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

The Parish

The parish of Stockerston lies in the extreme southeast of Leicestershire, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring Rutland and is also close to neighbouring Northamptonshire. Stockerston is located about 3 miles southwest of the Rutland market town of Uppingham, it sits on the B664 which connects Uppingham with Market Harborough. Stockerston is little more than a hamlet with what few properties there are either alongside the B road or the lane which heads westwards to church & hall. Stockerston sits in gently rolling "hunting" countryside, pastoral in the main and bordered with stout hedges. Stockerston sits on the western banks of the Eye Brook, which is dammed just to the south to form Eyebrook Reservoir, which forms the border between Leicestershire & Rutland. The Eye Brook joins the Welland just a few miles to the south and thence heads to The Wash. The main part of the hamlet is sited at around 80 metres above the sea although hall & church are some 20 metres higher. By Leicestershire standards Stockerston is a small parish, it covered less than 1,000 acres and supported only around 50 parishioners. In Domesday times it must have been a much more populous place (removed by the lords of the manor perhaps) and was shared between Hugh of Grandmesnil & Countess Judith. Stockerston at that time boasted an impressive 27 ploughs as well as meadows and a mill.

The Church

St Peter's church sits adjacent to Stockerston Hall at the western end of a narrow access lane. The church is largely of two distinct periods, the arcades are dated by Pevsner to the late 13th century whilst the rest is fairly typical of the great church building era of the Perpendicular period (late 14th to 16th centuries). The church follows the typical design with nave, chancel and western tower, albeit augmented by the arcades. At the western end of the lane you can see both gateways to church (to the right) and hall (to the left. The church stands in front of the hall and is surrounded by mature trees and the western end is tightly hemmed by still more. This limits views slightly but adequate angles can be found for photography.