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

The Parish

The parish of Brauncewell lies in the southern portion of central Lincolnshire roughly 5 miles north of the market town of Sleaford. Brauncewell sits a half mile east of the A15 road which connects Sleaford with Lincoln. There is very little to Brauncewell, a few farms and cottages scattered across a largely arable landscape, the parish holds two deserted medieval villages Brauncewell and Dunsby each mere humps and bumps when once they would have been small villages. Like most Lincolnshire parishes arable farming dominates the local economy with vast open fields of mainly cereals with a scatter of root crops such as beet and oil seed, small pastures surround the redundant church of Brauncewell. Brauncewell is drained eastwards by mainly field drains and a small brook which eventually meets the River Slea which is renamed the Kyme Eau before meeting the River Witham, here water turns straight southeast in a canalised channel to reach the North Sea through the port of Boston. Brauncewell sits at 30 metres above the sea with Dunsby 10 metres higher in gentle terrain where the local high points of the ancient Roman Ermine Street to the west touch 75 metres. Brauncewell parish was typically sized for this area covering just over 2,400 acres it would have supported a population of around 100 parishioners. Both Brauncewell and Dunsby were recorded in Domesday Book, the former held by 2 landholders recorded 6 ploughs, meadows and woodland, the latter held by Ramsey Abbey merely 3 ploughs both being tiny rural farming communities then as now.

The Church6

All Saints' church sits adjacent to Manor Farm in what is left of the former village of Brauncewell, it stands in a pastured paddock to the south of the dead-end lane that runs eastwards from the A15. The church was declared redundant in 1973 given its tiny congregation and is now managed by the Lincolnshire Old Churches Trust. The original church was built in the 16th century but little if any fabric remains following a substantial rebuild in 1814, further rebuilding was necessary in 1855 when the chancel was again rebuilt. The church has a neat western bell-turret almost a mini tower-ette atop the western end of the nave. The narrow lane has little traffic but some does need to get to Manor Farm so careful parking is required. The church is partially hidden from the road by a neat square of trees within its cattle pasture, a small metal gate grants access. Once within the trees there are no significant obstacles for the photographer.