England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Stow in Lindsey St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Stow (the suffix in Lindsey added to distinguish from the Stow near Grantham) lies in western Lincolnshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Nottinghamshire. Stow is located roughly 8 miles southeast of the inland port and market town of Gainsborough, Stow sits about a mile north of the A1500 road which links between the A15 and the A158 roads. Stow is merely a small and compact crossroads settlement whereas its near neighbour Sturton by Stow is far larger and sits directly on the A1500 with a tail leading north to its parish head. The A1500 follows a dead-straight line indicating it follows a Roman Road and Stow is believed to have been originally the Roman fort of Sidnaceaster, albeit this is disputed by Pevsner. The foundation of St Mary's church prior to the Conquest (of which more below) led to the establishment of a short lived monastery but Danish ravaging of the area lead to its removal to safer areas. At the time of this transcript Stow was a typical Lincolnshire arable farming parish although the presence on map of a hamlet "Stow Pasture" indicates some variation in that closer to the River Tilt. Little has changed today with the rather flat landscape dominated by vast fields of cereals, beet or oil seed. Despite Stow's proximity to the Trent it is the Tilt which largely drains the parish southwards to meet the Witham at Lincoln before that river heads east and then southeast to meet the North Sea through the port of Boston. Stow is sited, as is Sturton, at around 15 metres above the sea, to the east the land steadily but gently rises to the ridge on which the A15 stands at around 60 metres. Covering close to 4,000 acres Stow was rather large by Lincolnshire standards with that acreage supporting a population of around 400 parishioners. In Domesday times both Stow and Sturton by Stow both were enumerated, Stow was shared by no fewer than 6 landholders with assets of just 5 ploughs whereas Sturton by Stow, held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux had 6 more with meadows & woodland too.

The Church

St Mary's church sits immediately west of the main crossroads at Stow accessed by Church Road. Pevsner opens his lengthy account by expressing that St Mary is "one of the most monumental" early parish churches of England, a fair summary of what is an exceptional early church. The exact foundation dates for the church are disputed by experts but they are certainly Anglo-Saxon and pre-Conquest. As there were 2 Bishop Aelfnorths, the founder that foundation could c975 or c1054; certainly by 1091 when it was re-founded as a monastery the church was already in existence and of today's size and broad plan. The earliest work within the church lies with the central crossing and the transepts, whichever date is correct they are marvels of Anglo-Saxon work showing the earliest development of Romanesque design, the arches which support this structure are barely 14 feet in width - a product of the basic skills prevalent at the time. Whilst most work is pre-Conquest there are aspects of the southern transept which show a more mature Romanesque styling and together with some windows have been dated to c1100. The dating of the main nave is a little complex, it is clear from architectural scars that the present nave is a rebuild, it probably carried the same original pre-Conquest date but a combination of fire and attack from Danes drove it to ruins from which it was rebuilt in the 12th century. The chancel, however, is described as a "prodigious piece of Norman display" indicating its later build date when Romanesque was in its prime, despite an extensive restoration most of the original work survives intact. As most of the church is Norman or earlier it is surprising that the present crossing tower is much later and from the Perpendicular period albeit Pevsner neglects to give an exact dating. As is usual the Victorians made their restorations with sporadic work from 1851 and 1865 being the main contributors. The side road of Church Road carries little traffic and is safe to use for on-street parking outside the gates, the church, however, is set in the southwestern corner of the churchyard and very close to the road so the better views are actually from Church Road, itself.