Olga Ward came upon an interesting reference to Salthouse amongst the pages of her great great grandmother’s published memoirs, which are entitled: Memoirs of the Honourable Mrs. Upcher, (Being extracts from her journals and other papers), by her daughter Emma Pigott. The Honourable Mrs Upcher of these journals was Charlotte, née Wilson. In 1809 she married Abbot Upcher who bought the Sheringham Estate in 1812. Under the heading: ‘Bible Society’, Emma Pigott writes:
About 1830 my mother visited many villages, far and near, for the Bible Society, and established a district association in nearly all of them. Among the parishes she visited from house to house, were Salthouse, Edgefield, Hanworth, Study (sic), Beeston, Bodham, East and West Beckham, Briston, Kelling, Hempsted (sic), Hindolveston, etc. One or two extracts may show some of her interesting work:
1830, August 7th. District 31.
Mary Moy, a pious young woman, having offered to collect, I visited every house save one in Salthouse. In 50 houses there were eleven families without Bibles or Testament, six were out, or houses empty. The two principal farmers appeared sadly opposed and avaricious. In this parish there is no day charity school, and the Sunday School is held only once a fortnight, reading not taught in it. Promised the loan of a Testament to a Waterloo soldier, PARTLELL (interesting character), till he could purchase one for himself, he has since paid for a 5s. Bible.
In 1830, when Mrs. Upcher made this report of her visit to Salthouse and met with such ‘sad opposition’, the Methodist religion had not yet come to Salthouse. Although the 1851 religious census states that Primitive Methodism reached Norfolk in 1820, the first Primitive Methodist chapel in Salthouse was not erected until 1836
[see the Religious Census of 1851].