England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
March St Wendreda

The Parish

The chapelry of March, within the wider parish of Doddington, lies in northern Cambridgeshire within the Fenland district of the county and forms part of the boundary with neighbouring Norfolk. March is located about 9 miles southwest of the market town of Wisbech and roughly 30 miles north of its county town of Cambridge. March is a market town of some size and sits on the A141 road which crosses the Fens from the A47 near Wisbech through almost to Huntingdon. Formed around the crossing of the River Nene March received its market relatively late in 1671. This was a reflection of the remoteness of the Fens during the mediaeval period, the area was dominated by monastic lands and it was not until extensive drainage schemes were completed that the agricultural potential of the area was realised. March's economy, as a market, was to hold those specialised agricultural trades which a village could not support, to act as market for the local produce and as a hub for travel around the area. Modern developments added to that with the rail line from Ely to Peterborough passing through the town whilst that from Wisbech to St Ives has since disappeared. Today March is a lively market town with some light industrial manufacture and service businesses. The Nene passes through the town and heads northeastwards, in a largely manmade course, to reach the North Sea through the Wash. March is sited at just 5 metres above the sea and most land hereabouts is at or even lower than that height. March parish was one of the larger in the county, covering almost 16,000 acres it would have supported a population of close to 5,700 parishioners. In Domesday times March was a much smaller place, shared by two Abbeys with Ely Abbey holding the majority share it could offer just 8 ploughs, meadows and woodland and did possess 2 fisheries.

The Church

St Wendreda's church, the church is dedicated to its founder, lies in the southern part of the town on Church Street which leads off the former route of the A141, now renumbered to the B1101. The church is essentially a work completed through the change in style from Decorated into Perpendicular, however Pevsner notes that the northern arcade is a relict of an earlier manifestation dating to the cusp of 13th into 14th centuries. Documentary evidence for the building gives a date some 40 years later so the present church either paused or was a rebuild of an earlier church. The basic nave and chancel were completed in the Decorated style, later and circa 1500 Perpendicular additions and rebuild produced the aisles and the southern porch. Internally the church has what is described by Pevsner as "the most splendid timber roof in Cambridgeshire", a double hammerbeam construction complete with three tiered angels with spread wings. Church Street leaves the B1101 between inn and filling station, after bending leftwards the church sits straight ahead, the road swerving to pass close to the western end. The church strangely sits tight to the western boundary of an extensive churchyard making for a challenge to adequately capture that stunning western tower.