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

The Parish

The parish of Molesworth lies in western Huntingdonshire forming a short stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Northamptonshire. Molesworth is located roughly 11 miles northwest of the county town of Huntingdon and stands just under a quarter of a mile north of the A14 trunk road which carries heavy traffic from the East Coast ports to the Midlands motorway network. Molesworth is a small village built around two intersecting lanes which enter the village from southwest and southeast respectively. To the north of the village is the former RAF base of RAF Molesworth in service from 1917 until closure as an operational runway and now home to NATO's Intelligence Fusion Centre and the US Joint Intelligence Operations Center, Europe. Molesworth sits on relatively fertile land and is dominated by arable farming, cereals the main crop but with beet and oil-seed present, some small pastures remain from the times when a mixed regime would have been present. The modern development of the A14, upgrading a former A-road, a fast dual-carriageway highway is the main access to the village. Molesworth is drained eastwards by the Alconbury Brook which parallels the A14 until meeting the Great Ouse at Hintingdon, the Great Ouse crosses Fenland to the Norfolk port of King's Lynn from where it reaches the North Sea through The Wash. Molesworth is sited at between 40 & 60 metres above the sea on gently rising ground, a few spots nearby breach the 70 metre contour in gently undulating countryside. Molesworth parish was a thin strip elongated from north to south and totalling 1,300 acres which would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. In Domesday times Molesworth was an equally small rural manor, held by Countess Judith, it offered just 6 ploughs and a small meadow as its assets.

The Church

St Peter's church stands on the westernmost of Molesworth's lanes, Church Road, on its western side and sitting behind the brick Village Hall. The church owes its origins to the 13th century Early English Gothic era, the most original feature from that time being the southern doorway of the nave. The chancel, too, was originally 13th century but was demolished and rebuilt in 1885, it did, however, retain the design of characteristic lancet windows and did leave untouched the 13th century chancel arch and the blank arches enclosing the windows. Both the nave and the short western tower date from the later medieval period being 15th century and Perpendicular in style, the nave is aisleless and contains a 15th century wall painting of St Christopher. Other than the above work on the chancel only the porch was added during Victorian times being of 1890. Within the church there is an unusual fragment of evidence of perhaps an earlier church, a spiral-fluted column-shaft and a piece of an abacus are part of a cross and both appear to be from the 12th century Norman period, an intriguing mystery. Church Road is quiet for traffic and of adequate width for parking outside the gates, the churchyard is busy with trees so the photographer will need to seek out the better views.