England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hartley Mauditt St Leonard

The Parish

The parish of Hartley Mauditt lies in eastern Hampshire not too far from the joint border with both neighbouring Sussex & Surrey. Hartley Mauditt is located about 3 miles southeast of the market town of Alton and stands immediately east of the B3006 road which links Alton to well-known Selborne and onward to Liss. Hartley Mauditt is a tiny place, little more than a hamlet, the landscape was cleared to create parkland surrounding the mansion of Lord Sherborne. The mansion may have gone but the parkland survives and forms much of the acreage of this relatively tiny parish. The Ordnance Survey shows in their characteristic heraldic script Hartley Mauditt Village by the church in similar fashion to deserted medieval villages lost to the plague, here the actions of the landowner may have been the cause, the decline coming mainly after the demolition of the house. Like most estate villages the needs of the estate, mostly arable, drove the economy of the parish. Hartley Mauditt is drained northwards and then northeast by headwaters of the River Wey which becomes more defined by Surrey's Farnham and eventually reaches the Thames at Weybridge after wandering east as far as Godalming, the North Sea is then reached after passing through London. Hartley Mauditt sits upon a distinct ridge of land at around 150 metres above the sea, land rises a little more, reaching 174 metres, before falling away in all directions. Covering just 1,400 acres Hartley Mauditt parish was one of the smaller parishes and supported fewer than 100 parishioners by the time of this transcript. The Domesday record for Hartley Mauditt, which was held by William Mauduit hence the name, shows a much more substantial but typical rural picture; 7 ploughs backed by meadows & woodland show a not unusual small rural manor.

The Church

St Leonard's church is, perhaps, the main remaining building from the former village, standing on the southern side of the lane running eastwards from the B3006. The church presents a pretty site especially when viewed from across Hartley Pond from the public footpath. There has been much recent work on the church in two main phases of 1854 & 1904 of which more below, the core of the church remains ancient, however. Documentary evidence exists placing the church's foundation to c1125 and those documents are matched by the 12th century Norman Romanesque styling of the nave. Pevsner points to the nook-shafts which are keeled and states this reveals an enlargement during the brief Transitional era at the end of the 13th century. Whilst the chancel arch matches the 12th century date of the nave the chancel, itself is also of the Transitional era with a tentative date of c1300 alluded. The Victorian restoration of 1854 was substantial masking many other dating features whilst that of 1904 added the bell-turret which Pevsner deems as "pert & pretty", quite a tick from this notoriously acerbic reviewer. A short distance northwest of the church a roughly surfaced area of verge serves as a parking spot, the churchyard is surrounded by typical estate-standard post & rail fencing. Views of the western end are impacted by trees but all other aspects are available for the photographer.