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

The Parish

The parish of Sporle lies towards the western portion of central Norfolk. Sporle is located roughly 2 1/2 miles northeast of the market town of Swaffham and sits a little over a mile north of the A47 road which crosses Norfolk from west to east from King's Lynn to Great Yarmouth. Sporle is a mid-sized and rather linear village mostly sat along a northward leading lane heading towards nearby Castle Acre from the A47, strung along this lane and its immediate side lanes are a long string of the village whilst the wider parish has the usual scatter of farms and cottages. Sporle sits away from the poorer soils of nearby Breckland and its farming is dominated almost entirely by arable farming with early gazetteers placing over 90% of the parish acreage as set to arable farming, today large fields dominate the rounded hills of the parish replete with the harsh yellow hue of oil-seed in many. Sporle sits just over a half mile east of Norfolk's premier hiking track, The Peddars Way, an ancient route the history of which is disputed, passes close by enabling today's hikers to seek respite in Sporle's inn, soon to be reopened as the first to commemorate King Charles III. Modern developments came and went from Sporle, the Midland & Great Northern railway line between Swaffham and East Dereham long since closed and large parts usurped by East Dereham's A47 bypass. Whilst there is little surface drainage around by the village, small streams and field drains make their way northwards to join the infant River Nar, the latter turns westward and eventually meets the Great Ouse within the confines of King's Lynn before heading into The Wash. Sporle is sited at around 60 metres above the sea surrounded by gently undulating land which rises to just over 80 metres before plunging into the Nar valley. Sporle parish, which in early medieval times adsorbed the twin parishes of Palgrave, is large by Norfolk standards, covering almost 4,200 acres it would have supported a population of close to 750 parishioners. In Domesday times Sporle was a wealthy manor retained by King William, himself, offering 19 ploughs together with meadows and woodland it also possessed 6 mills making it a profitable holding indeed.

The Church

St Mary's church sits towards the northern end of the village, away from The Street, the main north to south running lane, and sitting together with both school and village hall in a dead-end side lane. Whilst there is a trace of the Norman Romanesque period of the 12th century, the remains of blank arcading in both northeastern and southeastern corners of the chancel, it is to the 13th and 14th centuries that most of the church owes its history. Unfortunately the extensive restoration of the late 1890s serves to not only complicate matters but may also have inadvertently place wrong styles together to create a rather confusing set of sequences. Suffice it to say that the Early English Gothic and Decorated styles of late 13th and early 14th centuries makes up the majority of the original fabric. The 13th century being shown very well in the stately western tower. As with most Norfolk churches the 15th century saw Perpendicular style modifications too, the flint and stone paneling of the top stage being a Perpendicular addition. Documentary evidence also dates most nave windows to the period between 1474 and 1496 when most were replaced. All this change culminated in the Victorian restoration which served to substantially jumble the eras of the church and lead to Pevsner's puzzlement. There is a substantial verge for visitors to park and a short track leading to the churchyard. Sadly the church is tucked tight to the southern boundary of said churchyard removing the favoured southern aspects and making for a challenging subject for the photographer especially on a sunny day.