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

The Parish

The parish of Seal is one of those parish curiosities, being partially in two differing counties. The border between Derbyshire & Leicestershire, prior to 1974 reorganisation, was highly fretted with detached portions of one within the other and parishes such as Seal in both. Today Seal is in Derbyshire thus it is included here. As such it is in the extreme south of Derbyshire and forms part of the border with Leicestershire, it also abuts neighbouring Staffordshire. The parish of Seal covers two distinct communities Overseal & Netherseal, the latter home to the parish church. Both communities are large villages, Netherseal on the northern banks of the River Mease and Overseal about a mile and a half to the north. Netherseal is situated about 5 miles west of the Leicestershire market town of Ashby de la Zouch and sits a mile west of the A444 road which connects the Staffordshire brewing town of Burton Upon Trent with the Warwickshire mining town of Nuneaton. At the time of this transcript both villages were largely rural farming with a mixed regime of arable and pastures. In later periods coal mining developed on the deep seams of Derbyshire expanding both communities substantially, Netherseal Colliery finally closed in 1947. The parish is drained westwards by the River Mease, shortly joining the Tame and Trent to reach the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Netherseal is sited at 70 metres above the sea in its riverside setting whilst Overseal, as its name suggests, is some 30 metres higher; the area is gently undulating to local heights of 120 metres or so. Parishes in this area are noticeably larger than in southern counties and Seal parish was no exception, it covered almost 4,000 acres and would have supported a population of around 1,200 parishioners by the end of this transcript period. There is, however, no specific mention of Seal in Domesday Book.

The Church

As stated above St Peter the parish church of Seal parish lies in Netherseal almost on the banks of the Mease and on the northern side of Church Street which connects that village with the A444. Overseal received its own church (St Matthew) in 1840. Whilst the church retains some features of its mediaeval origins it has been largely rebuilt externally in 1877. The arcades, however, are 13th century showing the octagonal piers and double chamfered arches of the Early English Gothic period, the western tower shows features of the later Perpendicular style of the 15th. The description of the church in Pevsner is short and lacking much detail indicating that Pevsner felt the building was of little architectural interest as a result of its extensive restoration. The church sits in an elevated position above Church Street with the churchyard buttressed to almost head height by a local stone wall, a ramp rises from the western end of the site to a gate granting access. There are few obstructions to photography within the site.