England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Ellington All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Ellington lies in west central Huntingdonshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Bedfordshire. Ellington is located about 6 miles west of the county town of Huntingdon. Ellington is a mid-sized and compact village sitting next to the busy A14 road which connects the ports of Felixstowe and Harwich, across the country to the M1 & M6 motorway, locally it connects Huntingdon with Kettering. Ellington sits on land rising away from the flatlands of the Fens, the underlying limestone giving better drainage and forming an excellent substrate for the arable farming which would have dominated Ellington's economy. Ellington is drained eastwards by the Ellington Brook, a tributary of the Great Ouse which is joined near Huntingdon and eventually reaches the North Sea through The Wash. Ellington is sited at 20 metres above the sea in gently undulating countryside rising to local heights of just over 50 metres nearby. Ellington parish was fairly typically sized for its area, it covered around 2,700 acres and would have supported a population of about 450 parishioners. In Domesday times Ellington was held by Ramsey Abbey and could offer 14 ploughs as well as small meadows.

The Church

All Saints' church sits at the heart of Ellington, the lanes forming the village describe a rough half circle with High Street being the curved portion, All Saints sits on the southern side of High Street at the apex of the curve. The church shows features of two distinct construction periods. The chancel and northern aisle doorway are characteristically 13th century and Early English Gothic. The remainder of the church, including the splendidly slender western tower, dates from the Perpendicular period albeit Pevsner is seemingly reluctant to place a build date. For once the church seems to have mainly evaded the Victorian restorers and is a fine piece showing the period very well. High Street is broad with ample parking, the church sits behind a rather interesting local stone wall, decorative openings of a "bottle-shape" design pierce the wall in an interesting feature. Metal gates give way to a long metalled path leading to the church, the churchyard is still too small to adequately encompass that high steepled tower without taking it from outside on the streets.