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

The Parish

The parish of Plumstead lies in northeastern Norfolk roughly 4 1/2 miles southeast of the market town of Holt. Plumstead is located just over 2 miles east of the B1149 road which links Holt with the city of Norwich. Plumstead sits around a Y-shaped junction which lies upon its side with the forks headed northwest & southwest and the stem eastwards. Most properties within the parish lies upon these 3 lanes, Church Street & Cherry Tree Road, or at Plumstead Green which sits at the next fork westwards. Like most Norfolk parishes Plumstead was and is an arable farming parish, early gazetteers estimate as much as 65% of the parish acreage as set to arable, perhaps a greater percentage today. At the time of this transcript much of the remainder was described as heath and today much of the land around Plumstead Green is wooded. Plumstead sits on a minor watershed with little surface drainage close to the village, to the north a small brook rises at Pond Hills and heads to join the Glaven to reach the North Sea off Norfolk's northern coast, to the south further brooks rise at neighbouring Little Barningham heading south to join the Bure, head southeast and reach the North Sea through Great Yarmouth. Plumstead is sited at around 60 metres above the sea, to the northwest a spot height of 88 metres near Baconsthorpe marks the nearest local high point in a lightly rolling countryside. Plumstead parish was smaller than many Norfolk parishes but sat within an area tessellated by many such smaller parishes, covering just under 1,300 acres Plumstead parish would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. The entry for Plumstead in Domesday Book is a completed contrast to today's small village, the book records a settlement of 58 households which would place tiny Plumstead in the top 20% of settlements by population in the land, no fewer than 6 separate landholders also claim a share of assets totalling 11 ploughs backed by some small meadows and patches of woodland which again defies the claim of 58 households, an interesting but unexplained anomaly.

The Church

St Michael's church sits just east of the main fork in Church Street and on its northern side. Whilst the majority of the church is from the middle and late medieval period there remains fabric indicating a rather early origin. The earliest fabric is in the northern wall of the nave where carrstone is arranged in an herringbone pattern and into corner quoins both believed to date from the 12th century. During the early 14th century, the Decorated era, the church was greatly expanded notably by the addition of the chancel and a 2-bay southern arcade opening into a southern aisle. The end of that era and start of the Perpendicular one saw the construction of the western tower of 3-stages, this work was followed by the insertion of a typical Perpendicular clerestory. With falling numbers in the congregation during the late 18th century the growth was reversed and the church down-sized, the southern aisle was demolished and the arcade and clerestory blocked and filled in. Like most churches St Michael received a typical Victorian restoration, here in 1873, which replaced both nave and chancel roofs and replaced several windows in a Geometrical design. Church Street is a quiet road so careful parking outside the churchyard shouldn't cause undue issues. The churchyard is fairly busy with trees and the photographer will need to scout around to find the best angles accordingly.