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

The Parish

The parish of Preston Candover lies in northern central Hampshire about 8 miles south of the market town of Basingstoke. Preston Candover sits on the B3046 road which connects Basingstoke with Alresford. The B3046 follows the base of a line of chalk hills and consequently the village spreads linearly along the road with little property lying either side and covering a little over a half mile of hillside. Like many parishes in this area the nature of farming has changed markedly in recent times, at the time of this transcript sheep grazing the chalk downs would have dominated given the thin chalky soils but the advent of modern fertilisers and machinery has turned things arable and cereals now dominate the local landscape. The porous chalk doesn't permit much surface drainage but further down the valley water surfaces as a tributary of the River Itchen, the latter heads west and then south to reach the English Channel through Southampton & its Water. Preston Candover lies at around 100 metres in its shallow valley with chalk downs rising to just over 170 metres to the northwest in undulating countryside. Hampshire has a mix of small and slightly larger parishes and Preston Candover was one of the latter, covering over 3,100 acres it would have supported a population of around 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Preston Candover was quite a substantial place and was shared by no fewer than 6 landholders, collectively their holdings could muster 13 ploughs and small meadows.

The Church

Preston Candover is unusual in having two churches of St Mary, the modern one of 1884 was, of course, not the venue of these marriages and was built because of the catastrophes which the earlier church met. Modern St Mary's church sits by one of the main crossroads in the village whilst its predecessor lies almost a quarter of a mile further southwest on the northern side of the next junction. AS can be seen only a tiny portion of the original St Mary remains, the 12th century chancel having been rebuilt as a tiny church following a fire of 1681. The lancet window, Early English Gothic in style, marks this as a 12th century remnant. Parking is difficult to visit the older church so careful placing is required, the entrance sits alongside a house with a white board usually out marking the track inward. The churchyard is open & uncluttered and with no obstructions to photography.