England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Norwich St Michael Coslany

The Parish

The city of Norwich lies in eastern central Norfolk and is the capital of its county, it is located around 110 miles northeast of London. Norwich sits at the northeastern end of the A11 road which connects it to the capital. Norwich has a long history, a pre-Roman settlement at the confluence of Rivers Wensum & Yare, was expanded by the Romans on a site south of the present location, Venta Icenorum being the main site for controlling the rebellious Iceni tribe of Boudicca fame. The Saxon settlement of "Northwic" was close by the River Wensum but the city was much modified by Norman settlement, the preexisting centre being replaced largely by the Cathedral Close and a new centre built to the west of the Norman Castle. Norwich prospered through the production of cloth, it was England's second largest city in medieval times as a result of that commerce, the manufacture of cloth continued until just after this transcript period when industrialisation of the northern towns killed the industry. Today Norwich is unusual, a city, together with its suburbs, of a 1/4 million folk surrounded by at least 30 miles of agricultural land, light industry and financial services occupy many and the rail line to the capital is especially valuable. Norwich is drained by the Wensum, the Yare which skirts the southern edges, merges just to its east and heads to the North Sea eastwards through the port of Great Yarmouth. Norwich St Michael Coslany parish is sited at just 2 metres above the sea, land rises sharply to the west to the higher parts of the city at almost 40 metres. Norwich was divided into 35 parishes, at one time there were 52 (the old saying is that the city had a church for every Sunday), St Michael Coslany occupied the northwestern area of the city and was dominated by the proximity of the River Wensum, Norwich-over-the-water as this area was named was one of the poorer areas of the city with crowded lanes and yards occupied by the wool combers, weaver and dyers of Norwich's principal trade. St Michael Coslany was of a middling size in terms of population, a tiny acreage supporting just over 1,200 parishioners. In Domesday times Norwich was held directly by King William and its assets not specifically listed were, none the less, highly significant for the King's purse.

The Church

St Michael's church, given the subscript Coslany to distinguish it from the two other St Michael's within the city, sits on the junction of Oak Street and Colegate just a few hundred yards north of the River Wensum. St Michael was one of the churches within the city that was declared redundant and was for many years re-purposed as a science educational centre and today is a venue for learning circus skills. St Michael is one of the later churches wihtin the city, the oldest portions being the tower which carries documentary dates of the 1420s. Much else dates from the end of the 15th into the 16th centuries making it within the late-Perpendicular period of architectural style. The southern aisle is dateable to 1500 with its twin on the northern side a couple of years later and a northern chapel following in 1511. The church makes much use of the flushwork technique of wotking with flint, a skill that requires forming a flat face on a material prone to conchoidal fracturing. Several restorations have followed after completion, the major Victorian work in the 1880s whilst a century later much work was done to make the building safe for its new roles. Like many urban churches St Michael is best approached on foot after using one of the many car parks, although Oak Street has metered parking. Sadly the site is constrained by surrounding buildings on the favoured southern aspects making for a difficult subject to adequately capture.