England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Withcall St Martin

The Parish

The parish of Withcall lies in the northeastern portion of central |Lincolnshire roughly 4 miles southwest of the market town of Louth. Withcall is located a little under 2 miles north of the A153 road which connects Louth with Horncastle. Modern day Withcall is a tiny place with just a small group of farms, together with the church, sitting in a typical valley within the Lincolnshire Wolds. To the east of the present concentration of settlement there lies the humps and bumps of the deserted medieval village that was abandoned, perhaps due to plague impacts. The area is intensively farmed with light loamy soils sitting on the Jurassic limestone giving ideal growing medium for cereals which abound. Given the rural isolation it is ironic that a railway once ran through the valley connecting Louth with Wragby, now abandoned like the village. Withcall is drained northeastwards meeting the River Lud immediately west of Louth, east of Louth the Lud's course is lost in a maze of man-made channels all designed to remove water to the nearby North Sea most arriving through Tetney. Withcall, in its valley, is sited at around 70 metres above the sea but rolling hills rise to 140 metres to the northwest on the Bluestone Heath Road. At 2,650 acres Withcall parish was toward the larger end of the scale for a Lincolnshire Wolds parish, that acreage, however, would have supported barely 100 parishioners, however. It is strange to believe but Withcall's entry in Domesday Book claims it amongst the largest 20% of settlements by population, scarcely believable given the tiny rural hamlet of today, shared between Bishop Odo of Bayeux, Rainer de Brimeux and one William Blunt its assets were those to be expected of a normal rural settlement, however, 10 ploughs backed by extensive meadows but with 2 profitable mills.

The Church

St Martin's church sits northeast of the main congregation of farms on the northern side of the narrow lane with follows the valley toward Louth. Sadly the medieval is lacking in this structure, a Victorian replacement completed in 1882. The typical nave and chancel design is augmented with a centrally placed bellcote, sitting between the nave and chancel, and with a southern porch. An attractive mix of brown and grey stones is used to create emphasis at each end, at the intersection of nave & chancel and around each door and window. The style used is based upon that of the 13th century Early English Gothic with lancet windows typical of that era. The church is accompanied by a farm to its southwest but otherwise sits amongst open fields, the lane attracts little traffic and parking at the church is a matter of considerate care. The church sits within an open and uncluttered churchyard with no significant obstacles for the photographer.