England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Willingale Doe St Christopher

The Parish

The parish of Willingale Doe lies in west central Essex based in the village of Willingale which its shares with its southern neighbour Willingale Spain, so much so that the two churches share the same churchyard. Willingale is located about 4 miles northeast of the market town of Chipping Ongar. Willingale sits, in lanes, about 2 miles east of the B184 road which links Chipping Ongar with Great Dunmow. Willingale is only a small village, hardly requiring two distinct parishes (they are a legacy of manor holdings) and most is located along "The Street" which runs north to south through the rather scattered village. The area is largely dominated by arable farming and it was also thus at the time of this transcript. The parish is drained westwards by a few streams and drains to form the infant River Roding which makes its way towards and through eastern Greater London to reach the Thames Estuary through Barking. Willingale is sited on a rising slope at around 70 metres above the sea, the northern part being the lower end of the village. The landscape is only mildly undulating with few contours. Willingale Doe parish was larger than its near neighbour and fairly typically sized for the area, it does, however, have a strange shape with two distinct arms almost enclosing Shellow Bowells and joined by a western strip, it covered a little over 1,700 acres and would have supported a population of around 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Willingale (Doe & Spain) was shared four ways and could offer 8 ploughs, small meadows & woodlands, notably one small part was still in Saxon hands - Swein of Essex was clearly a survivor.

The Church

St Christopher's church shares its churchyard with St Andrew of Willingale Spain, both sitting on the western side of The Street. Whilst St Christopher is undoubtedly medieval in origin it was the subject of a highly controversial and extensive Victorian restoration that left virtually no external feature untouched. As Pevsner states "even at the time it was thought to have gone to far". The chancel and nave have cores of the 14th century whilst the western tower was originally 15th century before its was almost completely rebuilt. The fateful restoration dates from the early 1850s and as well as the extensive replacement of medieval featires it added the northern aisle.  The joint churchyard is surrounded by a mid-height brick wall with a common, shared entrance leading to separate paths. The portion assigned to St Christopher is open and uncluttered with no obstacles for the photographer.