England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
North Walsham St Nicholas

The Parish

The parish of North Walsham lies in northeastern Norfolk roughly 15 miles northeast of the city of Norwich. North Walsham sits, now thankfully bypassed, on the A149 road linking the port of Great Yarmouth with the resort of Cromer, the B1150 road connects it with Norwich. North Walsham is a market town and regional centre for its corner of the county with a long history. Even by Domesday times North Walsham had established as a market for trade in the local agricultural produce and as a centre for specialist trades and skills requiring a larger hinterland. The town grew substantially in the 14th century following the arrival of weavers fleeing religious persecution in their native Flanders, their arrival and skills created a boom manufacturing cloth so well known as to bear the name "Walsham", a rival to nearby Worstead. One historical footnote is that North Walsham was a centre for the 1381 Peasants' Revolt with a battle here in June of that year. The town received a setback in 1600 when a short but severe fire destroyed much of the town centre's historic legacy. Besides the town's fame for its cloth the wider parish, like most in its county, was almost entirely arable and dominated by extensive cereal fields. Modern developments arrived firstly with the construction of a canal connecting the town to the navigable River Ant and was followed by a spider's web of railway lines. The line connecting Norwich onwards to Cromer & Sheringham still survives providing the town with a station, other lines to Aylsham, Mundesley & Great Yarmouth have closed and been dismantled, the first has become the local Weaver's Way Trail whilst part of the latter has formed the upgraded sections of the A149. Today North Walsham remains one of Norfolk's market towns and has spread to cover an area almost 2 miles from north to south and slightly less from west to east, the usual mix of market town functions and light industry applies as well as a substantial number of commuters to Norwich. North Walsham is drained southeastwards by the infant Ant which merges, in turn, with the Bure and then the Yare before reaching the North Sea through the port of Great Yarmouth. North Walsham is sited at around 30 metres above the sea, a height which pertains across much of the surrounding land in very gentle terrain. The parish of North Walsham was one of eastern Norfolk;s largest covering almost 4,200 acres and supporting a population of around 2,650 parishioners. As already mentioned North Walsham was already established by Domesday time being of sufficient size to be amongst the largest 20% of settlements by population. Two landholders, William de Warenne and St Benet's Abbey, shared the manor which had assets of a formidable 28 ploughs backed by meadows and woodland and 2 mills making it wealthy indeed.

The Church

St Nicholas' church stands at the heart of the town immediately north of the market place yet hidden from that behind fronting properties, it sits within its own "close" of land. One's eyes are immediately drawn towards its distinctive tower, the result of a partial collapse in 1724. the tower had stood 147 in height but that was reduced further by 50 feet in 1836 as a safety measure, the tower has merely been stabilised not returned to its presumed former glory. The church is large, 160 feet in length, as befits a substantial market town. The remainder of the church is a product of the wealth of the weaving trade begun in the 14th century and spanning both the Decorated and Perpendicular styles accordingly. The chancel, together with the southern doorway, represent the Decorated period of the first half of the 14th century whilst the rest of the main body is in the Perpendicular style. The main feature of that latter period is the elaborate southern porch which Pevsner terms a "showpiece of the late 14th century", it is certainly a notably ornate and stunning welcome to the church. The Victorian restoration here was a major affair lasting some 20 years between 1870 to 1890 and costing a major sum of £9,000 for the times. There was little that was untouched as a consequence masking earlier dating detail whilst preserving the church for posterity. Like most urban churches this is one to visit on foot after utilising one of the town's car parks. The church sits north of the Market Place and west of Church Street within an oblong churchyard walled in brick, that oblong serves a more modern purpose as an urban park too. Sadly for the photographer there are many trees within the churchyard which severely impede many if not all of the favoured aspects requiring much head scratching to find good view points to adequately record this church.