England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hoveringham St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Hoveringham lies in southern Nottinghamshire about 5 miles south of the market town of Southwell and sitting on the banks of the River Trent. Hoveringham sits about 2 miles southeast of the A612 road which connects Southwell with Nottingham. Hoveringham is a rather strung out village, an out-and-back lane forms a "U" shape and most properties lie along that with an extension southeastwards down to the Trent banks and the former ferry across to Kneeton. Hoveringham's position on the Trent flood-plain gave it extensive water-meadows leading to pastoral farming being the major economic activity. The river-deposited sands and gravels, in more modern times, have been heavily exploited evidenced by the extensive pits surrounding the village, those worked out now provide a venue for fishing, wild swimming and sailing. Modern developments have come to the parish, the railway line from Southwell to Nottingham passing to the north without granting a station. The Trent drains the parish northeastwards heading up through the Nottinghamshire/Lincolnshire border country before reaching the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Hoveringham is sited at around 15 metres above the sea on the flood-plain, off the latter land is only gently rising to local heights of 70 metres or so to the northwest. Hoveringham parish was one of the smaller in its county, a mere 850 acres supporting a population of close to 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Hoveringham was a holding of Walter d'Aincourt and the Trent was equally important then, two fisheries and a pair of mills supplemented the manor's 6 ploughs.

The Church

St Michael's church sits at the heart of the village on the southern side of the western arm of that U-shape of lanes, Gonalston Lane. This church is not, however, the venue for these marriages as it was built in 1865 in replace an early medieval cruciform building of 12th & 13th centuries, a sad loss. Today's church is a confection of red brick with contrasting yellow brick stripes more at home, as Pevsner states in an industrial suburb than this rural setting. The church was clearly of little architectural interest for Pevsner as he spends more space lamenting the predecessor than describing this building. Gonalston Lane is sufficiently broad to permit verge parking outside the churchyard, inside there is an abundance of blocking foliage, especially from the favoured southeastern aspect and altogether making for somehwat of a challenge for the photographer.