that the building was of considerable dimensions; and the handsome tower, which is still perfect, strongly denotes its original elegance.

Tradition informs us that when the church became ruinous, the parishioners, finding themselves unequal to the task of repairing it, and at the same time thinking it unnecessary, petitioned the bishop of the diocese for his license to suffer it to remain as it was, on condition that, at their own charge, they would fit up and maintain the chancel as a place of public worship, which was granted them, and the chancel was made very adequate to the purpose. But in a long series of years, either by means of the inability, or through the inattention of the people, this too was suffered to fall into decay, insomuch, that in the year 1776, the lead admitted the rain in various places, and pulpit, the desk, gallery, etc., were rotten, and ready to fall down. Under these circumstances, the Rev. Francis Bowness, then vicar, thought it expedient to coincide with the wishes of the generality of the parishioners, to apply to the diocesan for a faculty to dispose of the lead, and lay out the money arising from the sale of it, in the reparation of the building; and notwithstanding much opposition, the perseverance of the vicar prevailed, and he obtained, from the candour of Bishop Younge, a full power to sell not only the lead, but also, if it should be necessary, a large bell, which hung in the porch of the old church. He availed himself of no more than the former part of the license; and with a very small rate added to the produce of the lead, the chancel was again put into complete good order, and divine service is now regularly performed there, and decently attended.

In justice to the merits of the worthy vicar, I hope it will not be thought impertinent to add, that he has been an equal benefactor to the church and the living; that he lives in great harmony with his parishioners, and receives from them that respect, which a constant endeavour to be useful seldom fails to inspire. He was instituted in 1758. The church is dedicated to St. Bartholomew. The vicarage, though of late years much improved by the increased cultivation of the parish, is yet inconsiderable.

The same difficulty which we have to encounter with respecting the origin of Lowestoft Church, presents itself in our enquiry concerning this at Corton, viz.: How so small and inconvenient a village as this seems always to have been, should ever have been able, from any resources of its own, to erect so stately a structure; and if unable of itself, from what other sources did it derive its assistances? In solving this difficulty we must have recourse to the same mode of reasoning as we shall urge hereafter respecting Lowestoft Church, which is, that as the church at Corton was part of the endowment of Leystone Abbey, it is highly probable that this church was first erected and afterwards kept in repair through the assistance of the Abbey, as Lowestoft Church was by the priory of St. Bartholomew, in London.

After the dissolution of the monasteries, when no further assistance could be received from those institutions, and the parish being unable of itself to keep such structure in repair, the building fell to ruin. And the case would have been the same with respect to Lowestoft Church, notwithstanding it was a much larger parish, had not a benefaction of lands, expressly given for repairing and ornamenting the same, been happily recovered at the dissolution of the priory, and prevented the like misfortune.

It is supposed that the village of Corton, in former times, was much larger than it is at present. It is certain there were two churches in the parish, or, at least, a chapel of ease to the mother church; the small remains, still visible at a place called the Gate, tend to confirm the latter opinion, as the old foundations of houses discovered in different parts of the parish, lead to evince the former. Probably the parish had arrived at its most opulent state about the 13th century, when the mouth of Yarmouth haven had extended almost to this place; which added to the adjoining situation of Kirkley road, must occasion a great resort of fishermen, from different parts of the kingdom, to this village.

Some centuries ago there was, contiguous to Corton, another parish called Newton, of which scarce any other vestiges are now remaining, than a stone which supported a cross, called Newton cross, and a small piece of ground, called Newton green; almost every other part of this parish being swallowed up by the sea.

It appears, that in the year 1408, 10th of Henry IV., Yarmouth haven made near Newton Cross; and Swinden informs us, “that the charges and monies bestowed and spente in and aboute repairenge of the haven of the towne of Yarmouthe, and of the fortfienge the same with two greate mayne peeres, which at the firste was cutte a-newe and digged out, into the sea right over agenst the parsonage of Gorleston, and the same haven then runninge alongeste the cliffe as farr as Newton Crosse, was agenst the parsonage stopped up, and there forced to runne into the sea; which was done in the yere of our Saviour 1559. After which tyme, in few yeres, the said haven, for want of two peeres, did eate, and seeke towardes the south, for preventenge of whose olde evell and accustomed course, the towne did begenne this charge, by the advice of a verrye conninge workman, sent for from beyond the sea.”

