old catton (towns and villages)
st margaret's church
St Margaret's, the dedication is probably to St Margaret of Antioch, sits comfortably amid the houses; not for this church the remoteness of the Norfolk countryside but the centre of a medieval village, flanked on one side by the Manor House dating from the fourteenth or fifteenth century and on the other by a nineteenth century house formerly the Magpie Inn; just across the road from the Hall and Park.
St Margaret's is one of the 119 round tower churches in Norfolk. The tower is built of flint with an octagonal top of brick and flint which was very fashionable in the 15th century. The church has porch, nave, chancel, south aisle, short north aisle and a large north transept. The window style is predominantly perpendicular. The walls are knapped flint with the exception of the chancel and the east end of the north aisle which are rough cast. The layout of St Margaret's today is due to the changes required and inflicted upon it by the community it serves. The majority of the alterations took place in the fifteenth century and the mid nineteenth century.
early history
The earliest history of Old Catton seems to date back to the Stone Age, as evidenced by archaeological finds and subsequent discoveries point to Bronze Age and Roman habitation. But much of our documented history begins in 1086 with the publication of the Domesday Book.
black beauty
Anna Sewell lived at 125 Spixworth Road, Old Catton when she wrote her classic children's story Black Beauty. Despite being for children, it is a harrowing tale of man's cruelty towards horses. She was in her late fifties when she wrote the book and received £20 for the rights. Amazingly, by the time she died - only five months after the book was published - 100,000 copies had already been sold.
related pages
broadland's towns and villages
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