England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
East Barsham All Saints

The Parish

The parish of East Barsham lies in northwestern Norfolk, one of three villages bearing the Barsham name together with North & West Barsham. East Barsham is located roughly 3 miles north of the market town of Fakenham and sits a mile east of the B1105 road which connects Fakenham with Wells next the Sea. East Barsham is a small crossroads settlement which has properties around a double crossroads on the broad lane running from Fakenham the large village of Walsingham. The village sits either side of the crossing of the River Stiffkey in a rather pronounced valley, for Norfolk that is. Like most Norfolk parishes arable farming formed the mainstay of the parish economy with cereal production being paramount. Modern developments did temporarily come to East Barsham with the construction of a light railway from Fakenham to Wells next the Sea which passed through the parish, sadly now only the northern portion survives as a heritage line. The River Stiffkey drains the parish northeastwards to the nearby northern coast of Norfolk and the North Sea. East Barsham is sited at around 30 metres within its valley but land rises to over 60 metres on the hills towards Great Snoring to the east. East Barsham parish was small, as are many in Norfolk, it covered just under 1,200 acres and would have supported a population of close to 250 parishioners. In Domesday times East Barsham was reported jointly with its smaller neighbour of West Barsham and was shared between one William of Warenne and the King's own holdings. The pair were fairly wealthy offering 15 ploughs, meadows, woodland and an impressive 8 mills.

The Church

All Saints church sits on the western side of the southern of the two junctions where a narrow lane heads to West Barsham. All Saints has suffered over the centuries, indeed Pevsner describes it as "sadly mutilated". Whilst the church originally followed a familiar ground plan of nave & chancel, in this case augmented by a transept, both chancel and transept have been removed leaving just their foundations. The remaining nave has a Norman 12th century southern doorway and 15th century Perpendicular style windows whilst the curious tower, once a tall northern tower has been reduced to simply the lowest stage and turned into a porch, it is a construct of the 17th century. A restoration of 1880 did much to stabilise what remains of a sadly much reduced church. The lane past the site is wide and busy and parking is tricky, the churchyard is unenclosed leading straight off the roadside through trees but is otherwise relatively friendly to the photographer.