England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Holywell St John the Baptist

The Parish

The parish of Holywell lies in the extreme east of Huntingdonshire forming a lengthy stretch, here formed by the River Great Ouse, of the border with neighbouring Cambridgeshire. Holywell sits about 2 miles east of the market town of St Ives and stands a similar distance south of the A1123 road which connects St Ives all the way through to Soham in Cambridgeshire across the Fens. There are two distinct settlements within the parish, Holywell itself, is actually nowadays the smaller of the two and has twin parallel lanes north of the river with most properties between the two. Needingworth, now the larger settlement, sits on an out-and-back loop from the A1123 and has expanded in modern times into a mid-sized crossroads village, broader on its north/south axis than the east/west. Both settlements sit within the flood-plain of the Great Ouse with rich pasture-land all around and typical eastern England cereals on slightly drier ground. In more recent times the gravels of the flood-plain have been exploited and are now flooded forming good habitat for wintering wildfowl. The Great Ouse is part of the navigable waterway system and many pleasure craft and even canal boats traverse it course. The Great Ouse drains the parish eastwards crossing Fenland to reach the North Sea through the Norfolk port of King's Lynn and The Wash. Holywell is sited at around 5 metres above the sea with Needingworth sitting at 10 metres in very gentle terrain where land gradually rises away from the Great Ouse reaching spot heights of 33 metres north of the A1123. Holywell was an extensive parish covering just over 3,200 acres and supporting, including with Needingworth, a population of around 950 parishioners. Domesday only records Holywell of the two settlements which was held by Ramsey Abbey, it could muster 9 ploughs backed by typical meadows & woodland.

The Church

St John's church stands at the western end of Holywell on the western side of Holywell Front which forms the riverside lane after passing it, the church stands on a low hill with the spring which grants its name to the village lying below. Like most churches St John is an amalgam of styles and periods with some puzzles which caused even Pevsner to scratch his head. The earliest portion remaining is that of the chancel which is 13th century and Early English Gothic in style showing paired lancet windows characteristic of that era. The early 14th century is best represented by the aisles and arcades which show design feature of the Decorated style. The western tower is the greatest mystery, it too shows Decorated styled bell-opening but documentary evidence show it as built between 1547 & 1551 during the Tudor era, the western window is indeed in Tudor-style. Pevsner's explanation is the re-use of material from Ramsey Abbey following Henry VIII's dissolution. The church received a major restoration of 1863 at which time today's porch and vestry were added as well as restoring, Pevsner says over-restored, the main features of the church. The verge is widened to the south of the churchyard allowing a car or two to safely park, a gap in the surrounding post& rail fencing allows entry to a churchyard which slopes markedly from north to south, all of the favoured aspects are available but slightly complicated by the that slope.