England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hamble le Rice St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Hamble le Rice, or just Hamble for short, lies on Hampshire's southern coast about 5 miles southeast of the port of Southampton. Hamble occupies a tiny area of a peninsula of land between the River Hamble and Southampton Water and sits at the end of the B3397 road which connects it with Southampton. Hamble is a village which has changed mightily over the years, early maps show a compact small village mainly lying between the church and the River Hamble, itself, with many properties lining the shore of that river frontage or along the B3397. A combination of industry and housing has expanded the village for over a mile and a half westwards until it nowadays reaches the shores of Southampton Water too. The River Hamble and its navigable waterways was the reason that Hamble came into being, founded by priors from the Abbey of Tiron in 1109 its port provided income for most of the population. Besides the transportation of goods it also provided extensive shell-fisheries that made Hamble famous, at one time, for its lobsters. It was the development of the aviation industry that first saw Hamble expand, that barely survives today but has been replaced by the unedifying sight of the BP oil terminal that dominates along with ranks of housing that has turned a small port into a near suburb of Southampton. As a coastal community Hamble has numerous small streams but the River Hamble is the prime drainage for the parish. Hamble is sited at between sea level and 15 metres in gentle terrain that barely rises significantly higher for some distance. Hamble parish was one of the smallest in the county at barely more than 400 acres within which it would have supported a population of fewer than 400 parishioners, the population today is many times greater. Hamble is not mentioned in Domesday Book despite its early foundation.

The Church

The church stands on the southern side of the B3397, here simply High Street, but set back some distance behind an extensive churchyard. The priors of Tiron created a church here as early as 1128, parts of that 12th century church, the nave for the parishioners, the chancel for the priors and the western tower were all incorporated into today's building.  These 12th century Norman Romanesque features dominate the present church but excavations of the 1970s revealed that they were merely part of a wider convent-style site with a lost range running southwards from the nave & tower. The western tower, which is built of rubble from the Isle of Wight, is an impressive feature being slender but unbuttressed thus remarkable in having stayed upright for so long. Besides the 12th century pieces the chancel is later, of the 13th century, showing the lancet style windows that characterise that Early English Gothic period. From then onwards into Victorian times little was added or removed, the usual restoration, here of the late 1870s, whereby the organ chamber was cut into the southern wall of the chancel as well as general refresh, in 1949 this organ chamber was subsequently converted into a Lady Chapel to complete today's church. High Street is well-used for street parking both outside the churchyard and westwards, a neat lychgate grants entry to a long pathway leading across the extensive churchyard to the church. The churchyard, itself, is open & uncluttered with few obstacles for the photographer.