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

The Parish

The parish of Hambleton lies almost centrally within the tiny county of Rutland being roughly 3 miles east of the county town of Oakham. Hambleton sits just over a mile south of the A606 road which links Oakham with Stamford in Lincolnshire. Hambleton has a very unusual position due to modern construction of the large reservoir of Rutland Water between 1971 & 1975. Where previously Hambleton had been merely a crossroads village set upon a low ridge by the valley of the River Gwash, the filling of the reservoir has left it isolated on a peninsula of land with a single road connecting back to Oakham and surrounded by water on 3 sides. At the time of this transcript Hambleton was a simple farming parish, the soils were difficult to work so roughly equal amounts of arable and pasture were worked, in addition the parish was well wooded with coppiced stands exploited for typical products and charcoal. Nowadays most of the former farmland lies beneath the reservoir with only a few hundred yards north & south of the village remaining. The unusual setting is exploited as a hotel and wedding venue, the Hambleton Hall Hotel, and the village is a curiosity sought out by tourists. Hambleton was drained eastwards by the Gwash, it now exits through the dam heads around Stamford and joins the Welland to the east of that town, the Welland crosses The Fens to reach the North Sea through The Wash. Hambleton is sited at around 120 metres above the sea and its position on the highest local ground saved it from disappearing beneath the waters which rose to the 85 metre contour. Hambleton parish once covered 4,000 acres and would have supported a population of close to 300 parishioners. Whilst Hambleton does have a Domesday entry it is clear from the assets listed that this refers to a region rather than the specific manor.

The Church

The centre of the village is at a three-way junction and St Andrew's church sits within the western angle of that junction, almost on the highest point of the village. The church has its origins in the 12th century with both southern and the blocked northern doorways surviving from the Norman Romanesque period. Much else of the church dates from a major building program spread over the entire 13th century. The arcades are dateable to the early 13th century Early English Gothic period whilst the majority of the fabric, the windows of the aisle (characteristic lancets), the tower arch & tower including the low broach-spire, all date from the later part of the same century. The only major medieval change thereafter was the typical insertion in the Perpendicular style of a clerestory from the 15th century. Also Perpendicular in style is the east window of the chancel which was also reused during the 1892 remodelling of the chancel during the near customary Victorian restoration. There is no immediate parking outside the churchyard gates but some space may be found in the now dead-end lane which heads eastwards from the junction (Ketton Road). The church sits within a churchyard which is relatively obstacle-free except for close set trees around the western tower.