England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Spilsby St James

The Parish

The parish of Spilsby lies in eastern Lincolnshire roughly 30 miles east of the county city of Lincoln. Spilsby is a small market town which sits on the A16 road (which, thankfully, now bypasses the town to its west) which links Boston with Grimsby. The market town is centred on its market place which is formed at a crossroads of the former route of the A16 with that of the B1195. From this core the town has spread mostly along the major roads forming a distinctive cross-shape, a situation being infilled by modern developments. Spilsby grew as a market for the regional agricultural produce of its hinterland, the site, occupying a distinct low hill, stands guard over the nearby crossing of the River Lymn. Besides providing a market for its local area, specialists trades that could not be supported in small villages would have been attracted to the town. The wider parish would, like most in this county, have been devoted to arable farming. The Lymn drains the parish southeastwards forming part of the Steeping River which makes its way to the North Sea through the nature reserve of Gibraltar Point. Spilsby is sited at around 40 metres above the sea, some 30 metres above the nearby Lymn and only exceeded locally by the hills around East & West Keal which reach 80 metres. Spilsby parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering just over 2,300 acres it would have supported a population of just under 1,500 parishioners. In Domesday times Spilsby was a much smaller place, held by the Bishop of Durham, better known as St Cuthbert, a small holding of just 4 ploughs, a small meadow but did possess 2 mills.

The Church

St James' church sits at the heart of Spilsby dominating the crossroads which forms its centre, the churchyard forms the southwestern quadrant of that crossroads. St James is a church with a rather varied history, a fact which leads to extensive discourse in Pevsner sorting out the events which have shaped it. The core of the church is from the first half of the 14th century and Decorated in style. The church was built simply as a typical nave & chancel church with a western tower. Soon after this simple church was completed, however, the Decorated nave was turned into an inner northern aisle as a new nave was built. Later still the original western tower was replaced by one of Perpendicular style which effectively now sits as a northwestern tower, this tower has documentary evidence dating its construction to c1529. Most churches received a make-over during Victorian times but that for St James was more extreme than most, besides restoring that which survived, scraping the exterior, the restoration of 1879 rebuilt the chancel and added a new southern aisle to result in today's broad building. Like many semi-urban churches parking close by is difficult with street parking disallowed, refuge may be sought in the nearby supermarket car park or in side streets. A low brick wall separates the churchyard from the streets but as the churchyard is compact the better views are often from outside those confines and are largely free of obstructions for the photographer.