England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Pickworth St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Pickworth lies in southwestern Lincolnshire about 9 miles east of the large market town of Grantham. Pickworth is a small and compact village sitting, in lanes, about 2 miles west of the A15 road which connects Bourne with Sleaford. Pickworth is typical of Lincolnshire, an arable settlement engaged in cereal growing then as now. Pickworth is one of a scatter across this slightly raised area of the county, sitting on limestone it has shallow but fertile soils making for ideal growing conditions. Pickworth is drained by small streams northeastward most are unnamed on modern maps, they all are collected by Fenland drainage schemes and funneled northwards by the South Forty Foot Drain and thence to the North Sea through the port of Boston. Pickworth is sited at around 50 metres above the sea, land rising gently westwards to the limestone escarpment above Grantham, locally to Pickworth land reaches just 80 metres or so within a couple of miles. Pickworth parish was small, as are many once out of Fenland, it covered just under 1,500 acres and would have supported a population of close to 250 parishioners. In Domesday times Pickworth was shared 3 ways, the largest portion held by Gilbert de Ghent, others with the Bishop of Durham and, a rarity, namely a Saxon Kolsveinn; collectively the parish could muster 12 ploughs as well as the usual meadows & woodland.

The Church

St Andrew's church stands at the eastern approach to the village on the northern side of the lane (Church Lane) leading to Walcot. Outwardly the church is a rare piece in that it appears to have been built entirely in the Decorated style of the early 14th century but that would appear not to be the case. The western tower has a round arched western window of Norman Romanesque style which perhaps indicates a reused piece from a prior building. The rest of the church, nave, chancel, aisles and arcades are all 14th century and fairly pure in that there has been little reworking from later periods. The only change noted by Pevsner was the rebuilding of the southern porch in 1769, if the Victorians performed their usual refresh than it was light and sensitive. The church sits a field away from the main village properties along the narrow Church Lane, thankfully a pull-in with space for a car or two makes for easy parking by the wooden gates. The churchyard has some trees but these are clustered in the northwestern corner and do not interfere with the better southern viewpoints.