England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Whitton cum Thurleston St Mary & St Botolph

The Parish

The parish of Whitton, which subsumed the ancient parish of Thirleston in the 16th century, is located in southeaster Suffolk roughly 2 1/2 miles north of the county town of Ipswich. Whitton sits just over a half mile east of the former course of the A140 road (now downgraded as the A1156) which links Ipswich with Norwich, that road now being subsumed for part of its course by the A14. Whitton was at one time a distinctly separate village with fields standing between it and the town, nowadays Ipswich has expanded to engulf Whitton turning it into one of its northern suburbs, most traces of the former village are lost within a sea of modern developments. At the time of this transcript Whitton would have been a typical Suffolk arable farming parish. Modern developments have come to the parish, the River Gipping was canalised early on as the Stowmarket & Ipswich Navigation, the railway line from Ipswich to Lowestoft skirts the parish and the A14 has been upgraded to a high speed dual-carriageway highway taken heavy traffic from the east coast ports to the motorway network. Whitton is drained by the Gipping which passes through Ipswich and into the North Sea as the Orwell estuary. Whitton is sited at around 40 metres above the sea in flattish terrain where heights seldom exceed the 50 metre contour for some distance. Whitton was an average sized parish for its area, covering just under 1,500 acres it would have supported a population of close to 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Whitton was a holding of King William offering just 3 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

St Mary & St Botolph's church stands at the eastern end of Whitton Church Lane backing on to both the school and the open fields beyond the suburb. There had been a 13th century church here but today's version is an almost complete rebuild with little remaining that is genuinely medieval. Pevsner points to the piscina as original and suggests the 13th century styled southern doorway is actually a relic of the demolished Thurleston church. Three modern building phases serve to create what is essentially a modern church, in 1850 the nave was lengthened and a northern aisle added, in 1862 a southern aisle was built to match, the southwestern tower complete with splay-footed spire was also added and in 1901 the northeastern vestry & organ chamber were completed. The church comes complete with a substantial car park to its north allowing for a relaxed visit. A row of close trees cause some problems for the southern views but all other angles are available for the photographer.