England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Lawhitton St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Lawhitton lies in the extreme east of Cornwall forming a length of the county's border with neighbouring Devon, here formed by the course of the River Tamar. Lawhitton is located roughly 2 miles southeast of the market town of Launceston and stands a half mile east of the A388 road which links Launceston with Plymouth. Today's Lawhitton is much diminished from early times when it had license to hold a market, the close proximity and competition of nearby Laucneston curtailed those ambitions. As will be seen below Lawhitton was of sufficient size in Domesday times to be amongst the largest 20% of settlements by population with 54 households, perhaps larger than today's rather linear village with lies along a set of lanes which divide to form a slanted "Y" shape. The economy would have been based on pastoral farming, like many this far west, the Tamar valley's flood-plain giving it richer pastures than many Cornish parishes. Various small brooks drain the parish eastwards into the Tamar which takes water south eventually reaching the sea between Plymouth & Saltash as the Hamoaze. Lawhitton occupies a rising site from 90 to 120 metres above the sea, the landscape has deeply incised valleys eating into a set of summits reaching 188 metres west of Lawhitton and close to South Petherwin. Covering a little over 2,300 acres Lawhitton parish was typically sized for its area, that acreage would have supported a population of close to 500 parishioners. Domesday Lawhitton was a much larger settlement than today, a holding of the Bishop of Exeter it's 54 households made it one of the largest in the land, its assets of 31 ploughs backed by meadows, pastures and woodland made it a very profitable one for the Bishop too.

The Church

St Michael's church sits just northeast of the fork in the lanes that marks the notional centre of the village. The church stands in a circular churchyard, in Wales it would be called a "llan"and is a sign of an early Celtic Christian site. There is some dispute over the age of the present building with some claiming the basal stage of the tower, unusually placed to the south rather than l west, to be 12th century and Norman Romanesque. Pevsner seems to be sceptical of this claim without offering an alternative dating. Historic England is more forthcoming claiming a 13th century date for the tower. It is likely the church originally had a cruciform layout with the tower standing at the end of a southern transept, all of this was swept away in a major rebuild in the 15th century. The main body of nave and chancel complete with arcades and aisles all appear to be of the 15th century and Perpendicular in style, all somewhat masked by extensive Victorian restoration That restoration came in 2 distinct phases, the first of 1860 was a mild affair, the second of 1873 a more extreme version resulting in new roofing in hammerbeam, re-tiling of the interior floor as neat traceried panels either side of the altar, besides the interior changes there was also a thorough refresh of the exterior. Whilst the lane passing the church is narrow it is used by locals  for on-street careful parking. An iron-gated lychgate grants entry to the churchyard which is devoid of significant obstacles for the photographer other than a close adjacent building to the church's west.