England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Clewer St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Clewer lies in the extreme east of Berkshire forming a short stretch of the border with neighbouring Buckinghamshire and also being fairly close to Surrey. Clewer, once a discrete village sitting on the banks of Thames, has been almost totally absorbed into the wider town of Windsor as it has spread during 19th & 20th centuries. Today Clewer is a suburb which sits just west of the busy dual-carriageway A355 which connects Windsor with the M4 motorway. The old village of Clewer, sitting around the church lies between the A355 and Windsor Gorse Race Course and is bordered on the north by the meadows running down to the Thames. At the time of this transcript Clewer was still just recognisable as a discrete village engaged mainly in pastoral farming, grazing the rich meadows of the Thames flood-plain. Today Clewer is essentially just a part of Windsor, a tourist attraction as well as a working town too. The Thames drains Clewer eastwards through the capital to the North Sea. Clewer is sited at around 20 metres above the sea, land rises steadily and gently away from the river reaching close to 80 metres on the ridge on which Legoland is built. Clewer parish's acreage was fairly typical of a lowland parish, covering just under 1,700 acres it's population would have been close to 3,000 parishioners. In Domesday times Clewer was a much smaller place, held by one Ralph the son of Seifrid it could muster just 5 ploughs, the usual meadows & woodland but did possess a mill.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits just west of the busy A355 in an enclosed space within the heart of old Clewer. The church has ancient origins with much work from the 12th century remaining. This Norman Romanesque architecture is best expressed internally as the exterior has been much modified by the Victorian restorers. The internal arches for chancel and southern aisle are good examples of this style and the odd Romanesque style window has also survived to this day. The church is mainly constructed in local flint and is rounded off with a short stubby western tower topped by a shingles broach spire. As already mentioned the work by Victorian restorers was extensive. This restoration was of the late 1850s and as well as refreshing much of the exterior they also added a northern arcade. The church can be approached from either Clewer Court Road or Mill Lane, the latter approach being more picturesque if further to walk through the extensive churchyard, both streets allow parking. From Mill Lane a gatehouse and lychgate give way to a tarred pathway leading through to the church. There are a few trees grouped closely around which require a little imagination to find the better angles for photography.