England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Heath and Reach St Leonard

The Parish

The chapelry of Heath and Reach, its mother parish being Leighton Buzzard, lies in the extreme southwest of Bedfordshire forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Buckinghamshire. Heath and Reach is located around 2 miles east, and across the course of the River Ouzel, from the A4146 road which links Leighton Buzzard through to the southern edges of Milton Keynes New Town. Early maps show Heath and Reach as a distinctly separate community gathered around a crossroads formed by the Leighton Road with Lane Ends and with at least a mile off open countryside between it and its larger neighbour. Today Leighton Buzzard has expanded northwards such that Heath and Reach is almost contiguous with its northern suburbs with only a golf course as open space between the two. Today's Heath and Reach is a bustling mid-sized village, a thin triangle in shape with the point being towards the north. Like most parishes in the area Heath and Reach would have been largely arable with a few pastures lining the course of the Ouzel. Of historical interest is the clear cut edge to the chapelry which is formed by the course of the ancient Roman Watling Street nowadays followed by the A5 road. Heath and Reach is drained northwards by the Ouzel which meets the Great Ouse in Milton Keynes, the latter continues northeast to eventually reach the North Sea through the port of King's Lynn and the Wash. Heath and Reach is sited at around 110 metres above the sea in hummocky terrain which rises to local high points at around 160 metres to the east of Watling Street. Around 2,400 acres of Leighton Buzzard parish was assigned to the chapelry making it large by southern arable parish standards, that acreage saw a population rise steadily to around 850 parishioners. Whilst Heath and Reach is not directly mentioned in Domesday Book the manor of Nares Gladley was so documented, it was a tiny holding of Jocelyn the Breton offering just a single plus a half share in a plough backed by typical meadows and woodland but, at least, there was a mill.

The Church

St Leonard's church sits in the former open space between Heath and Reach and Leighton Buzzard on the western side of Leighton Road and opposite the grounds of the 18th century manor of Heath Manor House for which it was originally completed in 1829 as a private chapel. The church that existed before remains as part of the Georgian structure in the form of its short 16th century western tower. Even though the church was as recent as 1829 there has still been time for modification as the distinctive apse which looms over Leighton Road was added in 1866 and a southern porch was also added in 1876 to complete today's building. The whole clearly did not inspire Pevsner who called it "a poor specimen". Whilst it is safe to park along Leighton Road it is best to avoid the slight bend south of the church site as better sight lines are to the north for avoiding drivers. The photographer will be disappointed with the setting as the church is placed tight to both eastern and southern edges of the large churchyard and the favoured aspects are unavailable, indeed such is the limited set available the better views are from outside the churchyard,