England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Tyringham cum Filgrave St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Tyringham cum Filgrave lies in the extreme northeast of Buckinghamshire not too far from both the border with neighbouring Northamptonshire and also close to that with Bedfordshire. Tyringham is located roughly 2 miles north of the market town of Newport Pagnell whilst Filgrave is a little over a mile further northeast. Tyringham is located a half mile northeast of the B526 which connects Newport Pagnell with Northampton, Filgrave sits closer to the the A509 which runs through Olney to Wellingborough. Whilst Tyringham is the home of the parish church and grants its name to the parish, it is an estate village which has largely disappeared through design of the landscape into the parkland of Tyringham House and its grounds, Filgrave, by contrast, is a hamlet lining the lane connecting Tyringham with the A509, it had its own church until demolition in the 18th century. Both settlements sit on the eastern banks of the Great Ouse which granted a more varied farming regime than most parishes in this area, roughly 2/3rds of the acreage would have been pasture with arable a smaller proportion. The Great Ouse drains the parish northwards on its long journey to the North Sea which is reached through The Fens and into The Wash. Both settlements are sited at around 60 metres above the sea in gentle terrain where land rises steadily eastwards to reach just over 100 metres to the east of the A509. Tyringham cum Filgrave parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering close to 1,800 acres it would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. In Domesday times Filgrave was so small as to not be mentioned whilst Tyringham was a holding of Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances, a tiny place offering just a pair of ploughs to its landholder.

The Church

St Peter's church sits on the eastern side of the lane running north from the B526 into the parkland of the Tyringham estate. Sadly little of this church would be recognised by the participants in these marriages as the main body of the church was rebuilt in 1871, the work was commissioned by the widow of the late W. B. Tyringham as a memorial. The only remaining medieval piece in the western tower, the age of which is uncertain. Outwardly Perpendicular in style and thus apparently 14th century it is internally linked to the main body by a 12th century tower arch, perhaps an early attempt to refresh the church saw a restyling. The main body is an example of "High Victorian trickiness" according to Pevsner with many florid features such as the "fancy" ridge tiles and apse. The church sits within the parkland at the road-edge with post & rail fencing separating it from the lane, a widening of the verge outside the gates allows a single car to get off-road. A curving pathway leads to the church, sadly the church sits tight to the southeastern corner of the churchyard where thick trees remove the favoured southeasterly aspect from the photographer's arsenal and maes for a challenging subject on a sunny day.