England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
West Worldham St Nicholas

The Parish

The tiny parish of West Worldham lies in eastern Hampshire roughly 3 miles southeast of the market town of Alton. West Worldham sits about a mile south of the B3004 road which links Alton with Lindford and Liphook. There is little more than a group of properties lying around a road junction with little separation from neighbouring Hartley Mauditt to the south. Like most Hampshire villages West Worldham would have been an arable farming area and much of the parish is still so farmed today. West Worldham is drained northwestwards by the headwaters of the River Wey which properly forms at Alton before heading northeast to meet the Thames at Weybridge, the Thames passes through the capital to the North Sea. West Worldham is sited at around 150 metres above the sea in rolling chalk countryside which rises in the southwest to 180 metres on nearby Bush Down. West Worldham parish was one of the smallest in its county covering barely 450 acres and supporting a population of between 50 and 100 parishioners. West Worldham is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Nicholas sits at the main junction of lanes which forms the notional centre of the parish, partially tucked away behind a neighbouring cottage. Like many small rural churches parts of the church date back almost unchanged since the earliest periods of stone-built churches. Originally built in the 12th century nothing remains of that century but the southern doorway and two small lancets remain from the 13th century in the Early English Gothic style.  Further windows fate from improvements in Perpendicular and Tudor times being 15th and 16th century in origin. Sadly the church fell into neglect and by 1888 was a roofless ruin when Winchester College sponsored a major restoration to restore the church to usage, of course, much of today's fabric dates from that era. The cottage has a broad gravelled frontage where parking permission may be sought for a visit, a gate in wood with an attractive lamp marks the entry; adjacent building to the west and trees to the east limit the views available to the photographer.