England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bylaugh St Mary the Virgin

The Parish

The parish of Bylaugh lies in central Norfolk roughly 5 miles northeast of the market town of East Dereham. Bylaugh sits about 1 mile east of the winding B1147 road which links East Dereham with Reepham. Bylaugh is an estate parish with no village at all, the majority of the parish's acreage sits within Bylaugh Park, the estate of the ruined mid-19th century mansion of Bylaugh Hall built for the local Lombe family, their wealth coming from silk. As a closed parish inbound migration was discouraged and no village developed. Most properties not within the estate lay along the lane which parallels the course of the River Wensum and on which sits the parish church. Like most Norfolk parishes Bylaugh is an arable parish with almost 2/3rds of the acreage as set to arable and only minor amounts to pasture. Bylaugh is drained east and then southeast by the Wensum which passes through the city of Norwich to meet the Yare before continuing on as that river to the North Sea through Great Yarmouth. Bylaugh is sited at just 20 metres above the sea at its church, a few spots in the estate touch 40 metres and a few to the west 50 but even so the land is only gently undulating. Bylaugh was a typically sized parish covering 1,100 acres which would only have supported a population of around 100 parishioners. In Domesday times Bylaugh was equally small, held by Count Alan of Brittany it mustered 8 ploughs, meadows & woodland and had a mill, a fairly typical small agricultural manor in those times.

The Church

St Mary's church sits almost on the banks of the Wensum, south of the lane that skirts the southern edges of Bylaugh Park. The presence of a round tower is usually indicative of an early church in Norfolk, on this occasion, however, both Pevsner and Historic England place it to the 14th century, the octagonal top is of the Decorated period and the round basal stages certainly appear to be early. The main body of the church both nave and chancel were certainly built during the later Perpendicular period but they were drastically rebuilt at the expense of Sir John Lombe between 1809 & 1810. There are Perpendicular windows and both northern southern doorways are of similar age. The final piece of Georgian work from the rebuild was the addition of the transept and replacement of most of the internal fittings including an impressive 3-decker pulpit. The church is well-screened from the lane with metal gates granting entry to the churchyard, the church sits some distance from the entrance and sadly is rather close to the riverside trees removing the favoured southern aspects, a notable conifer certainly restricts the views of the round tower. A difficult church for the photographer especially on a sunny day.