The persecution of Catholic dissidents continued in England from the late 16th Century, when the penalty for not attending Church was 20 shillings a month.
There was the death penalty for all priests ordained abroad, and imprisonment and, in some cases death for those who aided priests.

Nevertheless, Catholicism remained alive and gained ground in Norfolk as elsewhere in the first decade of the 17th Century. Between 1600 and 1616, at least one Catholic Priest is known to have visited Sharrington.

The upheavals in religious affairs led to the formation of Non-Conformist Sects, mainly Independents, Baptists, Presbyterians and Quakers.

Later, persecution of Protestant Sects increased until the Toleration Act of 1689 which allowed freedom of worship in premises properly licensed for that purpose.

There was a Primitive Methodist Congregation in Sharrington and a Wesleyan Chapel was erected in 1866 in The Street, now a holiday home.

By Peter Chapman 2000

References:

• A History of England, 1966, Redwood Press Ltd.
• An Historical Atlas of Norfolk. Published by Norfolk Museums Service. 2^nd