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

The Parish

The parish of Wordwell lies in northwestern Suffolk not too far from its border with neighbouring Norfolk. Wordwell is located roughly 6 miles north of the town of Bury St Edmunds and sits on the B1106 road which links Bury St Edmunds through to Brandon. Wordwell is a tiny place today, a real blink-and-miss-it sort of place with barely a handful of farms and cottages and no defined village whatsoever. Much of the parish is occupied by the dense forestry of the King's Forest, an extensive area of commercial forestry which is grown on the poor soils of the area. In earlier times sheep and rabbits would have grazed and the local trade in knapped flint supported a few in this tiny parish. Wordwell sits about a mile north of the valley of the River Lark and a small stream drains south to that river, the Lark heads westwards into Fenland meeting the Great Ouse to the north of Ely before heading north to the Wash through the port of King's Lynn. Wordwell is sited at around 30 metres above the sea, land rises away from the Lark to the north in gentle terrain that reaches local high spots of just over 50 metres within the King's Forest. Wordwell parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering just over 2,200 acres it couldn't support more than 100 parishioners on its deficient soils. In Domesday times Wordwell was larger than today, held by Bury St Edmunds Abbey its assets amounted to 5 ploughs, some meadows but there was a mill.

The Church

All Saints' church sits on the western side of the B1106 accompanied by a neat flint cottage, the church is managed nowadays by a charity, the Churches' Conservation Trust. Like many isolated small churches it contains ancient fabric, however in this case much modified by the attentions of the Victorian restorers. Two tympani are found which are assigned to the 11th century an indication of the age of the church despite it's lonely setting. 14th century Decorated style work is also found beneath the veneer of Victorian work, niches for side-altars. Both nave and chancel were restored in the mid-19th century, work is described of both 1857 & 1866, a date which is carried by the western bellcote, Pevsner seems uncertain as to which work is done in each of the twin phases. One should perhaps be thankful that the work was done in a neo-Norman style that is faithful to that of the original church. Parking is tricky but a rough area sits outside the gates and there is excellent visibility along the dead-straight B1106. A white gate grants entry into this miniature churchyard with its miniature church but most aspects are available to the photographer.