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

The Parish

The parish of Darsham lies in eastern Suffolk not too far from its eastern North Sea coastline. Darsham is located roughly 5 miles south of the small market town of Halesworth and sits a mile east of the A12 road which connects Ipswich with Lowestoft. Darsham is a fairly linear village with a string of properties lining The Street (which leads eastwards off the A12) for almost the whole distance from the A12. This process has been enhanced in modern times with the coming of the railway from Ipswich to Lowestoft and the creation of Darsham station at the point where railway crosses main road, modern developments have tended to be drawn towards that infrastructure from the core of the village. Like most of Suffolk Darsham was, and still is, an arable farming community, the soils in the eastern portion of the parish are, however, light and sandy leading to some sheep rearing and warrenries for rabbits. Darsham is drained southwards by a small tributary of the Minsmere River which is soon joined to flow east to the North Sea through the nearby iconic RSPB Nature Reserve of Minsmere. Darsham is sited at between 10 & 30 metres above the sea, The Street sloping down towards the church, the land is very gently rising westwards reaching little more than 40 metres for many a mile. Darsham parish was fairly typically sized for this area, covering just under 1,500 acres it would have supported a population of around 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Darsham was an equally rural and small place, despite being shared by no fewer than 4 landholders (including a meadow retained by the King) it could muster just 8 ploughs and some additional meadows.

The Church

All Saints' church sits towards the eastern end of the village enclosed within a sharp bend of The Street and sitting on its northern side. The church consists of three distinct eras. An early Norman Romanesque church of the 12th century is represented by both northern and southern doorways, albeit the northern is blocked. The church received a major change in the 13th century when Early English Gothic was employed within a rebuild of the chancel, a remnant of that 13th century can be seen in the lancet window of the northern face. The 15th century saw the third major change, the slender western tower is the best representative of this late-Perpendicular period but it is also clear that most of the fabric was rebuilt or refreshed at this date. Like most churches the Victorians made their usual changes, a refresh in 1879 saw the eastern wall rebuilt whilst in 1887 the southern porch was restored. Whilst The Street is fairly narrow a tarred area sits outside the gates enabling a single car to park, wooden gates lead onward into the churchyard. Sadly there are many trees surrounding, in particular, that western tower and restricting markedly the angles available for the photographer.