North Walsham & District Community Archive

Bacton 1875 - 1975

"North East Norfolk Country Churchman Centenery Magazine 1875-1975"
FROM THE PARISHES

BACTON 1875-1975

In 1873 The Rev: T. W. Moeran was the incumbent at Bacton.

He used to prepare students for Oxford and Cambridge, they lived at the Vicarage - every time they spilt "Bacton anything on the tablecloth, Mrs. Moeran fined them a shilling, however they got their own back. They kept ferrets in the outbuildings for ratting and rabbiting and if they were short of food for their ferrets, they helped themselves to one of Mrs. Moeran's hens, she couldnt think why her flock shrank in numbers.

On looking through the Church Registers, it is very noticeable what a number of people could not write and had to sign the register with a cross until quite late in the century.

Coal was brought to Bacton by sea, which is the reason one of the gaps is called 'The Coal gap'.

Further down the coast there is the Watch House gap, years ago the Coastguards had a look-out here.

In the last hundred years Bacton has lost a number of houses and much land to the sea.

There are people alive today who can remember a large square white house near the coal gap which with a row of cottages, was swallowed up by the sea in 1912. Our churchyard is much tidier than it used to be, as our Vicar grazes his lambs there in the summer, no doubt a revival of the old custom.

We have a very old model of the church and this shows the stock barrier across the porch entrance.