England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Morestead

The Parish

The parish of Morestead lies in south central Hampshire about 3 miles southeast of the city of Winchester. Morestead is a tiny hamlet with little more than a scatter of cottages grouped around a crossroads of lane on the back road from Winchester to Bishop's Waltham. This is chalk country, rolling downland which used to be the home of thousands, if not more, of sheep; shepherding would have been the main occupation of menfolk in the parish. Morestead is sited in a dry valley running southwestwards off the high downs. There is no surface drainage due to the porous nature of the underlying rock type but Morestead's valley eventually reaches the River Itchen just west of Twyford. Morestead is sited at around 60 metres above sea level although land rises to its east to 176 metres at Cheesefoot Head, the local top. As well as being a tiny hamlet, Morestead's parish was atypically small for the area, at just over 1,300 acres (around half the normal size for the district) it would only have supported around 80 parishioners. There is no mention of Morestead in Domesday Book.

The Church

Morestead's church, the dedication is not recorded, is located at the southern end of the scatter of cottages close to the junction where the Owslebury road leaves the main lane. The church is very small as befits the size of the parish. Pevsner is unclear as to the date of the building, suggesting that the south and northern doorways are Norman whereas much of the rest dates from the 1830s or later. The strange western addition in brick is definitely datable to 1833. The building sits on the western side of the lane behind a tall hedge and in a slightly elevated site. A short flight of steps leads to a metal gateway giving access to the graveyard. The graveyard is compact which does somewhat restrict the photographic angles.