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

The Parish

The parish of Hawkedon lies in western Suffolk not too far from its border with neighbouring Essex and roughly 9 miles southwest of Bury St Edmunds and a similar distance northwest of Sudbury. Hawkedon lies in an area largely devoid of significant numbered roads, the closest such road being the A143 road which links Bury St Edmunds with Haverhill and which lies over 3 miles west of Hawkedon. Hawkedon lies on the northern banks of the infant River Glem, a strip of properties leading northeast from the river passing hall and church. Like most Suffolk parishes Hawkedon would have primarily earned its living from arable farming and today little has changed, the village being surrounded by large fields of mainly cereals, beet & oil seed. The Glem drains the parish southeastwards , meets the Stour to the west of Long Melford and the latter forms the border of Suffolk & Essec all of the way to its mouth finally reaching the North Sea between the twin ports of Harwich & Felixstowe. Hawkedon occupies a rising site from 60 metres above the sea to its upper parts at around 85 metres, land continues to gently rise northwards peaking at 127 metres in the nearby Great Wood, west of Rede. Hawkedon parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering just under 1,500 acres it would have supported a population of around 350 parishioners. In Domesday times Hawkedon was a fairly typical small settlement with the largest share in the hands of Count Gilbert's son Richard it offered a mere 6 ploughs and the usual meadows & woodland.

The Church

St Mary's church sits towards the southern end of the village at the enormous village green which forms the central focus of the village. For once we have here a church almost entirely of the 14th century, a standard structure of nave & chancel augmented by a western tower. The style is a mixture of those 14th century styles, the Decorated and Perpendicular, styles typical of the great church-building era which followed the Black Death. The church has a couple of notable features, its western tower is battlemented and was altered quite early in the church's life as indicated by bequests for new bells documented in wills of the mid-15th century. The southern porch is also interesting and completed with a rather early brick top. For once Pevsner fails to mention a Victorian restoration so if one occurred then it was clearly light & sensitive. The broad green extends in front of the churchyard which is somewhat set back from the lane, an equally broad rough parking area sits by the entrance to a farmyard opposite allowing an extended visit. A grassy path leads to the gates which breach the typical flint with brick topped walling surrounding an open & uncluttered churchyard with no obstacles for the photographer.