In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Blakeney like this:
BLAKENEY, a small seaport and a parish in Walsingham district, Norfolk. The seaport stands on a natural harbour of its own name, 5½ miles NNW of Holt, and 7½ E of Wells r. station; and has a post office under Thetford. It was anciently called Snitterley; and it got the right to a market in the time of Henry III. ...
A Carmelite monastery was founded at it about 1295; and given, at the dissolution, to William Rede; and some remains of the edifice, including several fine arches, are still standing. John de Baconsthorpe, who was styled "the resolute and subtle doctor," held a place in the monastery, and rose to be head of the English Carmelites. The parish church, on an eminence a little S of the town, is a curious flint structure, in early and in later English; has a lofty embattled tower, which serves as a mark to mariners in taking the harbour; and contains a fine ancient font, three sedilia, and remains of a screen and stalls. There are chapels for Baptists and Methodists. The harbour has a dangerous shifting bar, yet serves well both for commerce and for shelter. About 60 vessels, aggregately nearly 4,000 tons, belong to the port. The chief export is corn; the chief imports are coal, timber, iron, hemp, tar, and tallow; and a considerable fishery is carried on.—The parish comprises 1,865 acres; of which 235 are water. Real property, £3,260. Pop., 961. Houses, 264. The property is not much divided. The living is a rectory, united with the p. curacy of Glandford and the rectory of Cockthorpe, in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £506.* Patron, Lord Calthorpe.
Blakeney through time
Blakeney 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 Blakeney itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Blakeney in North Norfolk | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/5161
Date accessed: 27th April 2024
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