England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Little Ilford St Mary the Virgin

The Parish

The parish of Little Ilford lies in the extreme southwest of Essex, not too far from its border with neighbouring Middlesex. Little ilford is located roughly 7 miles east of the city of London and just south of the A118 road which connects London with Romford. Once Little Ilford was a discrete urban-edge village, early gazetteers describe it as largely arable in its land-use, today this is rather difficult to believe as Greater London expanded with the railway development eastwards engulfing smaller Essex communities like Little Ilford along the way. Much of the development came towards the end of the 19th century and into the 20th and continues to this day with modern apartment blocks replacing elderly Victorian terraces. Only the medieval church in its ancient churchyard survives of the former village centre and modern developments abound, the railway lines to both Colchester & Southend run through to the north and south respectively, whilst the busy dual-carriageway of the North Circular Road runs immediately east. Little Ilford is drained southwards by Barking Creek which soon meets the outer Thames Estuary. Little Ilford is sited at around 5 metres above the sea in fairly gentle terrain where local heights rise to little more than 15 metres for some distance. Little Ilford was a small parish, squeezed between larger ones, covering just over 750 acres it was small even by Essex standards, within that area a population of just under 200 parishioners would have resides, a paltry total compared to today's burgeoning population. Little Ilford is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Mary the Virgin's church sits on the southern side of Church Road roughly 200 metres west of Little Ilford Park, the road bears the number B165 as it meanders towards Upton Park. Pevsner describes the church as "a surprising survival" and so it is indeed, a 12th century survival amidst modern development. Only the nave remains in close to original fabric, largely 12th century and Norman Romanesque in style. The chancel, by contrast was replaced in brick in the 17th century whilst the northern chapel was added in the 18th century. All is topped with a timber bell turret. Church Road is lined with parking slots enabling a quick visit, the churchyard, with a wall of rough stone blocks has metal gates granting entry to what is a rather thickly wooded area making for a distinct challenge for the photographer to adequately capture the building.