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

The Parish

The parish of Pitstone lies in the extreme southeast of Buckinghamshire forming a part of a local geographical conundrum. In this area of the Chilterns Buckinghamshire launches a projection of itself between the adjacent counties of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, Pitstone forms an extensive portion of the border with the latter. Modern Pitstone sits on the B489 road which follows the foot of the Chilterns from close to Tring through to Dunstable, archaeological digs have revealed the original settlement was at Church End around the church itself. The "Tring Gap", a low level route through the higher ground of the the Chilterns, runs just south of Pitstone and both Grand Union Canal and the London to Birmingham rail line follow this breach in the hills crossing a portion of Pitstone parish. At the time of this transcript Pitstone would have had a mixed farming economy, sheep on the chalk hills and arable in the vale. For some time the chalk was worked for lime and the area is still home to the vast quarry left by the Cement works. More leisurely activities include the Ridgeway National Trail which cuts across the parish and offers some income from tourism. Pitstone is drained northwards by the Whistle Brook which joins the River Ouzel which passes through Leighton Buzzard and the edge of Milton Keynes joining the Great Ouse and with this river reaching the North Sea through The Wash. Pitstone is sited at around 110 metres above the sea, land rises sharply to the chalk escarpment of the Chilterns and local heights reach 220 metres on the southern end of Pitstone Hill. Pitstone parish is also a geographical anomaly, only a few hundred yards wide on its southwestern/northeastern axis it stretches for some miles in the northwest to southeast line, a trick to encompass all shades of landuse from chalk to vale. Covering just over 2,400 acres Pitstone parish was fairly typically sized for the area, it would have supported a population of close to 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Pitstone was shared between Count Robert of Mortain, Walter Giffard & Miles Crispin, a rather small place offering just 7 ploughs together with the usual woodlands and pastures.

The Church

St Mary's church sits almost a mile away from modern day Pitstone, which is largely built along the B489, at Church End and some 10 metres above the village. The church has its origins in the 13th century albeit little remains of that period following periodic rebuilding and restoration. The northern arcade of the chancel shows characteristics of the early English Gothic period. The north wall of the northern aisle is perhaps almost a century later but most of the church dates from a mixture of Early 14th century Perpendicular and later in the same style's era. The western tower is the best example of the latter period being late 15th century and topping off a period of general rebuild. As is usual a Victorian restoration, in this case quite extensive, occurred and whilst Pevsner is usually quite scathing of such changes he does praise the Art Nouveau stained glass added at that date. The church has been declared redundant for worship and is managed by the Church's Conservation Trust. Church Road climbs to the church in a dog-legged fashion from the village reaching a dead-end with a parking area by the churchyard gates. The churchyard is relatively free of photographic obstacles and the church straightforward to capture.