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

The Parish

The parish of Titchmarsh lies in the extreme east of Northamptonshire forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Huntingdonshire. Titchmarsh is located about 2 miles northeast of the market town of Thrapston and stands just under 2 miles north of the A14 road which links Huntingdon with Kettering. Titchmarsh is a large and linear village stretching for roughly a half mile along what is shown to be an ancient Roman Road, one of a number radiating from their base at Godmanchester. Most properties line that road, High Street, or in side lanes to both north & south of it. To the south of the High Street sits the site of the moated castle of the Lords Lovel, who owned the manor, but it has been long since demolished. Titchmarsh was and still is primarily a farming community, the parish contains soils from many differing strata from a rich loam to a sticky blue clay, this melange lead to a roughly equal amount of arable and pastoral methods. The harder Jurassic rocks were quarried for local building stone, seen well in the churchyard boundary walls, and the females of the parish were renowned for their quality lace. Modern developments have come to the parish, the former railway line linking Thrapston with Oundle used to pass through but is now closed and largely dismantled, the A14, which brings traffic from the East Coast ports to the main motorway network, has been upgraded to modern high speed dual-carriageway. Titchmarsh sits just over a mile east of the valley of the River Nene and a small brook takes drainage there, the Nene heads through Peterborough, crosses the Fens and reaches the North Sea through The Wash. Titchmarsh is sited at around 50 metres above the sea in gently undulating countryside where around 75 metres constitutes a local high spot. Titchmarsh was an extensive parish for a rural southern English parish, covering almost 3,900 acres it would have supported a population of close to 900 parishioners. Even in Domesday times Titchmarsh was a substantial settlement with a population to just make it into the top 20%, shared between Henry de Ferrers, with the larger share, and Peterborough Abbey Titchmarsh had substantial assets, 20 ploughs were backed by meadows & woodland and there was also a mill.

The Church

St Mary's church sits at the western end of the village where the High Street becomes Church Street. One must first comment upon an usual feature of the churchyard which is formed by a ha-ha, sunken ditch which, in this case, holds a basal wall but more frequently a fence. The function is to create a barrier without breaking the view. The church has a complex building history that covers most of the medieval period. There are a few traces to indicate a 12th century origin, a Norman zigzag arch is reset over the priests' doorway in the chancel. There is more solid evidence for the 13th century elements of the church, the chancel, a curiously lengthy example, the northern arcade and northern chapel arcade are all examples of the Early English Gothic style. The following Decorated style of the first half of the 14th century is represented by the southern arcade. It is, however, the later 14th and 15th centuries and the Perpendicular styling to which the remainder of the church belongs and from a rebuilding campaign largely funded by the Lords Lovel. The northern transept is a fairly conventional piece but the western tower is a work of excellent craftsmanship and the church's stand-out piece. The tower has been described as the "finest church tower in England outside Somerset" and its style is reminiscent of that count's finest work. Church Street is of adequate width to allow parking outside the churchyard, apart from a small clump of evergreens to the southwest there are no obstacles for the photographer.