England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Rawreth St Nicholas

The Parish

The parish of Rawreth lies in southern Essex roughly 3 miles northwest of the town of Wickford. Rawreth sits a half mile east of the A130 road which links Chelmsford through to Canvey Island. Rawreth is a parish which has seen much change in recent times, early maps show only a small hamlet gathered around the parish church with a scatter of farms and cottages dispersed across the remainder of the parish. Today the parish is criss-crossed with major roads, energy infrastructure and hemmed in by the rapidly growing towns of Wickford, Rayleigh and Thundersley/Benfleet. At the time of this transcript Rawreth was a farming parish and largely arable, early gazetteers estimating that well over 80% of the parish acreage was in cropping, cereals would have dominated but there would have been rotation unlike today. Modern development now dominate the local area, the railway line from Wickford to South Woodham Ferrers grazes the northwest of the parish whilst the A130 has been upgraded to a fast dual-carriageway highway. Rawreth sits just south of the course of the River Crouch and a small brook drains the parish northwards into that river arriving just before river becomes estuary, the tidal estuary of the Crouch requires almost 15 miles before it eventually meets the North Sea contributing to the intricate nature of the Essex coastline. Rawreth sits at just 10 metres above the sea, land rises gently southeastwards and a few spots near Rayleigh breach the 70 metre contour as the highest land nearby. Rawreth parish was typically sized for this area, covering just under 2,400 acres it would have supported a population of close to 400 parishioners. Rawreth is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Nicholas' church stands on the southern side of Church Road just west of the A1245, the main road to Battlesbridge and the Crouch. This is a church which would not be instantly recognisable to the participants of these marriages as much was rebuilt during the Georgian and Victorian eras as well as by damage from natural and human actions. The western tower, together with the western wall and southern arcade, remain the only medieval fabric left after all of these changes, they are Perpendicular in style and are dated to the 15th century. The remainder of the church is the end product of a series of events, firstly there was a rebuild of 1823 but much of that Georgian effort was replaced in 1882 by a further rebuild which used the original foundations but added a new northern aisle, a porch and lengthened the chancel. Just 2 years later in 1884 the church was struck by an earthquake, which although minor on worldly standards dis require further repairs. Finally the church was damaged once again by enemy action in World War II in 1944, it was not uncommon for returning bombers after hitting London to discard surplus ordnance en route back to Germany, St Nicholas unfortunately got in the way and required further repairs. Parking on Church Road should be careful and considerate not only of fellow motorists but since it involves use of the pavement to pedestrians too. Whilst there are a few trees dotted about, including one firmly within the favoured aspect, they are mostly avoidable by the photographer.