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

The Parish

The parish of Wissington lies in the extreme south of Suffolk forming part of the border with neighbouring Essex. Wissington sits, on the northern banks of the River Stour, about 7 miles north of the Essex town & port of Colchester. Wissington, often rendered even on local signage as Wiston, is a tiny place today, little more than a hamlet and a string of farms and cottages along a dead-end road leading to the Stour. Wissington parish is often regarded as subsidiary to nearby Nayland. Wissington sits about a mile and a half west of the A134 road which links Colchester with Sudbury. At the time of this transcript Wissington would have been yet another sleepy Suffolk farming villages, here the valley flood-plain would have enabled pastures as well as the normal arable fields. Today Wissington receives a few visitors as the local Stour Valley & St Edmund's Way trails pass through along the Stour valley. The Stour drains the parish eastwards reaching the North Sea through its estuary between the twin ports of Felixstowe & Harwich. Wissington is sited at between 10 and 20 metres above the sea, its valley setting being the only discernible indent into a mostly level territory rising out of the valley to local heights of just over 60 metres. Wissington parish was a typical small Suffolk parish, covering just under 1,500 acres it would have supported a population of close to 250 parishioners. Wissington is not mentioned in Domesday Book despite having an early church.

The Church

St Mary's church sits almost on the banks of the Stour at the southern end of the roughly surfaced road leading down through farms to the cluster by the river. A very good example of Norman Romanesque architecture from the 12th century, the nave, chancel and apse (other than latter restoration and "enhancement") forming a single build. In addition the southern doorway is described as "sumptuous by Pevsner and is also of the same period. Speculation exists that a chancel tower may have existed but that either did not or has been removed, the only elevated piece being the weatherboarded bell turret. The restoration of 1853 went further than most by attempting to enhance the Norman credentials of the church, failing by "over prettification" according to Pevsner, the apse was rebuilt and made grander in particular. A major feature of the church is its collection of 13th century wall paintings dated to the period 1250 to 1275 which, albeit fragmentary are well worth a look. The lane to the church leaves the Bures Road with a small sign to "Wiston Church", it is almost a half mile south to the church from here but parking can readily be found at the site. The churchyard is open, uncluttered and with no obstacles to photography.