England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Winston St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Winston lies in the eastern portion of central Suffolk just over 1 mile south of the market town of Debenham. Winston sits on and west of the B1077 road which links Debenham with Ipswich. Winston is a tiny settlement, an estate parish where no significant village developed, a few properties line the B1077 whilst a western extension heads towards church & hall, a subsidiary settlement is found 3/4 of  a mile to the west at Winston Green, Like most Suffolk parishes Winston would have been, and indeed still is, an arable farming parish with cereals dominant backed today by beet & oil-seed. Winston sits upon a low ridge west of the River Deben which drains the parish southeastwards passing through the port of Woodbridge to the North Sea through the Deben's estuary, Both Winston and Winston Green are sited at around 60 metres above the sea in very gentle terrain where a spot height of 62 metres just north of Winston Green marks what passes for a local high spot; only a gentle rise from the river at 30 metres varies the topography. At just under 1,500 acres Winston was typically sized for its area which supported a population of around 400 parishioners. In Domesday time sit is mooted that tiny Winston was amongst the largest 20% of settlements recorded in Domesday Book, its assets, however, shared between 4 landholders rather belie that claim with just 11 ploughs backed up by the usual meadows and woodland more typical of a mid-sized rural agricultural settlement.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits close by to the hall west of the B1077 and on the northern side of Church Lane. This is a church which has been much modified by both late medieval and Victorian restorers and rebuilders. The 13th century piscina indicates that an earlier church once stood before being extensively modified during the 14th to 16th centuries. Pevsner identifies a single window as early 14th century and Decorated in style whilst the building's official listing entry details a series of windows from early 14th to 16th century. Of more definite date is the southern doorway attributed to the mid 14th century and the western tower of flint rubble with dressings of brick which is early 15th century and Perpendicular in style, the interesting southern porch is given an early 16th century Tudor dating. Three distinct phases of Victorian and 20th century restoration are detailed in Pevsner, most windows were restored in the 1850s, the western tower in the 1890 and the chancel in the 1900s when the eastern wall and much of both northern and southern walls were rebuilt. A rough parking area sits alongside the eastern edge of the churchyard with a wooden gateway to enter. The church is almost totally screened by trees from its passing lane but once within only the northern and western faces are impeded leaving the favoured aspects available for the photographer.