England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Weston All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Weston lies in eastern Nottinghamshire not too far from the county's border with neighbouring Lincolnshire. Weston is located roughly 10 miles north of the market town of Newark on Trent and stands on the former route of the Great North Road (A1) now downgraded as the B1164 with the current A1 a fast dual-carriageway highway a quarter of a mile to Weston's west. Weston occupies a rather cramped position with the A1 immediately to its west whilst the London to Edinburgh East Coast Main railway line lies an equal distance to the east, between the two Weston is a small and compact village with most properties lining either the B1164 or the curving out-and-back lane to its east. Weston lies on the broad alluvial plain to the west of the mighty Trent, the soils created are thus rich and fertile making arable farming the principal economic driver for the parish. As already seen by the A1 and railway line Weston parish has met with substantial modern development, power-lines running from the Trent-side power stations complete the modernist picture. The Trent lies some 3 miles east of Weston and a small brook drains the parish that short distance, the Trent completes its journey to the sea arriving through the Humber Estuary. Weston is sited at around 20 metres above the sea with land rising steadily, if gently, westwards to reach almost 80 metres at nearby Laxton. At a little under 1,700 acres Weston parish was fairly typically sized for its area, that acreage would have supported a population of close to 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Weston was, even then, a typical rural holding of one Roger de Bully offering 8 ploughs backed by typical meadows & woodland and there was a mill.

The Church

All Saints' sits on the northern side of Main Street, this lane forms the northern arm of the village's loop of lanes. The church has its origins in the 13th century but has been much modified, in typical fashion, over the centuries since that first edition. From the 13th century, the Early English Gothic period Pevsner identifies the chancel arch, describing it as a rather crude version, the arcades and the basal stages of the stand-out western tower, it is likely that there is 13th century fabric remaining in the nave, too. The 14th century saw the church's showpiece western tower acquire its dramatic needle-thin spire, it is a landmark across this rather flat terrain for some distance. In late Perpendicular times, or even perhaps Tudor times, the clerestory was inserted to improve the church's internal lighting whilst most of the roofs date also from the 16th century. Two phases of typical Victorian restoration are recorded by Pevsner, the first of 1840 being followed by a further phase in 1880 to complete a typically complex church. Main Street is of sufficient width to allow safe on-street parking immediately outside the iron gates of the churchyard, the church being largely screened by abundant trees, a pathway leads through to the more open area immediately around the church, however enough trees remain around the eastern end to remove that favoured aspect but all other angles are open to the photographer.