Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for WELLS

WELLS, a seaport town and a parish in Walsingham district, Norfolk. The town stands on a creek, at the termini of the Wymondham and Wells and the West Norfolk Junction railways, 5 miles N of Walsingham; was known, at Domesday, as Guella; is now sometimes called Wells-next-the-Sea; is a head port; consists chiefly of two streets, recently much improved; and has a head post-office,‡ designated Wells, Norfolk, a r. station with telegraph, two banking offices, three chief inns, recently-erected assembly-rooms, a custom-house, a coastguard station, a grand early English church, the chancel of which was restored in 1866, four dissenting chapels, an endowed school with £40 a year, a British school, reading rooms, breweries, malt-houses, rope-works, machine-works, corn mills, ship-building yards, and a fair on Shrove-Tuesday. The creek on which it stands has a winding course of about 2 miles, through salt marshes to the sea; the tide rises in the harbour 21 feet; and the quay became greatly dilapidated, and was recently rebuilt. Fishing, with about 20 boats, is carried on; oysters and mussels are largely taken; and a considerable commerce exists in rape-seed, linseed, corn, coals, timber, and salt. The vessels belonging to the port, at the beginning of 1864, were 76 small sailing-vessels of aggregately 1,912 tons; 73 large sailing-vessels, of aggregately 8,927 tons; and 3 small steam-vessels, of aggregately 37 tons. The vessels which entered in 1863 were 31 British sailing-vessels, of aggregately 2,162 tons, from foreign countries; 23 foreign sailing-vessels, of aggregately 1,240 tons, from foreign countries; and 493 sailing-vessels, of aggregately 24,718 tons, coastwise. The amount of customs in 1862 was £135. Pop. of the town in 1861, 3,098. Houses, 779. -The parish comprises 2,690 acres of land and 1,820 of water. Real property, £10,974. Pop. in 1851, 3,675; in 1861, 3,462. Houses, 867. The decrease of pop. arose partly from depression of the shipping trade, caused by facilities of railway communication. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £1,000. Patron, the Rev. H. E. Downing.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a seaport town and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Wells Next the Sea CP/AP       Walsingham RegD/PLU       Norfolk AncC
Place names: GUELLA     |     WELLS     |     WELLS NEXT THE SEA
Place: Wells Next the Sea

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