England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Great Amwell St John the Baptist

The Parish

The parish of Great Amwell lies in southeastern Hertfordshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Essex. Great Amwell is located about 3 miles east of the county town of Hertford and sits on the western banks of the River Lea. Great Amwell sits astride the A1170, the former route of the A10 (London to Cambridge) road which now follows a route to the west of the village, between Ware and Hoddesdon. Much of Great Amwell is built around a crossroads on the A1170 with an extension heading northwest to the Lea's crossing where St John's church can be found. Modern communications also cut through the parish, the London to Hertford rail line passing along the Lea Valley too. Great Amwell's main claim to fame was as the site of the college of the East India Company where youths bound for the administration of India were educated into the company's methods and culture. Great Amwell would have largely been an arable farming community at the time of this transcript albeit its setting in the Lea Valley would also have led to pastoral grazing on the water meadows of the valley bottom. The Lea drains the parish southwards, reaching the inner Thames Estuary through Stratford and thence to the North Sea through the greater Thames Estuary. Great Amwell is sited at around 50 metres above the sea, 10 metres lower by the church and river, in gentle countryside rising to local heights of almost 90 metres on Hertford Heath. By Hertfordshire standards Great Amwell parish was relatively small, covering just over 2,400 acres it would nevertheless have supported a population of over 1,500 parishioners. In Domesday times Great Amwell was returned as a joint entry with Little Amwell, shared between the King and Ralph of Limesy the joint parishes could offer an impressive 49 ploughs, meadows, pastures & woodland as well as a mill, a very prosperous holding indeed.

The Church

St John the Baptist's church is rather tucked away down by the River Lea and accessed by a dead-end lane, St John's Lane. The church is one of the earliest in the county and shows Norman Romanesque features that Pevsner is quick to assign an 11th century date. Particularly impressive is the apse, a feature that occurs in only 2 other Hertfordshire churches, Norman in style as well as the chancel arch which shows the round-headed form of arch characteristic of the Romanesque period. Much late is the remainder, reflecting a rebuild during the classic church-building era of the Perpendicular and characterised by the western tower. St John' is accessed from St John's Lane from a small parking area just beyond the George IV inn, a set of wooden gates lead to a shady path through evergreen trees to the churchyard. Sadly there are many trees within that churchyard and some close by to the church which somewhat limit the available photographic angles.