England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Rockland St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Rockland St Peter lies in southern Norfolk roughly 4 miles northwest of the market town of Attleborough. Rockland St Peter sits on and mostly north of the B1077 road which links Atttleborough with Watton. To the south of the B1077 lies Rockland St Peter's twin village of Rockland All Saints the two in reality being a single village. Rockland St Peter has properties long the B1077 and also a lane headed northwards from it, in contrast the parish church sits south of that road. Like most Norfolk parishes Rockland St Peter is a farming parish and extensively arable, early gazetteers estimated over 80% of the parish acreage as arable and little has changed, the area being some of the most productive for cereals in the land and having extensive fields to suit modern large machinery. Twin streams forming the headwaters of the River Thet rise close by and drain the parish southwards, once established the river turns westwards to Thetford where it meets the Little Ouse and heads off to Fenland, the Little Ouse eventually meets its larger cousin the Great Ouse before turning north to the North Sea arriving through The Wash. Rockland St Peter is sited at around 50 metres above the sea, a height that is largely similar for many miles in this flattish area. Rockland St Peter parish covered almost exactly 1,000 acres and would have supported a population of around 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Rockland St Peter was held by William de Warenne and was a typical small rural farming manor offering 5 ploughs backed by meadows, woodland and a mill.

The Church

As already mentioned St Peter's church sits south of the B1077 (here named Bray's Lane) whereas most of its village sits to the north, the church is accessed from the B1077 by a rough track. The presence of a round tower in Norfolk is usually indicative of an early church but here there is dispute between the two main experts, Pevsner denies the tower its Norman 12th century origins but Historic England place it firmly into that century; round towers are typically 12th century and whilst the polygonal top stage may well be 14th century the tower's basal stages are surely 12th. The main body of the church is clearly from the later medieval and modern eras, the nave is in the Perpendicular style and from the 15th century whilst the chancel dates from 1909. The porch was originally from the early 14th century in the Decorated style but, as recorded in mason's inscriptions of 1624, it was almost completely rebuilt. The most recent work upon the church came as a result of a fire in 1950 when a new scissor-braced roof had to be constructed as a consequence. The track which leads to the churchyard is marked by a prominent wooden sign-board and just to the west of that a section of the verge is used for parking, it is merely 100 yards or so to the churchyard which is compact with bordering trees to south and west but with sufficient room for nothing to seriously trouble the photographer.