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

The Parish

The parish of Hartshorne lies in the extreme south of Derbyshire forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Leicestershire, Staffordshire is also not too far away. Hartshorne is located roughly 5 miles east of the Staffordshire brewing town of Burton upon Trent and sits on and mostly west of the A514 road which links Swadlincote with Derby. There are two settlements within Hartshorne parish, the village itself which holds the parish church is a linear village in two halves, westwards along a lane, continuing east when that lane meets the A514 and then following the A514 southwards after a second right-angled bend. To the south lies Woodville, an industrial village which grew up to support its earthenware factory and brick yards. Away from Woodville's industry the parish would have been devoted to farming with roughly equal measures of arable and pastoral methods. In addition a small quarry which provided the stone for the church was occasionally in production. Hartshorne sits less than 4 miles from the Trent and water is taken there by various small brooks, one of which forms the feeder for the water-body of Foremark Reservoir. The Trent heads eastwards passing through Nottingham and Newark before curving north to the Humber Estuary and the North Sea. Hartshorne is sited at around 120 metres above the sea in undulating countryside where local high points to the northeast reach 167 metres. Hartshorne parish was typically sized for its area covering 2,700 acres it would have supported a population of around 1,400 parishioners. In Domesday times Hartshorne was a much smaller place, held by Henry de Ferrers its assets of just a half league of woodland with the remainder waste but with potential for 6 ploughs.

The Church

St Peter's church sits towards the southern end of the village and to the north of the A514 accessed along Church Street. Sadly the church largely consists of modern elements with very little remaining that is medieval. Only the Perpendicular styled tower, which is set to the northwest rather than the traditional western position, remains from that era. The nave, meanwhile is a rebuild of 1835 so only the last few marriages in this transcript would have been within it. Furthermore the northern aisle & chancel are 20th century rebuilds having been completed in1903 but faithful to the Perpendicular style. A single safe parking space can be found where a sloping lath rises into the elevated churchyard which stands well above road height. The churchyard has some trees clustered to the northeast of the church but these should not bother the photographer when all of the favoured aspects are readily available.