England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Holkham St Withburga

The Parish

The parish of Holkham lies in northern Norfolk forming a stretch of the county's northern North Sea coastline. Holkham is located roughly 2 1/2 miles west of the small port of Wells next the Sea and sits on the A149 road which forms Norfolk's coastal road between Wells and Hunstanton. Holkham is a much changed place, in its earliest incarnations it was a small market town and port, the market, granted by Henry III, and the port have long since gone. Even in medieval times Holkham was a small town lying in what would become the estate of the Earls of Leicester. The town, with the exception of the church, has been swept away as part of the creation of today's Holkham estate, a kite sized parkland roughly 3 miles from north to south and 2 miles east to west, created by the Coke family and housing Holkham Hall. Holkham Hall's foundation stone was laid in 1734 and the 18th century house together with its surrounding parkland is one of Norfolk's premier visitor attractions. Holkham's economy would have been totally dependent upon the needs of the estate the farming being a mixture of arable & pasture. Today Holkham is a national treasure, apart from the house and grounds the parish contains in Holkham Meals a national nature reserve and its beach area, renowned as loved by Queen Elizabeth II, is a premier draw attracting legions of visitors throughout the year. Of Holkham village all that remains is a small area of tourist orientated buildings outside the northern gates plus an array of estate cottages and farms. Modern developments came and went from Holkham, a light railway, nowadays a leisure line, connected Holkham with Wells but has been dismantled between the two operating only south of Wells. As a coastal settlement the numerous field drains and channels drain the parish through the salt marshes to its north into the nearby North Sea. The parish rises gently from sea level at the coast to close to 60 metres at its southern boundary in gentle terrain. By Norfolk standards Holkham parish is large, indeed one of the largest in the county, covering 4,300 acres it would have, at one time, supported close to 700 parishioners. In Domesday times Holkham was something of an anomaly, shared by no fewer than 6 landholders it was amongst the 20% most populous recorded in that book yet its assets are few, merely 6 ploughs and a mill are recorded as held by one Tovi

The Church

St Withburga's church lies deep within the estate of Holkham Hall in its northwestern corner and accessible, without express permission, only on foot. Archaeological investigations during Victorian restorations found the foundations of a tower within the western bay of the nave which may have been pre-Conquest either Norman or even Saxon, this tower was removed when rebuilt to the south of the present building in the 13th century. Much of the tower and, indeed, the main body of the church dates from the typical period of late 13th and early 14th century formed by that of the Decorated style with several episodes of building noted by Pevsner. Three western bays of the arcades are later still and Perpendicular in style from the later part of the 14th century. The major changes to the church, however, came about as part of the legacy of Juliana Countess of Leicester who died in 1870 at the end of a substantial phase of rebuild directed by herself. Getting to the church is an event in itself, parking should be sought in the "village" car park outside the northern gates from where you can stroll through the deer-park to the church almost a mile to the west and after circumnavigating the ornamental lake with its abundant waterfowl. The churchyard, itself, is open and uncluttered with no significant obstacles for the photographer.