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

The Parish

The parish of Goosnargh lies in central Lancashire about 6 miles northeast of the city of Preston. Goosnargh is a compact village which lies along and to the north of the B5269 road which links Longridge to, ultimately, the coast at Blackpool. Goosnargh is close to but to the east of the route of both the M6 motorway and also the main London to Glasgow railway which closely follows the motorway hereabouts. Whilst Goosnargh itself lies towards the east of the Lancashire coastal plain land in the parish rises sharply towards the foothills of the Pennines of which Longridge Fell is a notable outlier. Goosnargh parish is dominated by pastoral farming with grazing of cattle the predominant money earner. The village is set at about 70 metres above sea level most of the drainage is through small streams which make their way westwards eventually to the Irish Sea as part of the River Wyre. The parish was a large one, not atypical for a northern parish and contained a subsidiary chapel at Whitechapel for which no marriage records pertain. Goosnargh merits a terse reference in Domesday Book, in common with much of the area it merely mentions the taxable value and notes that the land was held by the King.

The Church

St Mary's church is sited close to the main street of the village, tucked away up a lane beside the Grapes Inn. Pevsner states that the building was largely rebuilt in the mid 16th century and that little remains of material before that date, others differ in that view claiming the northern wall of the chancel is 12th or 13th century. The nave is largely from the Victorian rebuild in 1869. The western tower is impressive and unusual in having a projecting spiral staircase. The church & graveyard is enclosed by a stone wall and part of the graveyard projects to the edge of the street with a path running through.