England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Beeby All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Beeby lies in eastern central Leicestershire about 6 miles northeast of the city of Leicester. Beeby sits within a broad area with no significant numbered roads, the closest being the A563 which forms the northeastern bypass to Leicester and sits some 4 miles southwest of Beeby. Beeby is a very small place , little more than hamlet with no obvious village facilities remaining, most properties lie along its "Main Street" north of that road's crossing of a small brook. The area is largely dominated by small pastures which largely supported a dairy cattle regime with small pockets of arable mixed within. Beeby is drained northwestwards by that small brook, a tributary of the nearby River Soar which is joined to the north of Leicester, the Soar eventually meets the Trent and that the north Sea through the Humber Estuary. Beeby is sited at around 80 metres above the sea in undulating countryside where a local height of over 130 metres is reached a little over 2 miles to the southeast. Beeby parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering a little over 1,400 acres it would have supported a population of close to 100 parishioners. In Domesday times Beeby was a holding of Crowland Abbey offering 7 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

All Saints' church sits a hundred metres or so north of the small brook on the eastern side of Main Street where it performs a sharp left hand bend coming from the south. The church has its origins in the 13th century evidenced by the retained southern doorway showing a deeply moulded arch. The church must, however, have been largely rebuilt during the great church-building era of the 14th century as most else, barring latter restoration, dates from either the Decorated or Perpendicular styles of that century. The aisles show the former style whilst the western tower, with its curiously unfinished stump of spire gining it the name of "Beeby Tub", and the clerestory are typical Perpendicular pieces. The modern changes started in the Georgian period in 1819 when the brick chancel replaced whatever previously existed, finally in 1893 and Victorian a general restoration also added a southern porch to encompass the early door. Around the church Main Street is sufficiently wide enough to allow careful parking, the churchyard has a low brick wall surrounding with gates at the southern end, whilst a few trees crowd that western tower most angles are available for the photographer.