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

The Parish

The parish of Great Bircham lies in northwestern Norfolk roughly 12 miles north of the port of King's Lynn. Great Bircham sits on the B1153 road which links Docking through to Gayton & Narborough. Great Bircham is a rather linear small village with most properties lining the B1153 for a little over a quarter mile. The parish contains the historic pathway of Peddar's Way which runs west of the village in a straight line headed for the northern coat, now part of the Peddar's Way & North Norfolk Coast National Trail. Like much of Norfolk Great Bircham is an arable parish so much so that early gazetteers estimated the arable acreage as over 80% of the total, the balance largely made up of sheep-walks and heath. Great Bircham sits upon an area devoid of watercourses, the porous chalk underlying being close to the surface, the area has no streams until the infant Heacham River emerges at Fring and flows into the outer reaches of The Wash and thence to the North Sea. Great Bircham is sited at around 60 metres above the sea, the general height of the land hereabouts, a few spots cross the 70 metre contour in gently undulating terrain. Great Bircham parish was large by the standards of its county, over twice the size of many of the eastern parishes in the county, covering 3,600 acres it would have supported around 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Great Bircham was a modest rural manor shared between William d'Ecouis & Ralph de Beaufour it offered merely 8 ploughs as its assets.

The Church

St Mary's church is tucked away from the High Street accessed either by the very narrow Church Lane or from gates on the B1155 headed for Stanhoe. Whilst the majority of the church's fabric dates from the later medieval periods there are fragments from earlier times, a re-sited doorway shows the style of the later Norman period from the 12th century. Much of the church appears to have been built/rebuilt in the early 14th century with the Decorated style in abundance. The western tower, aisle & chancel windows, the chancel arch and the arcades are all built in this style. The nave shows the later Perpendicular style of the latter half of the same century or the early 15th, this is attributed by Pevsner to a renewal rather than an extended build. At the same time as the nave was renewed a large northern porch was added in the same style. Like most churches St Mary received a typical Victorian restoration, here in 1850, which produced today's east window for the chancel as well as generally refreshing the church. Church Lane is not recommended except on foot, the verge on the B1155 being more practicable for parking, the church sits within a neat square of trees bordering the churchyard but within there are no significant obstacles for the photographer.