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

The Parish

The parish of Upwood lies in central Huntingdonshire roughly 8 miles north of the county town of Huntingdon. Upwood is a fairly large village which sits about 2 miles west of the B1040 road which connects the town of Whittlesey with St Ives. In ancient times Upwood subsumed the neighbouring parish of Great Raveley. Much of Upwood is built around and between two parallel lanes, High Street & Huntingdon Road with cross-streets between the two. Upwood sits on the edges of the Fens, a little raised on a strip of drier ground above the low lying fenland. This slightly raised location was sufficient to enable the farming of the  village to be predominantly arable with cereals and beet forming staples. Much of the drainage hereaboyts is man influenced and drains take water from Upwood northwards into the course of the much-modified River Nene, heading onward to reach the North Sea through The Wash. Upwood is sited at just 20 metres above the sea in rather flat countryside where land barely rises a further 10 metres for some considerable difference and much is at or even below sea level nearby. Upwood parish was fairly typically sized for the area, covering close to 2,100 acres it would have supported a population of just under 400 parishioners. In Domesday times nearby Ramsey Abbey held Upwood and it was a middling sort of place offering 16 ploughs and the usual meadows, pastures and woodland.

The Church

St peter's church sits at the heart of Upwood in the junction of High Street and Church Street. The church has its origins in the immediate aftermath of the Conquest with Norman Romanesque style fabric remaining, both the northern arcade and the chancel arch, now skewed from movement, are both of this style and 12th century. There is both Decorated and Perpendicular styles within the remainder of the fabric, an indication of substantial 13th century rebuild or restoration. The western bay and western tower are good examples of this work. Like most churches St Peter received a Victorian restoration albeit Pevsner only mentions the tower as being the principal area of work. Both the High Street and Church Street are sufficiently wide enough for careful parking. The churchyard, surrounded by a low brick wall, has its main entrance from Church Street. For the photographer St Peter is something of a challenge given the number of trees within the churchyard which markedly restrict the angles available.+