GORLESTON is a suburban parish, in the borough of Great Yarmouth, and
incorporated hundreds of Mutford and Lothingland, county court district of Great
Yarmouth, East Suffolk. The village, which is about 2 miles from Yarmouth, is
large, and pleasantly situated on a hill, overlooking the sea and the river
Yare. This parish was added to the borough of Great Yarmouth by the
Parliamentary and Municipal Reform Acts of 1832 and 1835. The parish includes
the hamlet of SOUIHTOWN, which was anciently a separate parish, and was annexed
to the borough of Great Yarmouth in 1081. The parish is divided into two manors,
viz., the paramount manor of Gorleston, of which Sir Samuel Morton Peto, Bart.,
M.P., is lord; and the small manor of Bacons, which is held in fee by the
trustees of the late Samuel Palmer.Esq. The largest portion of the soil and
buildings belong to the Earl of Lichfield, but there are various other owners.
Nearly the whole of Gorleston commands a view of the sea, as well as of the
river Yare and the South Denes of Yarmouth, where the race-course is situated,
and on which is the Norfolk Column, in memory of Lord Nelson. The church of St.
Andrew is a large ancient
edifice, consisting of thatched nave, chancel, and side aisles, and a fine
square tower 90 feet high: in the interior is a fine brass in memory of one of
the Crusaders: the font, which is very curious and ancient, had long been
covered with plaster; but on cleaning it in 1842, it was found to be richly
painted and gilded, and untarnished, but a great part of the sculpture
destroyed. The living is a vicarage, value £381 per annum, in the patronage of
the Rev. Alexander Digby Campbell, M.A., and held by the Rev. Francis Upjoon,
M.A. Here are places of worship for the Independents, Wesleyans, and New
Connexion Methodists. In the village is a large National school for boys, girls,
and infants, built in 1840. The Gorleston and Southtown Gas Works were erected
in 1854, at a cost of £4,320, in shares of £10 each. Here Is a Working Men's
Institute and Reading Room, which was opened December 1, 1862; also a sick and
indigent society, a lying-in society, a clothing club, &c, which are liberally
supported. According to the census of 1861, the parish contained a population of
4,472, and an area of 1,931a. lr. 11p., of which the hamlet of Southtown
comprises 596a. 2r. 23p. and 1,714 inhabitants.
[For list of names see YARMOUTH, Norfolk.]
Gorleston becomes part of Norfolk by about 1891, and this is where the Pubs will
be listed. More to follow ...