England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Inworth All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Inworth lies in eastern central Essex roughly 1 1.2 miles southeast of the market town of Kelvedon. Inworth sits on the B1023 road which links Kelvedon through to Tollesbury. Today's Inworth is little more than a hamlet, mere short run of properties along the B-road either side of the parish church. At the time of this transcript there were many more people on the land serving the dominant arable crops of the parish, early gazetteers estimate almost 85% of the acreage was set to arable crops, part of the "Golden Age" of Essex farming. Local farmers adopted sophisticated techniques, including land marling, advanced drainage, and crop rotations (incorporating turnips and clover), which maximised output for the London and Colchester markets. To the south of the parish land edged onto the substantial heathland of Tiptree Heath which would also have been exploited for typical products and pannage. Today Tiptree is the dominant settlement within this area know for its fruit farms and resultant jam. A small stream headed northwestwards drains the parish into the nearby Blackwater River which makes its way to the North Sea through Maldon, and its estuary. Inworth is sited at around 50 metres above the sea in gently rolling countryside which rises to breach the 70 metre contour in a few spots further south. Covering just under 1,600 acres Inworth parish was typically sized for this area supporting, at that time around 600 parishioners. Inworth is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

All Saints' church sits on the western side of the B1023 on a noticeable bend i the road south of the Red Dog Inn. There are two distinct ages to this church, the one very early whilst the western tower is relatively modern. Very early fabric, including Roman brick, used in the main body of the church indicates a potential pre-conquest construction date for that portion. Pevsner identifies lat Saxon or early Norman features from the 11th century in the chancel, in particular with windows in both southern & northern faces of the chancel which shoe characteristic plays the same both inside & outside. The chancel arch too is given an estimated 11th century dating, above it sits remnants of wall paintings of the like of St Nicholas from c1300. The nave appears to be slightly later than the chancel having 13th century Early English styled blank arches on both northern & southern walls. By way of contrast both the western tower, in brick, and the southern porch both date from the 1877 restoration. The church has wooden gates fronting the B-road, the verge northwards being totally worn by repeated visiting car parking, despite the churchyard being quite well wooded there are enough southern views remaining to satisfy most photographers even if other angles are impeded.