This page contains extracts from the correspondence concerning the founding of the first school in Deopham. The full correspondence is available here.
The bishop of Norwich to the Dean of Canterbury, August 28th, 1848:
It is most desirable that a School should be built in the Parish of Deopham, one of the most neglected parts of my Diocese there being no parsonage house & a non resident Incumbent who is altogether insufficient & useless …
The bishop of Norwich to the Dean of Canterbury, September 6th 1848:
The incumbent the Rev John Adam never having resided there, though I believe he has held it as long as Edingthorpe another living about 30 miles distant that is nearly 60 years, never to my knowledge having exerted himself very zealously for the one or the other and now from age incapacitated.
The curate of Deopham to the Dean of Canterbury, January 4th 1849:
You enquire who is the present Incumbent of Deopham. Perhaps you will be surprised when I tell you that though I have been Curate here four years I have never seen him or received a letter from him.
The curate of Deopham to the Dean of Canterbury, February 3rd 1849:
I am greatly rejoiced at your most welcome intelligence which I have just received. Accept my warmest thanks for your kind advocacy of my case with the Dean & Chapter. No effort on my part shall be wanting to put everything in train with the least possible delay.
The curate of Deopham to the Dean of Canterbury, April 26th 1849:
I know not whether the Living of Deopham be already promised to any one in the event of Mr Adams’ death. I should be glad to have it, and would do my best to improve the condition of the Parishioners both as to their spiritual & temporal welfare.
Rev. Turner, vicar of Deopham, to the Dean of Canterbury, December 3rd 1850:
… the great difficulty we shall have will be in getting a sufficient number of qualified Trustees – Instead of 6 or 4 who wd contribute 20s/ or 10/ there is not one in the parish who will give 5/ – not one who will give a mite to aid me in Building – nor from present appearances have I a right to expect more liberality from the adjoining parishes.
Vicar of Deopham to the Dean of Canterbury, December 10th 1850
There is not a man here on whose Churchmanship you can rely for a month – not one who is qualified by Education or habits to direct or manage, or to assist a Clergyman in managing such an institution, & moreover not one who will aid me with a single shilling either to build the schools or support them when built.
You really cannot imagine the pitiable state of this parish. The poverty is only matched by its ignorance.
The vicar of Deopham to the Dean of Canterbury, January 28th, 1851:
But the fact is Mr. Millard will not give the required ground for a site – He has offered one spot in “Gravel Pit Close” – certainly the worst both for a teacher’s house & school he could have fixed on but he will not counsel to give a piece of “Church Field” which is I think the only appropriate spot for a school on the Dean & Chapter’s grounds. The part proposed by Mr. Millard I would not accept – were I to build there it is such a lonely dismal place the Mistress, I am sure, would live there alone.
The Dean of Norwich to the Dean of Canterbury, March 25th 1851:
I visited Deopham to day with Mr Turner and Mr Millard, who is a very worthy man; but having 16 Children all derived from one Mother and only holding the lease as necessity for the amount of the last fine, which he was obliged to advance, cannot, of course afford any considerable content of sacrifice.
Your Vicar [the Rev. George Turner] seems energetic and spirited, and will do his best. His House is just commenced, and he is doing, also, something to the Church which is a very noble one but sadly neglected, dilapidated & misused. As usual the Lessees have been the great culprits. the Chancel being thatched !!! such a miserable East Window of Death, in the worst possible taste !!!
The exclamation marks in the above extract are the Dean’s.
The vicar of Deopham to Canterbury, July 1st 1851:
The Dissenters here are organising an opposition to the schools & persuading or trying to persuade the poor not to send their Children. I hope however they have seen enough of the evils of ignorance & will not be induced to throw away from their Children the advantage of a proper training.
The Churchman’s Companion, July 1851, on the occasion of the opening of the new school:
The village of Deopham, Norfolk, has long been known in its neighbourhood for its entire abandonment to Dissent of the lowest and most profligate kind. There has been no resident vicar within the memory of man, and only of late years a resident curate, and with no parsonage house, no school, no resident gentry, and the Church in sad repair…
The vicar of Deopham to the Dean of Canterbury, May 31st 1852:
The new National Schools also have now been opened for six months; and they are certainly succeeding far better than I had reason to anticipate. We have now in them about 36 day scholars (boys & girls) & forty on Sundays. And there will probably be a large increase in the numbers during the Summer. Our Congregation also has increased from about 20 to 150 and upwards – & the Communicants from 6 or 7 to 25 who regularly attend on the first Sunday in every Month. I simply mention these parochial matters as I conceive you take some interest in a parish of which you are Patrons, and would be anxious to know whether your last Presentation was or was not for the good of the Parish.
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 2/11/23 | Published |
Deopham History 