THETFORD, a borough and market-town, possessing exclusive jurisdiction,
though locally in the hundred of Shropham, county of NORFOLK, but
partly in the hundred of LACKFORD, county of SUFFOLK, 30 miles
(S. W.) from Norwich, and 80 (N.N.E.) from London, containing,
according to the last census, 2922 inhabitants, which number
has since increased to 3500. This ancient place, called
Theodford by the Saxons, evidently derives its name
from the river Thet, which, having united its stream with
the Lesser Ouse at this spot, the latter passes through
the town, separates the two counties, and is navigable
hence to Lynn. The majority of antiquaries consider it
to be the. site of the celebrated Sitomagits of the Romans,
who possessed it in 435, and it is known to have been the
metropolis of East Anglia; on which account, and front
its proximity to the North Sea, it was frequently, during
the Octarchy, desolated by the Danes, who, having
retained possession of the town for fifty years, totally
destroyed it by fire in the ninth century. In 1004, it
sustained a similar calamity from their king, Sweyn,
who had invaded East Anglia; and in 1010, it became for
the third time the scene of plunder and conflagration
by these marauders, into whose hands it again fell,
after a signal victory which they had obtained over the
Saxons. In the reign of Canute, Thetford began to
recover from the effects of these repeated calamities,
and, in that of Edward the Confessor, had nearly regained
its former prosperity, containing not less than
nine hundred and forty-seven burgesses, who enjoyed
divers privileges. In the time of the Conqueror, the
episcopal see of North Elmham was transferred hither,
and hence to Norwich, by Herbert de Losinga, in the
following reign j but Henry VIII. made it the seat of a
bishop suffragan to Norwich, "which it continued during
his reign. From the time of Athelstan to that
of John here was a mint, in which coins of Edmund
and Canute were struck. The ancient extent and
importance of this town may be gathered from the
fact that, in the reign of Edward III., it comprised
twenty-four principal streets, five market-places, twenty
churches, six hospitals, eight monasteries, and other
religious and charitable foundations, of all which there
are comparatively but few remains. Thetford has been
honoured with the presence and temporary residence of
several British sovereigns, particularly Henry I., Henry'II-,
and Elizabeth, who rebuilt the ancient mansion of the
Earls of Warren, on its lapse to the crown, and occasionally
resided in it, as did also James I., for the
purpose of hunting; and it is still called the King's House.
The town, which has of late been much improved,
comprises five principal streets, which are partly paved,
and is connected with the few remaining houses on the
Suffolk side by a handsome iron bridge over the Ouse,
erected in 1829: the modern buildings are plain ana
neat, and the inhabitants are well supplied with water
from wells and springs. Assemblies are occasionally
held, a small theatre is open during the Lent assizes.
and there is a subscription library. In addition to a very
extensive paper-mill, there are, a large iron-foundry, an
agricultural machine manufactory, three good breweries,
and several malting' establishments. The navigation
of the river, in its course to Lynn, having been lately
improved between this place and Brandon, a brisk business
is carried on in corn, wool, coal, and other articles.
The market is on Saturday; the market-house is
a neat and commodious building, covered with cast-iron,
with a portico and palisades in front. Fairs are held
May 14th, August 2nd, and August 16th, for sheep;
September 25th, for cattle; and there is a wool fair in
July.
The charter of incorporation, granted by Elizabeth, in 1573,
was surrendered to the crown in the 34th of Charles II.,
and a very imperfect one obtained in its stead, which, in
1692, was annulled, and the original charter restored, by
a decree in Chancery: the municipal body consists of a mayor,
recorder, ten aldermen, and twenty common council-men,
assisted by a town clerk, sword-bearer, Serjeant
at mace, and inferior officers. The mayor is clerk
of the market, and, in the year after his mayoralty,
acts as coroner; the mayor, coroner, and recorder,
are justices of the peace, with exclusive jurisdiction,
within the borough, and hold quarter sessions: there
is also a court of requests for the recovery of debts
to the amount of £50. The county assizes for the Norfolk
circuit have been held here, in Lent, ever since
the year 1234. The guildhall is a fine old building,
erected at the expense of Sir Joseph Williamson, Knt.,
Secretary of State to Charles II., in which the assizes
are held. The gaol is a plain edifice of flint and white
brick, commodiottsly arranged, and capable of holding
one hundred prisoners; on these buildings many thousand
pounds have been expended by the inhabitants.
This borough sends two members to parliament: the
right of election is vested exclusively in the corporation;
the mayor is the returning officer.
Thetford comprises the parishes of St. Cuthbert, St.
