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

The Parish

The parish of Crostwick lies in eastern Norfolk roughly 5 miles north of the city of Norwich. Crostwick sits on the B1150 road which connects Norwich with the market town of North Walsham. Today's Crostwick is a tiny place with no defined village merely a few scattered properties lining the B1150 with farms and cottages scattered across the wider parish. Most properties lie to the south of a small tributary of the River Bure on rising ground towards the city of Norwich. Like most Norfolk parishes Crostwick would have been a largely arable farming parish, early gazetteers place over 85% of the parish acreage to arable. The small tributary soon meets the River Bure to the east of Wroxham and the latter heads to the North Sea mostly southeastwards to enter through the port of Great Yarmouth. Crostwick is sited at lower than 10 metres above the sea, land is very gentle hereabouts with local heights rarely reaching much above 20 metres for some considerable distance. Norfolk has many small parishes, especially in the area of Broadland, Crostwick was one of these, covering just under 700 acres it would have supported a population of barely 150 parishioners. In Domesday time Crostwick was largely held by Roger de Poitou with Ralph de Beaufour having a smaller share, collectively their holdings totalled 9 ploughs, the usual meadows & woodland and at that time there was a mill.

The Church

St Peter's church sits east of the B1150 tucked away and largely hidden by fronting properties and woodland, it is accessed by a track opposite the Old Rectory Hotel. Like many Norfolk churches the late-medieval Perpendicular style is the principal theme although the church has been restored in Victorian times too. The most original Perpendicular piece is the western tower which is probably of the late 14th or early 15th centuries. The nave and chancel also show windows from the same style and period but these were reconstructed during 19th century restoration. Documentary evidence in the form of wills records donations to fund the northern porch from 1504, a date not inconsistent with the late medieval date of the remainder. Whilst a Victorian or late-Georgian restoration undoubtedly occurred Pevsner is unable to categorically date it to closer than "19th century". If it were not for the prominent hotel the turn to St Peter would be difficult to locate on this straight and relatively fast stretch of road, parking should be careful not to block the entrances, an unsurfaced track leads for 100 metres or so through shading trees to the churchyard which is open, uncluttered and with no obstacles for the photographer.