ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



number of recusants, though perhaps less than might have been expected, is 

 still considerable.' 



The archives of the same archdeaconry give a deplorable picture of the 

 state of decay and neglect into which some of the parish churches had fallen 

 by the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign. The archdeacon's books for the years 

 1 60 1 and 1603-4 state that at Braydiston, 



' the porch there is uncovered in the roofe ; the church is annoyed with a heap of chips and 

 ould tymber, very unseemelie ; the church wyndov/es in many places are broken ' ; at 

 Beighton, ' the steple there is to be new builded, the one half thereof is built, the other 

 undone, so y* it lieth open and the vermyn and fowles come into the same and defile the 

 church ' ; at Upton, * the chauncell there is in great ruyne and decaie, so )* the fowles and 

 vermyn come in and do greatly defile the same ; the grave of Edmond Browne is as yet 

 uncovered, culpa uxoris sue ; there is a sawing pit made in the churchyard there verie 

 unseemelie, and in making thereof they digged up the dead ; ' at Buckenham, ' there want a 

 comelie carpit for the communion table ; the windowes of the church in many places 

 there decaied and broken ; the cloath of the communion table there is full of holes. The 

 porch wanteth thaching' ; at Wickhampton, 'the church there is unthached, the churchyard 

 is unfenced ' ; at Lingwood, ' the pavement of the chauncel is decaied ; the chauncell there to 

 be comelie whyted ; the dore of the said chauncell to be made new or the old dore to be 

 sufficiently amended.' 



The records also give the impression that those clergy who tried to 

 bring about a more seemly and orderly condition of affairs in their churches 

 were often met by a spirit in their parishioners which can only be described 

 as impracticable. Much has been made of injudicious attempts to enforce 

 conformity, but in Norwich it would appear that inexhaustible patience was 

 exhibited in dealing with men who did not intend that order of any sort 

 should be established. Among the clergy, and among their congregations, 

 were many who rebelled against all regulations, even their own, after they 

 had existed for any length of time. That this was the inevitable result of all 

 that had gone before will be conceded, but it must have been difficult for the 

 men who were in the midst of it always to keep this in mind, and yet that 

 this was done is clear from a careful examination of the evidence. 



It must be supposed that the vicar of Upton and his parishioners held 

 greatly opposed views as to the manner in which he should discharge his 

 duties,^ and though ' Wicked Will ' can hardly have been the exponent of 



' The numbers are : — For Scottow, I woman ; Colby, l man ; Brampton, 4 women ; Barston, I man ; 

 Latheringsett, I man and 2 women ; Gunthorpe, I man, I woman ; Sharington, I man ; Wells, I woman ; 

 East Walton and Bawsey, l woman ; West Walton, I woman and I man ; Wiggcnhall (Jermyn), I man and 

 I woman ; Wiggenhall (Magdalen), i man ; Wiggenhall (Mary), i 5 men and 4 women ; Strumpeshavve, 

 1 man and l women ; Postwick, I man ; Thorpe Episcopi, I man, z women ; (SS. Simon and Jude, 

 Norwich), I man, 3 women ; Thorpe, l man and 2 women ; Ormesby, I man, 2 women ; Caston and 

 Woodrising, I man, 2 women ; Breccles, I man, 2 women ; Drayton, I woman ; city of Norwich : St. Peter 

 Mancroft, I woman ; Eaton, I woman ; and St. George's, Tombland, 5 men, I woman. 



Fresh penal laws against recusants were passed in 1605 and 1606, and the profits of recusancy began to be 

 used as a form of royal pension. 



The State Papers Domestic show that grants of the benefits of the recusancy of the Norfolk gentry were 

 continually made. The name of Walter Norton appears 29 Dec. 1603 ; William Staunton, 23 Dec. 1607 ; 

 Lady Cobb, ZI Mar. 1608 ; Chas. Waldegrave of Staining Hall, 11 Mar. l6og ; Edward Keynes, jun., 

 20 July, 1609 ; Cordwall Bradbury of Pickenham, 27 June, 161 1 ; Margaret Browne of Fremnoll, z July, 

 161 I ; Charles Waldegrave and George Gryme, iz Feb. 1612. On 4 Nov. l6zo, the apprehension of 

 ' Carvell of Norfolk, who is said to be treasurer of the recusants, and a contributor to the Emperor,' is recorded 

 {Ca/. S. P. Dom. 1619-Z3, p. 189). 



' It appears from the records in the register of the archdeaconry of Norwich that the vicar. Sir Thomas 

 Deyrton, was named in 1586 for 'abusing his parishioners with evill words,' and for ' not teaching the 

 catechism, as he was commanded, to the youthe,'and again in 1597 for ' that he negligentlie supplieth his dueiie, 

 not reading of divine service.' Also that in 161 z ' William Enderton, commonly called by the name of Wicked 



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