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

The Parish

The parish of Beckingham lies in western south Lincolnshire, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring Nottinghamshire. Beckingham is located just south of the busy A17 road which links Newark on Trent to Sleaford, the road formerly passed through Beckingham but now it bypasses to the north. Beckingham is a compact village built largely around a square of roads, one the former A17. The village sits on the astern bank of the River Witham, here forming the border of the two counties, which flows northwards towards Lincoln and thence to the North Sea through Boston. This is prime agricultural Lincolnshire, nowadays almost totally devoted to arable farming but a more mixed regime would have predominated at the time of this transcript. Beckingham is sited at about 20 metres above the sea on a broad plain which gradually descends eastwards into the Lincolnshire Fens. Beckingham parish was relatively small even for a county of small parishes yet it supported around 460 parishioners. There is, however, no mention of Beckingham in Domesday Book despite the age of its church.

The Church

All Saints' church sits on the western side of the village square alongside the former A17 road now Sleaford Road. The church has clearly been here for a very long time, the doorways are Norman in style indicating an 11th century origin for the building. Much else in the building is in the early English style which dominated in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Only the tower, typical western setting, is later and Perpendicular. There was a restoration in the 1880s which refreshed and added a few windows but much is as it was added to over the centuries. The church sits behind a low limestone wall and is screened by quite a few mature trees. Entrance is at the southeastern corner of the site where a pair of wooden gates gives access. Once through the screening trees there are ample photographic opportunities.