England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Booton St Michael & All Angels

The Parish

The parish of Booton lies in the northeastern portion of central Norfolk roughly 1 mile east of the small market town of Reepham. Booton sits a similar distance east of the B1145 road which links Reepham through to Aylsham. Booton is a rather scattered community, a small hamlet lies just east of a small stream near to Reepham, a little further along there are properties clustered around the former site of Booton Hall whilst scattered farms lead eventually to the church some 3/4s of a mile east of the notional village centre. Like most Norfolk parishes Booton is and was an arable farming parish, the rich soils hereabouts being perfect for growing wheat & barley, at the time of this transcript a rotational system involving root crops and fallow would have pertained. The former common, bordering the stream, is nowadays managed for wildlife. That small stream drains the parish southwestwards merging with others to finally reach the River Wensum at Lenwade, the Wensum heads southeast, through the city of Norwich, merges with the Yare and enters the North Sea through the port of Great Yarnouth. Booton sits on gently rising ground east of that stream rising from 20 to 40 metres above the sea, in this gentle terrain 45 metres would appear to be the highest ground for some distance. Norfolk parishes tend towards the smaller size and Booton was no exception covering only a little over 1,000 acres and supporting a population of around 250 parishioners. In Domesday times Booton was even smaller, held by one Tihel d'Hellean it could muster just a single plough and a share in a second backed by a small meadow and some woodland.

The Church

St Michael's church sits on the southern side of the lane that heads for Brandiston & Haveringland some 3.4s of a mile east of Booton proper. As can be seen it is an elaborate church in a "High Gothic" style which appears on first glance to be 19th century and inspired by figures such as Pugin. The reality is somewhat complex as within much of the elaborate design lies the remnant of a typical Norfolk church. The work was lead by and designed by the rector, Whitwell Elwin, and lasted a period of 16 years from 1875 through to 1891. Starting from the east the original Perpendicular chancel was simply re-cased into its new form, the nave was demolished with the exception of the western wall and then rebuilt from that medieval base and finally the original simple western tower was taken down and the diagonally place twin western towers built to replace it. The result is a building that Pevsner terms "lavish" and which Lutyens described as "very naughty but in the right spirit". As Pevsner rightly states the whole edifice is simply the "result of one man's personal and idiosyncratic vision", whether one likes or dislikes the result is a matter for personal opinion. Visiting is made straight-forward by a broad verge on the opposing side of the lane, the eastern end sits close to a tree-line restricting those views but otherwise all aspects are available for the photographer.