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

The Parish

The parish of Stanton All Saints lies in northern Suffolk not too far from its border with neighbouring Norfolk. Stanton is a large village located about 9 miles northeast of the market town of Bury St Edmunds, Stanton village held two parishes of which All Saints was much the more dominant and St John which is now deconsecrated. Stanton sits on the A143 road which connects Bury St Edmunds with the Norfolk market town of Diss, the busy road has now been moved to a bypass to the north of the village making the village's main street a much quieter place than before. Stanton sits in the middle of a large swathe of arable farmland and that would have been the mainstay of the economy at the time of this transcript too. Stanton is drained northwestwards by small tributaries of the Black Bourn, this joins the Little Ouse near Thetford before making its way across The Fens to the Great Ouse and thence the North Sea through The Wash and the port of King's Lynn. Stanton is sited at around 40 metres above the sea and sits on something of a plateau with land rising only to around 60 metres within many miles. The combined acreage of All Saints & St John's parish equated to around 3,300 acres making it large by Suffolk standards, the combined parishes would have supported a population of around 1,000 parishioners. In Domesday times Stanton was shared three ways, with the largest share held by Bury St Edmunds Abbey, collectively Stanton could offer 12 ploughs as well meadows & woodlands populated by the usual array of livestock.

The Church

All Saints' church sits at the heart of Stanton at the junction of the former route of the A143 with the broad lane leading to Walsham le Willows. The church has its origins in the early 14th century with a confident date of 1320 for both nave and chancel. The 14th century porch-tower which complemented this sadly fell in 1906. Fate took a helpful hand and the fall was thankfully away from the main building. Only the lower buttressed stage remained untouched and this was partially rebuilt and topped with today's timber belfry complete with pyramidal cap. As befits Stanton's population the basic design of nave & chancel is augmented with a four-bay arcade to accommodate the congregation. Both the Old Bury Road & The Street, from both of which entrances to the churchyard can be found, are sufficiently wide enough to permit careful parking. The church sits within a brick-walled churchyard which has few obstructions to photography.