England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Havant St Faith

The Parish

The parish of Havant lies in southeastern Hampshire close to its border with neighbouring Sussex. Havant is located about 4 miles northeast of the port of Portsmouth and is a market town which has grown spectacularly in recent times. Havant is located on the busy A27 road which connects Southampton through to Chichester in Sussex and beyond, it is also the junction from where the A3023 runs on to Hayling Island. The old centre of Havant was at the junction of those two road which largely bypass the spreading town nowadays. From what was a compact market town, overspill and suburban growth has seen Havant spread markedly in size, largely to the north and west of its former centre. Whilst the area was largely agricultural, a mixed farming regime would have been in place, Havant also had a substantial industry in the production of parchment, a medium well-loved by genealogists. Havant is sited at the break of slope above Hampshire's low slung coastline, a substantial amount of Havant parish's edge is the wetland and marshlands of Chichester Harbour. Havant is sited at barely 10 metres above the sea and numerous creeks run southwards down to the coast, these provided some of Havant's wealth in port trade and the market in oysters. Havant parish was of a typical size for a southern parish at 2.700 acres it would have supported about 2,100 parishioners at the time of this transcript, although this is many thousands higher today. In Domesday times Havant was held by the Bishop of Winchester and supported a mere 6 ploughs although its wealth did include 2 mils and 3 salthouses.

The Church

The centre of Havant was marked by the meeting of North Street, East Street, South Street and West Street; at that notable junction (in the corner between South Street & West Street) stands the parish church of St Faith at the very heart of the former market town. The old-style cruciform design with a central tower together with the roughcast look of its stone would lead one to conclude that this was a very old church but the original 12th century church has been much modified and enlarged over the centuries and much of the detail you see today is actually Victorian. Little remains of that 12th century church except the tower crossing arches, the chancel has 13th century details and the transepts and western aisle are 15th century. Much else, including nave and the reconstructed tower date from the 1870s when the Victorians got to work. St Faith's church is only separated from the streets by a knee-high brick and stone wall, the main access is from South Street. A combination of its urban setting and some trees limit the photographic possibilities but satisfactory angles are present with a degree of searching and the right sun-angle.