England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Sherfield on Loddon St Leonard

The Parish

The parish of Sherfield on Loddon (sometimes "Sherfield upon Loddon") lies in northern Hampshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Berkshire. Sherfield on Loddon is located roughly 4 miles northeast of the town of Basingstone and sits on the former route of the A33 road, it bypasses to the east nowadays, linking Basingstoke with Reading. Sherfield on Loddon, as its suffix suggests sits where the A33 meets the River Loddon, all properties lie to the south of the river and within an area constrained to the west by the tributary thereof, the Bow Brook. The village has expanded westwards in modern times with new estates, to the south at Church End which holds the parish church there is a small subsidiary settlement. Sherfield on Loddon sits on Eocene clays, sands and gravels making for poorer soils than other parts of its county, this has lead to a mosaic of land-use with arable, pasture & woodland management jumbled together into a patchwork. Modern developments have come to the parish, the railway line from Basingstoke to Reading passing through to the west without granting a station. The Loddon drains the parish northwards eventually reaching the Thames to the east of Reading at Wargrave, the Thames, of course, passes through the capital to reach the North Sea through its estuary. Sherfield on Loddon is sited at around 50 metres above the sea with the parish church some 20 metres higher, to the southeast, across the Loddon, a few spots near Rotherwick touch 90 metres in otherwise gentle terrain. Sherfield on Loddon parish was fairly large covering just over 2,200 acres which would have supported a population of close to 650 parishioners. Sherfield on Loddon is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

As already mentioned St Leonard's church sits away from its village at Church End almost 1 mile towards Basingstoke along the A33, it sits adjacent to Sherfield Court a c1700 moated house extended in the 1920s. Whilst the church has its origins in the 14th century the restoration, labelled "cruelly over-restored" by Pevsner, of 1865 - 1876 amounted almost to a complete rebuild making the church more modern than medieval. Traces of the medieval do remain, the 14th century east window of the chancel remains as do the frames of both the priest's and west doors. Almost everything else dates from the restoration which had two overlapping phases, the extensive phase from 1865 to 1876 whilst the broach spire was added during a subsidiary campaign in 1872. A prominent white sign points the way to the church and the village burial ground, a small car park sits to the south of the access road allowing a leisurely visit, trees restrict the southeastern and northwestern aspects but all other angles are available for the photographer.