England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Geldeston St Michael & All Angels

The Parish

The parish of Geldeston is situated in the far southeast of Norfolk, indeed it forms part of the boundary with neighbouring Suffolk. Geldeston is located about 2 miles northwest of the Suffolk market town of Beccles and sits on the northern banks of the River Waveney which here forms the boundary of the two counties. Geldeston is a substantial village built at the break of slope and sitting just above the river flood plain, it sits in lanes a half mile south of the present route of the A143 road which connects Great Yarmouth with Diss, the road having been rerouted to the north of Geldeston in recent times. Geldeston would have had a mixed farming economy at the time of this transcript, arable above the river valley whilst grazing predominated alongside the river. The Waveney drains the parish eastwards to reach the North Sea through the port of Great Yarmouth. Geldeston is sited at just 5 metres above sea level, albeit the church is some 20 metres higher. Geldeston parish was small, even for a Norfolk parish, it covered just over 800 acres and would have supported a population of around 350 parishioners. There is no specific reference to Geldeston in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Michael & All Angels' church sits a quarter mile northeast of the main village centre, on the southern side of the former route of the A143, now the Old Yarmouth Road. The round tower immediately alerts to the age of the church, in this case Pevsner grants a 12th century date. The remainder of the church is, however, later. The nave and southern porch show the features of the Perpendicular period but later restorations have tampered with much of the dating evidence whilst the chancel and northern transept were completely rebuilt in Victorian times (1884-1886) making the present building. The church sits almost opposite the entrance to Geldeston Hall's grounds but has a small car park to the west and a pathway leading through trees to the church. A screen of trees masks the site from the road and trees cluster around the western end making some photographic angles difficult.