England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Carsington St Margaret

The Parish

The parish of Carsington lies in western Derbyshire roughly 6 miles northeast of the market town of Ashbourne. Carsington sits immediately north of the B5035 road which links Ashbourne through to Matlock. The village is tucked away and accessed along an out-and-back lane from the B5035 most properties sitting flush beneath the prominent limestone face of the hills to its north. The area is dominated by limestone, quarried for many centuries the local hills are dotted with remnants of man's removal of this fine building stone, in addition quarries were dug to extract lead ore; farming in the area is strictly limited to rough grazing of sheep, the limestone producing close cropped turf as a side-line. Modern developments have come to the area, the Peak Forest Railway, however, has been closed and is now followed by local hiking and cycling trails as the Midshires Way & Pennine Bridleway, a more permanent mark on the landscape is the flooding of the valley below the village to form Carsington Reservoir supplying the northern towns of the Midlands and Potteries with their fresh water. Today, whilst limestone quarries still form an important element of the local economy, it is tourism attracted by the delights of the White Peak, as the area is known, who underpin many enterprises. Once free of the reservoir the Henmore Beck drains the parish southwestwards merging with the River Dove west of Ashbourne, the Dove performs a large western meander before meeting the Trent during its lengthy route to the North Sea arriving through the Humber Estuary. Most of Carsington is sited at around 220 metres above the sea with its western edge 20 metres higher and the reservoir similarly 20 metres below, 100 metres slopes rise steeply to the north of the village rising more gently to local high points, notably 379 metres on Harboro' Rocks. Parishes in the Peak District are often extensive, Carsington was not one of those covering only a little over 1,100 acres which supported a population of close to 250 parishioners. Carsington is an anomaly in Domesday Book recording just 9 households yet having 18 ploughs, together with meadows & woodland these assets were held directly by King William.

The Church

St Margaret's church sits tucked beneath the steep limestone slopes to the north of the village, so much so that an early gazetteer describes it as "scarcely distinguishable from the cliffs that overhang it". The church is anomalous in a way that confuses Pevsner, apparently Perpendicular in styles totally yet bearing a date on the sundial indicating it to be the work of 1648 when the church was "re-edified". That the church was "re-edified" is certainly the case as the western portion, too, was heavily modified in a Victorian restoration of 1873 which targeted its western gable and bellcote. The church utilises the local limestone, a stone that has weathered to a rather drab shade of gray. The date of 1648 is echoed by Historic England although some online resources claim the church has a 13th century origin, that may be the case but if so nothing major survives from the earliest phases.On-street parking is available to the east of the churchyard which sits opposite a triangular green, a lengthy pathway leads to the church. A large tree sits unfortunately to the church's southeast taking the most favoured aspect and to the north the slopes sit uncomfortably close but most aspects are readily available to the photographer.