England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Holcot St Mary & All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Holcot lies almost centrally within Northamptonshire and around 7 miles north of the county town of Northampton. Holcot sits about 1 mile northwest of the A43 road which links Northampton with Kettering. Holcot is a compact crossroads village sitting upon a ridge, however where once valleys rolled westwards in view there now lies the expanse of Pitsford Water reservoir, an arm of which almost arrives at Holcot's northern edges. Holcot sits in the ironstone country, a stone that was quarried for local building stone and gives a characteristic warm colour to the local cottages. The main economic activity was farming with pastoral methods dominating over arable by roughly 2:1 in  acreage. Today the reservoir serves not only as a water supply but also as a leisure facility with the southern section girdled by a combined footpath and cycle track. Holcot is drained westwards by feeder streams to the reservoir from its dam the Brampton Branch of the River Nene heads south to meet the Nene proper in Northampton from where water heads eastwards, passes through Peterborough and Fenland to reach the North Sea through The Wash. Holcot is sited at 100 metres above the sea in rolling countryside where the local tops average around 130 metres. Holcot parish was smaller than many in its area covering only a little over 1,300 acres and supporting a population of close to 450 parishioners. Domesday Holcot was a substantial rural manor shared between King William & Countess Judith, it offered an impressive 21 ploughs, some small meadows and 2 mills.

The Church

St Mary & All Saints' church sits on the western side of Main Street, the lane which arrives from the north and neighbouring Walgrave. Whilst the church has medieval origins no fewer than 3 Victorian restorations have markedly impacted on what we see today. Prior to this work the church was a fairly typical 14th century church with a mixture of both Decorated & Perpendicular styles present. Much of the nave including the arcades and aisles hails from the earlier period, the Decorated, the 3-bay arcades showing off the style well with the northern side probably built before the southern. The Perpendicular style is shown in the tower and chancel arches and in many of the untouched windows and the western tower complete with characteristic battlements. Pevsner records restorations for 1845, a thorough and perhaps over-restoration, in 1861 focussed on the chancel and finally in 1889. Main Street is widely used for on-street parking and space can usually be found near to the churchyard entrance. The churchyard is tucked away behind fronting cottages with pathway rising into it. There are trees close by to the northern face removing those from the portfolio but all other angles are available to the photographer.