England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Weeke St Matthew

The Parish

The parish of Weeke lies in western central Hampshire roughly 1 mile northwest of the centre of the city of Winchester. Weeke sits on the B3049 road which links Winchester with Stockbridge. Weeke is a much changed place, early maps show it distinct from the city of Winchester, a short linear village lying along the Stockbridge Road with St Matthew's church at its heart, over the years Winchester has expanded to engulf Weeke turning this former small village into merely a northwestern suburb. At the time of this transcript Weeke would have been a farming parish dominated by arable farming, today it is an integral part of the city functioning largely as a dormitory suburb. Modern developments have come to Weeke, strangely Winchester's station on the London to Southampton line lies within the bounds of Weeke parish. Weeke sits on porous chalk with no surface drainage, any water making its way sub-surface to the nearby River Itchen, that river makes its way southwards through the city of Southampton to the English Channel by way of Southampton Water & the Solent. Weeke is sited at around 70 metres above the sea with land rising northwestwards onto downland where local high points reach 158 metres on nearby Teg Down. Weeke was a relatively small parish of merely 1,000 acres but would have supported a population of close to 350 parishioners, the low volume of marriages recorded is believed to be because it was more popular to be married in the nearby city. Weeke is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Matthew's church sits within the heart of the former village of Weeke, it retains a "villagey" feel despite the surrounding suburbia, on the eastern side of the Stockbridge Road as it climbs away from Winchester. Like many such small churches (it's nave and chancel combined only reach a length of 47 feet) St Matthew has fabric dating back to the earliest times of stone-built churches, the aisleless nave, southern doorway and the chancel arch are all 12th century Norman Romanesque work, Pevsner assigns an estimated date for the doorway of c1100 to c1125. The chancel is possibly 13th century and Early English Gothic, its east window contains original traces of medieval glass. Matters rested from then until the 17th century when most windows were replaced with mullioned styled versions. The Victorian period saw a typical restoration, Pevsner does not assign a dating, during which the weatherboarded bell-turret and northeastern vestry were added. There is no parking allowed upon the Stockbridge Road so visitors much find suitable places and walk to the church. The church sits within a very small churchyard with both close adjacent buildings and many trees particularly tightly packed to the north, the better views are only available from Stockbridge Road.