England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Rothwell St Mary Magdalene

The Parish

The parish of Rothwell lies in northern Lincolnshire about 3 miles southeast of the small market town of Caistor, and in the heart of Lincolnshire's Wolds. Rothwell is a small and compact village built along a valley cut into the rolling lansdscape of the Wolds and sitting just under 2 miles south of the A46 road which connects Caistor with Grimsby. Most properties in the village lie along the lane which parallels the stream with others rising up the northwestern slope forming a "T" junction at its heart. Like most Lincolnshire parishes Rothwell would have earned its income from farming, here the Wolds provided grazing to supplement the normal arable regime. The small stream which drains Rothwell northeastwards is intermittent in being on the surface but eventually emerges as the River Freshney before reaching the North Sea to the north of the port of Grimsby. Rothwell is sited at around 80 metres above the sea but in a valley surrounded by the Wolds which rise in small hills around of over 160 metres to the west. Rothwell was fairly typically sized for the Wolds, covering just under 2,900 acres it would have supported a population of close to 300 parishioners. In Domesday times Rothwell, shared between one Alfred of Lincoln and Durand Malet was also a modest place offering just 6 ploughs and some meadow but had 2 mills.

The Church

St Mary Magdalene's church sits southwest of the main portion of the village accessed by the narrow lane of School Lane. St Mary's is a very early church indeed with many features and its basic fabric from the pre-Conquest period. Anglo-Saxon work of the early 11th century is found primarily in the western tower and nave where a Saxon quoin can be found whilst the capitals show the slightly later Romanesque style, here Germanic rather than French influenced. In the following century, the 12th, the nave was augmented with matching northern & southern arcades whilst aisles, complete with typical lancet windows, were added in the Early English Gothic style of the 13th century. For once there is little alteration from this early building in the Perpendicular period and it isn't until the usual Victorian restorers made their changes that much is altered. A restoration of 1892 saw work primarily in restoring the chancel as well as a general refresh. School Lane heads southwards off the main Caistor lane, it is very narrow and thankfully terminates with a small parking and turning area for church visits. Even from this area the church is screened by a thick belt of trees through which a path leads into an open & uncluttered churchyard with no obstacles for the photographer.