An impression you get from history is the sheer amount of weirdos and weird stuff going on in Victorian England such as the religious cults, mysticism etc. Not to mention individual eccentrics some of which are included in this list: http://listverse.com/2009/03/15/10-incredibly-eccentric-people/
Is this just a false impression of mine? I guess there are plenty of eccentrics today, but it always seems like Victorian eccentrics are a cut above the rest.
There is an excellent book by Edith Sitwell called The English Eccentrics which covers this topic quite thoroughly.
With regards to the particular prevalence of "eccentricity" during the Victorian period, Sitwell explains that various lords would have an "eccentric" or similar character who lived on their plots of lands / estates in order to lend a sort of romantic color to them. Hence, there was a demand for these types and a patronage for them developed among the landed elite.