England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Baconsthorpe St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Baconsthorpe lies in northeastern Norfolk roughly 4 miles southeast of the small market town of Holt. Baconsthorpe is a small village built around an oblong of lanes which sits a little over 2 miles south of the A148 road which connects the resort town of Cromer across northern Norfolk to the port of Kings Lynn. Baconsthorpe principal historical interest is its castle, actually a Tudor moated manor house built by the local Heydon family. Baconsthorpe like many parishes in Norfolk was largely an arable farming district, something which continues to this day. Baconsthorpe is drained by a small tributary of the infant River Glaven which is soon joined, the Glaven wraps around Holt to its south before turning northwards to reach the North Sea through the town of Cley next the Sea. Baconsthorpe has a fairly high elevation for Norfolk sitting at around 80 metres above the sea it forms the highest ground for some distance with only nearby Bodham Hill over-topping it by 10 metres. Parishes in eastern Norfolk are often fairly small in acreage and Baconsthorpe was no exception, covering only a little over 1,300 acres it would have supported a population of around 300 parishioners. In Domesday times Baconsthorpe was a tiny rural spot, held by Count Alan of Brittany it could not claim a single plough just a small meadow and a few pigs.

The Church

St Mary's church sits at the southeastern corner of Baconsthorpe's oblong of lanes on the southern side of Church Lane. Dating evidence from both chancel and piscina date the earliest parts of the church to the latter half of the 13th century showing motifs of the Early English Gothic period. The church did, however, receive a major rebuild during that great church building era of the Perpendicular and most of the remaining fabric is of the 15th century or late. Sadly the tower, whilst in that style is a rebuild, the previous incarnation having fallen in 1739, further works of the 18th century followed and were further added to in the 1860s as part of a major Victorian restoration which as well as restoring major parts of the church added the northern porch. Church Lane is narrow but has a wide verge on the church's side allowing parking. A set of wooden gates leads into the churchyard, the church is set close to the western edge of that churchyard which does inhibit the better views of that resurrected western tower.