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

The Parish

The parish of Hordle lies in southwestern Hampshire forming a stretch of the county's English Channel coastline. Hordle is located roughly 4 miles west of the port of Lymington and sits a mile north of the A337 which links Lymington with Christchurch. Hordle sits on the southern boundary of the New Forest and is a much-expanded village in recent times. The parish stretches from the edges of the former Royal hunting area through to the western Solent where low cliffs provide excellent views across to the iconic Needles of the Isle of Wight. Hordle's economy would, at the time of this transcript, have been largely based upon farming, a mixed regime would have been in place with early gazetteers estimating 2/3rd arable to 1/3rd pastoral. Modern developments have hastened Hordle's growth, the London to Bournemouth railway line was carved along the southern edge of the New Forest and presented nearby New Milton with a station. The growth of Christchurch and Bournemouth has seen a rapid spread of urbanisation along the route of the line such that, today, Hordle is contiguous with an urban area which spreads eastwards from Poole Harbour for almost 19 miles. As a coastal settlement Hordle is drained by numerous small streams including the Danes Stream which reaches the Solent at nearby Milford on Sea. Hordle is sited at around 30 metres above the sea and this height is a general level for some distance in gentle terrain. The parishes of western Hampshire are often extensive and Hordle parish was one of those, covering almost 3,900 acres it is large indeed for a southern rural parish; within that acreage there would have been supported a population of around 850 parishioners. In Domesday times Hordle's coastal position was exploited by the residents, the manor held by one Ralph de Mortimer boasted no fewer than 6 salt-houses as well as 4 ploughs and a mill.

The Church

The present day's All Saints church is sadly not the one in which these marriages took place, indeed it is the third such church for the parish. The medieval church, in which these events occurred, once sat on the cliff tops overlooking the Solent but of that vintage only the old churchyard remains. A replacement church, of 1831, was built to replace it on the eastern side of Hordle Lane close to its junction with Everton Road; the latter few marriages would have been here. Finally today's church was built on that site in 1872, a stolid looking red brick and slate church utilising a faux-Early English Gothic style. Pevsner is clearly not impressed by the building describing the southwestern tower as having a "clumsy pyramidal top stage" and his account is short and merely descriptive. The church benefits from a substantial lay-by in Hordle Lane permitting a handful of vehicles to park. The churchyard has quite a few trees around making the selection of aspects for the photographer a challenge.