England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Tattenhoe St Giles

The Parish

The parish of Tattenhoe lies in northern central Buckinghamshire roughly 3 miles west of the town of Bletchley. Tattenhoe sits a half mile north of the A421 road which links Buckingham with Milton Keynes New Town. Tattenhoe is a much changed place, previously a tiny hamlet in a tiny parish it has become engulfed within the development of Milton Keynes and has become the southwestern edge of that vast modern development. At the time of this transcript Tattenhoe would have been a simple arable farming community of a handful of souls. Modern developments have come as the A421 has been widened to become a dual-carriageway crossing the New Town from northeast to southwest and Tattenhoe is now almost entirely 20th century housing & light industry surrounding Howe Park Wood and the moat & fish-ponds of the former mansion. Tattenhoe is drained northwards by the Loughton Brook which merges with the River Great Ouse on Milton Keynes' northern edge, the Great Ouse passes through Bedford and onwards crossing Fenland to reach the North Sea through The Wash. Tattenhoe is sited at around 110 metres above the sea in a generally flat area where little additional height is required to reach the highest local ground. Tattenhoe parish was tiny, just 690 acres and would have supported fewer than 50 parishioners. Tattenhoe is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Giles' church stands southeast of Portishead Drive within a parkland area crisscrossed by a network of pathways and surrounded by the former water features of the mansion. Whilst there has been a church here since the 13th century today's church appears to date from a rebuild of 1540, a simple church of combined nave and chancel and topped with a wooden bellcote it has little by way of distinguishing architectural features. A small white sign indicates the way from Portishead Drive to a brick-weave car park frequented by the park's users and providing a relaxed visit. Sadly for the photographer the church is deeply embedded in thick foliage with only a few, partially obscured, vies to be had.