England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Baughurst St Stephen

The Parish

The parish of Baughurst lies in the extreme north of Hampshire forming a short stretch of the border with neighbouring Berkshire. Baughurst is located about 7 miles northwest of the greatly expanded town of Basingstoke and is a curiously dispersed settlement. Baughurst sits a little over 2 miles west of the A340 road which connects Basingstoke through to Reading. There is no real defined village to Baughurst, a broad lane runs north to south and parallel to the A340 and most properties are strung out along this lane for a distance of almost a mile and a half. More modern developments largely associated with the military sites have created a substantial settlement to the north of Baughurst where built environment stretches from Tadley, in the east, through to Inhurst, in the west. The area has rather poor sandy soils and consequently was not perfect for arable agriculture, there being a selection of farming methods from arable, through pastoral to even warrenries on the least useful land. Minor streams drain Baughurst eastwards, merging to form the Foudry Brook which eventually meets the Thames just west of Reading, thence through the capital to the North Sea. Baughurst is sited at around 100 metres above the sea on something of a local high point, Browning Hill to the east of Ste Stephen's church, being the highest point around at 113 metres. Northern Hampshire parishes on the London clays & sands tend to be extensive, Baughurst parish was not one of those covering just under 1,700 acres. Within that area would have been close to 500 parishioners. Baughurst is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Stephen's church sits at the very southern end of the run of properties that form Baughurst, set into Church Road by just under 200 metres and sitting on its northern side. Sadly today's church is not the venue in which these events took place, the medieval church having been demolished to make way for the Victorian incarnation built in the mid-1840s. The only discernible piece of the original church, albeit re-set, is a blocked doorway in the Transitional style between Romanesque and Gothic which Pevsner dates to c 1210. The church was rebuilt to a design of an architect contemporary with and taught alongside Pugin and shows many of the style features of that period. Church Road is narrow and parking tricky so great care to not obstruct the road is required when visiting. The churchyard is hedged to the road with set back wooden gates granting entry, once within there are no obvious obstacles to photography.