England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Godstone St Nicholas

The Parish

The parish of Godstone lies in southeastern Surrey forming a short stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Sussex, Kent is also not too far away to the east. Godstone is located roughly 5 miles east of the town of Redhill and stands at the crossroads of two major A-roads, the A25 linking Redhill with Sevenoaks in Kent and the A22 road from London to Eastbourne, thanfully the junction has been moved eastwards from the town centre reducing the impact of the traffic. Godstone parish is a long strip of land running from north to south, its northern terminus holds the Surrey portion of the North Downs whilst the strip head southwards through The Weald to the Sussex Border, the east/west depth is considerably less. The settlement has moved somewhat over time, in early times including Domesday the area around the parish church, then known as Walkingstead, now Church Town, was the manor and main settlement of an farming parish, the land-forms differed from chalk downs home to sheep, through poor soils on the Greensand to the typical forest clearing pastoral lands of The Weald. The settlement of Godstone, itself, came as a consequence of the medieval redevelopment of an ancient Roman road into a turnpike, the settlement grew steadily and was granted a market in 1251. In more modern times the settlement of South Godstone has developed as a commuter settlement around the railway station on the Redhill to Tonbridge line. Farming in the parish would have been supplemented by the exploitation of the geology which underlies, the North Downs yielded a stone suitable for hearths and it found its way into both Windsor Castle and the Tower of London. Industries came to the town in the early 17th century with the establishment of a gunpowder mill supplying the armed forces. The town had the tradition market town trades and specialist skills with brewing, tanning and tile & brick making. With the improvements to the turnpikes Godstone gained a new role serving the coaching trade with numerous inns providing accommodation and horses to the coaches. Modern developments have arrived aplenty, firstly the railway in 1842 whilst today the modern M25 motorway splits the northern portion of the parish from the town carving its way around the capital, these modern improvements have stimulated commuter growth and modern housing developments. Godstone is drained southeast by the Gibbs Brook which merges to hep form the infant River Eden which flows eastwards into Kent before meeting the Medway, turning back north and reaching the outer Thames Estuary passing the naval port of Chatham. Godstone covers a range of altitudes, the parish church sits at 110 metres as does the main town whilst South Godstone is at 70 metres, the North Downs, capped by the North Downs Way National Trail, rise to 237 metres above the sea on Winders Hill. Godstone was an extensive, if rather thin, parish covering almost 6,400 acres it would have supported a population of close to 1,900 parishioners. In Domesday times it was Walkingstead which represented the settlement, a holding of Count Eustace of Boulogne it was large enough to be in the top 20% of settlements by population, its assets of 25 ploughs, extensive meadows & woodland and a mill maid for a wealthy holding.

The Church

St Nicholas' church sits in what is now known as Church Town some half mile southeast of the centre of the town, it sits on the eastern side of Church Lane which runs southwards from the A25. The church has received a complexity of 19th century change, at least 4 significant interventions, some over-riding earlier ones, have made dramatic changes to what was once a simple 12th century Norman Romanesque church. Enough change has been wrought for Pevsner to even qualify that classification with a "probably". There are bits of 12th century Norman windows reset into the western wall to indicate that it is likely. The simple Norman nave was extended in the 13th century in the Early English Gothic style by the addition of a chancel and a southern tower. Much stayed the same until the 17th century when the church was given 2 northern chapels, family chapels for the local Boone & Evelyn families prominent in the town. The Georgian period c1820 saw the church given transepts. It was the Victorian era that 3 major work phases were undergone. The first of 1846 added the northern aisle, the second of 1864 rebuilt the chancel and merged the two northern chapels into one during their rebuild, the third of 1873 removed the southern 1820s transept, created both western ans southern doors in a Neo-Norman style and increased the height of the tower adding two stages, one for a clock and a second for the bell-openings as well as increasing the height of broach spire, the chancel arch was also widened and the interior re-fitted. The final act was a 20th century one adding the vestry in 1911. Church Lane is of ample width for on-street parking outside the churchyard which is raised above the road height with 6-steps and two sloping paths leading to it. Once within there are no significant obstacles for the photographer.