England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Raithby cum Maltby St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Raithby (the suffix "cum Maltby" being added to distinguish between the two parishes of Raithby in Lincolnshire) lies in northeastern Lincolnshire. Raithby is located about 2 miles southwest of the market town of Louth. Raithby is just a very small hamlet with few properties other than a scatter of farms & cottages lying in a valley on the eastern slopes of the Lincolnshire Wolds. Raithby sits a half mile west of the A153 road which connects Louth with Horncastle. The area would have largely been used for arable farming at the time of this transcript and little has changed with large fields surrounding. Raithby is drained by a small tributary of the River Lud, which it joins near Louth, from there it is much altered by the hands of man to reach the North Sea through a number of small drains and the Louth Canal. Raithby is sited at around 50 metres above the sea and the land is gently undulating, especially westwards, to local heights of around 130 metres. Raithby parish was of a fairly typical size for the area, it covered around 1,900 acres and would have supported a population of just over 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Raithby was held by Ear Hugh of Chester and could offer 6 ploughs and a small meadow

The Church

St Peter's church sits at the eastern end of the hamlet of Raithby. Unfortunately the mediaeval church was demolished and the present church erected in 1839 at the expense of the then Reverend Chaplin. The church is built in brick with a cement render and follows the Early English Gothic style. Pevsner is fairly scathing in his description describing the building as "very ornate" and having "all the gimmicks" so he was clearly not impressed with the outcome. He does acknowledge that the rebuilding has left intact the northern arcade, albeit not visible externally, which indicates a late 13th century date for the building's predecessor. The church sits within a fork of the lanes behind a low paling fence, a metal gate on the northern side of the site granting access. The church is hemmed-in by trees to both north and west restricting the angles available for photography.