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England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Normanton St Matthew

 

The Parish

The parish of Normanton lies towards the southeastern portion of the tiny county of Rutland. Normanton is located roughly 5 miles east of the county town of Oakham and sits about 2 miles south of the A606 road which links Oakham with the Lincolnshire town of Stamford. To sat that Normanton has changed would be an understatement, indeed the parish has changed twice in form. In the 18th century the original small village of Normanton was swept away entirely to create the parkland estate of Normanton Park with most of the villagers removed to nearby Empingham. Finally in the 1970s the site was chosen for the creation of Rutland Water Reservoir and the valley of the River Gwash in which it sat was flooded to form today's vast water-body flooding most of the park. Today's Normanton is merely an extension of nearby Edith Weston and dominated by the hotel which now occupies the former grand house. At the time of this transcript Normanton was a farming community dominated by the needs of the estate with a few quarrying the local stone for road building. Normanton is drained by the Gwash which emerges from the eastern end of the reservoir, passes around to the north of Stamford before joining the Welland to finish at The Wash and the North Sea. Normanton is sited at around 90 metres above the sea in rolling countryside which rises to local heights of close to 120 metres in places. At just 705 acres Normanton was always tiny and following the clearance fewer than 50 souls occupied the parish. Normanton is not mentioned in Domesday Book.


The Church

The story of St Matthew's church is as chaotic as that of its former parish. There is no doubt that a medieval church once graced the cleared village, removed as were the houses and most of the parishioners. The church that replaced it was almost the private chapel of the Heathcote family. A plain nave and chancel was built in 1764 during the village clearance and sat within the estate west of the house. To this plain beginning a new western end was built between 1826 & 1829 in a Baroque style believed to resemble St John's Smith Square in London. With flooding of the Gwash valley imminent a petition to save the church required some extra work. The church floor was raised by filling with rubble and creating a new concrete floor and the portico and nave removed to create an island connected to the shore by a causeway. Today the building has been deconsecrated and is used as a museum and also as a bespoke wedding venue.  Public access has been maintained for the purpose of visiting the museum.


The Records

Register No Covering Dates Deposited With Register Style Quality Standard Comments
1
20th November 1757 - 16th October 1800
Leicestershire & Rutland Record Office - Reference - DE1579/1
Standard preprinted and self-numbered combined Banns & Marriage register with 4 entries per page
Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads
None
2 25th February 1813 - 2nd November 1836 Leicestershire & Rutland Record Office - Reference - DE1579/2 Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads None


Hambleton St Andrew
Empingham St Peter
Empingham St Peter
Hambleton St Andrew
Edith Weston St Mary
Edith Weston St Mary
Edith Weston St Mary
Edith Weston St Mary

Register Reference Date Groom Forename Groom Surname Groom Status Groom Abode Bride Forename Bride Surname Bride Status Bride Abode
20/11/1757 John FALKNER

Mary COOPER

27/04/1764 Wright WEB
Oakham Elizabeth PEDDER Single
05/01/1767 Humphrey HARRISON

Catherine BAGLEY

04/07/1768 Ambrose BLOODWORTH

Mary PEPPER

06/11/1768 Arthur ABBEY
Cottesmore Dorothy ISZAT

07/01/1770 James SHERWIN
Empingham Mary STRICKLAND

11/01/1770 Esau WATKIN
Exton Mary WAND

14/11/1777 William TYLER
Exton Elizabeth FOX

07/02/1780 William DENT

Frances GOODE

21/05/1781 Abel SMITH

Anne KNIGHT

15/01/1786 Humphry HARRISON Widower
Mary PRESTON Single
12/12/1786 William SPRINGTHORPE Single
Mary BERRIDGE Single St John, Stamford, Lincolnshire
07/01/1787 Joseph SMITH Single
Mary Anne WATKIN Widow
23/11/1788 Francis COOPER Single
Mary CLARK Single
24/11/1788 Richard THORPE

Ann BULLIMER

28/10/1790 Francis GREEN Single Bitchfield, Lincolnshire Elizabeth WILLBOURN Single
11/10/1791 Matthew PILKINGTON
Exton Alice SPRINGTHORPE

29/08/1796 John PETTY Single
Eleanor KING Single
06/10/1796 James OVERTON

Catherine BROWN

16/10/1800 William ILEFF

Elizabeth LEE
Empingham
1 25/02/1813 John HOWETT
Castle Bytham, Lincolnshire Susannah ALFIN

2 10/08/1813 John THOMAS

Sarah BRADBURY
Tickencote
3 24/08/1819 Edward BROWN
Empingham Mary GROOCOCK

4 11/02/1823 Samuel HARRIS

Sarah NORMAN

5 30/10/1828 Thomas RICE
South Luffenham Elizabeth KEMP

6 09/03/1835 William ASHLEY Single Cottesmore Eunice HENSON Single
7 02/11/1836 John BILLING
Brooke Ann BLACKBURN

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