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

The Parish

The parish of Tufton is located in the northern portion of central Hampshire. Tufton sits about 6 miles east of the market town of Andover and a mile south of the large village of Whitchurch. There is not much to Tufton, it consists of a group of properties around manor and church lying on the southern bank of the River Test, to its immediate east runs the busy A34 which connects Southampton with Oxford. The parish consists of two distinct areas, the floodplain of the Test which would have provided lush pastures for cattle and the chalk downlands to the south where sheep would have roamed. Nowadays much of these sheep-runs have been converted to cereals as a result of modern heavy machinery. The Test is headed southwards to meet the English Channel through the port of Southampton. Tufton is sited at around 70 metres above sea level and the hills to its south rise a further 40 metres or so. The parish was rather small for the area, as befits its relatively small population, and covered around 1,500 acres supporting just 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Tufton was held by Wherwell Abbey and boasted just 4 ploughs although it did possess 2 mills on the Test.

The Church

St Mary's church sits close to the river on the northern edge of the hamlet. The church has many indications of its great age, windows in the nave and the chancel arch are dateable to the Norman period of 11th/12th century and the lancets in the chancel give it an Early English date of the 13th century. Unlike many other churches in the district Pevsner does not mention the usual attentions of the Victorians and any restoration must have been very light and sensitive. The church is simple in form with just nave & chancel, there is no tower just a tiny rather stubby bell-turret. The church sits at a junction with the access track to the manor, a partially rendered brick & flint wall protects the graveyard and a wooden gateway at the southern end of the site grants access. The graveyard is fairly open but the church is strangely sited close to its northern edge and is hemmed by farm buildings from that side, otherwise photographic angles are unrestricted.