Rougham - NFK ENG

Rougham - NFK ENG

OS Grid Reference: 52°45'N 0°43'E

Name Origin: Old English ruhham. The first element is presumably ruh rough, and hence probably a noun *ruh rough ground, although this sense is not seen elsewhere before 1480, some 300 years after the village name is known. The second element is ham village, homestead.

Domesday Book:

LAND OF THE KING

LAND OF THE KING OF WHICH GODRIC HAS CUSTODY

LAUNDITCH Hundred

RUHHAM, 1½ carucate of land. Alwin, 1 free man, held it before 1066. Then 7 villagers, later and now 3; always 3 slaves. Then 3 ploughs in lordship, later and now none, 4 cold be restored. Then 1 men's plough, later and now none, but it could be restored. Always 12 pigs, 30 sheep.
14 Freemen have always appertained here, 1½ carucate of land. 2 villagers; 4 smallholders. Then 2½ ploughs, later and now 2, ½ could be restored.
The whole was of Stigand's jurisdiction and of his manors before 1066; later Ralph had the whole; now Godric has it. Value then and later 40s; now 60. It has 7 furlongs in length and 6 in width, tax of 20d.

LANDS OF WILLIAM OF WARENNE

The Hundred of LAUNDITCH

In RUHHAM and in FRANSHAM Toki, a free man, held 2 carucates of land before 1066. Always 1 villager. Then 12 smallholders, now 10. Then 3 slavers, now 1. Meadow, 1 acre. Always 3 ploughs in lordship; 1½ men's ploughs; woodland, 10 pigs. Now ½ mill.
Also 16 free men, ½ carucate of land and 8 acres of land. Always 1½ ploughs.
Value then 50s; now 60.
It is by exchange of Lewes. The whole of Fransham has 9 furlongs in length and 8 in width, tax of 10d, whoever holds there. W. holds.

LANDS OF HERMER

LAUNDITCH Hundred

In RUHHA Fulbert holds 1 carucate of land; he also held it before 1066. Then 1 smallholder. Then 1 plough, now ½, ½ could be restored. Value 10s.
The King's jurisdiction in Mileham.

A Topographical Dictionary of England, Samuel Lewis, 1831:

ROUGHAM , a parish in the hundred of LAUNDITCH, county of NORFOLK, 7½ miles (N. by E.) from Swaffham, containing 330 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Norfolk, and diocese of Norwich, rated in the kings's books at £1. 8. 6½., endowed with £400 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Crown. The church is dedicated to St. Mary: attached to the south side is a library, built by Mr. North, and containing several volumes presented by that individual and others.

History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk, White, 1845:

ROUGHAM is a small but pleasant village, 14 miles E. of Lynn, and 8 miles N. of Swaffham. Its parish contains 367 inhabitants, and 2,520 acres of land, in four farms, belonging to Frederick North, Esq,. of Hastings, whose ancestors were formerly seated here in a handsome hall, of which nothing now remains but some of the foundation walls, though the surrounding pastures still retain a park-like appearance, studded with many stately trees. Of this family was the eminent Lord Chief Justice North; and here was also seated a branch of the Yelvertons, afterwards Earls of Sussex, one of whom was Sir Wm. Yelverton, Lord Chief Justice, in the reign of Elizabeth. The CHURCH, dedicated to St. Mary, has several monuments, with some fine brasses, of these and other families; and over its west door is a mutilated piece of antique sculpture, representing the crucifixion, with figures of angels, &c., under a Gothic canopy. In the windows are some fragments of stained glass. The vicarage, valued in K.B. at £1. 8s. 6½d., and in 1831, at £206, was augmented in 1762-3 with £400 of Queen Anne's bounty. The patronage is in the Crown, and the Rev. John Smith, of Newhaven, is the incumbent. The rectorial tithes belong to the owner of the soil. the parish participates in the Free School at Great Massingham. The POST OFFICE is at the Crown Inn, where the Mail Gig, from Swaffham to Fakenham, &c., arrives and departs daily.

DIRECTORY: James Chapman and Geo. Chivers, blacksmiths; John Coe, Geo. Frost, John Lyng, and Robert Parnell, shopkeepers; Robt. Hudson and Geo. Sculfer, shoemakers; Edwd. Manning, cattle dealer; James Rayner, vict,. Crown Inn; George Santy, butcher; and Ann Coe, Narman Matthew, Thos. Ringer, and Chas. Whaites, farmers.

The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales, ed J.H.F.Brabner, 1895:

Rougham, a parish, with a village, in Norfolk, 2 miles E of the Peddar Way, and 7½ N by E of Swaffham station on the Lynn and Dereham section of the G.E.R., 4 SE from Masingham station on the Midland and Great Northern Joint railway, and 10 SW from Fakenham. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Swaffham. Acreage, 2676; population, 304. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. The manor, with Rougham Hall, a mansion standing in a well-wooded park, belongs to the North family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Norwich; net value, £170 with residence. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church, which is a building of flint and stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel with N aisle, nave, S porch, and an embattled western tower, has over the W door an old carving of the crucifixion, and contains brasses and monuments of the Norths and the Yelvertons. There is a Primitive Methodist chapel.

Associated Families: Goodbody Hudson


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