England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Wokingham All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Wokingham lies in southeastern Berkshire not too far from both the border with neighbouring Surrey and also that with Hampshire. Wokingham is located about 7 miles southeast of the county town of Reading and sits on the A329 which connects it with Reading. At the time of this transcript Wokingham was a small market town, the principal town within the ancient boundaries of the Royal Hunting Preserve of Windsor Forest. As such it was granted a market and was the local centre for agricultural produce, renowned for its poultry market. With market town status came some industry and manufacture of silk, gauze & shoes were all important as well as ancillary agricultural trades such as malting & flour milling. Today Wokingham has expanded markedly, transport links have grown significantly, rail lines to Reading and into Hampshire and recently a spur connecting the town with the modern M4 has made Wokingham an attractive destination for both capital commuters and also modern light industry. Wokingham is a centre for high-tech companies too, part of Thames Valley's answer to Silicon Valley.. A consequence of this development is that Wokingham now spreads for nearly 3 miles along the A329 and has almost become contiguous with not only Reading's growth but also with the expanding area of Bracknell New Town. Wokingham is drained northwards by a small tributary of the River Loddon, the latter reaches the Thames just south of Henley and thence through the capital to the North Sea. Wokingham is sited at around 70 metres above the sea, it sits on the edge of the expanse of Surrey Heaths, land is gently undulating rising slowly to local height of almost 130 metres at Gravel Hill some 5 miles southeast. Wokingham parish was one of the larger in the parish, much of the countryside being relatively unpopulated in the former hunting forest, it covered almost 8,500 acres (more reminiscent of an upland parish) and would have supported a population of close to 3,300 parishioners. There is no mention, however, in Domesday Book which probably is indicative of its Royal preserve status.

The Church

All Saints' church sits on the eastern edge of "old" Wokingham as the the A329 performs a sharp bend to the east and heads towards Bracknell. The external and internal appearances of the church are deceptive. Externally the church appears to be a Victorian replacement, all of the details dating from the major restoration of the mid-1860s. Internally, however, a different story is revealed. The arcade pier bases are Norman Romanesque in design and indicative of a church with 12th century origins, the pier, themselves are perhaps a century later while the capitals and moulded arches are characteristic of a date turning from 14th into 15th century. The true nature of the church is thus, 12th century in origin, altered in both 13th (Early English Gothic) and 15th centuries (Perpendicular clerestory added) and then the whole detail masked externally by major restoration. The church occupies a corner site within the junction of London Road with Wiltshire Road, on-street parking is available in the side roads nearby. There are entrances from both routes, that from London Road being through a sturdy brick & flint lychgate. The church sits quite close to London Road and is best photographed from across that busy route.