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

The Parish

The parish of Ellingham lies in southeastern Norfolk forming a stretch of the county's border, here formed by the course of the River Waveney, with neighbouring Suffolk. Ellingham sits roughly 3 miles northeast of the Suffolk market town of Bungay and sits on the former route of the A143 road linking Diss through to Great Yarmouth, that road now bypasses the village to its north exploiting the closed route of the former railway line. At one time the A143 came through the village forming a sharp right-angled turn at the village centre, that course is still reflected in the village layout which forms and inverted "L" shape aligned to the former route. Sitting on the edge of the Waveney's flood-plain gave the parish access to not only good quality arable land but also grazing marsh and reed beds, the Waveney also supplied water to the village's mill. As already mentioned a railway once linked Diss and Beccles but it is now closed and much used as a straight course for the A143. Ellingham is drained eastwards by the Waveney which eventually meets the Norfolk Broadland rivers at Breydon Water before passing through Great Yarmouth to the North Sea. Ellingham is sited entirely below the 10 metre contour in its valley setting, away from the Waveney the land rises almost to 40 metres near to neighbouring Stockton in gentle terrain. Covering just over 1,300 acres Ellingham parish was typically sized for this area and would have supported close to 400 parishioners. Ellingham does have a Domesday entry but it is a regional entry rather than specific to this manor, a give-away is that it records more ploughs than households.

The Church

St Mary's church stands some distance from the village, perhaps a little over a half mile, and close to the Waveney, it sits at the junction of Station Road and Mill Pool Road. Whilst there is record of an early church from the 13th century on this site what we see today is almost a complete rebuild during the great church-building era of the 14th and 15th centuries, when Norfolk benefited from the wealth of wool and cloth. Scraps of 13th century fabric remain, blind wall arcading , the northern wall of 2 nave bays and fragments elsewhere here-and-there. The rebuild of the 14th century is largely toward the latter end with Perpendicular elements predominating, the western tower is a complete 14th century element as is the southern porch. Both nave and chancel contain mostly 14th century elements but that of the southern aisle is later and 15th century along with the eastern chapel. Overlain on this hotch-potch of fabric there are 3 successive phases of Victorian work, in 1853 the aisle was rebuilt, in 1868 the chancel arch was removed and the eastern wall rebuilt whilst most of the roofing was renewed, work had not finished on the chancel as further work followed in 1900. The main entrance sits just into Mill Pool Road and has a gravelled parking space outside the metal gates of the churchyard. The church is screened from the road by a belt of trees but once passed there are no significant obstacles for the photographer.