England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Langton by Wragby St Giles

The Parish

There are three parishes named Langton in Lincolnshire, the suffix of "by Wragby" is added to distinguish this from the other two. This Langton is located in eastern central Lincolnshire a mile east of the large village of Wragby and roughly equally distant from both Lincoln (12 miles northeast) and Horncastle (8 miles northwest). Langton by Wragby is a small and compact village sitting on and just south of the A158 road which connects Wragby with Horncastle. The area is intensively arable with the largely flat or gently undulating countryside dominated by cereal, oil seed and beet fields. At the time of this transcript the slightly marshy land in which the village sits would have prompted a more mixed farming regime with some pastoral farming on the wetter areas. Langton by Wragby is drained by various small streams all heading southwestwards to join the River Witham near Bardney and thence to the North Sea through the port of Boston. Langton by Wragby is sited at around 30 metres above the sea on something of a ridge albeit a shallow one, land is generally between 10 and 40 metres in a gently undulating landscape. Langton by Wragby parish was fairly typically sized for this area it covered just over 2,500 acres and would have supported a population of little more than 250 parishioners. In Domesday times Langton by Wragby was shared by no fewer than 5 landholders, Erneis of Buron, Waldin, Gilbert of Ghent, Robert the bursar & the Bishop of Durham - all with relatively small holdings; the parish collectively could offer just 4 ploughs, a small meadow and extensive woodlands.

The Church

St Giles' church sits to the south of much of the village on the northern side of an "out-and-back" lane (Church Lane) which performs a southerly loop from the A158. What appears to be a largely mediaeval church is sadly not the case, much of the church was replaced by a rebuild of 1766 and even this was replaced a century later in 1866. Only the western tower survives from the earlier periods and this is fairly typical and Perpendicular. The church is obviously of little archectural interest as Pevsner's description is perfunctory to say the least covering just 3 lines. The church sits behind a high hedge and with a border of mature tress around the churchyard it is largely hidden from Church Lane. A pair of metal gates grant access to the churchyard and once inside there are few immediate obstructions to photography.