OXBOROUGH, a parish in the southern division
of the hundred of GREENHOE, county of NORFOLK, 3
miles (E. N.E.) from Stoke-Ferry, containing 320 inhabitants.
The living is a discharged rectory, with the
vicarage [of Foulden united, in the archdeaconry of
Norfolk, and diocese of Norwich, rated ia the kinVg
books at £ 18. 6. 8., and in the patronage of the Master
and Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
The church, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, is* a
spacious structure of flint and stone, with a square
tower embattled, and surmounted by a lofty spire. The
east window exhibits the most striking portions of our
Saviour's history, the Virgin Mary, &c., in richly-stained
glass, and the roof, composed of oak panels, is curiously
carved with various emblems. Attached to the
south aisle is a chantry, built in 1573, having a stone
screen of the earliest revived Grecian architecture. The
small river Wissey runs through the parish, in which
are many tumuli, and some pits called Danes' graves,
Roman and Saxon coins have been found here, from
which, and the remains of a considerable vallum to the
north-west of the village, it seems to have been anciently
a place of importance. Edward I. granted a market,
several fairs, and various other privileges, long since
disused. The mansion-house, which much resembles
Queen's College, Cambridge, was erected in the same
year, and is a fine specimen of the style of architecture
that prevailed in the time of Edward IV.; the outer
walla stand in a moat supplied by a stream from an
adjoining rivulet.