England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Epperstone Holy Cross

The Parish

The parish of Epperstone lies in the southern portion of central Nottinghamshire roughly 10 miles northeast of the city of Nottingham. Epperstone sits a quarter mile northeast of the A6097 road, a linking road joining the A614 (Nottingham to Ollerton) road with the A46 (Leicester to Newark on Trent) road. Epperstone is made up of two distinct portions, the Main Street runs parallel to the Dover Beck and is lined with properties, including the parish church, for around 3/4s of a mile, projecting northeastwards from Main Street are two lane which climb the valley side and are embellished with narrow dead-end lanes off to each side. Like most of this area Epperstone was engaged in stocking weaving, the almost inevitable framework knitters, but the majority of the population would have been farming, early gazetteers estimate the parish acreage as 2:1 in favour of arable crops. Epperstone is drained southeastwards by the Dover Beck which soon meets the Trent and water turns to the northeast heading through Newark before turning determinedly north to reach the Humber Estuary and the North Sea. Epperstone is sited at around 40 metres above the sea at its church, land rises both sides of the valley of the Dover Beck to a general height of between 110 & 120 metres above the sea, the land being gently undulating. Epperstone parish was very similarly sized to its near neighbours covering 2,300 acres and supporting a population of close to 500 parishioners. Domesday Epperstone was shared between Ralph de Limesy, who had by far the largest share, and Roger de Bully, collectively the assets totalled 11 ploughs, some meadows and extensive tracts of woodland and no fewer then 5 mills making for a prosperous rural farming community much like today.

The Church

Main Street runs from northwest to southeast with Holy Cross church sitting on its northeastern side. The church has its origins in the 13th century but much has been altered over the centuries. The western tower shows a Geometrical western window typical of the Early English Gothic period, the inset octagonal spire which makes the church so distinctive is a later addition which Pevsner neglects to date but Historic England attributes to the 14th century. The other major Early English Githic piece is the 4-bay nave arcade complete with double-chamfered arches and quatrefoil piers. The following century saw little change to the church with the exception of the spire, a few windows here and there were renewed in the Perpendicular style and the clerestory was most probably inserted. It is the eastern end of the church which has seen the most change, the chancel, in particular, was rebuilt in the late 17th century, replaced in 1776 and restored & remodelled in the Georgian restoration of 1818 - 1821. Further restorations followed in both 1853, which rebuilt the tower arch & in 1879 which was a more generalised piece of work. Main Street is well used by locals for on-street parking. The churchyard sits well above road height with a flight of 16 steps, in 2 banks of 8, required to access it. Once inside the photographer will face quite a challenge as the church sits amongst many thick and tall conifers with very few sight-lines remaining, considerable searching is required to find acceptable views.