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

The Parish

The parish of Langham lies in northern Norfolk not too far from its northern North Sea coastline. Langham is located roughly 5 miles northwest of the small market town of Holt and sits on and immediately west of the B1156 road, a linking road from the A148 (Holt to Fakenham) road to the small resort and port of Blakeney. Langham is a mid-sized crossroads village, the main corssroads lying just over a quarter mile west of the B1156  with properties extending thinly along each joining lane, the crossroads being dominated by the parish church. Like most Norfolk parishes Langham would have been, and still is, a farming parish with arable farming, according to early gazetteers forming over 85% of the parish acreage. Broad arable fields of mainly cereals topped up with beet & oil-seed dominate the area with few hedgerows to break up the views. Langham is drained westwards by a small tributary of the River Stiffkey which is met to the east of Warham before reaching the North Sea through the village of Stiffkey. Langham is sited at between 30 & 40 metres above the sea on a rising site north of said small stream, land around is gentle with no steep slopes and local high spots rarely reach close to 60 metres. Langham parish was fairy typically sized for its area, covering just under 1,800 acres it would have supported a population of close to 400 parishioners. Despite today's modest proportions in Domesday times Langham was a much more important place with population sufficient to place it amongst the top 20% of settlements recorded in that book, held by Bishop William of Thetford its assets totalled 19 ploughs, small meadows and there was a mill and half share in a second making for a relatively wealthy holding for its time.

The Church

As already mentioned St Andrew & St Mary's church sits prominently at the main crossroads at the heart of the village. There are many Perpendicular churches across Norfolk, a tribute to the wealth of the county in medieval times brought by the wool trade that thrived at that time, Langham's church is a very typical example of these churches. Despite its late-medieval origins the church appears relatively modern externally as there has been an extensive Victorian restoration which masks that detail. The earliest date mentioned by Pevsner is that of the southern arcade which is of the 14th century but it is likely that the main body of the church was also begun during that century too. Documentary evidence from wills identifies "new bells" for the tower in 1490 at which time the tower also acquired its crenellated parapet, whilst wills of 1508 highlight a "new porch"; each of these dayes being indicative of the Perpendicular style in which the church is built. The major Victorian restoration, which was intensive in this instance, came in 1868 and made major changes through restoration, at the same time the southern vestry was also added. All of the lanes leading to the crossroads are narrow and without verges so parking should be chosen with great care to not cause blockage. A high flint wall topped by tile surrounds the churchyard with the main entrance from Holt Road, that leg which heads eastwards. The churchyard itself is restricted in the aspects available to the photographer with northern, western and southwestern areas dominated by trees, thankfully the southeastern aspect remains open and by careful placement adequate views of the great western tower can be found.