Vicar of Deopham 1970 – 1974
Contents
Biography
The following account appeared in the EDP published on September 6th 1966:
A seaman, a journalist and a clergyman. Three occupations which would seem to have little connection, but the Rev. Kenneth Dobson, Rector of West Lynn, has experienced each.
Now Mr. Dobson is adding a fourth to this list, for on Friday he is leaving West Lynn to become a priest-schoolmaster.
Together with his family, he is moving to Deopham Vicarage, near Wymondham, and he will assist two other clergymen in the parishes of Deopham, Morley St. Botolph, Wicklewood and Hackford. But during his time there he will be taking a two-year teaching course at Keswick Hall.
He has chosen to teach religious education—which he hopes will be in a secondary modern school—but he will be continuing his work as a clergyman.
Yesterday at the Rectory, Mr. Dobson spoke of the priest-workmen in France. “This was one of the first attempts to get over the boundary between the Church and the world” he said. “The idea was to get out into the world and meet the people where they were.”
He went on: “I have personally felt for some time that there is a lot of good in this. I am convinced that we have got to find new ways of reaching the people. The ways we have got are quite satisfactory, but we have got to find new ones.”
The idea of the training, he said, was to enable the clergymen to teach more efficiently and to bring them in line with the school teachers.
At Deopham he will join the Rev. Brian Henharen and the Rev. Eric Buck, both priest-schoolmasters. Mr. Dobson has taught at schools in the past and while at Lynn he taught at the Alderman Catleugh School which he described as an experiment which “achieved a great deal.”
What connection is there between the various occupations Mr. Dobson has had? “They are all adventurous,” he replied. “They all require personal initiative. I like that.”
He concluded: “As a parishioner told me, I am not an orthodox clergy man. I am not for all this forelock touching business at all.”
The following entry appeared in the edition of Crockford’s directory of clergy published for the years 1980-821:
Michael Allen advised that the Rev. Dobson was the last vicar to use the Deopham vicarage before it was sold, and that after Deopham, the Rev. Dobson was appointed to the parish of Elveden.
This is confirmed by the following extract form Crockford’s for 1995/6 which shows that he came back to Attleborough upon his retirement in 1984:
Footnotes
Navigation
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 31/7/25 | 1980-82 Crockford’s extract |
| 6/12/22 | Published |
Deopham History 