Nor was this all, for Bishop Middleton's successor in the see of
Norwich came from this immediate neighbourhood also. This was Ralph
Walpole, son of the lord of the manor of Houghton, in which parish
the bishop himself had inherited a few acres of land. In less than
forty years no less than three bishops had been born within five
miles of where we are this evening: Roger de Wesenham, [Footnote: The
names of several members of the bishop's family occur in the Rougham
Charters as attesting witnesses, and a Roger de Wesenham is found
among them more than once.] who became Bishop of Lichfield in 1245;
William Middleton, who had just died; and Ralph Walpole, who
succeeded him. There must have been much stir in these parts when the
news was known. The old people would tell how they had seen "young
master Ralph" many a time when he was a boy scampering over
Massingham Heath, or coming to pay his respects to the Archdeacon at
the Lyng House, or talking of foreign parts with old James de
Ferentino or Peter Romayn. Now he had grown to be a very big man
indeed, and there were many eyes watching him on both sides of the
water. He had a very difficult game to play during the eleven years
he was Bishop of Norwich, for the king was dreadfully in need of
money, and, being desperate, he resorted to outrageous methods of
squeezing it from those whom he could frighten and force, and the
time came at last when the bishops and the clergy had to put a bold
face on and to resist the tyranny and lawless rapacity of the
sovereign.
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