England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Carlby St Stephen

The Parish

The parish of Carlby lies in the extreme southwest of Lincolnshire forming a stretch of the border with neighbouring Rutland. Carlby is located roughly 5 miles north of the market town of Stamford and sits on and west of the A6121 road which connects Stamford with Bourne. Carlby is a small and compact village, most properties lying west of the A6121 with a presence along that major road. Carlby sits almost on the border with Rutland, here formed by the West Glen River with its twin settlement Essendine just across the same. At the time of this transcript the major economy would have been farming with a mixed regime in place, the system has become much more arable in recent times. The West Glen drains the parish eastwards morphing into the Glen when its twin arrives and then crossing The Fens as the River Glen to meet the Welland and ultimately the North Sea through The Wash.Carlby is sited at around 30 metres above the sea in gently rolling countryside where local heights rise a further 20 metres or so. Carlby was a typical small Lincolnshire parish, covering just over 1,300 acres it would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners, In Domesday times Carlby was a middling sort of place, shared between 3 landholders, Robert of Stafford, Gilbert de Ghent and the Bishop of Lincoln each holding more or less similar claims; collectively the parish could muster 8 ploughs and extensive meadows and woodland.

The Church

St Stephen's church lies on the western edge of the village accessed by Church Street. St Stephen is a good example of the Early English Gothic style which has not, for once, been overly modified over the centuries. The western tower together with its broach-spire are dated by Pevsner to be pre-1300 whilst the 3-bay arcades are both of a similar date, albeit the north was built before the south. Further evidence of the style can be found in the northern aisle where the characteristic lancet windows can be found. The eastern end of the church is the portion which has been modified where a rebuild took place during that great church-building period, the Perpendicular. Here the chancel complete with chancel arch was rebuilt in this later style. For once Pevsner does not mention a Victorian restoration so if one occurred it was light and sensitive. Church Street heads west from the High Street and curls around the church-site giving ample opportunity for parking. The churchyard is cramped on a north to south axis which removes some of the better angles for photography albeit the southeastern aspect remains.