CONTENTS. OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

PART I.—INTRODUCTION. CHAP. I. Site of Lynn—account of its harbour, and that of Wisbeach—ancient and present state of its rivers—inland navigation—drainage—projects of improvement—state of its shipping, commerce, and population, at different periods.

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SECT. 1. Situation of the town—its distance from the sea. &c.—its harbour—river Ouse and its tributary streams. 1

SECT. 2. Further account of the river Ouse—remarkable phenomenon—the poet Cowper—supposed etymology of the name of Wisbeach—the Ouse diverted from its ancient course and outlet—king John’s disastrous passage over that river, in his last progress from Lynn—Extracts from Vancouver. 8

SECT. 3. Effects of the desertion of the Ouse and Nene, on Wisbeach and parts adjacent. 15

SECT. 4. Effects on Lynn and its harbour and navigation, of the great accession of fresh waters in the reign of Henry III. 22

SECT. 5. Eaubrink Cut and other projects of former times—with slight hints on the comparative state of the shipping, commercial consequence and population of Lynn at different periods. 27

CHAP. II. Of Marshland and adjoining parts, or great Fen Country—View of their situation and revolutions in remote ages, or sketch of their ancient history.

SECT. 1. Account of their state before and after the arrival of the Romans—character of that people—establishment of their power here—improvements made by them in these parts. 32

SECT. 2. Further strictures on the ancient state of this country, and on the wonderful change it appears to have undergone at a very remote and unknown period; from De Serra’s account of a submarine forest on the coast of Lincolnshire. 37

SECT. 3. Further observations from same paper—Epoch of the destruction of the said forest—agency by which it was effected, &c.—similar appearances eastward along the Norfolk coast. 42

SECT. 4. Some further geological observations relating to the fens, extracted from Dugdale’s Letters to Sir Thomas Browne. 49

SECT. 5. Concise view of the ancient and modern history of the Fen country, from Pennant’s Preface to his 3rd. vol. of Arctic Zoology. 52

SECT. 6. Further account of the Fens, from the Beauties of England. 58

SECT. 7. Of the Fens from the time of Henry VIII, or rather that of Elizabeth, to the Revolution; giving an account of the different projects of improvement proposed and carried on during that period. 64

SECT. 8. Same subject continued to the present time 70

SECT. 9. Miscellaneous observations on the present appearance, produce, and state of the Fens. 74

SECT. 10. Miscellaneous observations continued—fen-reeds and their uses—starlings—tame geese, and singular management of them—insalubriousness of Marshland—ancient celebrity of the smeeth—decoys. 77

SECT. 11. Brief remarks on the parish churches of Marshland and Holland; with a short sketch of the history of the castle and town of Wisbeach. 87

SECT. 12. History of Wisbeach continued. 99

SECT. 13. Additional account of Marshland—Parkin—bishop of Ely’s manor in Terrington—queen Henrietta—admiral Bentinck—cross keys demolishers of banks prosecuted and suppressed—high tides—destructive inundations—principal divisions of Marshland. 112

SECT. 14. Biographical sketches of some of the most distinguished personages of other times in Marshland and its vicinity. 121

CHAP. III. Of the parts about Lynn, on the eastern side of the Ouse.

SECT. 1. Aspect of the country—its agriculture and rural economy—Wayland wood—memoir of Shuckforth—parish churches and other edifices, ancient and modern. 135

SECT. 2. Further account of cables, edifices, and places of ancient note in these parts—Brancaster—Rising—Hunston—Castle-acre—Wormegay—Middleton—Gaywood, &c. 146

SECT. 3. Account of modern palaces, and other notable mansions in these parts—Houghton—Holkham—Rainham—Narford—Narborough—Oxborough 162

SECT. 4. Biographical sketches of some of the most celebrated or memorable personages who were of this part of the country—Coke—Sir Henry and Sir John Spelman—L’Estrange—Walpole—Fountain—Folkes—Horace Walpole—Nelson—Bewley. 174

SECT. 5. Of the animals, and particularly the birds, of this country 193

SECT. 6. Brief account of places hereabout, before omitted—Sechey—Runcton—Downham—Denver—Helgay—Southery—Feltwell—Methwold—Stoke, &c. Feltwell new-fen-district—Fincham—Swaffham—Babingley—Sharnborne—great malthouse—Hunston Light-house &c. 201

Part II. Of the origin and antiquity of Lynn, with a sketch of the history from its first rise to the norman conquest. CHAP. I. Of Lynn while Britain formed a part of the Roman empire.

