England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Kimpton St Peter & St Paul

The Parish

The parish of Kimpton lies in the west of Hertfordshire, indeed it forms part of the county's border with neighbouring Bedfordshire. Kimpton is located about 5 miles northwest of the former market town of Welwyn. Kimpton is a substantial village sitting where the B652 road from Harpenden meets the B651 connecting St Albans with Hitchin. Much of modern Kimpton is built in the northwestern corner of that junction and along the B652. Kimpton was very much an agricultural settlement at the time of this transcript although some employment of the women was met by the straw plaiting business supplying to local hat makers in particular. Kimpton sits on the chalky area of the county and there is little surface drainage, the village follows a dry valley which eventually becomes a tributary of the River Mimram which flows eastwards to join the Lea at Hertford and thence the Thames through eastern London. Kimpton is sited at around 90 metres above the sea in gently rolling countryside, local heights top out at around 140 metres. Kimpton parish was of a fairly typical size for the area, it covered almost 3,600 acres and would have supported a population of just over 900 parishioners. In Domesday times Kimpton was held by one Bishop Odo of Bayeux, it could offer 10 ploughs,a small meadow, a wood with an impressive 9800 pigs as well as a mill.

The Church

St Peter & St Paul's church sits at the eastern end of the village on the western side of the B651 but accessed by the narrow and winding Church Lane from the main street (the B652). Much of the early evidence for this building is masked by its homogenous Perpendicular outer facing. That 15th century facade covers work showing a history back to the late 12th or early 13th centuries and probably represents a major rebuild during the 15th of a preexisting building. The best evidence for an early church lies in the six bay arcades which stand at the cusp of the Transitional and early English Gothic styles. Access to the church, which stands behind a chest-high brick wall is from Church Lane where a metal gateway grants access via a tree-lined tarred pathway. These trees limit the photographic angles available but do not unduly impede the views.