England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Great Henny St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Great Henny lies in the extreme north of Essex forming part of the border with neighbouring Suffolk. Great Henny is a rather dispersed settlement spread over the land and with no defined village centre, it is situated about 3 miles south of the Suffolk market town of Sudbury. Great Henny sits, in lanes, about 2 miles east of the A131 road which connects Sudbury with Braintree. Like most parishes in this area Great Henny was a farming parish, more mixed in regime than today where arable farming now dominates. Great Henny sits on the northern side of a small tributary of the River Stour, it flows east the short distance to join the Stour before turning south then again east to reach the North Sea through the port of Manningtree, the Stour forms the border with Suffolk through this area. The parish rises in height from Henny Street at around 25 metres to the properties by the church at 70 metres above the sea, land continues to rise more gently westwards reaching almost 90 metres by the A131. Parishes in this area tend to be rather small and Great Henny was one of those, it covered barely 1,100 acres and would have supported around 400 parishioners. In Domesday Book Great Henny was returned together with its smaller neighbour Little Henny, a complex of 5 separate holdings collectively they could offer 13 ploughs, meadows & woodland and there was also a mill making for a middling sort of place.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on something of a ridge of land reached by the narrow and dead-end road Church Lane. Whilst the church has ancient origins only the basal portion of the tower is of that original date, 12th century and Norman Romanesque in style. The remainder of the church was largely rebuilt in the 14th century and shows the Decorated style of that period. Later still, in the 15th century the corner buttresses were added to the tower, presumably to stave off collapse. The wooden broach spire which tops the tower was an 18th century addition which gives the church a unique feel. Like most churches St Mary was heavily restored by the Victorians, in this case in 1860, they also added the northern transept and the vestry. Church Lane runs to the church before scaling down into a farm track, a broadening of the lane is sufficient to provide parking by the lychgate which is shrouded within trees. Once within the churchyard there are no obstructions to photography.