England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Cantley St Margaret

The Parish

The parish of Cantley lies in eastern Norfolk roughly 3 miles north (as the proverbial crow flies, there being the River Yare in between) of the small market town of Loddon and sitting on the northern banks of said River Yare. Cantley is a small and compact village sitting at the southern end of the B1140 road which heads south from the busy A47 (cross Norfolk route) at Acle. Cantley occupies a typical edge-of-flood-plain site, where land rises out of the regularly flooded area either side of the river. At the time of this transcript Cantley had a rather more varied economy than many of its county's parishes. Its site on the edge of the Yare's grazing marshes gave it not only access to drier land for cereal growing but also pastures beside the river for cattle, the extensive reed beds also provided reeds for thatching and opportunities for wildfowling. Modern developments have come to Cantley, a branch railway line between Norwich and Great Yarmouth passes through offering Cantley a station but the biggest development overshadows the village, the vast sugar beet processing plant that saw the B1140 be significantly upgraded from winding lane to accommodate the seemingly endless delivery lorries carrying beet. The settling plants from this plant have surprisingly provided an attraction to passing wading birds, the site regularly attracting visitors to see some long lost stray from across the Atlantic. The Yare, of course, drains the parish eastwards to the nearby North Sea arriving through the port of Great Yarmouth. Cantley is sited at just 5 metres above the sea whilst land rises gently away from the Yare it rarely exceeds 20 metres for some considerable distance. Cantley parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering roughly 1,850 acres it would have supported a population of around 200 parishioners. In Domesday times  was a fairly typical rural manor, held directly by King William it offered 12 ploughs, the usual meadows & woodland, it also had a salthouse, an unusual asset inland.

The Church

St Margaret's church sits on the northern edge of Cantley, accessed by the dead-end lane of Church Road. Whilst there has been a church here since Norman times its only trace in today's church is a small piece of zig-zag work, reused of course, above the priest's doorway. But most else, like many Norfolk churches, is the result of a major rebuild in the 14th century together with Victorian work in restoration, such is the extent of such work that Pevsner is often unsure to which date some pieces relate. Definitely 14th century is the southern doorway and given the Perpendicular style windows of both nave and chancel it is likely these two major pieces are from the late 14th century too. The major restoration of 1867 provided most of those windows which show a "Y" tracery including those of the un-buttressed tower's bell openings. Church Road runs northwards from the village centre to end at a small turning circle, best avoided for street parking, where the church sits screened behind a dense canopy of trees. The edges of the churchyard, too, are thickly wooded creating an intimate tight central space in which adequate views may be obtained by the photographer.