ST. PETER'S CHURCH – MERTON

St. Peter's, Merton is a small, flint church with a round west tower. It was largely rebuilt around 1300; most of the windows with their very elaborate tracery date from this period, with some later, Perpendicular, additions. The tower, however, and some parts of the west and north walls may be Saxon or early Norman. Considerable restoration was carried out in the nineteenth century but, with some notable exceptions (particularly the South Porch), efforts were made to ensure that new stonework and other features were a replica of that which was being replaced. Within the last few years further restoration work has taken place, with funding from the English Heritage, The Norfolk Churches Trust and The Round Tower Churches Society.

Location and Early History

The church stands on an abrupt rise in the ground that is probably glacial in origin. Another interesting relic of the Ice Age in the parish is the "Merton Stone," a very large "glacial erratic" (that is, a large boulder that has been carried by the ice far from its place of origin). According to local legend, if the Merton Stone is moved, the village will flood - but since the stone is estimated to weigh about twenty tons, this is unlikely to happen!

The stone lies about a mile to the northwest of the church, near to the ancient track way called Peddar's Way. Evidence of early human occupation has been found near Peddar's Way and elsewhere in the parish; ranging from Prehistoric flint artefacts to numerous Roman finds, as well as Saxon and medieval remains.

The church is reached by passing through the main gates into Merton Park. This is part of the estate of the de Grey family, who have held the manor of Merton since the early fourteenth century when Sir Thomas de Grey of Cornard, Suffolk, married Isabell Baynard. Isabell was one of three sisters, co-heirs of Sir Fulk Baynard, whose ancestor Ralph Baynard had been given Merton by William the Conqueror after the Norman Conquest.

In 1780 a William de Grey was ennobled, becoming the first Baron Walsingham. The present Lord Walsingham still lives in the village, and his son and family live in Merton Hall. The family originally owned only part of the land in the parish, as well as other property in Norfolk, Suffolk and elsewhere. By the eighteenth century they had acquired huge estates around Merton, owning the whole of Merton and large parts of adjoining parishes. In 1937 the estate comprised "the whole village of Merton, with the adjacent villages of Tottington, Sturston, Stanford and Thompson, and part of the parishes of Watton, Griston, Little Cressingham, West Tofts, Stow Bedon and Caston" (Kelly's Directory).

However, in 1942 the estate was suddenly reduced in size again as Tottington, Sturston, Stanford and West Tofts were taken over by the War Department as a military training area. All the inhabitants of the villages lost their homes and, despite the original promises, none were able to return. Lord and Lady Walsingham lived at that time in Tottington. Their house, Westmere Farm, was taken down and rebuilt in the woods in Merton parish.

A considerable amount of information about Merton in the nineteenth century is available from the  "Annals of the Parish of Merton, Norfolk, from 1851"; a journal written by Rev. George Crabbe, Rector from 1851 to 1884. From this it appears that until at least 1820 there were a "Parsonage of brick gable ends & chimneys and clay sides with its barn & cow house of clay and stable of brick.... a small farm-house and several cottages with gardens & a blacksmith shop" inside what is now the park, near to the entrance gates. These were pulled down by the 3rd Lord Walsingham (died 1831), who also built the flint lodge.

Crabbe drew up a map of the village in 1851, marking every dwelling and indicating the family that lived there. This, in combination with the 1851 Census, gives a complete picture of the village at this date. Of the buildings shown by Crabbe in 1851 the following still remain: the Church; the Hall; the moated house called the Hassocks; the lodge; two farmhouses, which are no longer farms; one stable and one farm building that are now houses; and nine cottages (which in 1851 accommodated seventeen families).

Two of these cottages have been almost completely rebuilt after thatch fires in the last few years. The original Home Farm, the Land Agent's house, several farm buildings, and three cottages (accommodating seven families) have gone.

There were probably once dwellings close to the north of the church, where old bricks could be found in the track before it was resurfaced. It has been speculated that this early village was burnt down because of the Black Death, or because of a smallpox epidemic, but it is most likely that these buildings were removed to allow for the aggrandisement of the park. Most of the houses of the village now lie near the small village green more than half a mile further to the north-west.

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