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

The Parish

The parish of Long Stratton St Mary is one of two that make up the modern settlement of Long Stratto, Stratton St Michael to the north being merely a small hamlet St Mary if the main church of this much grown settlement. Long Stratton is located in southern Norfolk roughly 10 miles south of the city of Norwich, it stands on the former route of the A140 road which links Norwich with Ipswich, Long Stratton finally being bypassed in the mid 2020s much to the relief of the inhabitants. Long Stratton is a large village almost a small town which has gron significantly as a commuter settlement for nearby Norwich, it formerly consisted of the single line of the A140 with side lanes, today it stretches for a little over a mile along that former main road and has expanded, particularly westwards, for a half mile. At one time Long Stratton had pretensions to become a market town with a weekly corn market and bi-annual fairs but competition from the nearby city and from Diss have stifled those ambitions. Much of the parish is fine arable land with the usual crops of cereals, oil-seed and beet dominant today whereas a more rotational system would have been in place at the tine of this transcript. Long Stratton is drained northwards by a small stream which heads for the River Tas at Tasburgh, the Tas heads to the Yare on the southern outskirts of Norwich, the Yare heads predominantly east to reach the North Sea through the port of Great Yarmouth. Long Stratton is sited at around 40 to 50 metres above the sea in generally flattish terrain where local high spots just fail to meet the 60 metre contour south of the village. Covering a little over 1,500 acres Long Stratton St Mary parish was typically sized for this area of the county, that acreage would have supported a population of close to 700 parishioners. Long Stratton's Domesday entry is a confusing one consisting of 9 separate returns across 6 landholders it is a mixture of returns specific to the manor and others more regional thus it is difficult to discern the exact nature of Long Stratton at the time sufficient to state that it was an important settlement of the time in the top 20% of settlements by population.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on the eastern side of the old A140 as it leaves Long Stratton headed southwards. The church has a round tower which is usually indicative of an early church and St Mary, at least in its basal stages, doesn't disappoint being largely of the 12th century Norman Romanesque period, it stands on tower arches of the appropriate period too. The church received a major expansion during the 14th century with aisles and arcades added to the basic nave and the chancel's present layout formalised, the church has a mixture of styles from both Decorated and Perpendicular but this may reflect old-fashioned tastes in a build that was predominantly late 14th century. The 15th century saw further change as the church was increased in height to accommodate a clerestory, the bell-stage, stair-turret and lead spike were added to the top of the round tower and the southern porch was erected. The Victorians also had their say on the appearance with a typical restoration in 1848 which did not add markedly to the layout merely refreshed the church. Whilst the Ipswich Road is quieter now it is still not suitable for on-street parking, one of the car parks must be sought and the church approached on foot, a single large tree sits in the favoured southern aspect compromising that view but all other angles are available for the photographer.