England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Elmstead St Anne & St Lawrence

The Parish

The parish of Elmstead lies in eastern Essex roughly 4 miles east of the town of Colchester. Elmstead sits immediately south of the A120 road which links the port of Harwich with the A12 (from London to Ipswich). In addition to the small village of Elmstead, which gives the parish its name, the larger settlement of Elmstead Market sits to its south on the A133 (Colchester to Clacton on Sea) road. Early maps show that both settlements have been long in existence but whilst Elmstead, itself, consists solely of a group of farms and cottages gathered by the church, Elmstead Market has been subject to some modern growth as a commuter settlement for nearby Colchester. Like most Essex parishes Elmstead is a farming parish, its name, however, comes from an abundance of the tree Elm which resulted in almost 10% of the parish acreage being set to such woodland. The remainder was almost entirely devoted to arable cropping with cereals definitely the dominant land use. In addition to the cereal growing, the parish squeezed a short stretch of the River Colne's foreshore into its possession which would have enabled some exploitation of the latter's famous oyster beds. Modern developments also came to this narrow stretch of the parish as a branch railway line from Colchester to Brightlingsea was opened and subsequently closed whilst the remaining line from Colchester to Clacton remains. Elmstead is drained southwards by the wonderfully named Tenpenny Brook which makes its way by way of Alresford Creek to the outer Colne and the North Sea. Elmstead is sited at around 30 metres above the sea in rather flat terrain where local heights above 40 metres are some distance away. Elmstead parish was quite an extensive parish for a rural southern arable parish, covering almost 2,700 acres it would have supported a population of close to 800 parishioners most of whom would have lived in Elmstead Market. Even by Domesday times Elmstead was an important settlement in the area, sufficiently large as to be one of the largest 20% of settlements recorded in that book; held by one Swein of Essex, who appears to be a Saxon survivor, it could boast an impressive 22 ploughs, extensive meadows, pasture & woodland and also had a mill making for a wealthy holding, indeed.

The Church

St Anne & St Lawrence's church sits in the smaller settlement of Elmstead cheek-by-jowl with the fast expressway of the A120 buzzing by to its north. Whilst the Domesday Book claims Elmstead as a major settlement the church's fabric proves it was here long before, indeed Roman brickwork re-used in the Norman Romanesque doorway of the 12th century. Further early work can be found on the northern face with Pevsner pointing out 13th century "Y" tracery in the two-light windows. Most of the remainder of the church is, however, the result of typical 14th century church build, a period which saw much church renewal and creation following the ravages of the Black Death. Documentary evidence dates the southern chapel almost precisely to 1329 and in the Decorated style whilst the chancel is later in the same century and Perpendicular. The rather squat tower is unusually placed sitting over the southern porch and being no higher than the roof of the adjacent nave. At least two phases of Georgian & Victorian work added change to the church, the work of 1821 saw work to the east window greatly diminishing the chancel's breadth and dignity; that of 1897 was a more general restoration. Unfortunately some unsympathetic work in the 20th century has seen the church's charm also diminish, the render applied externally, as well as hiding the dating detail, is described by Pevsner as "depressing" whilst the brick northern extension of 1983 is all too obviously ill-fitting with that venerable Norman doorway. The church is reached across fields by a narrow lane to the east of Elmstead which ends in a substantial car-park allowing an extended visit, the churchyard is open and uncluttered with no obstacles for the photographer.