England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Long Buckby St Lawrence

The Parish

The parish of Long Buckby lies in western Northamptonshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Warwickshire. Long Buckby is located about 5 miles northeast of the large market town of Daventry and 8 miles northwest of the county town of Northampton. Long Buckby is a small town, formerly a market town, but little bigger than many large villages. Long Buckby sits on the B5385 road which forms a short link between the A428 (Northampton to Rugby) and the A5 (London to Holyhead) roads. The A5, the ancient Roman Watling Street forms the western boundary of Long Buckby parish. Today modern communications also follow this same Roman route, the Grand Union Canal, London to the northwest rail line and the M1 motorway all pass through or close by to Long Buckby's territory. Long Buckby, as its name suggests, is built for some distance along the route of the B5385 and in modern times has grown substantial developments to its east. Long Buckby's economy, at the time of this transcript, would have been dominated by agriculture, a mixed farming regime predominating, supplemented by shoemaking and the remaining legacy of being a small market town (it still possesses the infrastructure of such a town - market place, inns and many shops and businesses. Long Buckby is drained southwards by numerous small tributaries of the River Nene, this eventually making its way to the North Sea through The Wash. Long Buckby is sited on a small hill at around 140 metres above the sea, the land around undulating gently between 100 and 140 metres or so. Long Buckby parish was towards the larger end of the typical acreage of parishes in the area, it covered just under 3,500 acres and would have supported a population of just over 2,100 parishioners. In Domesday times Long Buckby was a small place, largely held by one Gunfrid of Chocques with a small holding for Count Robert of Mortain it could offer just 5 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

St Lawrence's church sits just north of the market square on the northern side of the narrow Church Street. The church's origins lie in the late 13th and early 14th centuries albeit the church has been much restored and this masks or causes doubt about the veracity of much dating evidence. Pevsner places the western tower as the earliest surviving portion and gives it a late 13th century date. Much of the windows indicate the remainder probably was built during the Decorated period of the early 14th century. Again Pevsner cites that date for the arcade, aisle walls and (with caveat) the fenestration of the chancel. The church has received 3 major restorations, the earliest in 1774, a second in 1862 and a third in 1883. Throughout the building makes great use of the local ironstone giving it a glow in evening light. The church sits in a slightly elevated site, the wall also of local ironstone, with an entrance of metal gates and kissing gate at the western end of the site. Recently planted trees will eventually surround the building restricting photography but at present there are few such restrictions.