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

The Parish

The parish of Brockdish lies in the extreme south of Norfolk forming part of the border, here formed by the River Waveney, with neighbouring Suffolk. Brockdish is located a little over 3 miles south of the market town of Harleston and sits on the former route of the A143 which connects Bury St Edmunds with Great Yarnouth, that road nowadays passes to the north of Brockdish in a bypass. Brockdish is a slightly linear village with most properties built either around a crossroads north of the Waveney's crossing or along lanes which parallel its course, that former route of the A143. Brockdish's position on the edge of the Waveney's flood-plain gave it some variation from the normal Norfolk arable farming regime with pastures lining the course of the river. Modern developments came and went from Brockdish, the former route of a railway line between Diss and Bungay now being exploited by the A143's new line as a bypass. The Waveney drains the parish northeastwards and then east to reach the sea through the port of Great Yarmouth. Brockdish is sited at around 30 metres above the sea with land rising gently out of the valley to local heights of around 50 metres at the disused former World War 2 airfield. Brockdish was sized fairly typically for its area, covering around 1,100 acres t would have supported a population of close to 450 parishioners. In Domesday times Brockdish was shared almost equally between King William and Bury St Edmunds Abbey, the assets totalled 15 ploughs together with the ususal meadows & woodland.

The Church

St Peter & St Paul's church sits tucked away to the northwest of the village accessed along Church Lane and enclosed by the course of the A143 bypass. Like most churches St Peter & St Paul is a mixture of ages from early to modern times describing a continuous life of change and renewal. Pevsner notes Norman Romanesque style 12th century windows in both nave and chancel but is suspicious that they are renewed rather than still original. The next period of Early English Gothic is not represented but the Decorated style which followed is shown by both aisles and arcades tentatively dated to c1230 - 1250. Again both nave and chancel show windows of the Perpendicular era of the later 14th century but again Pevsner is suspicious they are Victorian re-creations. Even the western tower is fake-Perpendicular, it was rebuilt in brick in 1713 and then re-cased in the traditional flint during the major restoration of 1864 and given its  stair turret at the dame time to make it look more medieval. The rector supervising that 1864 restoration was a noted antiquarian and it is clear his influence went substantially towards retaining at least the look of the medieval. From the western edge of the village Church Road heads north and turns sharp left into Church Lane, outside the church that dead-end lane is widened to permit parking and facilitate turning. The hedged churchyard has no gate merely a pathway leading to the church, whilst the western end of the church is tight to the boundary most angles are clear and unobstructed for the photographer.