Looking Back to 19th C

 The 1851 Religious Census - measured bums on seats. 

i) The Parish of Horstead - with a gracious Rectory, extensive walled gardens and a late medieval tithe barn was a good living.  Forming part of the endowment that established King's College Cambridge, it provided a comfortable post for former fellows.  It was a rule in the university, not repealed until 1877,  that fellows were required to be Church of England clergy and unmarried. For colleges to have a number of good livings to which fellows could retire and continue their studies in relative comfort was the norm.   Since the 16th C Horstead had been combined with the neighbouring parish of Coltishall  Often served by a curate, the tithes from the parish went into the college's coffers.  

On the 30th May 1851, from a total village population of 595, church attendance had been 50 in the morning and 70 in the afternoon.  In addition there had been 60 Sunday Scholars in the morning and a further 60 in the afternoon.


Within the parish of Horstead the Census records a Baptist Church, with an evening meeting, gathering in a private house.

However, Jabez Dawson making the return as Baptist Minister gives his address as Coltishall. It is possible that the Baptists met in Coltishall rather than Horstead.

The Parish of Coltishall  - On the opposite bank of the River Bure,  Coltishall  had a total population of 907.   The return for the parish church gave the total seating as 264.   97 adults attended church in the morning and 202  in the afternoon. Sunday Scholars amounted to 53 in the morning and 63 in the afternoon. 


There were also Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels in Coltishall.

The Parish of Hautbois - In 1851 Hautbois belonged with the Parish of Lammas with whom they shared a parson


Reading the bald statistics with today's villages in mind, there's a tendency to jump to conclusions about the church buildings and the types of services referred to.   In the year 1851,  Horstead,  Coltishall and Hautbois churches were all in a near ruinous condition.  Over the next half century all three churches  would be restored or rebuilt and the services changed out of all recognition. 


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