England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Barlborough St James

The Parish

The parish of Barlborough lies in the extreme northeast of Derbyshire, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring Yorkshire and is also not too far from the border with Nottinghamshire. Barlborough is located about 8 miles northeast of the town of Chesterfield and sits at the crossroads formed by the A619 (Chesterfield to Worksop) road with the A616 (Newark on Trent to the M1) roads. Modern development in the form of the M1 motorway also pas just west of the village edge connecting London with the northeast. Barlborough's economy would have been diverse at the time of this transcript, farming, in particular arable farming, would have been supplemented by collieries and quarrying. As a result of the coalfield Barlborough has grown significantly from being a small farming village dominated by its Hall. Barlborough is drained the short distance westwards by small streams joining the River Rother, this heads northward joining the Don and then the Ouse to reach the North Sea through the Humber estuary. Barlborough is sited at around 150 metres above the sea and sits on the local high-point, land falls away in all directions in gently rolling countryside. North Derbyshire parishes are generally large by acreage and Barlborough parish was equally so, it covered 3,300 acres and would have supported a population of around 800 parishioners. In Domesday times Barlborough was held by one Ralph son of Hubert, it could offer 11 ploughs, small meadows and extensive woodland and also possessed 2 mills.

The Church

St James' church is located on the northern edge of the village and on its highest ground, close to the grounds of Barlborough Hall yet firmly part of the village. The church has early origins, Pevsner notes the Romanesque style arches in the northern arcade and places them to around the turn of 12th into 13th century. Of a slightly later date is the western tower, its lancet windows indicative of the early English Gothic style, albeit augmented in the 14th century by Perpendicular styled pinnacles and battlements. An extensive restoration of the 1890s rebuilt the southern arcade, northern aisle and clerestory to result in today's building. The church sits on the northern side of Church Street in a highly elevated site, standing above head height with respect to the pavement outside. A sloping path leads upwards from the northwestern corner to gain entry to what is, from the north at least, a relatively open site; trees do somewhat inhibit photography from the preferred southern sides, however.