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

The Parish

The parish of Herriard lies in northeastern Hampshire roughly 5 miles southeast of the town of Basingstoke. Herriard sits on the A339 road which links Basingstoke with Alton. There is very little to today's Herriard, a real blink and miss hamlet consisting of a few houses on the A339 and more along the strangely names Scratchface Lane, the original village was cleared by the Jervoise family to create the parkland estate of Herriard House. Sadly the early 18th century mansion was replaced by a modern edifice in 1966 but the estate retained the parkland which holds the lumps and bumps of the former village site. Like most estate villages Herriard's economy would have been driven by the needs of the House, a mixture of farming methods with arable in the majority would have employed almost all villagers. Herriard sits on porous chalk with no surface drainage for many a mile, most water makes its way subsurface to either the Loddon to the northeast or the Wey to the southeast, both rivers eventually meet the Thames before passing through the capital to the North Sea. Herriard occupies a hilltop setting at around 180 metres above the sea, a slightly higher point tops 200 metres less than a mile further west as the highest ground for some considerable distance. At just under 2,800 acres Herriard parish was extensive for a lowland arable parish, within that acreage a population of close to 400 parishioners would have been supported. In Domesday times Herriard was a very small place indeed, held by Hugh de Port it offered merely 6 ploughs as its meagre assets.

The Church

St Mary's church stands at the entrance to the estate of Herriard House opposite Scratchface Lane and standing amid parkland. The church is reputed to have been constructed at the behest of Sir Richard de Herriard but since he died in 1221 this appears to post-date some of the church's fabric. Pevsner notes small round-headed lancet windows of the 12th century Norman Romanesque style on the southern face of the nave to contradict the story. The chancel is, however, genuinely of the 13th century, its lancets being headed by continuous roll mouldings of the 13th century Early English Gothic style. The original tower fell in the late medieval period but the southern doorway remains indicating it too was Early English Gothic and 13th century. A few 15th century Perpendicular styled windows were inserted in late-medieval times but much was left unaltered until Victorian times when a restoration of the late 1870s took place. Today's western tower and northern aisle were both constructed during this work alongside restoration mainly focused on the interior. The A339 is a busy road so parking should be sought either in Scratchface Lane or the entranceway to the estate, do not obstruct access, however. The church stands within an open and relatively uncluttered churchyard with few obstacles for the photographer.