England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Brook St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Brook lies in the western part of the Isle of Wight forming s short stretch of the island's English Channel coastline. Brook is located roughly 5 miles southeast of the port of Yarmouth and sits immediately northeast of the A3055 raod which forms the island's western coastal road from Freshwater to Ventnor. Brook consists of a long strip of properties running  between the A3055 and the more inland equivalent the B3399. Like most island small communities Brook is a farming parish, early gazetteers estimate that arable methods dominated over pastoral by a ratio of 2:1, today arable is probably even more dominant. Inland of Brook chalk rises as a dramatic ridge, being porous it carries no surface drainage, a small stream wanders northwards alongside the A3055 to reach the English Channel at Brook. Brook is sited at between 10 and 40 metres, rising steadily northeastwards, the chalk ridge is particularly dominant to the north at Compton Down's eastern summit standing at 164 metres and dominating inland views. Brook was a relatively small parish covering just 712 acres and supporting close to 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Brook was directly held by King William and was an equally small rural holding offering 4 ploughs, a small meadow but did possess a mill.

The Church

St Mary's church stands inland of the main part of the village on a knoll above the course of the B3399. Sadly the original church, described in early gazetteers as "a small edifice partly overspread with ivy, is situated on rising ground, and consists of a nave and chancel, with a low tower" met with disaster in 1862 when it was engulfed in fire. It took 2 years to rebuild a new church on the same site with only the porch-tower, an early 18th century feature sitting upon a 13th century tower arch, retained from the original building. The style of the Early English Gothic is featured in the rebuild with lancet styled windows abundant through the nave and chancel. A grassy verge north of the footpath to Dunsbury, take care not to block the entrance, provides a safe haven for a car. The lychgate for entry stands below a rising set of wooden steps climbing to the knoll on which the church sits, a potential issue for photographers as steep slopes are found away from the immediate neighbourhood of the building, thankfully there are no further obstacles present.