The manor of Catton c.1000 acres was given by the Crown to the

Benedictine Priory established in Norwich when the cathedral was built

in the early 12th century.  After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid

16th century the manor passed to the Dean and Chapter of Norwich Cathedral².

The first map of Catton in the 18th century is a copy of one dated 1746 entitled

'A Map of Mr Lincoln's Estate at Catton'³.  This estate consisted of land not only

in Catton but in the adjoining parishes of Sprowston, St Faith's and Hellesdon,

and was probably in excess of a thousand acres.  This would indicate that the

Dean and Chapter of Norwich Cathedral had by the mid 18th century leased or

sold a substantial acreage of their holdings in Catton and the adjoining parishes.

The area which was to become Catton Hall and its park lay on the eastern

extremity of this map south of the Manor House and parish church of Catton.

It comprised a narrow triangle of land bounded by roads.

Field boundaries were not included on the map.

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² Broadland District Council Old Catton Conservation Area (unpublished report, 1986) p 3.

³ Norfolk Record Office (henceforth NRO) Church Commissioner's Map 11911.  This is a copy of

the 1746 map made in 1780.  The original does not survive.

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