In 1306 John de Herling, a family of great antiquity in the parish of East Herling, in Norfolk, had free warren allowed him in the manors of Newton and Corton, and died seized of these manors and many others; and left them to his eldest son and heir, Sir John de Herling, Knight, whose brother Robert—a great warrior who followed Henry V. into France, and was killed in 1436—had an estate in Newton and Newton and Corton, as had also Thomas, another brother, at Lounde. The manors of Corton, Newton, Lounde, and Blundeston, together with Lounde advowson, and some others, were in the Herling family, and possessed by lady Anne, daughter and sole heiress of the above Sir Robert, 1408. Soon after she married her third husband, lord Scroop, of Bolton, and was afterwards a great benefactress to Gonvile (afterwards Caius) college, Cambridge; her mother being the heiress of the Gonvile family.

The Yarmouth men attempted also further to prove that that part of the sea called Kirkley Road was opposite to the parish of Kirkley, which is situated about a mile to the south of Lowestoft, notwithstanding the real name of the sea at that place is Pakefield bay.

Kirkley parish lies so contiguous to Pakefield (being separated from it only by the common highway) that it forms a considerable part of what is generally understood by that town. It is situated to the west of Pakefield and on the north side of it lies the lake of Lothing, from whence runs a small inlet, called Kirkley Ham; which, probably, was made use of formerly as a haven for the fishing craft employed by this parish, at the time when the communication between this lake and the sea retained such a sufficient depth of water as to admit vessels of small draught. The chief support of this village, as well as that of Pakefield, arises principally from their fisheries, which formerly were considerable, but are now much declined. It appeared, from an account of the inhabitants of this parish, taken in the year 1676, in pursuance of the penal laws then in force against religious dissenters, that the number amounted to 103, from sixteen years of age and upwards; of which number, 18 were dissenters. Since that time the number of inhabitants has rather increased, whilst that of dissenters has decreased; the former may be owing to the herring fishery being a little revived there; the latter to the toleration which they have since enjoyed; it being evident that the exercise of rigorous measures against religious sects, instead of exterminating them, tends to increase them; probably therefore the relaxing those severities may be the cause of the number decreasing. The church is dedicated to St. Peter, and valued in the King’s books £15 10s.; and till the year 1749 was dilapidated: but this misfortune was in some measure compensated by the minister of Kirkley having permission to make use of the church at Pakefield one part of the Sunday, and the minister of Pakefield to use it on the other part. In this manner both these parishes were supplied for many years, but at length they were parted again. After this separation the incumbent of Kirkley not only declined performing divine service in Pakefield church any longer, but also refused to allow anything to the incumbent of Pakefield for officiating on both parts of the Lord’s day; alledging that he could not legally be compelled to it. The Rev. Mr. Tanner, vicar of Lowestoft, was at that time commissary and official in the archdeaconry of Suffolk; and he failed not to use all the mild persuasive arguments in his power, to prevail on the incumbent of Kirkley to make an allowance, but to no purpose; so that finding him inflexible in his resolution he left him with this threat:—“Sir, if you will not officiate in Pakefield Church I will build you a church at Kirkley, and in that you _shall_ officiate.” Mr. Tanner was as good as his word; for partly at his own expense, and partly with the assistance of his friends and acquaintance, he shortly erected the present church at Kirkley; and divine service has accordingly been performed there ever since. Mr. Tanner collected money from house to house at Lowestoft, and contributed himself twenty guineas. He also preached the first sermon there in the summer, 1750. The old church consisted of two aisles; the north aisle still continues in ruins, and it is only the aisle which constitutes the new church. The steeple is about 72 feet in height, is a good tower, and an excellent sea-mark; but is now somewhat in decay. It contains only one bell. December 5th, 1749, when they began to clear away the rubbish from the ruins of the old church, they discovered (eighteen feet from the east wall, and six from the north) a stone with a brass label containing the following inscription:—“Orate, Pana Thome Melle Clarisi, nup. Rectore, deKerkley, q’ obijit XVIº die augustij Aº do mº VcXXVI cui (ane ppinet des) ame.” That is, “Pray for the soul of Thomas Melle, clerk, late rector of Kirkley, who died 16th day of August, anno. dom. 1526. For whose soul may God provide. Amen.”

