England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bassingthorpe St Thomas

The Parish

The parish of Bassingthorpe lies in southwestern Lincolnshire not too far from its joint border with both Leicestershire and also with Rutland. Bassingthorpe is located about 7 miles southeast of the market town of Grantham and sits a little over 2 miles east of the B6403 road (which follows the ancient Roman route of Ermine Street) which connects Ancaster with Colsterworth. Bassingthorpe is a tiny place, little more than a hamlet, the parish was a closed parish with most land held by the Earl of Dysart which resulted in no formal village developing. An intensely arable area, cereal production would have dominated the local economy. Modern developments did, however, come to the parish as the London to Edinburgh East Coast Main railway line cuts through the west of the parish. Bassingthorpe is drained by a small tributary of the West Glen River which heads initially east and turns south and once again east to meet the Welland to the north of Spalding and thence to the North Sea through The Wash. Bassingthorpe sits on something of a ridge at around 100 metres above the sea, to its west land rises to the Jurassic escarpment with local heights topping just over 120 metres above the drop to the Vale of Belvoir. A typical small Lincolnshire parish, Bassingthorpe covered just under 1,800 acres and would have supported a population of almost 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Bassingthorpe was equally small, held by Ivo Tallboys it could muster just a pair of ploughs together with meadows and fairly extensive woodland.

The Church

St Thomas' church sits on the northern side of the wandering lane that passes through Bassingthorpe, opposite the moated site of the Earl's former residence. The church has ancient origins with traces remaining of Norman Romanesque work of the 12th century, the chancel arch, often the oldest part of a church, is a good example of this era as is the slightly later southern arcade. Much else is from the following style fashion of Early English Gothic which is normally believed to cover the 1st half of the 13th century. The western tower and main body of the chancel are cited by Pevsner as good examples of this period. The four-light windows of the north face of the nave and of the southern aisle are rare examples of Elizabethan work whilst some work too place too during the Victorian period but is left undated by Pevsner. The lane is narrow but has a broad, if somewhat muddy at times, verge for parking, the churchyard is surrounded by a low, local stone wall with a small wooden gate for entry into a churchyard with no obstructions to photography.