England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Sutton in Ashfield St Mary Magdalene

The Parish

The parish of Sutton in Ashfield lies in the extreme west of Nottinghamshire forming a stretch of the border with neighbouring Derbyshire. Sutton in Ashfield is located roughly 3 miles southwest of the large industrial town of Mansfield and sits on the former route of the A38 (now the B6023 thanks to a bypass) which connects Mansfield with Derby. Sutton in Ashfield is also a large industrial town, a substantial population employed largely in the local framework knitting industry. Whilst the heart of the town is its oblong shopping centre with church at its northwestern corner the town has expanded greatly and now covers almost 3 miles from southwest to northeast, indeed it is almost contiguous with both Mansfield and Kirkby in Ashfield in a broad urban sprawl. The manufacture of cotton hose and lace were the dominant trades which built this population but small scale potteries and extraction of the local limestone also offered employment, the wider parish, for it is an extensive one, offered largely pastoral farming. Modern developments have come to the area but slightly skirt Sutton in Ashfield, the railway line from Mansfield to Derby offers a park-way station on its edges whilst the modern M1 motorway stays resolutely the Derbyshire side of the county border. Sutton in Ashfield is drained southwestwards by small tributaries of the River Erewash which is soon joined, the Erewash heads south to meet the Trent near to Nottingham and thence on the latter's long journey to the North Sea arriving through the Humber Estuary. Sutton in Ashfield is sited at around 160 metres, it sits on rising ground on the forefront of the nearby southern Pennines, land reaches almost 200 metres on the nearby low hill of Windmill Hill to the southeast. As already mentioned Sutton in Ashfield parish was very extensive, reminiscent of a northern upland parish in extent, covering almost 6,000 acres it would have supported a population of a little over 6,500 parishioners, modern estimation puts the population at 48,500 today. In Domesday times, whilst obviously much smaller, Sutton in Ashfield was a profitable holding for King William, assets of 21 ploughs, extensive meadows and woodland, a fishery and a mill placed it into the top 20% of settlements recorded in that book

The Church

St Mary Magdalene's church sits north of the former route of the V38, the B6023, Lammas Road and north west of the town centre, it is accessed along Church Avenue. The church has its origins in the 12th century albeit little remains of that period today, the Norman Romanesque style pillar piscina together with a single stone in the western wall are forensically documented by Pevsner. Much more remains of the 13th century where the southern arcade, northern doorway and chancel arch are evidence of a significant church at that time. The next major changes came within the Perpendicular period, documentary evidence in the form of donations in wills place the construction of the western tower to c1390. Sadly the tower was struck by lightning in 1867 and required restoration. Following the tower the 15th century saw the addition of a clerestory, a familiar addition from this period designed to improve internal lighting. As is usual the Victorians did at least three restorations, in 1854 the chancel was rebuilt, in the 1860s the aisles were enlarged and the vestry & organ chamber added whilst in 1885 that damaged spire was also restored. There is little parking by the churchyard entrance so side -streets away from Lammas Road are best sought. Church Avenue marches directly towards imposing metal gates and a long pathway to the church. The church sits at the southern edges of a vast area of both church and civil cemetery extending way to the north and west of the compact area around the church itself, this gives ample scope for the photographer to find suitable angles of attack.