England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Wymington St Lawrence

The Parish

The parish of Wymington lies in the extreme northwest of Bedfordshire forming a substantial stretch of the border with neighbouring Northamptonshire. Wymington is a small and compact village lying roughly 6 miles southeast of the Northamptonshire market town of Wellingborough. Lane running to Wymington forms a triangular T junction and most properties in the village lie around that junction or to its north along the lane leading towards Rushden. This is a rich agricultural area dominated by arable farming, early gazetteers describe over 60% of the parish acreage as being devoted to cereal and similar crop production. Modern developments have come to Wymington, the railway line between Bedford & Wellingborough running to the west although it doesn't grant Wymington a station. A small tributary of the nearby River Nene drains the parish northwards, the Nene then flows largely northeast to meet the North Sea arriving through The Wash. Wymington is sited at around 70 metres above the sea in gentle terrain where land rises, away from the Nene, to local heights of just over 100 metres at nearby Santa Pod Raceway. Wymington parish was fairly typically sized for this area, covering almost 1,700 acres it would have supported a population of just over 250 parishioners. In Domesday times, and despite being a quiet rural outpost, Wymington was shared by no fewer than 5 landholders, including one Thorkil, a Saxon survivor; collectively the holdings totalled 12 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

St Lawrence's church sits just north of the main junction that forms the heart of the village tucked away down the narrow side-street of Church Lane. Dating this church is a simple affair as it was built entirely from the funds of one John Curteys who acquired the manor in 1361, the church has a documented dedication date of c1377 giving a very close period for its construction. Despite the style going out of fashion by these dates, St Lawrence was built in the earlier Decorated style rather than the Perpendicular which had superceded it. The basic structure of nave, chancel and western tower is augmented by side chapels dedicated for the Curteys family, including, internally, that dedicated to the church's founder who also held the "staple of Calais". That monument contains some of the earliest brasses in its county. A substantial restoration occurred, typically in Victorian times, in the mid 1840s to result in today's building. Church Lane is one-way from the west but is sufficiently wide to permit careful parking. The churchyard sits slightly elevated above road level behind a local stone wall with a short flight of steps rising to wooden gates for entry. The churchyard is fairly compact with a couple of scattered trees marring the southeastern aspect, that tightness makes it tricky to get far enough away to capture the spire atop the tower within a generalised view.