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

The Parish

The parish of Stapleford lies in northeastern Leicestershire, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring Rutaland and is also not too far from neighbouring Lincolnshire. Stapleford is located about 4 miles east of the market town of Melton Mowbray. There is no real village at Stapleford merely farms and cottages across a landscape dominated by the estate of the Earls of Harborough and its grand house, now a country house hotel. Stapleford sits on a lane a mile south of the B676 road which connects Melton Mowbray with the A1 (Great North Road) at the Lincolnshire village of Colsterworth. The activities of Stapleford would have been largely dictated by the needs of the Harborough's estate and would have revolved around pastoral farming. Stapleford is drained by the River Eye which heads westwards joining, in turn, the Wreake, Soar and Trent before reaching the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Stapleford is sited at around 80 metres above the sea, as it sits within the valley of the Eye it is lower than the local landscape which is undulating to local heights in excess of 130 metres. Stapleford parish was fairly typically sized for eastern Leicestershire, it covered almost 2,200 acres and would have supported a population of around 180 parishioners. In Domesday times Stapleford was a prosperous place, it was held by one Henry of Ferrers and could offer 18 ploughs, large meadows and 2 mills.

The Church

St Mary Magdalene's church sits within the grounds of the estate, now the hotel grounds of Stapleford Park Hotel. Access is along the main entrance way of the estate and the church sits to its south around 200 yards from that grand entrance gate. The church is of the 18th century, commissioned by the 4th Earl of Harborough in 1783. The execution, for once, wins great praise from Pevsner who describes it as "oustanding for its date". With nave, chancel & western tower the building follows the standard layout augmented by chapels and transepts, the entrance, unusually, is through the western end by a lobby under the elegantly slim tower. The church sits within its parkland setting approached along the driveway and surrounded by mature trees. These do somewhat restrict available photographic angles, however.