England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Long Wittenham St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Long Wittenham lies on the northern edge of western Berkshire, sitting on the banks of the Thames, which here forms the former border with neighbouring Oxfordshire, this area was ceded to the latter county in the reorganisation of 1974. Long Wittenham is located about 4 miles southeast of the market town of Abingdon and sits 2 miles south of, and across the Thames from, the A415 which connects Abingdon with the main road from oxford to Henley. Long Wittenham , as its name suggests, is a long strip of a village running either side of a land, High Street, for almost a mile parallel to the course of the river. The economy of the parish would have been dominated by farming and as it sits within the Thames flood-plain pastures would have been important with arable farming on drier ground to the south of the village. The Thames drains the parish eastwards, passing through the capital to reach the North Sea. Long Wittenham is sited at around 50 metres above the sea in gentle valley terrain, land rises steadily to the south to top out at 120 metres on the nearby Sinuden Hills. Long Wittenham parish was fairly typically sized for this area, covering just under 2,200 acres it would have supported almost 600 parishioners. In Domesday times Long Wittenham was held by one Walter Giffard and was a middling sized village offering 12 ploughs with a substantial meadow of 163 acres.

The Church

St Mary's church sits to the north of the High Street tucked away behind facing properties and close to the northeastern end of the village and its crossing of the Thames. The church has ancient origins with the earliest portions dating from the 12th century Norman Romanesque period, the chancel arch, often the oldest part of a church, is from this period and a single Norman style window remains in the chancel. In the early 13th century the chancel was rebuilt in an Early English Gothic style utilising lancet windows and reusing that Norman one, later in the same century the southern chapel was added. Aisles were added during the early 14th century as well as a northern arcade. Finally a Perpendicular style clerestory was added in the 15th to add extra light to the interior. For once Pevsner does not mention a Victorian restoration so if one occurred it was light and sensitive. The church is signed northwards from the High Street along a roughly surfaced track passing a farm to reach the extensive churchyard with no obvious obstacles to photography.