England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Titsey St James

The Parish

The parish of Titsey lies in the extreme east of Surrey and forms a short stretch of the border with neighbouring Kent. Titsey is located about 8 miles west of the Kent market town of Sevenoaks and sits on the B269 road which links Croydon with Limpsfield at the foot of the steep escarpment of the North Downs. Titsey is an estate village dominated by the grounds and land of Titsey Place with its 18th century brick mansion, as a closed parish with most land in the hands of a single landholder inbound migration was discouraged and no formal village was formed. A small group of properties at and east of the church is all that could be constituted as a "village". Titsey's economy would have been intimately tied to the affairs of the estate, roughly 50% of the parish acreage set to arable with a sizable portion in woodland management and a small example of that Kent speciality hop growing, in addition the chalk of the North Downs was exploited to produce high quality lime from the quarries embedded into Botley Hill. Modern developments have intruded on this rural enclave as the modern M25 motorway carves its way through the southern portion of Titsey parish. Titsey is drained southwards by small headwaters of the infant River Eden which eventually turns eastwards to meet the Medway at Penshurst, here matters turn back north and the Medway meets the outer Thames estuary and eventually the North Sea. Titsey church is sited at around 140 metres with the escarpment looming high above rising to a local spot height of 267 metres in a dramatic skyline. Titsey parish was fairly typically sized for this area, covering just over 1,900 acres it would have supported a population of around 200 parishioners. Unusually Titsey in Domesday times had a substantial population sufficient to register as one of the largest 20% of settlements recorded in the book, the manor's assets, held by Haimo the sheriff, were, however, relatively meagre at just 9 ploughs and a meadow.

The Church

St James' church sits on the eastern side of the B369, here named Titsey Hill, at its junction with Pilgrim's Lane, a name reflecting the pilgrims who used this route as part of their pilgrimage to Canterbury. The present church is the third such edifice to sit upon this site, the medieval version was, sadly, demolished during the period of this transcript, in 1776 and its replacement, in turn, also removed to make way for today's church. This version post-dates the transcription period so would not be recognised by these participants. This church was erected almost as a chapel-cum-mausoleum for the late Granville Leveson-Gower in 1861 and is a rather aggressive example of late-Victorian church building. The main entrance is on the B369 but it is strongly recommended that parking should be sought in Pilgrim's Lane as the road is fast and busy. The churchyard is set well above road height with a hand-rail guided double-flight of steps rising to a lychgate for entry. The churchyard is very compact with little space to exploit the southeastern aspect making for a challengingly small set of angles available to the photographer.