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

The Parish

The parish of Rimpton lies in southeastern Somerset quite close to its border with neighbouring Dorset. Rimpton is a small, compact village lying about 5 miles northeast of the town of Yeovil Rimpton is located about a mile to the east of the junction between the A359 road (Yeovil to Frome) and the B3148 which connects that road to Sherborne. The area around Rimpton would have largely been devoted to pastoral farming at the time of this transcript as it lies on rather clay-rich soils. Rimpton sits in the shadow of Corton Ridge which lies to the east and forms the western edge of higher country. Rimpton's drainage is westwards to join the River Yeo on its long journey via the River Parrett to the Bristol Channel. Rimpton is sited at around 40 metres above sea level but land rises strongly to the east, Corton Ridge being at 130 metres and The Beacon further east at 190 metres dominating the village. Rimpton parish was of a fairly typical size for this part of Somerset, it would have covered around 1,000 acres and supported about 220 parishioners. In Domesday time Rimpton was held by the Bishop of Winchester and supported 6 ploughs as well as woodland & meadow and an array of animals.

The Church

St Mary's church is on the eastern extremity of Rimpton, appropriately enough on the northern side of Church Lane at the end of the properties. The church has two distinct architectural periods to it; the chancel is the earlier and has lancet windows typical of the early English style from the late 13th century; the rest is in the Perpendicular style and dates from the 14th or 15th centuries. In addition to the standard nave, chancel and western tower design the church has a transept increasing its capacity, there must have been a greater population at the time of its build than in the 18th/19th centuries. Church Lane is a narrow and rather leafy lane, the church sits behind a waist-high brick wall with metal gates at the western end of the site granting access. There are a number of mature trees within the graveyard which do restrict photographic angles somewhat.