England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Stanstead St James

The Parish

The parish of Stanstead lies in southwestern Suffolk just a short distance from its border with neighbouring Essex. Stanstead is located roughly 6 miles north of the market town of Sudbury and sits, in lanes, just east of the B1066 road which meanders its way north from Sudbury towards Bury St Edmunds. Stanstead is a rather spread out settlement with a presence along the B1066 and properties lining the lane leading to the village's heart where a Y shaped junction nominally forms the village centre.  Like most rural parishes in its county the principal economy was engaged in arable farming all that has changed is that today the fields are perhaps larger to accommodate the machinery used to intensify production. A small stream feeds from the parish the short distance to the River Glem which in turn meets the Stour at the county border, heading first south and then east the Stour reaches the North Sea through the joint ports of Harwich & Felixstowe. Stanstead is sited at between 40 & 70 metres above the sea, the lower parts on the B road the higher being the village's centre, land continues to rise, more gently, to the north to reach a local height of 93 metres. Suffolk has many small parishes and Stanstead was no exception, covering just under 1,200 acres it would have supported a population of close to 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Stanstead was a fairly small place, held by Hugh de Montfort it could offer just 5 ploughs, the usual meadows & woodland and had a mill.

The Church

St James' church lies close to the main junction of the village but tucked away behind fronting properties to the west. The church is a fairly typical example of a building constructed during the 14th century and displaying the changing architectural styles of that century. The western tower shows lancet windows but Pevsner indicates these are a throw back to the prior Early English Gothic style, the tower and the northern and chancel doorways are otherwise Decorated in style. The remainder is from the latter half of the 14th century and Perpendicular in style, the whole probably representing a continuous build over the decades. For once Pevsner doesn't mention an extensive Victorian restoration so if one occurred it was light and sensitive. Parking should be sought along Upper Street from where a track leads southwestwards to the churchyard after 100 yards or so. Once within there are few obstacles to photography allowing good views to be had.