England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hedon St Augustine

The Parish

The parish of Hedon lies in the extreme southeast of Yorkshire being not much more than a couple of miles from the Humber Estuary which forms its southern limits. Hedon is a former market town and sea-port which lies roughly 6 miles east of Hull along the northern banks of said estuary. Hedon sits on the former route of the A1033, which thankfully bypasses nowadays to its south, which links Hull with Patrington and the Spurn Peninsula. IN early times Hedon was the more important of the two towns, a thriving sea-port and granted a market by King John, it rivaled York & Lincoln in its privileges so granted. The demise of Hedon came about from the silting of its port, denied the lucrative trade which became transferred to nearby Hull and despite the cutting of a canal to the estuary, Hedon sank back into becoming simply a small regional market town, a centre for trade and exchange of local produce and a place which was sufficiently large enough to support those specialist trades not economical in a small village. Modern developments have come and gone from Hedon, a branch railway line heading eastwards from Hull through the northern edges of Hedon has closed and now is a major local cycling facility. Its proximity to Hull makes Hedon's semi-rural nature a desired commuter settlement for Hull and it retains all of its facilities in respect of Inns, shops and such with some light industry too. Most of the drainage of the area is man-influenced with draining the low-lying land a priority in moving water the short distance to the nearby Humber Estuary. Hedon is sited at just 5 metres above the sea and whilst surrounding it for some distance is land at or even below sea level, to the northeast a 10 metre contour can be found to the east of Preston. Hedon parish is confined solely to the town and its immediate environment, an area of merely 312 acres in which close to 1,000 parishioners would have been supported. Hedon is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book

The Church

St Augustine's church sits just north of the main crossroads in the town on land between  the B1240 (Souttergate) and Church Lane. Pevsner is quite correct to describe St Augustine as "one of the finest 5 churches in the East Riding", it is certainly formidable at 165 feet long with a central crossing tower 129 feet tall. That crossing tower is indicative of the church being cruciform in layout, a design favoured in the early medieval before being surpassed by the more represented layout of nave, chancel & western tower. Early indeed is much of the church, 13th century Early English Gothic is well represented showing lancet windows and dog-tooth details characteristic of that period. Whilst the main body is largely 13th century, the crossing tower is documented in will donations to 1428 placing it within the period of the Decorated style. It is clear that change and addition were ongoing throughout the medieval period as Perpendicular styles can also be seen, the 2-storey vestry being an addition of that period and several windows of that style may be found around the church. The main restoration in Victorian times covered an extensive campaign from 1868 - 1877 which created the attractive end walls of the transepts as well as the notable southern "rose" window, the remainder of the church was also refreshed. Many of the streets around the church allow street parking with Church Lane to the west and Church Gate especially popular. Most of the site has a low brick wall surrounding with entry from both of the streets mentioned. From Church Gate the eastern end is well presented whilst from Church Lane the western end sits flush with the pavements. Fortunately there is sufficient space to the south to grant few issues for the photographer in documenting this notable church.