England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Collingtree St Columba

The Parish

The parish of Collingtree lies in southern central Northamptonshire roughly 3 miles south of the county town of Northampton. At the time of this transcript Collingtree was a small and compact village sitting just west of the A508 road which links Northampton with the Buckinghamshire town of Stony Stratford, how times have changed. The principal economy of this small parish was largely derived from the rich pastures that lined the tributary of the Nene that flow through, cattle being the main earner. Today modern developments have turned Collingtree into a suburb of its larger neighbour with only a small air-gap between the two, the Northampton to London railway line firstly carved through to its west and this was followed in more modern times by the M1 motorway which skims the southern edge of what was once a peaceful village. Today the A508 has been renumbered and upgraded as the A45 and forms Northampton's main link to the M1 south, the peaceful village is surrounded by out-of-town retail and fast foods establishments and it seems only a matter of time before it becomes an integral part of greater Northampton. The Nene's tributary drains the parish northwestwards to meet the same to the west of Northampton beginning a long journey to the North Sea whence it arrives through The Wash. Collingtree is sited at 80 metres above the sea in its valley setting, to the valley's south land rises gently to a local high point of just over 120 metres to the south of Courteenhall. Collingtree is one of the smaller parishes in its county, a mere 646 acres which supported a population of around 250 parishioners. In Domesday times Collingtree was a small place, indeed, a holding of one Geoffrey Alselin its assets amounted merely to 4 ploughs and a 3 acre meadow.

The Church

St Columba's church sits in the centre of the original village, an oasis of peace and calm in a much disrupted area. The church is also welcomingly ancient with some of its earliest fabric dating back to Norman Romanesque times in the 12th century. Several areas are pointed out by Pevsner as being of this era, notably the chancel's southern doorway and the eastern parts of both northern and southern arcades. The church was extended in the 13th century in the Early English Gothic style of that century, the arcades being extended westwards showing circular piers and abaci in that section. It is likely that the build extended through into the early 14th century as Decorated style windows of that era can be found in the chancel. To complete the basic design the western tower was the final addition, Perpendicular in style and probably from the latter half of the 14th century. Restorations began in the Georgian era when the northern aisle was removed in 1808, this early work was then followed by a extensive restoration in a long phase covering 1871 - 1874. Parking can be tricky in the tight village streets and close to the church there is little. The churchyard is raised well above street level and banked by local stone walls with the main entrance off Barn Cor. As a compact churchyard there is little space around the church so the better views are from outside.