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

The Parish

The parish of North Runcton lies in western Norfolk roughly 3 miles southeast of the town & port of King's Lynn. North Runcton is located about a quarter mile south of the busy A47 road which crosses Norfolk from King's Lynn to the city of Norwich. North Runcton is a small and compact village built around an inverted "F" shape of lanes, a main north to south run leading from the A47 with a short western lane and a southern right angled lane holding the church and village green. Like most Norfolk parishes North Runcton would have been a farming parish, here early gazetteers place it almost 50-50 arable and pastoral with a dotting of woodland, today it is a charming suburb of King's Lynn supporting urban fringe businesses whilst retaining its arable farming. North Runcton is drained northwards by a small stream which meets the Middleton Stop Drain north of the A47, the latter heads westwards and joins the Great Ouse in King's Lynn's southern edges before reaching the North Sea through the Wash. North Runcton is sited at around 20 metres above the sea with land gently rising eastwards away from the Great Ouse to local high points of a little over 40 metres eastwards. Ar around 1,400 acres North Runcton parish was typically sized for its county within that acreage it would have supported a population of around 300 parishioners. In contrast to today's small village, in Domesday times North Runcton was sufficiently large in population terms to place it amongst the top 20% of settlements, shared between Hermer de Ferrers and William D'Ecouis it could muster just 6 ploughs but Hermer's share also held a mill and a half share in another as well as 4 salthouses to compliment the usual meadows and woodland making for a prosperous settlement of those times.

The Church

All Saints' church sits on the short eastward running lane which becomes a mere footpath beyond the village's great asset of a large village green. The church replaced a fated medieval predecessor which suffered disaster in 1701 when the tower collapsed into the main body almost totally destroying it. Today's 18th century replacement was completed on the site of its forerunner by 1713 and represents an atypical period for church building in not only Norfolk but also England. The local carstone, an iron-rich sandstone, and brick dressings were utilised to create a modern but still church-like structure which has the classic nave, chancel and western tower as its core. Despite the relatively recent build there has been time for two major phases of modification/restoration, in 1837 the family vault of the local Gurney family was added on the northern side between chancel and nave whilst in 1894 the chancel was extended and an enlarged organ chamber added to its southern face. The broad village green fronts the churchyard with a diagonal path crossing to the main gates, parking around the green is straightforward. The church is slightly hemmed in by trees but these are thankfully largely confined to less favoured aspects to the north leaving the conventional views available to the photographer.