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Mettingham Public Houses & 1865 directory
METTINGHAM in 1844, is a pleasant village on the southern acclivity of the vale
of the Waveney, 2 miles E. of Bungay, and 4 miles W. of Beccles, basin its
parish 409 souls, and 1706a. 1R. 16p. of fertile land. About half a mile south
of the church are the ruins of METTINGHAM CASTLE, which was of considerable
extent and strength, and was built by John de Norwich, who, in the 17th of
Edward Ill., obtained permission to convert his house here into a castle; in
which he also founded a COLLEGE, to which he had the king's license to translate
the priests from his college at Raveningham. This college was dedicated to God
and the Blessed Virgin, and consisted of a master and thirteen chaplains or
fellows, who were endowed with the castle for their residence, and with the
manors of Mettingham, Bungay Soke, and several others in Suffolk and Norfolk.
They educated and maintained a number of boys at the annual charge of £28.
Richard Shelton, the master, and nine fellows, subscribed to the king's
supremacy in 1635, but were allowed to remain till 1542, when their revenues
were valued at £202. 7s. 5d. per annum, and their possessions were granted to
Sir Anthony Denny. The founder died in 1363, and left his estates to his
grandson, whose cousin, Catherine de Brews, afterwards inherited, but having
assumed the veil, her estates devolved to the Ufford family. After the
dissolution of the college, Mettingham was purchased by the Buxton family, who
sold it about 1660 to the Bacons, of whom it was purchased by the Hunts. From
the latter, it descended to the Saffords In 1826, Samuel Safford, Esq., sold one
moiety of his estates to Charles Day, Esq., of llketshall St. John. A great part
of the parish of Mettingham belongs to various owners, and the remainder to the
Rev. J. C. Safford, A.B., who is lord of the manor, impropriator of the rectory,
and patron and incumbent of the vicarage, and has a neat modern mansion within
the area of the castle ruins, pleasantly seated on a wellwooded lawn. From the
remains of its shattered walls, the castle appears to have been an extensive
quadrangular structure, of which the gate-house is still tolerably entire. The
Church (All Saints) is an ancient fabric, with a round tower, and stands on a
bold eminence overlooking the vale of the Waveney. The living is a discharged
vicarage, valued in K.B. at £6. 17s. 3d., and in 1835 at £140. The Town Estate
is partly in Shipmeadow parish, and comprises a cottage, blacksmith's shop, 36a.
of land, and two cattle-gates in Stow Fen. It is under the management of
feoffees chosen by the parishioners, and has been vested from an early period
for the payment of public charges of the parish, and the support of the poor. It
is let for about £80 a year, of which a large portion is applied in the service
of the church, and about £10 is distributed in coals among poor families.
Cock Chas. shoemaker & parish clerk
Dains Robert, wheelwright
Parrington Joseph, Esq.
Safford Rev Jag. Culling, A.B. Mettingham Castle
Spalding Thomas, gentleman
Warren Sidney, blacksmith
Farmers. (* are owners)
*Baley Jeremiah
Bezant Esther
Bird John
CluTton Sarah
* Culham Thomas
Dains Widow
* Draper George
Durrant Samuel
Peck Chas. Castle Farm
Scarlett Francis
Strange George Minns
Sutton John
* Tallent Ann J.
* Tallent John Packard
* Woods Mary
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