He had previously been licensed to the perpetual curacy of St. Michael at Thorn, Norwich, and in 1860 he was presented by John Thomas Pelham, bishop of Norwich, to the rectory of Heigham.
It has been suggested that Heigham Holmes was used by the Special Operations Executive as a secret airfield between 1940 to 1944, with Lysander aircraft operating from the airfield to ferry agents to occupied Europe.