England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Anstey St George

The Parish

The parish of Anstey lies in the extreme northeast of Hertfordshire, separated from neighbouring Essex by a few yards of Meesden parish. Anstey is located about 4 miles northeast of the small market town of Buntingford and sits just over a mile east of the B1368 road which connects Braughing with Barkway and onward to the busy A505. Anstey is a small village which is largely built along a north to south running lane extending mostly north of its Norman motte & bailey castle site, the castle (built by the land holding night Count Eustace of Boulogne) is merely a ruin. Anstey is even today a fairly rural farming community and throughout the period of this transcript that would have provided the principal income of the parish. Anstey is drained by the River Quin which flows southwards to join the Rib at Braughing and the Lea at Hertford before heading through the East End of London to the Thames Estuary and the North Sea. Anstey is sited at around 120 metres above the sea, land is fairly gently undulating and rises locally to heights of 140 metres to the northeast. Anstey parish was fairly typically sized for its area, it would have covered just over 2,000 acres and would have supported a population of close to 500 parishioners. In Domesday times the above mentioned Eustace held the greater share along with one Hardwin of Scales, collectively the parish could only offer 8 ploughs as well as meadows & woodland.

The Church

St George's church sits within the bailey of the former castle at the southern end of the built area of the village. Hare Street makes a sharp right-angled turn as it arrives from the south. With its cruciform design one is immediately alerted to the Norman origin and Pevsner is quick to point out the Romanesque base to the crossing tower but highlights details which place the building at the very end of that period c1200. Both chancel and transepts were rebuilt during the early English Gothic period of the 13th century and show the characteristic lancet windows of that style. The windows of the clerestory and aisles are late Perpendicular in style perhaps indicating a period of change during that great church building era. As is usual the Victorians made their usual restoration, in this case in the period 1869 - 1872. The church sits on the sharp bend with access at western end through the lychgate and at the eastern end by a gravel pathway to metal gates. The churchyard is free of obstacles and most angles are available to photography.