England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hatherleigh St John the Baptist

The Parish

The parish of Hatherleigh lies in western Devon roughly 7 miles north of the small market town of Okehampton. Hatherleigh sits on the former route of the A386 road which connects Okehampton with Great Torrington, that road now bypassing to its west. Hatherleigh is a small market town, Pevsner terms it a "decaying" market town retreating from that status to become a large village. Hatherleigh, at one time, held twice weekly markets and an annual cattle market, a measure of its once size. Already a substantial settlement in Domesday times Hatherleigh continued to support its rural hinterland as a market and centre for specialist trades throughout the medieval period. Much of the infrastructure remains, the 1840 market house and most shops and small businesses but the trade has declined. Today's Hatherleigh forms a triangular shape with the old A386 its north to south axis but expanding eastwards lead by twin lanes headed for Monk Okehampton. The wider parish is strongly pastoral with both dairy and beef cattle the main form of farming in the area. Modern developments have come and gone, a series of rural railway lines which once criss-crossed the area have all closed and only traces of the bridges and cuttings remain. Hatherleigh sits on the eastern banks of the River Lew just south of its confluence with the Torridge the latter takes the water northwards headed through Bideford and to the Irish Sea through the twin estuaries of Taw & Torridge. Hatherleigh is sited on steeply rising ground from 70 meters at the Lew up to 120 metres at its easternmost boundary, the Monk Okehampton road continues to rise summiting at 144 metres the highest ground for a few miles. Hatherleigh parish was large, it covered almost 7,050 acres and supported a population of around 1,900 parishioners. As already mentioned Hatherleigh was a substantial settlement even by Domesday times, its 62 households being sufficient to place it in the largest 20% of settlements, held by Tavistock Abbey its assets were many, 23 ploughs backed by meadows, pastures & woodland and there was also a mill.

The Church

St John's church sits tucked away from the centre of the town, a narrow lane leading between properties reveals the striking tower from a triangular market area north of the Tally Ho Inn. St John is a church of the later medieval period with fabric largely from the 15th and 16th centuries and almost entirely in the Perpendicular style. The church follows the basic layout of nave and chancel with a western tower, the nave being augmented with aisles and a northern transept and southern porch whilst there is south chancel chapel to the chancel. All would appear to have been built in a single campaign begun in the late 15th century and completed early in the 16th, perhaps a replacement for an earlier church and funded by the then relative prosperity of the small market town. During the late 16th, 17th and 18th century many of the original windows were replaced with later versions. The church's stand-out feature is its western tower which is capped by a wood-shingled spire. The church received a typical Victorian restoration in 1884 which merely refreshed the existing arrangement without adding new features. The market area has ample parking and it is merely a short stroll along the narrow lane to the churchyard which is entered though a set of wooden gates. The churchyard is extensive and devoid of any significant obstacles for the photographer.