England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Farcet St Mary

The Parish

The chapelry of Farcet, its mother parish being Stanground, lies in the extreme north of Huntingdonshire forming a lengthy stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire is also not too far away. Farcet is located about 3 miles south of the Northamptonshire city of Peterborough and sits on the B1091 which links Peterborough's outer ring-road with the A15 at Yaxley. Farcet is a triangular settlement, the main axis being the B1091 but with a secondary axis extending eastwards from that road to the old course of the River Nene, it having moved to north of Peterborough. Much of the land within the chapelry is Fenland made possible by the extensive network of man-made dykes and drainage channels carving up what was at one time the vast lake of Whittlesey Mere. The result is highly fertile silts and peat-rich soils which makes the area prime growing land for high value table vegetables with onions, leeks and brassicas to the fore. Modern development have come to the area, the East Coast Main Line running from London to Edinburgh carves its way just to the west whilst the outer ring-road of Peterborough to the north now severs Farcet from Stanground as a fast dual-carriageway highway. Most drainage is heavily influenced by the requirement to keep the Fen relatively dry, most water makes its way to the Nene which crosses Fenland to reach the North Sea through The Wash. Farcet is sited between 7 (at the old Nene's course) and 20 metres above the sea in an area of largely flat land where contours only breach 30 metres once the nearby A1M is crossed to the west. Roughly 3,100 acres of Stanground parish was assigned to Farcet chapelry, that acreage supporting a population of close to 600 parishioners. Farcet is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Mary's church stands on the western side of the B1091 almost opposite to its main village junction. Despite heavy Victorian restoration enough original fabric remains to place the origins of the church into the 13th century Early English Gothic period and possibly earlier, Pevsner views the western tower as Late Norman but declines to state 12th or 13th century. Round-headed lancets grace the lower stages of the tower whilst the southern arcade shows Early English Gothic styled octagonal piers. More firmly in the 13th century are the chancel and southern chapel albeit the latter was completely rebuilt in Victorian restorations. The latest medieval fabric refers to the the southern porch which dates to the early 14th century and shows the style of the Decorated period. Two phases of Victorian restoration made many changes to the church, the first of 1852 rebuilt not only the southern chapel but also the eastern end of the chancel, the second from 1894 to 1897 tackled the western tower adding the corbel-frieze, recessed lead spire and the stair-tower as well as restoring the whole tower. As the B1091 carries much traffic a small lay-by, doubling as a bus stop but with sufficient room for a considerate parker sits outside the churchyard which has two obstacles for avoidance, a large mature tree stands at the southeaster corner whilst much of the views from the west are impaired by further mature trees, all other aspects are available to the photographer.