England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Surfleet St Laurence

The Parish

The parish of Surfleet lies in southern Lincolnshire roughly 4 miles north of the market town of Spalding. Surfleet sits either side of the A16 road which connects Spalding with Boston. Everything about  is linear, the village consists of properties lining the course of the River Glen from the B1356 to the A16 and beyond as the settlement of Surfleet Seas End and the merger of the Glen with the River Welland, the wider parish, too, is a thin strip of two distinct pieces, narrow from north to south yet extended from west to east. The parish is unusual in being divided into two with a large portion separated by Dowsby parish lands. This is the heart of Lincolnshire's Fenland, the reference to "Seas End" in part of the village name being indicative of where the shoreline had been at one time before drainage efforts in the medieval period and much later, the coast line being almost 10 miles to the northeast today. The area around as famous for its Dutch-style bulb growing in more recent times with daffodils and tulips turning fields colourful in spring, the more profitable crops today are high value table vegetables and traditional cereals grown on the peat-rich soils. Modern developments have come to the parish, the railway line from Spalding to Sleaford cuts through Surfleet's station is nowadays no longer operational. Both Glen and then Welland channel water to the North Sea arriving through Fosdyke into The Wash and thence the wider sea. Surfleet is sited at just 1 metre above the sea, only the enclosing levees of the rivers rising higher as most land within the parish is at or even below sea level, it is many miles until a contour is crossed in every direction. Like many parishes including sections of reclaimed land Surfleet parish was extensive covering just over 3,700 acres which would have supported a population of close to 950 parishioners. In Domesday times Surfleet was a relatively small place held merely by a bowman, Heppo, it assets of just 3 ploughs were augmented, however, by 2 salthouses, a reference to its once coastal location.

The Church

Sr :Laurence's church sits at the junction of the B1356 (Gosberton Road) with Station Road at the western end of this linear village. Outwardly the church appears almost entirely from the later medieval style of the Perpendicular but Pevsner's forensic examination reveals traces of earlier fabric back to the 12th century. Internally the piers have square 12th century Norman Romanesque bases upon which sit further bases of the 13th century Early English Gothic style, trivial in terms of the overall church but indicative that there has been a church in continuous evolution since the earliest times. Perhaps the most talked about feature of the church is its western tower in the early 14th century style of the Decorated. This chatter is prompted by its lean, soft ground being attributed as the cause of such a tilt, many Fenland churches have detached towers given the high risk of them falling due to soft ground. It is apparent that much of what appears to be Perpendicular in style at first glance is modified from a build that began as Decorated with traces of the earlier style overlain by later work. Truly Perpendicular, however, is the chancel where documentary evidence indicates it was rebuilt from 1418, the clerestory, too, is solidly in the later style as are many windows. In the case of St Laurence there was no 19th century Victorian restoration of any consequence with only a modest repair scheme carried out in 1900 to 1908 to preserve the church just as it is. Parking on Station Road is usual as there are no restrictions and less traffic, the main entrance sits directly at the junction where metal gates pierce the typical brick and tile walling. There are many trees within the churchyard and few clear sight lines, the photographer must scout around for the better views, that in landscape form being best from across Gosberton Road.