13/07/2020
Some facts about
Lincoln legacy
The most famous son of Hingham is Abraham Lincoln, 19th century president of the USA. Apprentice weaver Samuel Lincoln left England for New England more than 200 years before his great, great, great, great grandson Abraham became president, but his roots are remembered in Norfolk. The town hall in Norfolk’s Hingham is called Lincoln Hall and exactly 100 years ago a bust of the American president, who led the US through the civil war and abolished slavery, was unveiled in the parish church by the American ambassador.
Ancient and ship shape
The church in Hingham, Norfolk, was rebuilt 700 years ago. Over the pond in Hingham, Massachusetts, the church built 338 years ago is the oldest church in continuous use in the United States and the only surviving 17th-century Puritan meeting house in America. Known as the Old Ship Church because its huge hammer-beam roof makes it look like an upside-down ship, the carpenters would have learned their trade in Norfolk. Its christening bowl was probably brought from Norfolk’s Hingham, and the congregation’s first minister was the Rev Peter Hobart, also originally from the town. The current minister is one of his descendants.
Well-connected
Hingham has so many grand houses it was once known as Little London. Hingham Market Place boasts some particularly fine Georgian buildings. Some are even older behind fine facades, including the The White Hart Inn, with its impressive white hart statue standing guard above a columned porch. The town has long-standing royal connections too. More than 1,000 years ago it was the property of King Athelstan and from 1066 was owned by William the Conqueror.
