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

The Parish

The parish of Toynton St Peter lies in eastern Lincolnshire about 2 miles south of the small market town of Spilsby. Toynton St Peter is one of several references to Toynton in the county and sits close by the parish of Toynton All Saints. Toynton St Peter is located just over 1 mile east of the A16 road which connects Spilsby with Boston. Of the two Toyntos St Peter is the smaller consisting of an upside-down "L" shape of properties along a series of narrow lanes, Toynton St Peter also sots at a much lower elevation within the valley of the Steeping River and its tributaries. The local economy, like so many in Lincolnshire, would have been dominated by farming, here a mixed regime would have been followed with pastoral in the majority. Most of the drainage is man-influenced and Toynton St Peter is drained not to the nearby Steeping but southwestwards by the East Fen Clearwater Drain which funnels water south to Boston and the Witham reaching the North Sea through the Witham's estuary. Toynton St Peter is sited at just 10 metres above the sea, All Saints some 30 metres higher whilst land rises to 90 metres just across the A16. Toynton St Peter parish was fairly typically sized for this area, covering just under 1,800 acres it would have supported a population of close to 450 parishioners. In Domesday times the two Toyntons were recorded together, both holdings of Ivor Tallboys, as there were two manors it is tempting to assign the assets of 3 ploughs together with the usual meadows and woodland to today's smaller settlement.

The Church

St Peter's church sits to the north of the small village accessed along the stub of Church Lane which becomes a footpath north of the church. his is a church with medieval origins that has been severely modified in Victorian times. Of the medieval the 14th century arcade and western tower are all that remain, they are both in the Perpendicular style of the latter half of that century. The western tower uses a distinguish local green-stone for its construction. All else would be unrecognisable for the participants of these marriages as the remainder of the church was rebuilt in the late 1870s. Church Lane heads north from the top of the village, it is narrow but with a wide enough verge to allow careful parking, as it visits just the church and a couple of farms before turning into a footpath it is very quiet of traffic. The churchyard has a low post and rail fence with metal gates and a diagonal path leading to the church. The churchyard is open and uncluttered with no significant obstacles for the photographer.