England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Langton Long Blandford All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Langton Long Blandford lies in eastern central Dorset and as its suffix suggests it is close, barely 3/4 of a mile southeast. to Blandford Forum market town. Langton is a strip of a village lying along a lane paralleling the course of the River Stour and a half mile north of the A350 road which connects Blandford Forum with Poole and which runs alongside the opposite bank. The village is nowadays interrupted in its connection with Blandford Forum by the latter's bypass which cuts through between the pair. Like many Dorset parishes Langton was and still largely is a farming parish, its position in the Stour valley gives it access to pastures as well as the dominant arable on the higher chalk. The Stour drains the parish southeastwards reaching the nearby English Channel through Christchurch Harbour. Langton is sited at around 30 metres above the sea in its valley but land rises away from that onto chalk downlands reaching just over 100 metres on nearby Buzbury Rings. Langton parish was fairly typically sized for a small village parish, covering close to 1,100 acres it would have supported a population of around 200 parishioners. Langton is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

All Saints' church sits on the southern side of Langton's lane at the entrance to the grounds of Langton House. Sadly this is not some medieval masterpiece but a Victorian replacement built in 1861 and consequently is not the venue for the marriages recorded here. The church is built utilising the style of the Perpendicular perhaps in homage to the style of its predecessor. A surprisingly large church for such a small village, the basic nave, chancel and western tower is augmented by transepts and a northern arcade. Like many Victorian replacement churches it was clearly of little architectural interest for Pevsner whose account is limited to a mere 2 lines of text. The church sits behind a low wall topped with rails, there is sufficient space for a single car to park outside the gates. The churchyard is compact with many trees surrounding but not hugging the church and presenting a limited set of angles for the photographer.