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

The Parish

The parish of Hilton lies in the extreme southeast of Huntingdonshire forming a lengthy stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Cambridgeshire. Hilton is located about 3 1/3 miles south of the market town of St Ives and sits on the B1040 road which together with the A1096 links St Ives through to Biggleswade in Bedfordshire. Hilton is a crossroads settlement and of a middling size, the B1040 forms the main street whilst the lanes to Fenstanton, eastwards, and Graveley, westwards, have substantial satellite clusters of properties, the whole village forms twin triangles, the larger on the eastern side of the B1040 and the smaller to the west. Hilton is an arable parish and the same applied at the time of this transcript as it does today, the land is flattish and easily worked; modern machinery have necessitated hedge removal leaving a rather prairie-like scenery of mostly cereal fields. Hilton sits within an ancient landscape with both the B1040 and the A1198 to its west following the routes of Roman roads, the latter is the ancient Ermine Street. Today's modern roads constitute the major modern development as the rather busy re-routed A14 passes through to the north of Hilton linking the eastern coastal ports with the main national motorway network as a fast dual-carriageway highway. Hilton is drained northwards by the West Brook which soon meets the River Great Ouse at St Ives, the latter heads into Fenland before turning north to reach the North Sea through the port of King's Lynn and The Wash. Hilton is sited at little more than 10 metres above the sea, land rises gradually southwestwards with a few spots near nearby Yelling cresting the 50 metre contour. Hilton parish was small by the standards of this Fenland edge area, covering just under 1,300 acres it would have supported a population of around 350 parishioners. Hilton is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Mary's church sits within the triangle of settlement east of the B1040 and is accessed by the short dead-end lane Church Lane. St Mary is a church of the late medieval period and is a mixture of the Decorated & Perpendicular styles of the 14th & 15th centuries. The Decorated style from the first half of the 14th century is represented by the western tower, a stolid feature built in the brown cobbles like the remainder. The main body of nave and chancel is Perpendicular and 15th century, the main body is augmented by arcades of 4-bays and both northern and southern aisles and appears to have been completed as a single build. Like the tower the brown cobbles appear but are mixed with some free-stone. Contemporary with the western tower is the southern doorway but it sits within 15th century porch. Inside, however, the chancel arch is clearly earlier than the rest and is dated to the 13th century Early English Gothic period by Historic England, perhaps this is a remnant of a prior building. Several windows show signs of modern restoration and those of the clerestory are entirely modern, on these events Pevsner for once remains silent. The rebuild of the northwestern buttress and internal staircase of the western tower in 1904-1906 is, however, mentioned. Church Lane passes through mid-20th century properties before ending at a parking/turning bay for residents and church visitors, the unfenced churchyard sits a few yards further on and comes without serious obstacles for the photographer.