England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Barnham Broom St Peter & St Paul

The Parish

The parish of Barnham Broom lies in the eastern part of central Norfolk roughly 5 miles north of the market town of Wymondham. Barnham Broom is an expanded crossroads settlement which sits just over a mile north of the B1108 road which crosses the county westwards from Norwich through Hingham to Watton. Formerly a simple gathering of farms and cottages on the western banks of the infant River Yare, commuter growth in modern times has extended the village substantially towards the county's main city of Norwich, the village nowadays extends for over a mile from west to east along the Norwich Road. At the time of this transcript Barnham Broom would have been, and largely still is, a typical Norfolk arable farming village, cereals being the main crop whilst today oil seed and beet are also found. The Yare drains the parish eastwards, passing to the south of the city of Norwich it reaches the North Sea through the port of Great Yarmouth. Barnham Broom occupies a rising site from 25 through to 45 metres above the sea, land hereabouts is rather gentle with local high spots failing to reach 60 metres within a couple of miles. Barnham Broom parish was typically sized for its area, covering just short of 1,800 acres it would have supported a population of close to 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Barnham Broom was largely held by William de Warenne with 2 other landholders having small shares, collectively the assets offered 10 ploughs, a small meadow and 2 exclusive mills and a share in a third, presumably exploiting the Yare.

The Church

St Peter & St Paul's church sits a quarter mile north of the main crossroads of the village on that lane which heads for Honingham but offset to its east. Whilst giving the impression of the medieval and of the Perpendicular, in particular, the church has little remaining from that period having been extensively rebuilt in Victorian times. From the medieval period the main remaining fabric is the imposing western tower, bequests in wills give excellent dating evidence for this piece with gifts in 1434 and 1440 indicative of the build period, as the later item refers to the bell one must presume the tower had been completed by 1440. A substantial Victorian restoration from 1850 made major changes to the main body of the church, retaining the Perpendicular styling but replacing all of the windows and internal fittings. The church is accessed by a rough track, unsigned from the Honingham Road but at the northern limit of the village's properties. This track is expanded for parking at various points. Sadly this is a church which will frustrate the photographer as its main body is deeply embedded in mature trees leaving no view whatsoever for the photographer to capture.