England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Marsham All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Marsham lies in northeastern Norfolk about 2 miles south of the market town of Aylsham. Marsham is a medium sized village which lies on the A140 road which connects Aylsham with the city of Norwich. Most properties in the village are grouped to the west of the A140 on the gentle slopes leading down to the course of The Mermaid, the stream which drains the parish. In common with much of Norfolk, Marsham would have been a farming parish, arable dominating, however there would have been some weaving of cloth and with the presence of heathland within the parish, a remnant of ice age deposition, the raising of pigs was an important local business. The delightfully named Mermaid drains eastwards the short distance to join the Bure at Brampton then heads towards the North Sea through the port of Great Yarmouth. Marsham is sited at around 20 metres above the sea in fairly gentle countryside where local heights barely rise above 20 more metres higher. In an area of tiny parishes Marsham was a little larger than most, it covered just over 1,800 acres and consequently had a slightly higher population, in the region of 700 parishioners. In Domesday times Marsham was a prosperous settlement, in the top 20% of settlements detailed in that book, shared by King William, with the larger share, and Bishop William of Thetford the parish could boast an impressive 30 ploughs, meadows and woodland which would have been running with the pigs, sheep, cattle & goats which are documented and buzzing with the 11 beehives detailed, the parish also possessed 3 valuable mills; a wealthy place indeed, if somewhat noisy.

The Church

All Saints' church sits just west of the A140 at the southern end of the village and sits back a short distance along a rough track. Like so many Norfolk churches the bulk of All Saints is Perpendicular in style, a product of that great church-building era which, in Norfolk was largely funded by the wool industry of the time. The church does, however, retain small traces of what must have been before, the chancel and western tower show the Decorated style of the 14th century as does the external doorway of the southern porch. Perhaps these details are indicative of the period when rebuilding started, the inner door of that porch being 13th century and Early English Gothic is perhaps indicative of the first build. Whilst Pevsner does not mention a specific restoration the window tracery is felt to have been updated and probably during the Victorian period. Church Lane leads the short distance to the churchyard and there's room for a car to park. The churchyard is extensive, particularly to the west of the church and has few obstructions to photography.