In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Kessingland like this:
KESSINGLAND, a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in Mutford district, Suffolk. The village stands on the coast, 4½ miles S by W of Lowestoft r. station; was once a market town; and has a post office under Wangford. The parish comprises 1, 651 acres of land, and 40 of water. Real property, £3, 729. ...
Pop. in 1851, 777; in 1861, 872. Houses, 202. The increase of pop. arose from the extension of the herring fishery. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to John M. Boycott, Esq. A thickly populated spot on the coast, called Sea Row, was swept away, about the year 1835, by the sea; and other parts of the coast are still subject to sea erosion. A coast guard station is on the beach. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £500.* Patron, the Bishop of Norwich. The church was built by the nuns of St. Clare in London; was partly rebuilt in 1694; comprises nave and S porch, with handsome lofty tower; has statues of St. Edmund and angels with thuribles on the tower door; and contains an octagonal font, with canopied effigies round the bowl. Some ancient ruins, seemingly ecclesiastical, are near the parsonage. Charities, about £70. W. Whiston, in 1696, J. Turner, in 1708, and R. Pot ter, in 1782, were vicars.—The sub-district contains also seven other parishes. Acres, 10, 621. Pop., 4, 759. Houses, 1, 060.
Kessingland through time
Kessingland is now part of Waveney district. Click here for graphs and data of how Waveney has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Kessingland itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Kessingland, in Waveney and Suffolk | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/7410
Date accessed: 07th May 2024
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