England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
North Somercotes St Mary

The Parish

The parish of North Somercotes lies in the extreme northeast of Lincolnshire forming a stretch of the county's North Sea coastline. North Somercotes is located roughly 8 miles northeast of the market town of Louth and sits on the coastal A1031 road which links Cleethorpes with Mablethorpe. The original village of North Somercotes lay along the A1031 as a largely linear village, detached to the south was the subsidiary settlement of Church End containing the parish church, today the village has acquired a parallel northern extension running from southeast to northwest for almost 3.4s of a mile. North Somercotes lies inland from its coastline as the sea is fringed with extensive marshlands, today they are mostly drained and turned to arable but at the time of this transcript there would have been opportunities for marshland activities such as wildfowling, reed thatch harvesting and eel fishing. The main area of the parish is and was deeply arable with rich and fertile soils ideal for cereals and root crops. In the north of the parish lies a noted nature reserve at Donna Nook. North Somercotes is drained by mostly man-made channels which trend towards Somercotes Haven where they reach the North Sea. North Somercotes is sited at around 5 metres above the sea with land at or even below that height for many miles inland. North Somercotes was a large parish, as are many which contain much reclaimed land, early gazetteers describe almost a quarter of the parish as "waste", covering almost 4,800 acres it would have supported a population of close to 800 parishioners. North Somercotes is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Mary's church sits just over a quarter mile south of the main village and the A1031 in the sub-settlement of Church End.  St Mary is a large church and most fabric within it dates from the 13th century in Early English Gothic style. The western tower together with the western 3-bays of the arcades, they are 6-bays in length having been enlarged in the 14th century, and both doorways to the chancel all show the Gothic style and date from the 13th century. Whilst this core is early the church received some improvement in the early 14th century, the aisle windows are Decorated in style and the easternmost bays of the arcades were clearly added, the tower arch on which the 13th century tower stands was also rebuilt during the 14th century. Restoration was needed very early for St Mary, a major rebuild being required in the 17th century from which date much fabric pertains. The typical Victorian restoration was thus not needed until 1908 when it was then carried out. The street passing the church, also Church End, is of ample width to support on-street parking. The church is totally screened from the road by a thick band of trees, they sits rather too close to the southern side of the church for the usual aspects to be in play, trees abound and the photographer has few options for satisfactory views.