England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bressingham St John the Baptist

The Parish

The parish of Bressingham lies in the extreme south of Norfolk forming a stretch of the county's border, here formed by the course of the River Waveney, with neighbouring Suffolk. Bressingham is located a little over 2 miles west of the market town of Diss and sits immediately north of the A1066 road which connects Diss with Thetford. Bressingham is a rather dispersed settlement, there is a small presence on the A1066 and the parish church together with a few properties actually sit south of that road. The majority of properties sits alongside a lane which parallels the A1066 about a half mile to its north and in Bressingham Common which runs northwards from that lane. Bressingham parish included a length of the flood-plain of the Waveney which gave access to pastureland to vary the farming from typical Norfolk arable, nevertheless early gazetteers estimate roughly 2/3rds was still arable. Also south of the A1066 is Bressingham Hall, an 18th century house which has been converted to a museum of steam-driven machinery, including a miniature steam railway line around its grounds, a local tourism attraction. Bressingham is drained eastwards by the Waveney which eventually meets with Norfolk's Broadland rivers at Breydon Water before passing through the port of Great Yarmouth to the North Sea. Bressingham is sited at around 40-50 metres above the sea with the parish church some 10 metres lower, the highest ground around is merely 57 metres to the northwest in generally flattish terrain. Covering just under 2,400 acres Bressingham was typically sized for the area and would have supported a population of close to 650 parishioners. In Domesday Book Bressingham recorded just sufficient population to be countable in the top 20% of settlements by population, nevertheless it was merely a modest rural farming manor held largely by Bury St Edmunds Abbey and offering 11 ploughs backed by typical meadows & woodland.

The Church

St John's church sits immediately south of the A1066 almost opposite to the Chequers Inn and accessed either directly from that road by a lychgate or from the dead-end Church Lane which offers a quieter entrance and parking. St John's is a church which shows the 3 main styles of the medieval period, the earliest fabric Early English Gothic is found in the chancel especially in the rather simple sedilia, 13th century in its construction. Moving westwards one finds the Decorated style represented by both the 4-bay arcades, showing the characteristic double-chamfered arches, and by the southern doorway. The remainder of the nave together with the western tower are typical Norfolk Perpendicular and probably 15th century marking a period of rebuilding of the church. The are documents recording will donations dotted sporadically from the late 15th into the early 16th century for "edifying" and completing the lead-work. For once Pevsner fails to record a Victorian restoration so if one occurred then it was light and sensitive. The Church Lane entrance has space for a car or two outside the southern gates, the churchyard is relatively free of significant obstacles for the photographer.