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

The Parish

The parish of Ashby Parva lies in southern Leicestershire not too far from its border with neighbouring Warwickshire. Ashby Parva is located about 3 miles north of the market town of Lutterworth and stands just over a mile west of the A426 road which connects Lutterworth with Leicester. Ashby Parva once stood midway between rail lines with 2 alternative routes from Rugby to Leicester passing it to both east & west, nowadays the former route is closely followed by the modern M1 motorway. Ashby Parva's economy would have been largely based on farming, a mixed regime but predominantly pastoral. Ashby Parva is drained northwards by a small tributary of the River Soar which is joined near Narborough, the latter flows through Leicester to join the Trent and eventually the North Sea through the Humber estuary. Ashby Parva is sited at around 140 metres above the sea and sits on a gently uplifted high point in the area, lands is only undulating and falls away in all directions. Ashby Parva parish was on the small size for its area, covering just 750 acres it would have supported a population of just under 200 parishioners. In Domesday times Ashby Parva was a tiny place, held by Robert de Bucy it could offer a single plough and an 8 acre meadow.

The Church

St Peter's church sits at the northern end of the village where the lane cuts off to Leire, it sits on the southern side of that junction. Most of the fabric we see today is late Perpendicular in style and probably dates from the late 14th into early 15th century. Pevsner speculates, however, that the asymmetry of the nave with the tower seems to imply a widening of the former during this Perpendicular period with the remainder of the nave showing earlier fabric, he hesitates to give a date for that detail. In 1866 the church received a major restoration during which the chancel and porch were complete rebuilt. The church sits, well-screened by mature trees, behind a low wall covered in ivy and other hedging foliage, the churchyard is compact and square with the church sitting diagonally across it, trees bedevil the photographer making for a difficult subject to adequately capture.