Marham No. 2 / Mareham / Marsam

Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "Here were formerly two churches in this town, one dedicated to St. Andrew, the other to the Holy Trinity; this last is still standing: they were rectories united and valued together [...] The patronage of the vicarages, which were consolidated, was in the priory of Westacre, [...] The Church now standing, of the Holy Trinity, has a nave, with a south isle and a chancel built of rag-stone, clunch or chalk, and covered with lead; at the west end of the nave stands a lofty four-square tower of flint stones, &c. with quoins, embattlements, &c. of freestone, with 4 bells; on the top of this tower is a wooden shaft or spire covered with lead; the length of the nave is about 63 feet, and with the south isle about 30 in breadth [...] Nicholas occurs vicar of the churches of the Holy Trinity, and St. Andrew in Marham about 1250, and John in 1294 [...] The church of St. Andrew stood in the close, near to the vicar's house, the site is still to be seen, by the wall of flint in some places; Mr. Frost, vicar, making a ditch here, found several human bones and a stone coffin. This church was standing, as appears by a will, in 1428." [NB: there was a second parish church, St. Andrew's, of which "only a few carved architectural fragments remain -- Holy Trinity goes back to Norman times, St. Andrew's may have been medieval, and there had been a 13th-century nunnery here, but we have no information on the early fonts of these buildings]