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

The Parish

The parish of Coltishall lies in northeastern Norfolk about 7 miles northeast of the city of Norwich. Coltishall sits at the point where the B1150 road which links Norwich to North Walsham crosses one of the major rivers of Norfolk's Broadland, the River Bure. Coltishall is, and was more so, a substantial village which occupies a site to the north of the Bure both along the B1150 and its crossing road the B1354. Coltishall's fortunes have changed over the years, it was a thriving centre for malting and also building the famous Norfolk wherries, the transport workhorses of the Broadland rivers. Nowadays it is a commuter village, its population decanting to the city of Norwich for work on a daily basis. Despite the losses Coltishall still has substantial connections with its river in the form of the pleasure boat trade, Coltishall has several boating hire businesses. The surrounding area is dominated by arable farming with large open fields of cereals and other similar crops. The River Bure which flows through the parish runs eastwards to eventually reach the North Sea through the estuary of Breydon Water and Great Yarmouth. Coltishall is sited at just 10 metres above the sea. Coltishall parish is typical in size for a parish in Norfolk's Broadland, it covered just over 1,000 acres and supported around 850 parishioners. In Domesday times the land was held largely by one William of Warenne with a smaller holding in the hands of one Roger of Poitou. The parish boasted an impressive 19 ploughs as well as 2 mills, woodland and meadows making it a prosperous place for that time.

The Church

St John the Baptist's church sits on the southern side of Coltishall's main street, the B1354 running to Hoveton. Whilst there are small traces of earlier occupancy (two circular Anglo-Saxon windows in the northern wall) the church consists of two main ages. The chancel is earliest and of the cusp between 12th and 13th centuries. Much else is fairly standard Norfolk Perpendicular, in particular the western tower, a feature of many Broadland churches. The building was rather heavily restored during the Victorian era, a date of 1865 is mentioned in Pevsner. The church sits rather tightly bound on its northern side by the street, protected by a low flint wall. Gates along the street-side give access. Views of the church are rather better from the opposite side of the street given the restricted graveyard.