England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hertford St Andrew

The Parish

Hertford, the county town of its county of Hertfordshire, lies in the south of the county not too far from its border with neighbouring Essex, it sits roughly 21 miles north of the city of London and stands a mile west of the A10 road which links London with Cambridge. At one time the town consisted of 5 parishes but all are united nowadays into just 2 (All Saints and St Andrew). Hertford is a market town of some considerable age, its early foundation, like so many places, is lost in historical obscurity but clearly existed in Saxon times where twin forts, either side of the River Lea, were constructed to protect the infant town from Danish incursions. The arrival of the Normans saw a castle emerge on the site of the southern of these two forts and Hertford began to grow into a regional market. A charter for a market was granted by Charles II to consolidate the town's position as the market for trade and the home of specialist skills requiring a substantial population. Industry developed only scarcely and most were in trades linked to agriculture such as malting and milling. Modern developments have arrived in abundance, the Lee Navigation, Hertford being its terminus, arrived in 1767 and railways from the capital in 1843 again promoting growth but now of a more suburban nature, today both the A10 to Hertford's east and the A414 to its south have both been upgraded to highway standards to ease the once dreadful traffic issues. Hertford is drained eastwards and then south by the Lea which eventually makes its way through eastern London to meet the Thames at Blackwall, the latter as an estuary flows to the North Sea. Hertford is sited at between 40 metres at the Lea's bridges to 70 metres in its outer suburbs, to its south a few spots come close to 100 metres in relatively gentle terrain. Of the two remaining parishes St Andrew, which has subsumed both St Mary & St Nicholas parishes, largely covers the west & north of the town, it also included a stretch of rural countryside west of the town, and covered some 1,500 acres at its greatest extent, that area supporting a population of around 2,100 parishioners. Domesday Hertford was a holding of King William and recorded as a single entity, its population was, as a Saxon foundation, already large enough to place it amongst the largest 20% of settlements by population; its assets of an impressive 39 ploughs were supported by the usual meadows, pastures and woodland making for a wealthy holding for the King.

The Church

St Andrew's church stands appropriately enough on St Andrew's Street on its southern side and not too far from the busy A414 and the site of the town's castle. Sadly little remains of the medieval church which once stood here, the parish has an ancient history being documented as early as 860, early gazetteers describe as "a neat edifice, with a low embattled tower surmounted by a small spire" with fabric dating back to the 12th century. Of this church only a tiny fragment remains, the 15th century Perpendicular styled northern doorway with quatrefoil decoration of its spandrels. Today's church was rebuilt between 1868 & 1869 with its prominent tower& spire being added in 1876. The style is described in Kelly's Directory as "of the Transitional Period between Early English Gothic & Decorated with some admixture of French Gothic". The church is large with both nave and polygonal chancel augmented by nave aisles & transepts. Despite its late completion vestries were added in 1899 to the southeast and in 2013 the St Andrew's Centre was added as an extension. Like most town churches St Andrew is best visited on foot after finding a town car park. The site is rather cramped and views from the south heavily impacted by both trees and the St Andrew's Centre, a landscape view is possible from St Andrew's Street whilst the tower is best seen from Tanner's Court, all in all a difficult church to adequately record for the photographer.