England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Warsop St Peter & St Paul

The Parish

The parish of Warsop lies in western Nottinghamshire, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring Derbyshire. Warsop is located about 5 miles north of the industrial town of Mansfield. Warsop, today, consist of two distinct portions, the original settlement of Church Warsop on the northern banks of the the River Meden and the larger settlement of Market warsop on the southern banks, much expanded as a result of the growth in population caused by the growth in mining for coal. At the time of this transcript Warsop was a rural settlement with a mixed farming regime augmented by quarrying of the local limestone for road building and for lime burning. The opening of deep level coal mining led to dramatic growth in the area's population albeit today all are now closed. Warsop sits on the A60 road which heads northwards out of Mansfield heading for Worksop, Warsop grew up at the crossing of the River Meden. The Meden drains joining the Idle and then the Trent close to the Lincolnshire market town of Gainsborough before reaching the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Warsop is sited at around 60 metres above the sea, the area rises gently westwards towards the foothills of the Peak District. Warsop parish is typically sized for those parishes on the westward border of the county, large by southern standards, it covered almost 7,000 acres and would have supported a population of almost 1,400 parishioners. In Domesday times Warsop was shared three ways, a portion held directly by King William, a larger holding for one Roger of Bully and a tiny fraction held by a gentleman only identified as "a blind man". In total the parish could offer 7 ploughs, some woodland and a mill.

The Church

St Peter & St Paul's church sits at the heart of Church Warsop on the western side of the A60 and some 300 yards from the bridge over the Meden. The church has ancient origins and some features remain to give an early date in the Norman period of the 12th century. Pevsner cites the tower base and chancel doors as being evidence of that Romanesque period. Many other styles are represented as the building has been modified over the centuries. Early English Gothic is represented by the southern porch and southern arcade whilst the northern arcade is 14th century and Decorated in style. From the great church building period of the Perpendicular come the upper portions of the tower together with the clerestory. The church sits at the junction of Church Road and Bishop's Walk in a slightly elevated position at waist height to the road. There are some trees to the north but they do not impair photographic views.