England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Marholm St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Marholm lies in the extreme northeast of Northamptonshire in that peninsula of land that penetrates into the neighbouring counties of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire and includes the city of Peterborough, an area moved between counties in 1974 reorganisation. Marholm is located roughly 5 miles northwest of Peterborough and sits close to 2 miles west of the A15 road which connects Peterborough with Lincoln. Marholm remains a distinct village, a crossroads settlement, despite the growing expansion of Peterborough, nowadays only a half mile separates it from the newest housing developments of the city. Marholm sits where land begins to rise up from the Fens onto Jurassic iron rich sand & limestones, a feature of properties in the area, which determined a mixed farming regime in this otherwise arable area. Modern developments have come to the area, the main East Coat railway line from London to Edinburgh passes through to the east of the village. Marholm is drained southwards by small streams and field drains heading for the nearby Nene, which, after padding through Peterborough, heads across the Fens to reach the North Sea through The Wash. Marholm is sited at around 15 metres above the sea in gentle terrain which rises steadily westwards reaching close to 50 metres within a couple of miles. Marholm, whilst not tiny, was a small parish in extent, covering just 1,400 acres it would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. Marholm is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book, its assets being recorded within nearby Milton manor which it shared with Castor.

The Church

St Mary's church sits southwest of the village centre in a parkland setting and accessed from the Castor Road by an unfenced and roughly surfaced track. Despite the lack of a mention in Domesday Book, the church dates back to immediately after the Conquest, the western tower being early Norman Romanesque in style and dating from the cusp of 11th & 12th centuries. The tower is short and stubby and contrasts markedly with the remainder of the church which is much later, the arcades & chancel arch are Decorated in style and date from the early 13th century whilst the chancel, perhaps the church's signature piece dates from close to the death of Sir William Fitzwilliam in 1534 and was constructed to house and honour his memorial. Of a similar date a Perpendicular style clerestory was inserted into the nave. Following a fire in the 16th century the arcades were for a long time blocked but during the Victorian restoration of 1868 they were reconstructed as part of a general refurbishment. From the Castor Road a small white sign and a cattle grid mark the start of the winding and sandy-surfaced lane which heads, unfenced, across fields to the church which has ample parking on the grass outside the churchyard. The parkland setting is typified by the ha-ha which surrounds the site permitting fabulous views uninterrupted by hedging or fencing. The photographer will find no obstructions to obtaining images.