England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Mayland St Barnabas

The Parish

The parish of Mayland lies in southeastern Essex on the Dengie Peninsula and forming a short stretch of Essex's coast with the Blackwater Estuary. Mayland lies around 7 miles southeast of the port & market town of Maldon and sits about a mile north of the B1018 road which connects Maldon with Southminster. Mayland sits at the head of its eponymous creek whilst the modern development of Maylandsea, laid out in the 1930s, sits at the head of the next creek westwards, Lawling Creek. Whilst underpinned by arable farming, Mayland's coastal location would have diversified the economy with fishing, shell-fishing, wildfowling and coastal transportation helping to keep the population employed. Today this is a haunt of wildlife and frequented by the yachting community with Maylandsea's marina providing safe haven. Small streams drain the low-lying fields into the nearby creeks and through the Blackwater Estuary to the North Sea. Mayland is sited between sea level and 17 metres above the sea, the church on its hill, which tops out at 45 metres, is one of the higher buildings in the parish. Mayland parish was narrow from east to west but crossed 2/3 of the Dengie peninsula from north to south, it was typically sized for this area covering just over 2,000 acres and would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. In Domesday Book Mayland is not mentioned but was returned as part of the Lawling entry, Lawling Hall is sited within Mayland parish. The area was shared by 4 landholders with Canterbury Abbey holding the largest portion, collectively these holdings aggregated to 23 ploughs, woodlands, a mill and a fishery and was one of the largest 20% of settlements recorded in the book, a wealthy holding indeed.

The Church

St Barnabas' church sits high on Mayland Hill and almost 1 1/2 miles from the head of Mayland Creek. Sadly this is not a mediaeval church but a replacement built in the 1860s and, thus, not even the building in which these events took place. The original church stood 300 yards closer to its village but all traces have been removed. St Barnabas is built using Kentish rag in a style from the early English Gothic period which saw its height in the early 13th century. The church was clearly of little interest architecturally for Pevsner whose account was short serving only to praise the stained glass which he felt was the best feature. The church sits on the western side of Mayland Hill behind open railed fencing, a small parking area permits a car by the entrance. The churchyard matches the rather open landscape in having no obstructions to photography.