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

The Parish

The parish of Mundesley lies on the east coast of the county of Norfolk. Mundesley is located about 6 miles southeast of the coastal resort of Cromer and 4 miles northeast of the market town of North Walsham. Mundesley is today a thriving seaside resort bustling in summer with the bucket & spade brigade and blessed with a broad expanse of firm sand at the foot of the low sandy cliffs that characterise this part of the Norfolk coast. Mundesley, at the time of this transcript, was probably more concerned with agriculture than with coastal matters as the 20 metre cliffs were quite a constraint on launching vessels. It was only with the coming of the Midland & Great Northern Railway that Mundesley began to flourish with the fashion of sea bathing. Formerly centered at the road head of the B1145 road from North Walsham, Mundesley has now spread for almost 2 miles along the coast road in a rash of bungalows and caravan sites. The land surface is around 20 metres above the sea but the coast is a rapidly eroding one and extensive sea defenses now protect the village. The parish is a small one just over 500 acres and supported around 450 parishioners. In Domesday Book Mundesley merited two entries as the land was shared by a freeman (Grimkel) and King William's tenant William de Warenne; the parish was small supporting only two ploughs.

The Church

All Saints church is sited adjacent to the busy coastal road at the northern end of what would have been Mundesley village, it is barely 200 metres from the cliff-top and has extensive coastal views. At the turn of the 20th century All Saints was a ruin and only partially roofed. What survives today is a combination of some preserved early fabric and 20th century additions and renovations. Very few features remain to indicate the probable age of the original church, a Norman slit window indicates it was certainly an old church; in addition there are Perpendicular features which date from the primary church building period in Norfolk. However, the chancel was completely rebuilt just prior to World War 1 and the western end had been extended 10 years earlier so much is modern. All Saints sits right by the road, separated only by a low cobble flint wall topped with brick. Access to the rather austere and open graveyard is through the remains of a lych gate, there are a few bushes against the stone wall to the western end but otherwise this is a very open site.