England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Skegby St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Skegby lies in the extreme west of Nottinghamshire, such that it forms a small part of the border with neighbouring Derbyshire. Skegby is located about 3 miles west of the industrial town of Mansfield. Skegby sits astride the B6014 road which heads westwards from Mansfield to the Derbyshire town of Matlock. The original village of Skegby sat on the western banks of the infant River Meden, the settlement has grown with industrialisation, in particular from mining growth, from those small beginnings. The economy of the parish was rather diverse, an underlying pastoral farming base was supported by coal mining, lime burning and employment in framework knitting making Skegby a prosperous place at the time of this transcript. Nowadays the area is a little postindustrial and employment declining. The River Meden drains the parish to the northeast, joining the Idle near East Retford & the Trent near Gainsborough to eventually reach the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Skegby is sited at around 150 metres above the sea and sits on the merest foothills of the Peak District which rise some way to the west, the area around Skegby rising to local heights of almost 200 metres to its west. For this area of Nottinghamshire Skegby parish was rather small, more typically sized for an East Nottinghamshire parish, it covered just over 1,400 acres and would have supported a population of around 650 parishioners. In Domesday times Skegby was held directly by the King, himself, it could offer 22 ploughs, meadows & woodland plus a mill and a fishery - a wealthy little place at that time.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits above the western banks of the Meden and just north of the B6014 accessed by a lengthy rising driveway starting opposite a modern housing development. The church is much restored and almost completely rebuilt in the 1870s, a fact bemoaned by Pevsner who finds almost all dating evidence extinguished. The western tower he dates to the 13th century and the southern aisle of the nave shows remaining features of the Decorated style preeminent in the early 14th. Beyond those few traces the remainder of the building is Victorian and clearly of little architectural interest as Pevsner's account is short and to the point. The church sits in an almost parkland setting, the curving and rising driveway leading from the Mansfield Road through an extensive churchyard. There are many trees around the church and views are somewhat restricted accordingly.