England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Stoney Stanton St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Stoney Stanton lies in western Leicestershire abut 4 miles east of the industrial town of Hinckley. Stoney Stanton is a large village sitting on the B581 road which connects the A47 through to the A426, it sits just over a mile west of the ancient Roman route of Fosse Way which still, today, forms the eastern boundary of the parish. Much of Stoney Stanton is built around a crossroads where a north to south running lane crosses the B581 but the village has expanded greatly in recent times. Like many parts of Leicestershire Stoney Stanton would have had a more mixed farming regime than in eastern areas but that farming economy was boosted by some small scale quarrying of the local stone for road building whilst many villagers also engaged in the local stocking weaving industry. Modern developments have come to Stoney Stanton, the Leicester to Birmingham railway line cuts through to the north whilst the modern M69 motorway does the same to the west. Stoney Stanton is drained northeastwards by the headwaters of the River Soar which, after passing through Leicester, heads to the Trent and thence to the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Stoney Stanton is sited at around 90 metres above the sea in fairly gentle terrain which rises no more than a further 10 metres or so within a couple of miles. Stoney Stanton parish was fairly typically sized for its county, covering just under 1,500 acres it would have supported a population of around 650 parishioners. In Domesday times Stoney Stanton was a rather small place in the hands of the King's bursar, Robert, it could offer merely 3 ploughs together with the usual meadows & woodland.

The Church

St Michael's church sits west of the main crossroads and north of the B581 accessed by both St Michael's Court and Nock Verges it sits well back from the B581. Whilst there is a remnant of a Norman Romanesque tympanum reused as a decoration above the vestry's northern doorway, the church is essentially a mixture of Perpendicular together with 19th century additions and restoration. The noble western tower together with its recessed spire is the most striking and original piece of the building, Perpendicular and late 14th century. From a similar era is the northern arcade of four bays. There was, however, much change during the Victorian era, in the 1st campaign of the 1840s the clerestory, nave roof, chancel and southern aisle were created whilst further work 40 years later saw an extension of that southern aisle to accommodate an organ chamber whilst a matching northern aisle and vestry were added. The easiest approach for those with a car is to utilise the car park in St Michael's Court, shared with a small shopping precinct and from where a gateway leads through the tall surrounding wall into the churchyard. Given the towering spire it is thankful that the churchyard is broad enough and devoid of significant obstructions to adequately capture its full extent.