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

The Parish

The parish of Hemington lies in eastern Northamptonshire forming a short stretch of the border with neighbouring Huntingdonshire. Hemington is located roughly 5 miles southeast of the market town of Oundle and sits, in lanes within an area largely devoid of significant numbered roads, the closest such road being the B660, Kimbolton to Ramsey, road which lies just over 3 miles southeast of Hemington. There is very little to Hemington, a small crossroads with a group of farms and cottages and the church. Like most parishes in this area of eastern England arable farming dominated the local economy with cereals being supported with beet and oil seed today. Hemington is drained southeastwards by the Alconbury Brook which joins the Great Ouse at Huntingdon before reaching the North Sea through The Wash. Hemington is sited at around 70 metres and sits upon a largely flat plateau lying between the valleys of the Great Ouse and Nene, local spot heights do not rise much higher for many a mile. Hemington parish was fairly typically sized for an eastern arable parish, covering close to 1,300 acres it would have supported a population of close to 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Hemington was equally small, shared by two abbeys, those of Peterborough & Ramsey, its assets amounted to a mere 8 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

St Peter & St Paul's church sits just southeast of the main crossroads on the eastern side of the lane running to Luddington. Whilst the church is outwardly a typical Perpendicular church of the 14th century major changes result in only a small portion being dateable to that period. The western tower shows this style well but the remainder of the church is a mixture of two periods of renovation and rebuild. Much of the fabric dates from a rebuild in the latter third of the 17th century, Pevsner gives a date of c1660. The remainder of the church dates from the Victorian restoration, which in this case occurred in 1873, when the church was "Gothic-ized" by the restorers. Pevsner is clearly not impressed by this as his account is terse and covers a mere couple of lines of text. The lane passing the church is narrow but has sufficient verges for parking, the church sits curiously tight to the roadside behind a low local stone wall with entrance gates at the southeastern end of the site. The churchyard is open & uncluttered with no obstacles to the photographer.