England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Henfield St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Henfield lies in south central Sussex roughly 11 miles northwest of the resort of Brighton. Henfield sits at  the junction of the A281 road which connects to Horsham with the A2037 running through to Shoreham. Henfield is a rather large village, comparable in size to many small market towns, it spreads along the A281 northwards from the main junction, for over a mile and there is a substantial western extension running down towards the nearby River Adur. Henfield did, at one time, qualify for a weekly corn market that has since lapsed but remains an important regional trade centre. The area of the parish is dominated by the flood-plain of the Adur, an area of rich pastureland that varied the local farming regime and occupied almost one third of the parish acreage, the remainder being put to arable. Modern developments have come and gone from Henfield, a branch railway line connecting Horsham and Shoreham has now closed and is occupied by a combined walking and cycling trail, the Downs Link. The Adur drains the parish the short distance southwards to reach the English Channel through Shoreham's port. Henfield occupies a rising site, land by the river being at 10 metres whilst at the eastern end it reaches 30 metres; there is little ground much higher until the nearby South Downs are reached. Parishes within the Weald are often fairly large, a legacy of the low population in medieval times, Henfield parish was one of these large parishes, occupying almost 4,900 acres it would have supported a population of close to 1,800 parishioners. In Domesday times Henfield was a holding of the Bishop of Chichester and could offer 12 ploughs, the usual meadows and woodland and also possessed a profitable fishery and a mill.

The Church

St Peter's church sits around 300 metres west of the A281accessed by Church Street. The church is much changed from that in which these marriages took place with most of the exterior remodelled in 1870. Within, the finer detail reveals a much older building than is apparent externally. The nave shows 13th century work in its four-bay arcades, these date from the Decorated era of church styles. The northern chapel of the chancel is also medieval but, in this case, dating from the 15th century and Perpendicular in style. The single piece retained relatively untouched is the blocky western tower, also Perpendicular, which Pevsner takes something of a dislike too referring to it as "like a keep" and "grim". It is certainly a formidable structure which dominates the whole building. The work of 1870, however, is what faces the viewer of the exterior, a substantial re-covering of a medieval interior. Church Lane turns south off Church Street after 300 metres and the church sits on its eastern side, the lane is narrow but has some small parking areas, it is perhaps better to park on the wider street and approach on foot. A low brick wall surrounds the churchyard with several entrances breaching. The churchyard is extensive but curiously the church sits almost flush to the western edge and the better views of that grim tower are from outside, otherwise there are few obstacles for the photographer.