England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Walsoken All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Walsoken lies in the extreme west of Norfolk, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring Cambridgeshire and is also close to neighbouring Lincolnshire. Walsoken, formerly a separate village, has now been absorbed into the growing market town of Wisbech, which actually lies in Cambridgeshire - the county boundary wanders between the houses. Wisbech has now been bypassed to the east by the A47 (Norwich to Birmingham road) and Walsoken lies between the old and the new roads. This is an extremely low lying area of the Fens, a reclaimed area which is now farmed intensively; there are numerous market gardens surrounding the wider town of Wisbech many with glasshouses for protection, The area is extremely flat, an expanse of fields barely 3 metres above sea level, what drainage there is is limited to fields drains which are pumped into the River Nene which flows into The Wash at Sutton Bridge. Walsoken parish was rather large by Norfolk standards, at about 4,500 acres it was among the largest in the county. A feature of the parishes in this area of the Fens are a number of detached portions of the parish of which Walsoken has a few - they usually represent apportionments of later cleared mires. Walsoken parish supported over 2,500 parishioners - a reflection of the once dense population of The Fens. In Domesday times the parish was much smaller supporting just 2 ploughs and a fishery, the land being held by the Abbey of Ramsey.

The Church

All Saints Church sits rather incongruously among 1960s bungalows in a suburb of Wisbech appropriately enough in Church Road, The church is a hugely impressive building totally out of kilter with its suburban setting. Pevsner waxes lyrical about the building describing it as "The Grandest Norman Church in Norfolk"; quite a tribute from him. The church is also immense with aisles, transepts and chapels in addition to the basic tower, nave & chancel. The earliest work dates from the late 12th century and Pevsner twins the building with Ely Cathedral in style. The impressive tower is in the Early English style that dates from the early 13th century; the belfry and spire being later. In all a glorious building in a mundane setting. The church sits alongside Church Road behind a low brick wall, there are quite a few trees dotted around so photography angles have to be selected with care to achieve a decent view.