England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Whatfield St Margaret

The Parish

The parish of Whatfield lies in south, central Suffolk about 3 miles north of the market town of Hadleigh. Whatfield is a linear village built along a lane running from southwest to northeast, the village sits about 2 miles east of the A1141 road which connects Hadleigh with Lavenham. The area was and still is dominated by arable farming, an area of large open fields with cereal, oil seed and beet dominating the local landscape. What field is drained by the River Brett which flows southwards to join the Stour and reach the North Sea through the Essex port of Manningtree. Whatfield sits at around 60 metres above the sea on the edge of a wide open plateau albeit land falls 30 metres to the Brett's valley to its west. Most Suffolk parishes are rather small in acreage and Whatfield was no exception, it covered almost 1,600 acres and would have supported a population of just under 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Whatfield was split between no fewer than 8 landholders, the majority portion being in the hands of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. Despite this volume of interest parties Whatfield was relatively small offering 9 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

St Margaret's church sits just to the west of Whatfield's main lane and accessed by a narrow side turning imaginatively named "The Street". The church dates from the 13th and 14th centuries, the western tower being the oldest part of the building. Much else is from the Decorated period of architectural styling which was at its peak in the early 14th century. The southern porch is a 16th century addition. The church sits behind properties when you travel the main lane through the village, The Street runs past some attractive thatched houses to reach a white kissing-gate which grants access to the churchyard. Whilst the margins are well-covered in trees, once through that border there are few impediments to photographic angles.