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

The Parish

The parish of Upton lies in eastern Norfolk about 8 miles northwest of the port of Great Yarmouth and just over a mile north of the large village of Acle. Upton is located about 2 miles north of the busy A47 road, which connects the city of Norwich with Great Yarmouth, and sits on the edge of the marshes bordering the course of the River Bure. Upton is a fairly large and compact village sitting largely around a crossroads of small lanes. Situated in the heart of Norfolk's Broadland Upton would have had a more varied economy than many Norfolk parishes, in addition to the usual arable fields, here less than a third of the parish acreage, it had grazing marshes by the Bure and the benefits of wildfowling, reed-thatch & with its own staithe a share of passing river transportation trade. The Bure drains Upton parish southeastwards towards the combined estuary of Breydon Water and thence through Great Yarmouth to the North Sea. Upton is sited at just 3 metres above the sea, a minor height change from the grazing marshes which are at and often below sea level, land is gentle around the parish with local heights rising to a little over 20 metres within a mile or two. Upton parish was fairly typically sized for a Norfolk parish, covering a little under 1,700 acres it would have supported a population of just over 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Upton was a fairly large community, one of the largest 20% of places recorded in the book, shared between 4 landholders including King William, himself, the parish could collectively offer 12 ploughs, extensive meadows and 2 salthouses.

The Church

St Margaret's church sits to the southwest of the main village centre on the western side of the lane which heads towards Acle and by Hall Farm. Outwardly St Margaret is a fairly typical Norfolk Perpendicular church but the building has been so altered by repair, restoration and rebuild as to almost constitute a Victorian replacement. A series of 19th and early 20th century changes saw the chancel restored in 1879, the nave and aisles in 1885, the southern porch in 1888, the western tower rebuilt in 1911 and again in 1931. Pevsner notes some reused materials of Norman Romanesque style as well as dating the tower base to the 12th century too but such features are rare survivors. Church Road heads southwest from the village centre and the church can be found just beyond the large buildings of Hall Farm, the churchyard is surrounded by a banked hedge with a small gate granting entrance at the southwestern corner, a small pull-in sits opposite with room for a single car. Once within the churchyard there are few obstacles to photography.