In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Fakenham like this:
FAKENHAM, a town, a parish, and a sub-district, in Walsingham district, Norfolk. The town stands on the slope of a hill, at the river Wensum, adjacent to the Wymondham and Wells railway, 9½ miles S of Wells; has, of late years, undergone much improvement; is a seat of petty sessions, and a polling-place; and has a head post office, ‡ a railway station with telegraph, two banking offices, two chief inns, an ancient market - cross, a tolerably spacions market-place, a three-arched bridge, a church, four dissenting chapels, and charities £70. ...
The bridge was built in 1833, on the site of a previous one; and consists of white bricks, with stone parapets and iron palisades. The church is fine later English with a handsome tower; was beautifully restored in 1864; and has an octagonal font. A weekly market is held on Thursday; and fairs on Whit-Tuesday and 22 Nov. Pop., 2, 182. Houses, 460. The parish is sometimes called Fakenham-Lancaster. Acres, 2, 208. Real property, £11, 511; of which £70 are in the railway, and £45 in gas-works. Pop., 2, 456. Houses, 521. The manor belongs to the Duchy of Lancaster. Salt was formerly made from salt-pits here. Five fine springs, one of them strongly chalybeate, are near the town. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £862.* Patron, Trinity College, Cambridge.—The sub-district contains twenty-two parishes. Acres, 27, 818. Pop., 7, 325. Houses, 1, 522.
Fakenham through time
Fakenham is now part of North Norfolk district. Click here for graphs and data of how North Norfolk has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Fakenham itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Fakenham in North Norfolk | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/1696
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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