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

The Parish

The parish of Anston, anciently a chapelry of Laughton en le Morthen, lies in the extreme south of Yorkshire not too far from the mutual border with both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Anston is located about 6 miles west of the Nottinghamshire market town of Worksop and sits either side of the A57 road which connects Worksop through to Sheffield. Anston has two centres of settlement North Anston & South Anston, formerly known as Chapel Anston & Church Anston, together with the subsidiary settlement of Woodsetts a little over 2 miles to the east. Anston's economy may have had an arable farming element but it was a mixture of quarrying of the local stone, used in the construction of the Houses of Parliament, and manufacture of malt, starch & nails which provided the main income. These industries enabled a considerable spread and today North Anston has merged contiguously with Dinnington to its north. Modern developments quickly followed, the Chesterfield Canal runs through the southern edges of the parish whilt the railway line between Worksop & Sheffield followed a similar line, freight lines also cut through the parish en route to Maltby & Tickhill. Anston is drained southeastwards by the Anston Brook which merges with the River Ryton, the Idle and eventually the Trent to reach the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. The three settlements are at differing heights, Woodsetts at 60 metres, South Anston at 100 and North Anston at 120 metres, the latter sitting upon the highest ground for some distance. Anston parish was fairly large for a lowland parish, covering close to 4,000 acres it would have supported a population of around 1,100 parishioners. In Domesday times both Anstons were largely held by Roger de Bully with an impressive 41 ploughs as its principal assets along with some woodland.

The Church

St James' church sits within South Anston on the southern side of Sheffield Road and east of the main village crossroads. Whilst the church has a few traces of an early 12th century predecessor the main body of the church dates from the early part of the 14th century, the nave and chancel being in the Decorated style that, according to Pevsner, is no later and c1350. To this Decorated church is attached the bold western tower topped by a spire which are in the Perpendicular style of the latter 14th or early 15th centuries. At the time of the tower's creation a clerestory was also inserted to give better internal lighting. For once Pevsner does not mention a Victorian restoration so if one occurred it was light and sensitive. Whilst Sheffield Road is busy it does permit parking, The church sits well above road height and the site is banked by local red sandstone blocks. The main entrance, where Sheffield Road becomes High Street has a rising tarred pathway to an arched stone lychgate granting entry. The spacious churchyard is open, uncluttered and with no obstacles to photography.

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Sheffield Archives - Reference - PR38/3/1