England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Stainby St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Stainby lies in the remote southwest of Lincolnshire forming part of the border with neighbouring Leicestershire and being also quite close to Rutland. Stainby is located roughly 9 miles south of the market town of Grantham and a similar distance east of the Leicestershire market town of Melton Mowbray. Stainby is a very small crossroads village situated on the B676 road which connects Melton Mowbray through to the Great North Road at Colsterworth. Most properties sit just to the south of the B676. Like many Lincolnshire parishes Stainby was an arable farming settlement albeit some income came from the use of the local stone, quarries still lie around the village today. Freight lines to extract the lime & iron-stones have now largely been dismantled. Small streams drain the parish eastwards into the nearby River Witham which heads northwards eventually to reach the North Sea through the port of Boston. Stainby is sited at around 120 metres above the sea in fairly gentle terrain which rises westwards reaching 158 metres at nearby Buckminster in Leicestershire. Lincolnshire parishes are often small in extent and Stainby was no exception, covering just under 1,400 acres it would have supported a population of almost 200 parishioners. In Domesday times Stainby was equally unremarkable, held by Alfred of Lincoln it could muster just a pair of ploughs, the usual meadows & woodland but surprisingly it had 2 mills.

The Church

St Peter's church sits on the western edge of the village on the southern side of the Buckminster Road. Sadly this church is not some medieval masterpiece, indeed it is not even the venue for the events listed in this transcript. The village's original church was demolished in Victorian times and the present St Peter built in 1865. The church uses the style of the Early English Gothic period, which raises speculation as to that being the period of its predecessor. Some reused material are within the northern aisle. Otherwise the only notable feature is the western tower complete with its broach spire. Whilst the church is undoubtedly pleasant it didn't excite Pevsner whose account consist of just 3 plines of mainly descriptive text. Hall Lane to the east of the church is quieter for parking and both it and Buckminster Road have gated entrances into a churchyard with few obstacles for the photographer.