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

The Parish

The parish of Southolt lies in northern Suffolk roughly 7 miles northeast of the small market town of Framlingham and 5 miles southeast of the equally small town of Eye. Southolt  sits within abroad area of countryside with no significant numbered roads the closest such road being some 3 miles west, the B1077 connecting Eye with Debenham. Southolt  is a rather small village, little more than a hamlet with most properties lining the lane which runs from east to west through the parish from Worlingworth towards Bedingfield, these properties running in a loose aggregation for a half mile or so with a cluster grouped around the church at the western end. Like most Suffolk villages Southolt  would have almost entirely earned its income from arable farming with cereals dominant and supported with beet & oil-seed in modern times. Southolt  is drained northwards by a small tributary of the Gold Brrok which eventually reaches the Waveney north of Hoxne, the Waveney tracks eastwards, forming the border with Norfolk, and eventually reaches the North Sea through the Norfolk port of Great Yarmouth. Southolt  is sited at around 60 metres above the sea in broadly flat terrain where local high points barely reach higher for a considerable distance. Southolt  parish was one of the smaller in its county at a mere 800 acres roughly half the size of a typical southern arable parish, within that acreage would have been supported around 200 parishioners. Southolt  is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Margaret's church was declared redundant in 1978 and is now managed by a charitable trust with access still permitted. The church is accessed from the main lane at the western end of the village, The Street, where a small notice board marks an unsigned side turning leading to the church and a few adjacent properties. Little remains of the medieval within St Margaret due to extensive restoration and rebuilding in Victorian times. The main fabric remaining is formed by the nave which is typical Perpendicular and probably dates from either the late 14th or early 15th century. A southern porch is mentioned in will donations of the 1440s and is probably contemporary or immediately subsequent. The chancel is the only remaining piece of pre-Victorian work and that is late 18th century. Repeated restoration and rebuilding in 4 distinct phases then followed in Victorian and modern times; the first phase of 1839 added the northern vestry, the second of 1867 was a general and thorough restoration and also added the western bellcote, the third of 1887 targeted that southern porch whilst the fourth of 1907 was aimed at the chancel. The narrow access lane ends at a grassy area, used for parking, between properties and outside the churchyard. The latter is compact and edged with trees which somewhat limit the angles available to the photographer.