England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hambledon St Peter & St Paul

The Parish

The parish of Hambledon lies in southeastern Hampshire, not too far from not only the county border with neighbouring Sussex but also quite close to its English Channel coast. Hambledon is a large village, formerly a small market town, located about 8 miles north of the port of Portsmouth. Hambledon is mainly built along the B2150 road (Droxford to Waterlooville) and a lane which heads northeastwards off it; the village fills two small dry valleys. Despite its proximity to Portsmouth and the bustling south coast Hambledon has retained a rural feel and has not grown too much in recent times. The area around Hambledon had a largely mixed farming regime, the chalky downland providing excellent grazing for sheep and more fertile land provided good growing for arable crops, a notable feature of the area being its turnip crop. Although Hambledon has no obvious surface drainage despite its location in valleys, the headwaters of the Wallington River form a mile or so downstream and drain to the English Channel through Fareham. Hambledon is sited at around 50 metres or so but local heights rise to the east to 157 metres on Broadhalfpenny Down. Hambledon's claim to fame is, of course, its cricket and Broadhalfpenny Down was its home in the 18th century, The Bat & Ball Inn commemorating that play. Hambledon parish was a large one for a Hampshire parish, it covered just over 9,000 acres and supported a population of almost 2,100 parishioners. In Domesday times Hambledon was a relatively small place, shared between Earl Roger of Shrewsbury & William of Percy it could offer just 3 ploughs, a small wood but did possess a mill.

The Church

St Peter & St Paul's church sits behind properties and is hidden from much of the main thoroughfares of the village, a narrow tarred lane leads off High Street towards it. This church is large, as befits a substantial village, and has a very complex history. What began as a Saxo-Norman and rather small church dated to the 12th century was, in the 13th century, extensively enlarged, the former church becoming just part of the nave of the enlarged church. The 15th century saw the two-storeyed southern porch and vestry added. The building received a setback after a fire in 1794 and the western tower is a replacement from the rebuilding. As is usual the Victorians did their usual restoration, in this case in 1876, to leave the present church. Pevsner describes it as a "textbook of mediaeval church architecture" - praise indeed. The site is quite large and enclosed by a chest-height local stone wall, much ivy covered. The main entrance from High Street is un-gated and once inside the large expanse of the churchyard permits multiple photographic angles.