1000 years of Hickling The earliest records relating to the village are records concerning the Church. There has been a place of worship in Hickling probably for well over a thousand
years. A Church is recorded in Domesday Book, 1086, and the village is thought
to date back to about 500 A.D. The Anglo-Saxon community at some time after
that would have built a Church. The present Parish Church - originally
dedicated to All Saints - was commenced by the canons of Hickling Priory in the
first half of the thirteenth century, replacing an earlier building. - - - TIMELINE - - - 1086....... A
Church, with 20 acres, is listed in the Domesday Book. 1185....... An Augustinian Priory, some half a mile from the Parish Church, was founded by Theobald de Valoins. 1204....... The Priory’s foundation was confirmed by King John,
who also granted a Friday market to the Priory. 1209....... About this time, and certainly during the first half
of the thirteenth century, the present Parish Church (then called All Saints)
was begun. 1287....... In a violent storm, in December, the sea burst in, no
fewer than nine score people being drowned in Hickling. 1349....... The Black Death struck, and many villagers died. Two
Priors succumbed to the plague on successive days and eventually only two Canons were left alive. One of these, a novice, was
elected Prior. 1400....... The bell tower of the Priory collapsed. 1536....... Religious houses throughout the kingdom, including
Hickling Priory, were dissolved under Henry VIII. Henceforth the Parish Church
is called St Mary’s. 1542....... The Priory was granted by the Crown to Sir William
Wodehouse. 1568....... The present chalice (inscribed ‘This Cup is for the
Toune of Hicklynge’) and cover were presented and first used. 1653....... The Church Registers – of baptisms, marriages, and
burials – are complete from this date, and are now held at the Norfolk Record
Office. 1700....... Hickling Hall, to the north-west of the Church, was
built. 1825....... The last remaining window of Hickling Priory was taken
down. Over the centuries the Priory had
decayed and had been used as a quarry for building stone. 1834....... Foundation of the Primitive Methodist Society in
Hickling. Later there were Primitive and
Wesleyan Methodist chapels in the Village. 1849....... The Vicarage (‘The Old Vicarage’ opposite the Church)
was built by the Rev. Sotherton Nathaniel Micklethwait, at a cost of £1,400. 1860/1.... Hickling Diocesan School, now Hickling Church of England
Voluntary Controlled School, was built (cost £420); and enlarged in 1874 and
1886. 1875/6.... The chancel and nave of the Church was restored at a cost
of £2,450, largely paid for by the Vicar, the Rev. Micklethwait. 1879....... The School House was built at a cost of £300 paid for
by H.N.S. Micklethwait Esq., Patron of the Living. 1882....... The Primitive Methodist Chapel (the present Methodist
Chapel) was rebuilt. 1883....... The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, near the present Rest
Homes, was rebuilt. It has since been
demolished, the Deed of Union having brought the two Methodist congregations
together. 1910....... The Church Hall was built, and later sold in 1975 to
Hickling Parish Council. It is now the Community Hall, near the School. 1932....... Consecration of Burial Ground Extension at St. Mary’s
by the Bishop of Norwich. 1974....... Hickling Village Sign was erected and unveiled,
(incorporating representations of Hickling Priory, the crafts of reed cutting
and peat digging, and the swallowtail butterfly and the bittern). The base was
built with flint stones from the north wall of the churchyard. 2003....... Publication of “St. Mary’s Churchyard Survey”, and new
“Visitor’s Guide to St. Mary’s Church” by Hickling Local History Group. 2004....... Commemoration of the 800th anniversary of the confirmation
of the foundation of Hickling Priory and the grant of a weekly Friday market by
King John. 2008....... At the Village School, building works to extend and refurbish the school commenced. These were completed in early 2009. |