England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Wilbarston All Saints

The Parish

Northamptonshire has a long northern border and the parish of Wilbarston lies close to that northern border with neighbouring Leicestershire but centrally within the overall spread of the county. Wilbarston lies roughly midway between the industrial new town of Corby and the Leicestershire market town of Market Harborough, it lies just north of the A427 road which links them and about 5 miles from each. Wilbarston is a compact village built along and either side of the B669 road which heads south to Desborough. Wilbarston is built on the upper edge of a dramatic escarpment, built from Jurassic limestone it rises in a 50 metre edge on which the village perches with fine views to the north. The area nowadays is largely arable farming but there would have been a mixed regime at the time of this transcript. Wilbarston perches at around 110 metres above sea level, the drainage for the parish is headed northeastwards to join the River Welland from whence it heads through Stamford & Spalding to The Wash. Wilbarston parish had a fairly typical size for a Northamptonshire parish, at around 2,800 acres it supported almost 700 parishioners. In Domesday times much of the land was held by one Robert of Tosny, although a portion was held directly by the King, the parish could only boast 7 ploughs and some woodland.

The Church

All Saints church lies to the north of the main village, on the brink of the escarpment, appropriately enough in Church Street. The church has ancient origins, Pevsner finds several pieces remaining from Norman (12th century) times. Much of the bulk of the church is 13th century and largely in the Decorated style including the western tower. Pevsner does also, however, bemoan the restorations carried out by the Victorians. The building is striking for its use of the local ironstone, a resource which prompted the growth of nearby Corby. The church sits in an elevated position on the south side of Church Street a shallow ramp heads up from the roadside to the wooden gates which give access. The graveyard is bordered by a local ironstone wall, there are a few trees dotted around but they do not significantly restrict photography.