England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Windermere St Martin

The Parish

The parish of Windermere lies in the extreme west of Westmorland forming a stretch of the county's border, here formed by lake of Windermere, with neighbouring Lancashire. Windermere is located roughly 9 miles northwest of the county town of Kendal and sits on the A591 road which links Kendal through Windermere to Ambleside. Whilst Windermere is the name of the parish that place originally was not the main settlement of the parish being merely a small hamlet on the main road until the arrival of the railway, the parish church sits in Bowness on Windermere, a larger lakeside village sitting on the A592 which parallels the shore, in addition the parish held 2 licensed chapelries, Ambleside & Troutbeck, which will have their own pages within this project. For much of its existence this area was simply upland farming territory supplemented by fishing from the lake, in addition the lake provided the main highway for goods due to the poor state of the road network. Bowness grew up as a small port due to this trade and also as the ferry port for crossing the lake. It was the arrival of the hotly disputed railway in 1847 that saw not only Bowness but also Windermere, itself, for that was where the railway was forced to terminate rather than running to the lake shore, grew into highly fashionable resorts for visitors to the area. An aggressive nimby-ism campaign including local figures such as William Wordsworth spoke out against the so-called desecration of the area. Suffice it to say that today tourism is the mainstay of the local economy and both Windermere and Bowness host a plethora of visitors, most to simply stroll their streets, take a boat trip on the lake or to browse the latest hill-gear in the many shops. Hardier hikers you the area primarily as a base before heading into the iconic fells of the Lake District National Park. The development of the area has conjoined Bowness & Windermere into a triangular area with a lake front of over 3 miles from Storrs to Troutbeck Bridge and inland to the area of Windermere station. Meanwhile in the wider parish the hardy Herdwick sheep continue to graze the rough upland pastures as they have done for centuries. The long lake of Windermere is drained southwards by the River Leven which runs the short distance to reach the Irish Sea through Morecambe Bay's shifting sands. The parish of Windermere covers a broad range of altitudes with Bowness at 40 metres above the sea at its ferry port whilst the northern end of the parish rises to the fells either side of Kirkstone Pass, Stony Cove Pike at 763 metres and Red Pike at 776 metres. Not counting the 3,000+ acreage of the water-body of Windermere, the parish of Windermere covered around 9,200 acres and supported a population which grew rapidly to almost 2,500 parishioners by the end of the transcript period, the volume of marriages indicate an average population of closer to 1,200 for the transcript period. Windermere is not mentioned in Domesday Book which no coverage this far to the north of western England.

The Church

St Martin's church stands at the heart of Bowness on Windermere at the junction of St Martin's Place and Lake Road and just a few yards east of the ferry terminal. Until 1483 the church was a chapel of ease to Kendal before becoming parochial in its own right. That upgrade of status prompted the rebuilding of the chapel into today's church which is largely late 15th or even 16th century in date and Perpendicular in style. The church is basically a rectangle of local rubble build with full-length aisles alongside. The 16th century saw changes as a clerestory was inserted and the lead roofing added. It was not until late Victorian times when money became available from newly wealthy locals to improve the church, in 1870 the church was thoroughly restored, the short tower acquired its saddleback top and stair turret and the chancel extended eastwards. In 1911 the northeastern vestry was added but in 1922 it was converted to use as a chapel. St Martin sits amongst the hustle and bustle of Bowness' busy streets, there is no close parking other than the town's car parks which are a walk away. The churchyard is roughly circular and is bordered entirely by trees which limit the depth of view attainable by the photographer, the other main problem is the semi-constant foot-fall of visitors.