England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Padbury The Nativity

The Parish

The parish of Padbury lies in northwestern Buckinghamshire about three miles southeast of the town of Buckingham. Padbury is a large village with a group of properties clustered around the crossroads with the A413 road, which connects Buckingham with Aylesbury, together with a southwestern spur heading towards the nearby river. Padbury would have been, and still is, a largely farming village with a mixed farming regime utilising both the pastures of the river valley as well as arable on higher ground. The village's proximity to Buckingham has seen recent growth as infill of modern properties has brought commuters to the village. Padbury is drained northwards by the Padbury Brook which soon joins the Great Ouse to the east of Buckingham, thence a long journey to the North Sea reaching it through The Wash. Padbury is at between 80 metres, by the Brook, to 100 metres at the A413, the higher parts sit upon a slight ridge which tops out in local heights little more than 10 metres higher. Padbury parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering close to 2,000 acres it would have supported a population of around 700 parishioners. In Domesday times Padbury was held by one Mainou the Breton and was a middling sort of place offering 11 ploughs and a small woodland, but did possess a mill.

The Church

The church of the Nativity, also known as St Mary the Virgin & on other sources St Nicholas - here we follow Pevsner, sit to the north of the A413 accessed by a short dead-end lane. The church is a classic example of multiple changes applied over the centuries with work in various styles accordingly. Pevsner tentatively places the chancel arch, normally the oldest feature and from which build expands, as 12th century and Romanesque in style although modified post-Reformation. Both southern & priest's doorways are assigned to the 13th century along with evidence from lancet windows scattered from the early English Gothic period. Most of the fabric represents a probable rebuild spread across the style changes from Decorated to Perpendicular, the clerestory is Decorated whilst much else is Perpendicular. The western tower was rebuilt c1800 and the whole church restored between 1882 & 1908. What would once have been a short lane leading to church & farm has modern housing on either side but there is space for a couple of cars to the left of the churchyard gates. A metal kissing gate leads into a churchyard free of photographic obstructions.