England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Burnham Deepdale St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Burnham Deepdale lies in the northwest of Norfolk, indeed it forms a part of Norfolk's northern North Sea coast. Burnham Deepdale lies about 2 miles northwest of the small market town of Burnham Market and sits on the A149 coastal road which connects Hunstanton with Wells next the Sea. Burnham Deepdale sits on the edges of Norfolk's extensive coastal saltmarshes, an area protected by the island of Scolt Head, incidentally "owned" by Burnham Norton and thus preventing Burnham Deepdale from having a more extensive portion of the coastline. Burnham Deepdale's economy would have been a mixture of land-based arable farming with pastures on the higher marshes together with marine-based fishing, wildfowling and shell fishing. Today the area is very much a touristy one with wildlife enthusiasts drawn by the birds and hikers following the Norfolk Coastal Trail which passes through the village. As a coastal settlement Burnham Deepdale is drained by numerous muddy creeks to the nearby North Sea. Burnham Deepdale is sited at just 4 metres above the sea, barely keeping its feet dry, land rises behind the village to the south to reach almost 70 metres on Deepdale Downs and similar areas. Like many parishes in Norfolk Burnham Deepdale covered a small area of just over 1,000 acres, it would have supported a population of around 100 parishioners. In Domesday times Burnham Deepdale was a tiny place, of a single plough, in the hands of Roger Bigot.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on the edge of the saltmarshes and to the north of the A149 in the heart of the village. The presence of a round tower is usually indicative of an early church and in this case Pevsner dates it to the pre-Conquest period making it one of Norfolk's earliest surviving churches. Also early, but late 12th century, is the northern doorway whereas the northern arcade is 14th century. Most of the fenestration dates from replacement during the 15th century and is in the Perpendicular style. Similarly a typical Victorian restoration, in this case in the 1870s, also changed much of the fabric. St Mary's piece de resistance and worth a visit in its own right, however, is internal to the church; the Norman font from the early 12th century showing the 12 labours of the months is a celebrated piece and a rare survival from that ancient time. There is a small parking area to the west of the church which sits behind a knee-height flint & brick wall with a wooden gateway granting access to a churchyard which has few obstacles for photography.