England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Fulbeck St Nicholas

The Parish

The parish of Fulbeck lies in southwestern Lincolnshire roughly 10 miles north of the town of Grantham. Fulbeck sits on the A607 road which links Grantham with Lincoln. Fulbeck is a crossroads village with most properties wither lining the A607 or the lanes which head east and in particular west from that road. Fulbeck is also a spring-line settlement sitting at the base of the shallow escarpment formed by Jurassic limestones which forms a spine though this area of the county, to the east land rises onto pastures which were grazed by sheep at the time of this transcript whilst westwards the parish extends onto clays of the Trent Vale, today all is largely arable. In addition to the farming the limestone was quarried both for building stone and also for lime-burning. Modern developments have come and gone from the parish, the branch railway line from Lincoln to Grantham once followed the A607 closely but has closed and left just traces of its former infrastructure. Fulbeck is drained westwards by a small stream known solely as "The Beck", this makes its way generally westwards joining with others before meeting the River Witham, that river heads north to Lincoln before it breaches the limestones and heads, in a canalised form, southeast to reach the North Sea through the port of Boston. Fulbeck is sited at around 40 metres above the sea with the escarpment rising in twin waves to 104 metres to its east. Like all of the parishes in this area Fulbeck parish is a thin slab of land, terminated at its eastern border by the ancient Roman Road of Ermine Street, extending westwards across the differing land-forms to take its share of each, it covered almost 3,600 acres making it a larger than normal Lincolnshire parish and that acreage would have supported a population of close to 700 parishioners. Whilst Fulbeck does have a Domesday entry it is one that covers a region rather than the specific manor, the assets available to Count Alan of Brittany far exceeding those expected for a simple farming manor.

The Church

St Nicholas' church sits on the northern edge of the village accessed behind the Hare & Hounds Inn along The Green Road. The church has existed since the earliest times, a fact endorsed by its 12th century font together with fragments of a Norman Romanesque styled window, it has undergone at least 2 major redevelopments since that early church was constructed. The first such change occurred in the 13th century when the church was expanded to its present footprint by the addition of Early English Gothic aisles and arcades, the basal stages of the western tower and lower courses of the chancel are also contemporary. In the early 14th century the aisles were widened and the southern doorway and porch added in the Decorated style. The great church-building period of the Perpendicular saw change once again as the tower was completed and topped with 8 pinnacles, the early clerestory was replaced and the aisles heightened. Matters rested until the Victorian period when further changes came as part of a typical restoration of 1887, the chancel arch was rebuilt during this phase but its major achievement was the east window of the chancel, a 5-light masterpiece in the style of c1300. The Green Road has ample space for parking and gives access to the short walk that takes one to the churchyard, here the photographer will find some difficulties as trees crowd the church from all angles except from the east with landscape views limited to those along the length of the church.