SECT. 1. Present town or borough of Lynn of no great antiquity—its site not the same with that of the original town—the probable site of the latter, and era of its origin. 213

SECT. 2. Digression relating to the first introduction of Christianity into Britain—Bardism. 216

SECT 3. Ancient history of Lynn continued—town supposed to have been founded by a colony of foreigners introduced by the Romans—etymology of its name—mistakes of Camden, Spelman, &c. 220

SECT. 4. Lynn the mother-town of the fens—further account of its supposed founders and original inhabitants—remarkable works executed by them—great improvers of the country—account continued to the extinction of the Roman power. 223

CHAP. II. Immediate consequence of the abdication of the country by the Romans, and probable fate of Lynn.

SECT. 1. Character of the Anglo-Saxons, with general observations on the invasion and conquest of this country by them, and their barbarous treatment of the inhabitants. 228

SECT. 2. Of the Angles, from whom England and the English language derive their names—they seize on the parts about Lynn, and the whole province of the ancient Iceni, which receives the denomination of East Anglia, and forms one of the kingdoms of the Heptarchy—revival of Lynn in the mean time—with remarks on the adjacent country. 235

SECT. 3. Of the Saltworks formerly at and about Lynn—paucity of appropriate materials to elucidate that subject—apology. 239

CHAP. III. Of the religious profession of the first Anglian inhabitants of Lynn—their renouncing heathenism, and assuming the christian name—account of their conversion, and character of their Christianity.

SECT. 1. Heathenism the religion of this town at the commencement of the Heptarchy—our townsmen and the rest of the East Angles, with the other branches of the Heptarchy, become professors of Christianity—account of their conversion. 241

SECT. 2. Effects of the conversion of the East Angles, and the sister kingdoms—character of their Christianity. 244

SECT. 3. Christianity of the ancient inhabitants of Lynn and of this country further characterized—whether very materially improved during the reign of Alfred—remarks on that reign—papal instructions to the first missionaries. 248

CHAP. IV. Miscellaneous observations, on the social distinctions and the general state of the community among the Anglo-Saxons.

SECT. 1. State of society at Lynn, and in this country, before the conquest. 253

SECT. 2. Of the Wittenagemote and other courts—maxims of jurisprudence—institution of tythings—nuptial and funeral rites—sacerdotal, domestic, and other customs among the Anglo-Saxons. 258

SECT. 3. State of learning, and of the medical profession, among the Anglo-Saxons. 264

SECT. 4. Expressive and remarkable names of the months—state of the coinage or currency—general value of different commodities in this country before the conquest—slavery—comparison with the present course of things. 266

SECT. 5. Probability that Lynn was formerly concerned in the exportation of slaves—comparison between the ancient and modern English slave dealers—slaves and horses the chief exports of this country in those days—corn not then exported, though it had been formerly—imports, commerce, miscellaneous hints and observations. 270

SECT. 6. Population of Lynn and the country in general, before the conquest—condition of the bulk of the inhabitants in the mean time—sufferings of the inhabitants of Lynn and the adjacent country from the Danes—intrepid and ferocious character of that people—instruments of vengeance on the Anglo-Saxons—their despotism and character not much changed by their conversion to Christianity, so called—remarkable instances of imposition, superstition, and credulity. 277

SECT. 7. Of the Heptarchy and its history—remarks on Egbert, Alfred, and their most renowned successors—character of Canute and Edward the Confessor—the latter the first of our monarchs that touched for the Evil—remarks on that circumstance, and the prevalence of that complaint in these parts. 284