And on another label, found in the north isle, a like inscription for one, John Boodherd, who died in August, 1486.

There were several other brass-plated stones taken out of the body of the church and north isle; but were all disrobed, and laid promiscuously under the pews, etc., of the new building.

The old font was broken to pieces, probably by accident, and was left amongst the ruins of the north isle. The font now used in the new church, was brought from the church of Saint —, lately taken down at Gillingham.

Kirkele, Suff, Edmundus de Wymundhale Clamat habere liberam Warennam in Dominicis terris Suis in Kirkele, etc. Et profert Curtam Dri Henrici Regis, patris Dri Regis Nunc, que hoc testatur, etc. Plita Corone, A°. 14° E. I E 4t°. Vide Wymundhale.

Kirkele 33 E I Inter Robertum Rist de North Jernemuth Quer. et Godefr le Ludham de Mag. Jernemuth, et Constantiam Ux: ejus Imped, de I Mess. 45 acr. terr et v acr turbar in Kirkele. Pagefelde south Carlton, Mutford Jus Roberti. Fin: Suff: A°. 33. E. I. Lig 3. No. 151.

Kirkele 1560. Henricus Hobart de Loddon in Com Norf: Arm: Cond: Testam 17 Oct: 1560 etc. Habuit inter Alia Maneriu de Kirkly, voc: K. Hall. Terras & Tenemta in K. et alibi in Hundredo de Mutford perquisit de Antonio Rouse Armigo cum Advoc: Ecclie de Kirkley pred: etc, probat, 3 May 1561. Ex libro Bircham Regr: Norwic. (Le Neve, from T. Martin’s Suffolk papers.)

The ascertaining the true situation of Kirkley road, and determining whether the seven miles which terminated the liberties of Yarmouth, were to be measured from the key or the haven’s mouth, occasioned the great law suit between that burgh and Lowestoft.

Pakefield is a considerable large parish about a mile to the south of Lowestoft. Under the general name Pakefield is commonly comprehended not only what is properly called by that name, but also the adjoining parish of Kirkley; and though to a common observer they appear as only one town, yet, in reality, they are distinct parishes, and under different regulations respecting all the branches of parochial government. The town is situated to the east of Kirkley, and extends to the very summit of the cliffs which form its eastern boundary. The German ocean by frequently dashing against the bases of these cliffs, has often received large portions of those ponderous masses, together with the buildings they supported into its voracious bosom. When a raging tide has occasioned an extraordinary fall of the cliffs either here, or at Corton, or Kessingland, the curiosity of the antiquarian is frequently gratified by the discovery of many ancient coins, etc.

There is scarce any trade carried on in this town; what little there is is chiefly in piloting ships to London, catching cods, sprats, etc., and a small part of the herring fishery.

According to Ecton, the church is dedicated to All Saints; but it seems, by the inscription on the communion-cup, to be dedicated to St. Margaret. It is valued in the king’s books at £29 1s. 1d. {45}

It consists of two isles, built nearly uniform; the steeple stands at the west end of the south isle, and contains five bells.

At the east end of the south isle stands the altar; it is elevated on three steps of considerable height, and underneath is a charnel house.

