England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Spridlington St Hilary

The Parish

The parish of Spridlington lies in central Lincolnshire roughly 9 miles north of the city of Lincoln. Spridlington sits just over 2 miles east of the A15 road that links Lincoln with the Humber Bridge. Spridlington is a small and compact village having a triangular shape along a crossroads of country lanes with arsm heading west, east & north from the centre at the church. Like most Lincolnshire parishes Spridlington is an arable farming parish with large fields, largely hedge-less these days, of cereals, beet & oil seed. Spridlington is drained northeastwards by the headwaters of the River Ancholme which becomes canalised and dead straight before exiting into the outer Humber Estuary at South Ferriby. Spridlington is sited at around 20 metres above the sea in gentle terrain which rises steadily westwards to the A15, running along the Roman Ermine Street, where local high points of around 55 metres can be found. Spridlington parish is one of a series that have their western boundary at Ermine Street each forming a narrow strip of land running eastwards from that ancient boundary, the parish covers around 2,400 acres and would have supported a population of close to 300 parishioners. In Domesday times Spridlington was equally rural and small, shared almost equally between Count Alan of Brittany and a Saxon survivor, Kolsveinn, it could muster just 8 ploughs and some meadows.

The Church

St Hilary's church stands at the centre of Spridlington at the junction of Owmby Road and Church Hill from which all 3 lanes head away. Sadly this is not some medieval masterpiece but a replacement built in 1875 so not even the actual venue for these marriages. Today's church is built in a style derived from that of the 13th century and features just a nave and chancel augmented by its centrepiece at the northwestern corner, a tower, rather ornate, and topped with a distinctive saddleback roof. This stand-out piece imparts some character to what would otherwise be a typical Victorian church. Parking is perfectly practicable in Church Hill outside the churchyard which is entered by way of a short flight of 7 steps, whilst there are open areas to the southwest most angles are impeded by trees making for something of a challenge to the photographer,