England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Wisbech St Peter & St Paul

The Parish

The parish of Wisbech St Peter & St Paul lies in the extreme northeast of Cambridgeshire, indeed it forms part of its border with neighbouring Norfolk and is also close to the border with Lincolnshire. Wisbech is an ancient Fenland port about 40 miles north of Cambridge sitting on the River Nene about 11 miles up river from its mouth in The Wash. Wisbech is an ancient town being mentioned in 7th century charters and granted its market as early as the 11th century. Wisbech consists of two parishes St Peter & St Paul being the town parish and St Mary the more rural western one. The town is sited on the A47 road which runs from the eastern coast at Great Yarmouth through the East Midlands to Birmingham. Thankfully for the citizens this road now bypasses the town to the east removing a notorious traffic bottleneck. Wisbech served two main functions, being a regional market for its environs and also as a port with navigation up to the town along the river. Wisbech also formed a major centre for the projects draining the Fens from a swampy area to the rich agricultural land that it now supports, there are many market gardens in the vicinity of Wisbech. Wisbech itself sits at barely a metre or two above sea level despite being more than 10 miles from the sea the highest parts being less than 10 metres above sea level. Like many Fenland parishes that of St Peter & St Paul was large, it covered almost 6,000 acres and it supported around 8,500 parishioners. In Domesday times Wisbech received no fewer than 6 entries as the land was split between the Abbeys of Ely, Bury St Edmunds, Ramsey and Crowland whilst a fishery was owned by one William of Warenne. The fisheries were clearly important for earning revenue as they dominate the accounts whereas the ploughs supported were a mere 10.

The Church

St Peter & St Paul's church sits at the heart of Wisbech's commercial area. The church is slightly tucked away to the south of the previous route of the A47 and the elegant bridge which spans the Nene. The church is found, appropriately enough fronting Church Terrace which is a side street to the west of the Downham Market road. As befits a large port and market town the church, too, is very large. Pevsner finds the building very puzzling and slightly disconcerting describing it as externally "too varied" and internally "too curious and unexpected". This is not the place to detail the history of the building in detail but suffice it to say that the earliest parts (the north arcade) are 12th century and the dominant period of the majority is the Decorated style of the early 14th century, there are also many windows and other features which date from the Perpendicular period. Pevsner's account runs to many hundreds of words and should be read by those interested. St Peter & St Paul's church sits in a relatively open site behind an ankle height wall separating the graveyard from the town streets there are many entrances and public paths crisscross the site making for numerous photographic opportunities. The church is, however, so large as to make encompassing it all in one shot rather difficult.