There used to be a chapel adjoining the main church, but this was blown down in a high wind in 1703.
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Built of ironstone, with an odd West tower, which is narrower than the nave, the church of St. Mary Magdelene in Little Brickhill has an interesting history. At the time when most churches in the area came under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lincoln, St. Mary Magdelene was a "peculiar" which meant that it came directly under the control of the Archbishop of Canterbury. | |||||||||
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One interesting effect of this, was that Little Brickhill Church could issue marriage licences itself, without getting authority from the Diocese. If you were a non-conformist it was embarrassing to ask your local parish priest to be married. Given the town's position on the main Watling Street route, non-conformists were easily able to reach Little Brickhill to be married. The Little Brickhill Parish Records started in 1559, and between this date and 1752 over 1100 marriages were registered, a very large number for such a small place. In 1642 there were 76 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland; and in 1758 the number of houses was recorded at 69 by Browne Willis (the earliest census of 1801 gave the population of Little Brickhill as 339). There used to be a chapel adjoining the main church, but this was blown down in a high wind in 1703. |
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