England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Litton St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Litton lies in northern Somerset roughly 6 miles north of the market town of Wells and on the northern edge of the Mendip Range. Litton is a small and compact village which sits on the B3114 road, a short connecting road linking the A39 (Bath to Wells) road with the A368 (Bath to Churchill) road. The B3114 winds through an enclosed valley within the Mendips and Litton occupies the valley floor on a curving path. Like many Somerset parishes the main economy of the parish would have been from the raising of both sheep and cattle, the parish sits just outside the coal-field area and is not impacted by that industry. Litton is drained northwards by the infant River Chew, the progress of said river being interrupted just a few miles north by the Chew Valley Reservoir, both a water source and wildlife haven, in turn the Chew reaches the Avon at Keynsham and flows through Bristol to the Bristol Channel through the latter's iconic gorge. Despite its valley setting Litton sits at 110 metres above the sea with land rising to 290 metres to the southwest on Eaker Hill within the Mendips. Litton parish was fairly typically sized for a Somerset parish, covering just over 1,200 acres it would have supported a population of close to 450 parishioners. In Domesday times Litton was a holding of the Bishop of Wells and a wealthy one too, despite only possessing 6 ploughs its 1,000 acre of pasture and 3 mills made it a profitable one indeed.

The Church

St Mary's church sits toward the northern edge of the village accessed by a narrow climbing lane walled with local stone. Whilst a single small, square piscina has possible Norman (12th century) credentials there is little to suggest such an early origin for most of the current fabric. The chancel shows a single 13th century window, again a remnant of an earlier incarnation, but it is to the late 14th and early 15th centuries that Pevsner attributes most of today's edifice. The blocky western tower, complete with oblong stair turret, he places as rebuilt between c1395 and 1416, presumably from documentary sources, whilst both the nave and chancel are 15th century and typical of the Perpendicular style of that period. More recent changes include the addition of a northern aisle, intended to match that to the south, in 1841 but which Pevsner describes as "crude" and a more general restoration at the relatively late date of the late 1900s. As the approach to the church is very narrow and with unforgiving borders it is recommended to park in the village, close to the inn, and approach on foot. The churchyard is walled in local limestone but once within only a single tree to the southeast mars the otherwise unobstructed views for the photographer.