England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Tivetshall St Margaret

The Parish

The parish of Tivetshall St Margaret, part of a twin of villages along with Tivetshall St Mary, lies in southern Norfolk not too far from its border with neighbouring Suffolk. Tivetshall St Margaret is located roughly 6 miles northeast of the market town of Diss and sits just over a mile west of the A140 road which links the city of Norwich with Ipswich. Tivetshall St Margaret together with St Mary are almost conjoined, the main run of properties in Tivetshall St Margaret, the northernmost of the two, running almost imperceptibly into those of St Mary along a north to south running lane. The main body of Tivetshall St Margaret is formed by an oval of lanes of which that lane forms the eastern limb. The village sits within Norfolk's prime agricultural belt, a landscape characterised by large arable fields and dominated by cereals, mainly wheat & barley, supplemented by beet for sugar and oil seed. Tivetshall St Margaret is drained eastwards by a small tributary of the River Waveney, this brook heads eastwards through the Pulhams & Redenhall to finally meet the Waveney at Wortwell, the Waveney, here the border with Suffolk, continues eastwards to reach the North Sea through the port of Great Yarmouth. Tivetshall St Margaret is sited at between 40 & 50 metres above the sea in rather gentle terrain where a local high spot to the west of Gissing still fails to reach 60 metres. Tivetshall St Margaret parish was fairly typically sized for a its area, covering close to 1,700 acres it would have supported a population of around 350 parishioners. In Domesday times both Tivetshall St Margaret and St Mary were recorded together, the joint record shows a settlement large enough in population to be amongst the largest 20% of settlements recorded in that book but surely refers to a region rather than these twin manors. The recorded settlement is largely held by Bury St Edmunds Abbey with smaller shares with that abbey's bishop, Ely Abbey & the King, himself; collectively the twin settlements are recorded as offering an impressive 30 ploughs as well as meadows and woodland, a home to the many described pigs.

The Church

St Margaret's church sits on the western side of Hall Road, amongst fields but accompanied by Hall Farm, surely an indication of its formerly being an estate church, the church is almost a half mile northwest of the main area of properties. The church is an amalgam of styles, the earliest piece being that of the chancel which Pevsner grants the date of c1300, this dating places it at the beginning of the Decorated era of architectural styling and that style is repeated in the unbuttressed western tower too. Documentary evidence from will donations reveal that the topmost stage, in flush-work panelling, dates from the 1450s. In common with most Norfolk churches the Perpendicular style, which followed the Decorated from the later 14th century, is also present in the nave windows and the southern doorway. Pevsner mentions a restoration in Victorian times but, on this occasion, fails to give details of its timing & effect. The church's centrepiece, however, is internal, a remarkable and prodigiously large Royal Arms of Queen Elizabeth I which decorates the tympanum above the chancel arch, subject to 2 recent restorations it represents a remarkable survival, even down to the names of its benefactors and its creation date of 1587. With the church of St Mary falling into a picturesque ruin St Margaret nowadays is the parish church for both villages. Whilst Hall Road is quite narrow there is an ample verge for off-road parking outside the shady entrance-way. Wooden gates grant entry into a churchyard which is mostly open but large mature trees restrict the views of the western tower as they crowd close to the western end.