England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Great Baddow St Mary the Virgin

The Parish

The parish of Great Baddow lies in central Essex about 1 miles southeast of the county town of Chelmsford. Great Baddow, formerly a separate village, has now almost been absorbed as a suburb to Chelmsford. Great Baddow sits on the former line of the A130 road which connects Chelmsford with the coastal settlements around Southend on Sea. Great Baddow was a rather large village, it's proximity to its larger city being the only restriction preventing it becoming a market town, it is divided from its neighbour by the course of the River Chelmer whose watermeadows prevents the two completely joining. Great Baddow would have been largely an agricultural settlement at the time of this transcript with arable farming predominating, there was some industry in particular a large brewery. The Chelmer drains the parish eastwards reaching the North Sea through the port of Maldon. Great Baddow is sited at around 30 metres above the sea and the land is largely flat or gently rolling at or about that level for many a mile. Great Baddow parish was one of the larger in the area, it covered just over 3,600 acres and would have supported a population of around 2,000 parishioners - today with modern suburban developments it is much larger. In Domesday times Great Baddow was largely held by Caen Abbey albeit a small portion was in the hands of the wonderfully named Roger God-save-ladies (!), the parish could offer 17 ploughs as well as small meadows and woodlands together with a mill.

The Church

St Mary the Virgin's church sits at the heart of the former village at the junction of Church Street, High Street & Vicarage Lane. The height of the western tower together with its recessed spire makes it quite a landmark for this area. The origins of the church go back to the 13th century, the aisle arcades being in the early English Gothic style of that period stand in contrast to the remainder of the church and are indicative of a major rebuild in the 14th century. Much else is in the style of Decorated period and 14th century including that western tower. A Tudor addition sits somewhat incongruously namely the brick clerestory. The most recent major addition is the 17th century southern brick porch but changes have been occurring to as recent as 1999 whilst a significant restoration took place between 1892 & 1903. The church sits in a slightly elevated position behind high brick & flint wall, a large lychgate granting access. A few properties stand relatively closely to that western tower restricting the best angles but the churchyard is relatively open and extensive to the east granting sufficiently good photographic angles.