A new pulpit was erected a few years since by the late rector, the Rev. Dr. Leman: the old one was a very ancient piece of architecture; on several parts of it was the figure of a man in a devout posture, with a label issuing from his mouth, containing this inscription:—

Misericordia diu in eternu Cantabo.

That is

I will celebrate the divine mercy for ever.

At the upper end of the south isle, on a fair brass-plated stone, is the following inscription, in Anglo-Saxon characters:—

Here lies master Richard Folcard, formerly rector of a mediety of this church to the south, who died on St. Martin’s day, in the year of our Lord, one thousand four hundred.

To whose soul be merciful O God. Amen.

On a brass plate of a man and his wife, with eleven children, in the north isle, is another inscription, in old Anglo-Saxon characters, to the memory of one John Bowf or Bowfe, who died anno millo 6666, XVII.

On a flat marble in the north isle is an inscription to the memory of Philip Richardson, who was rector of Pakefield fifty-one years, and died October 8th 1748, aged 82.

On the north side of the church is a very ancient parsonage-house, built with stone.

On a small silver communion cup is the following inscription:—

X PAKEFELDE-SANTE-MARGARET, 1367.

On a silver paten,

PACKEFELDE.

And on a fine Holland communion cloth,

III III . 1640.

This church was lately much repaired and beautified at the expense of its late rector, the Rev. Dr. Leman; who not only new laid the floor, erected a new pulpit and desk, and placed over a curious old font, a handsome model of the tower and spire of Norwich Cathedral, but also embellished it with many other useful ornaments. He was endued with many excellent qualities particularly charity and beneficense, which he constantly exercised with the greatest liberality, both with respect to his parishioners and to mankind in general; and, consequently, was justly entitled to the following character, which was given of him at his decease:—“He was an admired preacher, a strenuous assertor of the rites and ceremonies of the church of which he was so bright an ornament, and indefatigable in every other part of the pastoral office.”

There is also a meeting house in this parish for the people called Quakers, who have held meetings here for 130 years past, though their number is but small.

Int Rogeru Townesend & Henricum Spilman Quer et Tho: Aslack et Eliz ux ejus Deforc, Manerij de Elgh als dict Willingham All Saint set Advoc: Ecclie ejusd: Et Ecclie de Pakefield: Jus Rogeri. Fines Suff. A.° 10 E. 4 Lig. 1, No. 24.

Edmund Jenney Miles, Cond: Test die Veneris ante fm Nat B. Marr: Virg. 1522. Habuit int al: Advoc: Ecclie de Pakefield. P.bat 21° Dec. 1522 ’E libro. (Briggs Regr. Norw. 35 vid. plus in Knodeshall.)

These injuries, and, in a great measure, illegal attempts to exclude the town of Lowestoft from having any share in the herring fishery occasioned a most violent rupture between the towns, and who carried their resentment so far as to fit out armed vessels, to commence hostilities on each others property, and even to commit bloodshed; the one party insisting upon the privileges they pretended to be entitled to by their charter, and the other party as strenuously defending those rights which for many centuries they had enjoyed, without any other interruption than paying the custom due to Yarmouth for the purchase of herrings in Kirkley road. But now it evidently appeared, that an utter exclusion of the Lowestoft men from the benefit of the herring fishery, was the determined resolution of the town of Yarmouth; and, therefore it occasioned the most violent struggles between liberty and oppression that can be well imagined; which continued so long as to make both the parties, most probably, weary of the contention, and agreed at last (in order for settling the dispute) to lay this long-contested affair before the Privy Council; from thence it was referred to the judges, and at last to a hearing before the house of Lords, where the case was finally determined in favour of the town of Lowestoft, as will be more fully shewn in the following section.

Upon an inquiry into the state of the herring fishery, after this contest was decided, it was found that the fishery at Lowestoft, and also at the adjoining towns, was greatly on the decline, occasioned partly by the disputes with Yarmouth, by the civil war in the reign of Charles I, the great fire at Lowestoft in 1644, and the war the nation was then engaged with the Dutch.