England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Thoresway St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Thoresway lies in northeastern Lincolnshire about 5 miles southeast of the large village of Caistor. Thoresway is little more than a hamlet sitting along a lane about 2 miles east of the B1225 road which links Caistor with Horncastle. Thoresway is very much a "strip" of property running east to west along a lane which follows a shallow chalky valley. Thoresway is located in the eastern part of the Lincolnshire Wolds, today the land is extensively used for arable agriculture but Thoresway previously made its living farming rabbits in a large warrenry. The parish is drained by the headwaters of the Waithe Beck which heads northeastwards to eventually reach the North Sea just to the south of Cleethorpes. Thoresway is sited at about 70 metres above sea level and the landscape is rolling countryside with local heights topping 120 metres. Thoresway parish is of a fairly typical size for this part of Lincolnshire covering just over 2,800 acres it supported a population of just under 200 parishioners. In Domesday time Thoresway was almost totally held by one Alfred of Lincoln and had 7 ploughs as well as 2 mills.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on the southern side of Thoresway's lane and is set slightly back and uphill behind the properties which line that lane. Much of the church dates from a thorough rebuild in the 1880s but Pevsner detects signs that the underlying building is rather early. An arch to the tower being Norman and the arcades of the former aisles being 13th century. The bell turret and its small spire are features added during the 1880 rebuild as is much of the external appearance. A gravel track leads off from the lane to access the church and the site is open and has few obstructions to photography.