England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Acle St Edmund

The Parish

The parish of Acle lies in eastern Norfolk roughly 11 miles east of the city of Norwich. Acle sits immediately north of the A47 road, which formerly went through but now follows a bypass to the south, which connects Norwich with Great Yarmouth. Acle is a small market town, its market was granted in the late 14th century by King Richard II, but has been much expanded in modern times. In Roman times there is evidence that the sea once reached the edge of Acle and it was a small port now it merely sits on the banks of the River Bure several miles from the coast. Early maps show a clustered settlement gathered around the market with a short southern extension to the vicinity of the church. Modern developments have added large areas of modern housing to the north, southeast and west creating a town roughly square and a mile across. Besides functioning as a centre for trade and specialist skills Acle also partook in both the local worsted weaving and also was a base for exploiting the marshlands both for reed-thatch, wildfowling and the iconic Broads wherries for internal transportation of arable produce. Other than extensive tracts of reclaimed grazing marshes the parish also had excellent soils for growing cereals on higher ground. Modern developments have come to Acle, the railway line, one of two linking Norwich with Great Yarmouth, came to Acle granting it a station and enhancing its appeal as a commuter settlement. The A47 is in the process of being upgraded to fast dual-carriageway. Acle is drained eastwards by the Bure which makes its own way independent of the other Broadland rivers to the sea arriving in Great Yarmouth east of Breydon Water and into the North Sea. Acle is sited at around 10 metres above the sea in very gentle terrain, to the west a few spots touch 25 metres in the Burlinghams. Acle parish was large in area because of the detached areas of reclaimed land assigned to it (for the sake of simplicity they are excluded from the adjacent parish list below) as well as its main body of area, covering just under 3,200 acres it would have supported a population of around 850 parishioners. In Domesday times Acle was recorded as having 65 households, large enough to be amongst the largest 20% of settlements in the land, held by King William it could muster 16 ploughs, typical meadows & woodland and had a mill.

The Church

St Edmund's church sits on the former route of the A47 through the town at the bend where Norwich Road becomes The Street. It is customary that round towered churches in East Anglia are early, the basal stages of St Edmund's western tower are round but both Pevsner and Historic England do not assign a date merely noting that the top stage in contrasting octagonal form is 13th century Early English Gothic. There is some evidence for a Norman origin as a 12th century doorway has been reassembled, presumably one of the entrance doorways, to form the entrance to the rood stair turret. The main body of the church is a product of the 14th century with Decorated motifs indicating an early 14th century build, both nave and chancel have both, however, been thoroughly reworked by modern restorations. The Perpendicular period saw only the topmost part of the tower including its pinnacles added plus the elaborate two storey southern porch. The major restoration of Victorian times fell in 1862 with differing architects responsible for the nave and chancel, a thorough affair. Further restoration followed between 1904 & 1907. There is no close parking for the church but side streets to the south may have possibilities othwerwise the town's car parks and a walk are required. The main gate sits on the Norwich Road with a gravelled path leading to the church, the favoured southern aspects are readily available for the photographer.