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

The Parish

The parish of Lasham lies in the northeastern portion of central Hampshire roughly 4 miles northwest of the market town of Alton. Lasham is a compact mid-sized village which sits a mile east of the A339 road which links Alton with Basingstoke. Lasham consists of a double-crossroads of lanes around which properties are clumped. This area is one of Hampshire's "bread-baskets", the area was almost totally arable at the time of this transcript. Today, however, much of the parish acreage is dominated by the World War 2 aerodrome of Lasham Airfield. Whilst built to support the RAF in the war its main purpose today is as home to a local gliding club and as home to a business servicing jets. Studying the Ordnance Survey mapping of the area reveals very little surface drainage, the underlying rock type being rather porous, most water makes its way sub-surface to the River Whitewater to the northeast, continuing via the Blackwater & Loddon the Thames is reached to the southeast of Henley, thence through the capital to the North Sea. Lasham is sited at around 170 metres above the sea in rolling countryside where local high spots of just over 200 metres can be found to its east. Lasham parish was fairly typically sized for a southern arable parish, covering just under 1,600 acres it would have supported a population of close to 300 parishioners. In Domesday times Lasham was a small and rural holding of King William, himself, its assets were meagre, just 5 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

St Mary's church sits toward the eastern edge of the village on the northern side of the lane that heads east to join the B3349 at Golden Pot. Sadly this church is not the venue for these marriages as the original medieval church was demolished and replaced by today's building in the 1860s. Whilst the building may be relatively modern it is undoubtedly a picturesque one nevertheless. Built in a style of the Early English Gothic and using the thin lancet-style windows of that 13th century format. It is perhaps the shingled broach spire that caps the bell-turret and the timber-framed southern porch which makes the church so attractive. The shady lane is narrow but with adequate verges to allow very careful parking. The churchyard is surrounded by a low post & rail fence with a short flight of steps rising into the churchyard. Sadly the church sits rather close to its southern boundary, an area heavily shaded by trees and with insufficient depth to allow the favoured southeastern aspect. Most northern views are unaffected but are a challenge especially on a sunny day.