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

The Parish

The parish of Tutbury lies in the extreme east of Staffordshire, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring Derbyshire. Tutbury is located about 4 miles north of the brewing town of Burton upon Trent. Tutbury sits just to the west of the A451 road which connects Burton upon Trent with the A50 running along the valley of the River Dove in adjacent Derbyshire. Tutbury is, today, a large village but was formerly a market town. Tutbury's fortunes dwindled and it lost that status as Burton & Uttoxeter grew to supplant it. Tutbury's fortunes were more significant immediately following the Norman conquest when the location, with its fine wooded knoll, was chosen as the site for Henry de Ferrers castle which with the adjacent priory, nowadays the church, formed a substantial settlement guarding the crossing of the Dove. Sadly Tutbury has since lapsed into tranquility and remains just a large village earning its economy largely from agricultural activities. The Dove, crossed by a fine bridge of 5 arches, drains the parish eastwards, soon joining the Trent just east of Burton and eventually the North Sea through the Humber estuary. Tutbury is sited at around 70 metres above the sea, it's knoll topped by the castle ruins some 20 metres higher, the surrounding countryside being just gently undulating. Tutbury parish was of a fairly typical size for the area covering around 4,000 acres it would have supported around 1,500 parishioners. In Domesday times Tutbury is recorded in the hands of Henry de Ferrers but its assets are not specifically detailed rather than a generalised statement that it was large & wealthy.

The Church

St Mary's church occupies the same knoll as the ruins of the Norman castle reached by a steady climb from the triangular village green. The church is formed by the remains of the priory which was probably founded in the late 11th century, the monastic quarters do not survive and the original church with apse, choir, transepts and crossing tower also only survives in part. The earliest surviving parts are the nave & aisles which are from the early 12th century, some Norman style work shows in the southern aisle's doorway. Much later and spanning the Decorated to Perpendicular period is the tower whilst the chancel was added back to the church in the 1860s. The church is accessed by a pathway heading past the churchyard to the church and meeting a second pathway rising from Church Street. The site is relatively open to most angles with the exception of those from the southeast.