England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Thorpe Morieux St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Thorpe Morieux lies in southwestern Suffolk roughly 3 miles northeast of the small market town of Lavenham. Thorpe Morieux sits about 2 1/2 miles east of the A1141 road which links Lavenham through to the A134 (Bury St Edmunds to Sudbury)  road. Thorpe Morieux is a small crossroads village with most properties lining lanes joining from the north and west, the southeastern quadrant being occupied by the church and the grounds of the 16th century Thorpe Hall. The Middle Ages saw the area full of sheep supporting the cloth industry that made nearby Lavenham so prosperous. By the time of this transcript arable farming had superceded and remains the mainstay of the parish economy today. Thorpe Morieux is drained southeastwards by the infant River Brett which passes through Hadleigh to meet the Stour at the county's border with Essex, water turns east to meet the North Sea through the Stour's estuary between the twin ports of Harwich & Felixstowe. Thorpe Morieux sits in the Brett's shallow valley at around 70 metres above the sea, away from that feature this area of the county forms a plateau at between 90 & 100 metres in gentle terrain. Thorpe Morieux parish was one of the slightly larger ones in the area covering a little over 2,400 acres it would have supported a population of around 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Thorpe Morieux's 36 households were just sufficient to place it into the top 20% of settlements by population, a stark contrast to today's small village, shared between Bury St Edmunds Abbey & Roger of Poitou its assets were more typical of today's size mustering just 6 ploughs backed by meadows & woodland.

The Church

St Mary's church sits in the southeast of the village accessed by a shared driveway between it and the hall which heads east just south of the staggered crossroads forming the centre. St Mary is unusual in that the basic structure of the church represents a continuous uninterrupted build commencing in the late 13th century and completed during the first half of the 13th. As such the Early English Gothic style is shown in the earlier portions as represented by the piscina in the chancel, the western tower is almost from c1300 whilst the nave is in the Decorated style and completed between 20 & 30 years later. Also 14th century is the church's timber porch which impressed Pevsner with its traceried barge-boards. A Victorian restoration, of course, made changes to the church replacing many windows as well as rebuilding the northern vestry. The lane which serves the church and hall is only marked by a small white notice board but the tower is readily visible, it is only roughly surfaced but end in a broad turning and parking area. Whilst there are some trees close by to the church views are achievable from most angles with a little trial and error.