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

The Parish

The parish of Beckingham lies in the extreme northeast of Nottinghamshire, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring Lincolnshire. Beckingham is a large and compact village located about 3 miles west of the Lincolnshire port & market town of Gainsborough. Beckingham sits astride (albeit now bypassed to the southwest) the A631 road which connects Gainsborough with Bawtry and the A1. Beckingham sits on the flood plain of the River Trent (which here forms the boundary of the two counties) and its main economy would have relied upon the rich grazing provided by those fertile but damp soils, cattle being the main livestock. The underlying soils are based on Jurassic clay and a feature of the area is the presence of oil wells exploiting that clay bed. The Trent drains northwards to reach the North Sea through the Humber Estuary and is fed by numerous man-made drains from Beckingham parish. Beckingham is sited at just 10 metres above the sea although it sits on the eastern edge of an area of higher ground, Beacon Hill, which rises to 78 metres to Beckingham's west. Beckingham parish was of a fairly typical size for the area, it covered just over 2,400 acres and would have supported a population of almost 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Beckingham was largely held by the Archbishop of York with a small portion in the hands of Roger of Bully, it could offer an impressive 50 ploughs as well as meadows, woodland, a mill and 2 fisheries, an impressive catalog indeed.

The Church

All Saints' church sits, appropriately enough, on the southern side of Church Street, Beckingham's street plan forms a lopsided square and Church Street is the northern edge of that square-shape. Pevsner notes an anomaly with regard to the dating of the church; the exterior appears to be consistently Perpendicular and he confidently places all to the 15th century as a result, however, the interior reveals that the building is 13th century in origin as all the interior carries that dates' style. Clearly a major renovation of the building took place to what is now present. Those alterations were further added to by the Victorian who undertook a renovation in 1892. The churchyard is bordered by a low brick wall and access is from the northwestern corner of the site by a metal gate. There are a few trees present which somewhat restrict the angles available for photography, in particular at the western end.