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

The Parish

The parish of Kilvington lies in the extreme southeast of Nottinghamshire forming a stretch of the border with neighbouring Leicestershire and being also within a mile or two of Lincolnshire. Kilvington is located about 7 miles south of the town of Newark on Trent and sits in an area almost devoid of significant numbered roads, the closest such road being the A1 (London to Edinburgh) road which sits almost 3 miles east of Kilvington. There is not much to Kilvington, a mere group of farmsteads on the lane between Staunton in the Vale and Orston, Kilvington is a deserted medieval village largely abandoned centuries ago. The area around is intensely fertile and largely arable which is unchanged from the time of this transcript into modern times. Modern developments did intrude for a while into this deserted area, a railway branch line between Newark and Bottesford came and was eventually decommissioned. Kilvington is drained northwards by the River Devon which joins the Smite and the Trent at Newark before making its way to the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Kilvington is sited at around 20 metres above the sea in gentle terrain where local heights barely rise above 30 metres for some considerable distance. Kilvington parish was one of the smallest in its county, covering less than 500 acres it would have held barely 50 parishioners. A measure of Kilvington's depopulation is shown by its Domesday record, here it was held by the Bishop of Lincoln and could offer 15 ploughs and extensive meadows.

The Church

St Mary's church sits east of the lane between Staunton in the Vale and Orston and is accessed by a footpath from that lane. Given the depopulated village it is uncertain what encouraged the Victorians to replace a decayed medieval church with today's structure, the congregation could have been easily satisfied at Staunton's church accessed across the grounds of the hall's estate. Today's church was constructed in 1852 in a style harking back to the Early English Gothic style of the late 12th century. Sadly the builders chose to utilise the local blue Lias stone which has heavily weathered placing the church at risk once again. The surfaced track to the church departs the lane immediately south of a severe double right-angled bend, it is unsigned. Parking can be achieved if considerate to the working farm, the church will be found on the left just before the track becomes a field path. The churchyard is tightly enclosing to the church and packed with trees making for a photographic challenge to adequately capture it.