fashioned house, with its carved woodwork, was one of the "four halls" of the parish in ages past. After the decease or removal of the Harts, it became a kind of hospital, and was called "The ́ Inoculation House." Another of the oldest buildings in the parish, the old Tithe Barn, now belonging to the Lord of the Manor, had the west and east walls completely blown in by the fearful gale from the west on the 28th February, 1860. There is also another house, now the property of Lewis Whincop Jarvis, Esq., Mayor of Lynn, that was built in the reign of James I., according to the date on the chimney, A.D. 1624. Very great improvements have been made during the past year in the outbuildings of this property, but the original character of the exterior of the dwelling-house has been almost entirely preserved. A fourth house, of an Elizabethan character, and which also was much larger a few years ago, until reduced by Mr. Wake, its present owner, may probably have been the residence of the Pell or Cremer family. The above house stands nearly three hundred yards due west of the church, and is bounded by its own lands east and north, by the Hall close on the south, and by the common on the west, and appears to have been built, according to the date on the south side of the chimney, in 1634. In this estate three acres of church land were supposed to be intermixed, of which two acres were said to have been given to the parish by Lord Fitzwilliam in exchange for two acres of West Winch church land in Rush pasture, North Runcton. The late Wm. Swatman, Esquire, Collector of Her Majesty's Customs, at King's Lynn, and the Miss Swatman, who were all very earnest, stedfast benefactors to our poor, schools and clubs, and whose benevolence is yet deservedly held in grateful regard, resided for many years in the pleasant villa which is now the property of Mr. Pole.* Holly House and grounds, belonging to Wm. Wh. Williams, Esq., Oxford, is now the residence of Mrs. Howes, late of Holt House, whose kindness to our aged and afflicted poor partially supplies the loss of the valued services and beneficial example of the late estimable Wm. Creak, Esq., and family. The removal of these two * In 1748 the site of Mr. Swatman's house belonged to a Mr. Joha Chiki, also Collector of Customs, Lyna. W families to Lynn has been followed by changes most prejudicial to our parochial welfare in every point of view. Part of the pedestal and shaft of the old parish cross alluded to in Blomefield, may be seen in Mr. Leonard C. Smith's farm-yard, probably removed there by the Rev. Edw. Dickenson, Rector, A.D. 1667 to 1704. An old house, which stood on this site, and was pulled down about sixty years ago, appears to have been the residence of the above venerable Incumbent. NOTE.-With regard to certain dates and facts given in the earlier pages of these "Memorials," ancient chronicles vary from each other in their versions of the same subject; and their account of the social condition of the people of this country is sufficiently obscure to give countenance to dissimilar theories. Even such eminent archæologists as Sir Francis Palgrave and Hallam occasionally differ. Pastoral Annals IN THE PARISH OF WEST WINCH. A.D. 1840-1861. PART III. "First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear."-MARK, iv., 2. "Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep."-JOHN, xxi., 15, 16. "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, I have laid the foundation, which is Jesus Christ."-1 COR., iii., 10, 11. PRAYER FOR UNITY. "O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Saviour, the Prince of Peace, give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great danger we are in by our unhappy divisions. Take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body, and one Spirit, and one hope of our Calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so may we henceforth be all of one heart, and of one soul, united in one holy bond of Truth and Peace, of Faith and Charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." BELOVED PARISHIONERS, Seeing that seven years have passed away since my last "Address to the Proprietors of West Winch," I venture to hope that a brief sketch of my pastoral work during a residence among you of nearly thrice that period may prove both acceptable and profitable. Suffer me, then, actuated by this motive, to put you in remembrance of some of the manifest tokens of my one anxious, earnest desire to make full proof of my ministry among you, "according to the grace of God which is given unto me;" and of my unceasing efforts to promote, by every means in my power, your temporal, spiritual and eternal welfare. Receive, also, the following simple yet cheering records of my labours among you, and among those near and dear to you, who have already departed this life in the faith and fear of God, as my grateful recognition of that Christian sympathy and benevolence which, according to your ability, have ever been manifested by kind hearts and willing hands. If my ministrations have proved of any real benefit to you, or have afforded you any lasting gratification, look up to our Heavenly Father, and say: "Thy goodness, O Lord, hath crowned me with blessing. Permit me to thank Thee for them; and do Thou enable me to profit by the ministry of Thine appointed servant, and by the ordinances of Thy holy sanctuary, especially that Communion which Thou hast appointed for the strengthening and refreshing of our souls, by Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. Amen." West Winch Parsonage, August 5th, 1861. "Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name might be there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually."-2 CHRON., vii., 15, 16. While residing as the assistant curate in the rectory of North Runcton, it was my privilege to officiate on various occasions in your parish church. Many of you will remember that in those days it was very grievous to mark the cheerless, dusty and dilapidated appearance of your venerable House of Prayer, both within and without its sacred walls,-indicating but little reverence for the Temple of the Lord. The neglected condition of your churchyard also offered very scanty evidence of a "looking for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come." Moreover, a heavy debt existed, which ought to have been liquidated years before, and thence proved a fruitful source of un-Christian strife and bickering at our Easter meetings, until A.D. 1847.* See extract from "Commissioners' Report," p. 168 supra. |