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

The Parish

The parish of Somerton lies in western Suffolk about 5 miles northwest of the small town of Long Melford. Somerton sits about 2 miles west of the B1066 road which connects Long Melford with Bury St Edmunds. Somerton is a small place, little more than a hamlet, which sits at the end of a pair of dead-end lanes running from Hartest & Somerton Hall respectively. Somerton is a typical Suffolk arable farming settlement, surrounded by large fields intensively managed for cereals, beet & oil-seed. Somerton is drained eastwards by a small tributary of the River Glem which is soon joined, turning south to meet the Stour, the latter reaches the North Sea through its estuary & the town of Manningtree. Somerton is sited at around 100 metres above the sea in gentle terrain where local heights barely reach more than 15 metres higher for some distance. Suffolk parishes are often small and Somerton was one of them, it covered just under 1,000 acres and supported less than 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Somerton was an equally small place, shared by St Edmunds Abbey & one Robert Fitzcorbucion it could offer just 5 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

St Margaret's church sits at the heart of the small village on the western side of its only lane. Whilst the church has its origins in the 12th century little remains of that time, the blocked northern doorway is all that remains of the Norman Romanesque. The remainder of the church is a 14th century replacement with minor modifications at later eras. The Decorated style is used through nave, chancel and western tower whilst the almost equally sized southern chapel appears almost like a second chancel. A few changes happened since that early 14th century build, sporadic Perpendicular style windows appear whilst the usual Victorian restoration saw the roofing largely replaced. Whilst the lane leading to the church is narrow there is ample space for a pair of cars outside the gates, the usual flint & brick wall surrounding the churchyard has wooden gates granting entry to a churchyard which has no obstructions to photography.