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

The Parish

The parish of Denham lies in the extreme southeast of Buckinghamshire forming sections of the county's borders with both Hertfordshire and with Middlesex. Denham is located within the valley of the River Colne and sits roughly 2 miles north of the Middlesex town of Uxbridge. Denham sits a quarter mile east of the A412 road which connects the Hertfordshire town of Rickmansworth with Slough. Whilst the original village of Denham is intact and east of the A412 other commuter settlements have grown within the wider parish, the largest Denham Green sits mainly west of the A412 a mile or so north whilst westwards the twin settlements of Higher Denham and Baker's Wood are smaller and sit north of the busy A40 (London to Oxford) road. At the time of this transcript the area was rural, early gazetteers estimate that the farming was inclined to arable by a ratio of 2:1 against pastoral methods, there was also substantial woodland management, parts of that remain in the north of the parish even today. The area abounds in modern developments, the Colne Valley being chosen for the route of the Grand Union Canal passes east of the village, the railway line linking London with High Wycombe passes to the north whilst the M4 motorway runs to the south and the M25 motorway encloses the parish to its west, a plethora of modern development for a once quiet rural area. The parish is drained southwards by the Colne which soon meets the Thames to the southwest of Heathrow Airport, the Thames turns water east through the capital to the North Sea. Denham is sited at around 40 metres above the sea but land rises away from the Colne reaching almost 100 metres before reaching the nearby Chalfonts. Covering almost 3,800 acres Denham parish was extensive for its county, that acreage supporting a population of around 1,250 parishioners; many more than than today. In Domesday times Denham was a holding of Westminster Abbey and a wealthy one too, offering 21 ploughs, extensive woodlands and meadows together with 2 mills made for a large income for its day.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on the northern side of Village Road within the original village of Denham. The church shows lancet styled windows in the chancel leading many to suggest a 13th century Early English Gothic origin for this feature, however Historic England suggests this is actually a fashion hangover into the early 14th century so might therefore be netter termed Transitional. Pevsner suggest this occurred at a time when the chancel was extended eastwards and might genuinely be 13th century. Much else of the church dates from the 15th century, the great church-building era of the Perpendicular when in the early 15yj century the western tower, aisles, arcades and clerestory were all added to the existing nave. There matters rested until the 17th century when the first of many restoration replaced some windows. Victorian restoration came in 1862 when the church was re-seated, a western gallery was removed and a vestry added. Further work has followed in the late 20th century including restoring the western gallery. Parking is straight-forward in Village Road outside the churchyard. Substantial tress sitting in the both southwestern and southeastern quadrants do somewhat restrict the angles available but all other aspects are available to the photographer.