Peter, and St. Mary the Less, all in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Norwich, and in the patronage of the
Duke of Norfolk. The living of St. Cuthbert's is a dis-
charged rectory, with that of the Holy Trinity united",
endowed with £200 royal bounty, and £1400 parliamentary
grant: the church has a square embattled
tower. The living of St. Peter's is a discharged rectory,
with that of St. Nicholas' united, rated in the king's
books at £5. 1. 5., and endowed with £200 private
benefaction, and £200 royal bounty: the church is
commonly called the black church, being constructed
chiefly of flint; the tower and part of the body of the
church were rebuilt in 1789. The living of the parish
of St. Mary the Less is a perpetual curacy, rated in the
king's books at £1. 13. 6., endowed with £200 private
benefaction, arid £200 royal bounty: the church, which
stands in the county of Suffolk, has a square tower.
There were formerly many more parishes in this town,
the churches of which have all been demolished. There
are places of worship for the Society of Friends, Independents,
Wesleyan Methodists, and Roman Catholics.
A free grammar school, and an hospital for two poof
men and two poor women, were founded, in the reign
of James I., under the will of Sir Richard Fulmerston-,
who died in 1566, having bequeathed property for the
erection of a free school, and other buildings, with adequate
salaries for the master and usher, and remuneration
to a clergyman for the performance of certain prescribed
duties; it was therefore decreed, by act of parliament,
that this should be a free grammar school and
hospital for ever, and that the master, usher, and the
four poor people, should be incorporated, under the title
of " The Master and Fellows of the School and Hospital
at Thetford." A National school, in which about one
hundred and fifty children are educated, is supported
by subscription. Almshouses for six poor men were
erected, in 1680, at the expense of William Harbord,
Esq., and endowed with £30 per annum for a limited
term, which expired about twenty years since, after
having been renewed; the inmates participate in the
proceeds of a bequest of £30 per annum, left in 1679,
by his father, Sir Charles Harbord, Knt., Surveyor-
General to Charles I. A certain number of boys and
girls, children of the inhabitants, are apprenticed from
a fund of £2000, bequeathed by Sir J.Williamson; of
this charity, the mayor and corporation appoint the
trustees. In 1818, Mr. P. Sterne, of this place, bequeathed
£1000 for the benefit of the poor: there are
several minor charitable benefactions.
The relics of antiquity consist chiefly of fragments
of the nunnery, founded in the reign of Canute, by
Urius, the first abbot of Bury St. Edmund's; some of
the walls, buttresses, ,and windows, with a fine arch and
cell, are still visible, the conventual church having been
converted into a barn, and a farm-house built with the
other ruinous portions. Of the priory, or abbey, founded
on the brink of the river, in 1104, by Roger Bigod, for
Cluniac monks, which, at the dissolution, was valued at
£418. 16. 3., the gateway, constructed with freestone
and black flint, and parts of the church, alone remain.
Of the monastery of St. Sepulchre, founded in 1109,
by the Earl of Warren, and additionally endowed by
Henry II., the church has been converted into a barn;
and the site of St. Augustine's friary, founded in 1387,
by John of Gaunt, for mendicants of that order, still
bears the name of Friars' Close: of the rest, no certain
traces can be distinguished. At the eastern extremity of
the town are remains of an ancient Danish fortification,
which consisted of a large keep and double rampart
erected on an artificial mount, called Castle Hill, of
which the height is one hundred, feet, and the circumference
of the summit eighty-one feet, and of the base nine
hundred and eighty-four; the remains of the ramparts
are twenty feet-high, and the surrounding fosse seventy
feet wide: it is somewhat singular, that no trace of any
steps, or path, by which military stores could be conveyed
up the very steep ascent to the fortress, is visible.
Among the various fossils found in the vicinity is a
perfect nautilus, which has been deposited in the British
Museum. A mineral spring, the properties of which
"are similar-to those of Tonbridge, was discovered here,
about eighty years ago, by Matthew Manning, Esq. M. D.,
and about that time much resorted to: it was afterwards
shut up for many years; but in 1819 was re-opened, and
the waters having been again analysed by the celebrated
operative chemist, F. Accum, were found very effectual
in strengthening the stomach and alimentary canal.
A handsome pump-room was then erected, to which hot
and cold baths are attached, the first stone having been
laid by the Duke of Grafton: it is situated near the
river side, and is approached by pleasant sheltered walks.
Thomas Martin, F.A.S., and author of the "History of
Thetford," was born here, in 1696, and educated at the
free school, of which his father was master, and also
rector of the parish of St. Mary. The notorious Thomas
Paine, author of the "Age of Reason," "Rights of
Man," &c., was also born at a house in White Hartstreet,
and educated at the school.