England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Barnston St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Barnston lies in western central Essex roughly 3 miles southeast of the market town of Great Dunmow. Barnston sits on the A130 road which connects Great Dunmow with Chelmsford. The original small village was gathered around the A130's junction with Parsonage Lane with a few more properties along Parsonage Lane itself close to the church & hall. In more modern times the village has expanded with developments both east & west of the main road. Early gazetteers indicate that the name of the village is a contraction of Bernerstown, the name supposedly derived from the local lords of the manor, the de Berners. Like most Essex parishes Barnston would have chiefly earned its income from arable farming, the proximity to the valley of the River Chelmer, however, would have given some variation from the pastures that line its banks. The Chelmer drains the parish southeastward & then south to pass through Chelmsford then east to meet the North Sea through Maldon & the Blackwater Estuary. Barnston is sited at around 70 metres above the sea, some 25 metres higher than the nearby River Chelmer, in gentle terrain land rises steadily southwestwards to a local high spot of close to 90 metres. Barnston parish was fairly typically sized as a rural arable southern parish, covering just over 1,400 acres it would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. In Domesday times the parish was already held by the de Berners and was a small rural holding offering just 5 ploughs and the usual meadows & woodland.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits on the northern side of Parsonage Lane some 300 metres east of its junction with the A130 and in close proximity with the 16th century hall. The church, however, has very much early origins as compared with today's hall, the nave, the oldest portion of the building, being assigned, by Pevsner, to the 12th century and is Norman Romanesque in styling. Despite the modern rendering this age can be seen in a pair of northern walled windows and the plain southern doorway. The chancel is from a century later being Early English Gothic, it also shows a northern window confirming the styling, in this case a lancet characteristic of that era. The chancel shows traces of what Pevsner reveals is a former apse, removed from the east end at some time during the church's history. Also removed was a western steeple which was struck by lightning in 1665, the replacement belfry acquired its cupola in the 18th century. For once Pevsner fails to mention a Victorian restoration so if one occurred it was light & sensitive. Whilst Parsonage Lane is quite narrow, it is obvious from the wear that the verge and field entrance opposite the gates is well-used for parking. Rather ornate wrought-iron gates grant entry into a churchyard which is open and uncluttered with few obstacles to concern the photographer.