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

The Parish

The parish of Westacre (often rendered as two words West Acre) lies in western central Norfolk about 5 miles northwest of the market town of Swaffham. Westacre lies about 3 miles north of the A47 road which crosses Norfolk from King's Lynn via Norwich to Great Yarmouth. Westacre lies on the northern banks of the River Nar and is a small and compact village lying between the river and a broad lane linking Castle Acre and East Walton. Like its larger neighbour, Castle Acre, Westacre gathered around a priory, Westacre's priory was founded c1100 by Augustinian monks and, until the Reformation, was the largest landowner in the parish. Westacre's position within the Nar valley gave it access to a varied farming regime, the water meadows are still grazed by cattle today whilst the higher ground rising northwards onto more chalky ground would have seen both cereal farming as well as grazing sheep & rabbits. The Nar drains the parish westwards, heading out into Norfolk's Fenland before meeting the Great Ouse close to its exit to The Wash within King's Lynn. Westacre is sited at around 20 metres above the sea whilst land rises in what is, for Norfolk, relatively high ground reaching just over 70 metres within a couple of miles. Western Norfolk parish are often larger than their eastern counterparts, Westacre was typical of their size, covering just over 3,300 acres it would have supported a population of about 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Westacre was subsumed within the return of its larger neighbour Castle Acre and its specific assets are hard to determine from the collective, the book records the assets of two major landholders William de Warenne & Ralph de Tosny but which held which manor is unclear.

The Church

All Saints' church sits almost centrally within Weastacre and immediately north of the grounds of the dissolved and largely ruinous priory. Like many Norfolk churches All Saints is a mixture of the twin decorative style of Decorated and Perpendicular which mark the 14th century between them. The earliest remaining areas are the western tower and the arch connecting nave to chancel which area both in the earlier Decorated style of the early 14th century. Much else of the fabric is Perpendicular and from the latter half of the same century. The span probably indicates a prolonged but continuous build across most of that century. Unusually for a church there was a significant 17th century restoration which made many changes, most windows were refreshed or replaced and the northern porch, southern & priest's doorways were also restored. Given this work any Victorian restoration was light and sensitive unlike most Norfolk churches.  The church sits on the southern side of Low Road with the ruinous priory gateway immediately to its west, there is ample parking space around this junction with Church Green. The churchyard has a low flint & brick wall which is hedge-topped, a small wooden gate gives access to a short set of steps rising into the churchyard.The churchyard is open and uncluttered with few obstacles for the photographer.