England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Nettleton St John the Baptist

The Parish

The parish of Nettleton lies in central northern Lincolnshire. Nettleton is located a mile south of the small market town of Caistor. Nettleton sits on the A46 road which connects Caistor with Market Rasen. Nettleton is a small and compact village, only a short stretch of the village fronts the main road much being on either side and on side lanes. Nettleton sits as a springline settlement at the foot of the escarpment of the chalk ridge of the Lincolnshire Wolds. The area would largely have been used for arable agriculture and little has changed today. Nettleton is drained westwards by Nettleton Beck which heads for the River Ancholme which makes for the Humber Estuary and the North Sea. Nettleton is sited at around 40 metres above the sea but land rises to the east up the escarpment to local heights of over 110 metres on Nettleton Hill a half mile to the south. Nettleton parish was fairly typically sized for the area, it covered just under 3,600 acres and would have supported a population of around 450 parishioners. In Domesday times Nettleton was shared by no fewer than 5 landholders, it was a prosperous place offering 8 ploughs, small meadows and 9 mills (although I suspect double-counting in that figure by the Norman assessors!).

The Church

St John the Baptist sits on the eastern side of the A46 in the heart of the village. The church has an early origin, Pevsner identifies the basal section of the western tower as being Saxo-Norman in age, a period perhaps as early as the 11th century. The rather roughly worked ironstone betrays its early origins. The top portion of the tower, including the belfry was added in the 15th century. The remainder of the church, unfortunately is a Victorian rebuild, or rather the product of two 19th century rebuildings. The initial rebuilding was of 1805 but this was swiftly followed by a second in 1874. The church sits in an elevated position, on the northern side of Church Street, the ironstone wall being breached by a set of stone steps leading to the church door. The site is largely open and devoid of obstacles to photography.