England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Shotesham St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Shotesham St Mary, there are two parishes supporting the current village (All Saints & St Mary) and there were formerly 4 over the centuries St Botolph & St Martin have merged into St Mary, is located in southeastern Norfolk. Shotesham is located about 6 miles south of the city of Norwich. Shotesham is a small and rather linear village sited in the valley of a small tributary of the River Tas, to the west around the old Shotesham Hall one finds a satellite settlement of Hawes Green wherein lies St Mary & the ruins of the other two churches. Shotesham sits, in lanes, about 3 miles east of the A140 road which connects Norwich with Ipswich. The area, at the time of this transcript, would have been principally used for arable agriculture and little has changed the parish being dominated by large cereal fields. Shotesham is, as implied, drained by a tributary of the Tas to the northwest, this flows onwards to meet the Yare south of Norwich before reaching the North Sea through the port of Great Yarmouth. Shotesham is sited at around 20 metres above the sea and the area is gently undulating to local heights of little more than 20 metres higher. Shotesham St Mary parish was of a fairly typical size for the area, it covered around 1,600 acres and would have supported a population near to 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Shotesham (including All Saints) has a formidable 13 entries reflecting the scattered nature of its holdings, collectively it could offer an impressive 48 ploughs, small meadows & woodlands plus 2 mills.

The Church

Roger's Lane leads southwest from All Saints church and a turning to the right leads to the old Hall, now a farm and St Mary's church. St Mary has fabric dating back to the earliest of times, its southern doorway being dated by Pevsner to c1200, the Norman Romanesque period. The eastern end of the church, the chancel, is the oldest part dating from the 13th century Early English Gothic period as evidenced by the east window consisting of 3-stepped lancet lights characteristic of that era. Much of the remainder of the church dates from the great church-building era of the Perpendicular, a northern chapel is dated to 1495 whilst documentary evidence from will bequests indicate the western tower as being completed in 1535, the nave is of a similar era. Only a minor restoration of 1879 is mentioned, that inserting contrasting Decorated windows into the nave, refreshing the church. As one arrives at the site there is a field devoted to car parking making for a leisurely visit, the churchyard is accessed through a small set of metal gates and is open with no obvious difficulties for the photographer.