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

The Parish

The parish of Maidford lies in southwestern Northamptonshire roughly 8 miles northwest of the market town of Towcester. Maidford lies within an area devoid of major numbered roads, the closest such road being the A5, following the ancient Roman Route of Watling Street, which runs north from Towcester towards Rugby in Warwickshire and which lies some 4 miles east of Maidford. Maidford is a small and compact village surrounded by farmed land, its economy was underpinned by a mixture of both arable and pastoral methods in almost equal proportion, that income being supplemented by extraction of the local limestone for its burned lime and some manufacture of silk for stockings. Maidford is drained southeastwards by a tributary of the River Tove which is joined just before Towcester, the Tove eventually meets the Great Ouse to the north of Milton Keynes before joining its long journey to the North Sea arriving through The Wash at King's Lynn. Maidford is sited at around 150 metres above the sea in gently rolling countryside which rises northwards to the local height of 187 metres en route westwards to Woodford Halse. Maidford parish was toward the smaller end of parish sizes in its county, at 1,050 acres in extent it would have supported around 350 parishioners. In Domesday times Maidford was possibly smaller than even today's small village, held by Hugh de Grandmesnil it merely offered 4 ploughs and 4 furlongs of woodland.

The Church

St Peter & St Paul's church sits east of the most of the village tucked away down a narrow lane, Church Lane. The church has early origins with traces of 12th century Norman Romanesque fabric remaining around a blocked doorway of the northern aisle. The main body, however, is late of the 13th century and shows the Early English Gothic styling of that era, That 13th century styling is preserved best in the southern aisle together with the basal stages of the western tower. Both structures were, however, modified heavily when the church underwent a significant rebuild in the early 14th century, here the Decorated style was deployed particularly well in the 3-bay arcade, the southern aisle was enlarged and the tower built up to its current height and topped with its distinctive saddleback roof. At some point in the 18th century the church acquired a clerestory but the Victorian era also saw major changes as a restoration of 1879 refreshed the main fabric whilst replacing most of the windows with new tracery. Sadly the churchyard is one defined by it shady nature, aerial images show the church almost surrounded on 3 sides by thick trees taking away the northern, eastern and southeastern aspects from the photographers portfolio and making for a challenging subject on a sunny day.