England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Catherington All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Catherington lies in southeastern Hampshire roughly 6 miles north of the town of Havant. Catherington sits immediately west of the A3 road which links London with Portsmouth. Catherington is a much changed place growing significantly in modern times. Early maps show a loose aggregation around the pariah church with scattered farmsteads and cottages across the extensive wider parish. Growth began in the early 20th century with large agricultural estates sold and broken up as urban dwellers sought a rural life. Following World War II Catherington grew much more quickly taking populations from the badly damaged areas of Portsmouth and growing into a small town that has spread to become contiguous with neighbouring Horndean and with Clanfield. At the time of this transcript the parish was extensively farmed with arable dominant by 2:1 over pastoral methods but also with a substantial acreage of managed woodland. Modern developments have resulted in the A3's expansion to dual-carriageway highway status north of Catherington and motorway standards as the A3M to the south. Catherington stands on porous chalk with little or no surface drainage, a stream eventually rises to the east of nearby Cowplain taking drainage through Havant to Langstone Harbour and thus to the English Channel. Much of modern day Catherington is sited at around 90-100 metres above the sea, the ancient parish church stands in the former village centre at almost 130 metres, to the west billowing chalk downs reach 157 at Broadhalfpenny Down. As already mentioned Catherington parish was extensive covering just over 5,000 acres and supported a population of close to 1,000 parishioners. Catherington is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

All Saints' church stands west of the modern suburbia of Catherington on the hilltop followed by Catherington Lane, the church has undergone a change of dedication as earlier documents name it dedicated to St Catherine. Pevsner speculates that quoins in the northern chancel chapel reflect a building style from the Saxon period and that the chis simple Saxon church was added to in the 12th century to form the basic layout of today's church. Both nave and chancel hold substantial 12th century Norman Romanesque masonry, this basic structure is augmented with chapel and aisles and with a southwestern tower placed at the western end of the southern aisle. Throughout the later medieval periods there were minor changes with Early English Gothic and Perpendicular changes to small features. It was not until 1883 that significant change was wrought as part of the Victorian restoration which besides making good the flint walling and re-roofing the aisles it added the transeptal Lady Chapel and organ chamber, the western porch was the final addition of 1989. A small lay-by is cut into the verge outside the churchyard entrance  allowing a vehicle or two to safely park, the church is placed well away from the road at the eastern end of an oblong churchyard, sadly it is enclosed on 3 sides by bordering trees which markedly limit the views available for the photographer.