SECT. 8. State of Lynn in the confessor’s time—chief sway borne here then by Stigand, Ailmer, and Harold—great power of the latter, and sketch of his character—obtains the crown at the confessor’s death—is soon disturbed by two formidable invasions; one from the Danish or Norwegian shores under Halfagar, whom he vanquishes; the other from France, under William the Norman bastard, in opposing whom he is himself vanquished and slain, which places the conqueror on the English throne without further struggle, through the defection and machinations of our bishops and clergy. 289

SECT. 9. Sketch of the practice of the royal touch in England, or a historical essay on the memorable empiricism of our English sovereigns, from Edward the confessor to George the first—credulity of Whiston and Carte—quackery, medical, political, and theological still prevalent among us, though that of the royal touch has ceased—Richard Brothers, Joanna Southcote, and William Pitt—memoir of the Dumb doctor. 298

Part III. History of Lynn from the establishment of the French or Normans in England to the Reformation. CHAP. I.

Observations on the Conquest—account of the changes then introduced—their effects on the kingdom in general, and on Lynn and its vicinity in particular. 327

CHAP. II.

Further remarks on the revolutionary effects of the Conquest, throughout the whole kingdom as well as at Lynn—Catalogue of bishops to whose civil rule the town used to be subject, or who bore temporal sway here till the Reformation. 342

CHAP. III.

State of Lynn previously and subsequently to its becoming a corporate town, or free burgh; or general remarks on that event, and on the progressive state of society in the cities and towns of this country, as well as at Lynn, in those times—John, Henry III, and Henry VIII, great benefactors to this town; the latter of whom put an end to the temporal domination of the bishops here, and ought to be held in grateful remembrance. 374

CHAP. IV.

Further observations on the history of Lynn during the same period—horrid treatment of the Jews here—probable state of the town as to its internal police and municipal economy previously to its being declared a free burgh and receiving its first royal charter—changes resulting from that event—statement of subsequent occurrences. 390

CHAP. V.

State of society at Lynn during this period—the subject elucidated from documents relative to the ancient gilds—observations on the nature of those institutions—very common in the country before the reformation—names and number of those of Lynn. 408

SECT. 1. Observations on the origin of the gilds. 411

SECT. 2. Names and number of the Lynn gilds, with additional observations. 415

SECT. 3. More particular account of some of our gilds. 419

SECT. 4. Account of the gilds continued. 439

SECT. 5. Account of the Holy Trinity company, or great merchant’s gild. 450

SECT. 6. Account of the remaining gilds, and particularly those of St. Francis and St. William. 474

CHAP. VI. Account of the monasteries and religious houses formerly here.

SECT. 1. Account of the house of Benedictines in priory lane, with a sketch of that religious order. 489

SECT. 2. Account of the convent of the Carmelites or White Friars, with a sketch of that order. 493

SECT. 3. Account of the convent of the Franciscans, Friars Minors, or Grey Friars, with a sketch of that order. 498

SECT. 4. Account of the convent of the Dominicans or Black Friars, with a sketch of that order. 503

SECT. 5. Account of the convent of the Augustinians, or Austin Friars, with a sketch of that older. 513

SECT. 6. Of the Friars de Penitentia, or brothers of repentance, and their convent here—also the college of Priests, and the hospital and church of St. John. 519

SECT. 7. Account of St. Mary Magdalen’s Hospital, Lazar Houses, St. Lawrence’s Hospital &c. 530

SECT. 8. Of the Red Mount and our Lady’s chapel there—also her chapel by the Bridge, and the chapels of St. Ann, St. Catherine, and St. Lawrence. 554

SECT. 9. Account of St. James’s Chapel (now the Workhouse) from its first erection, in the 12th. century, to the present time; including an account of the management of the in-door pensioners there, as well as the out-door ones, and our present enormous poor-rates. 564

CHAP. VII.

Brief Biographical notices of the most remarkable and distinguished personages who appeared among the inhabitants of Lynn in the intervening period between the Conquest and Reformation. Nicholas—Sawtre—Alan—Wallys—Baret—De Bittering—Wentworth—Petipas—Miller. 585

Postscript or supplement to the History of the Royal Touch