England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Westbury St Augustine

The Parish

The parish of Westbury lies in the extreme northwest of Buckinghamshire, indeed it forms not only part of the border with neighbouring Oxfordshire but also a very short stretch of the border with Northamptonshire. Westbury is a large and compact village located about 3 miles east of the Northamptonshire market town of Brackley. Westbury sits on the northern banks of the River Great Ouse, which here forms the county border with Oxfordshire, and sits astride the A422 road which connects Brackley with Buckingham. Westbury only has a small presence on that road, most lies to its south between road and river. The parish would have had a mixed farming regime at the time of this transcript, estimates in gazetteers place it at almost 50% arable and 50% pastoral. The Great Ouse drains the parish eastwards to eventually reach the North Sea through The Wash. Westbury is sited at 110 metres above the sea in gently rolling countryside, in its valley setting it lies roughly 20 metres below local heights. Westbury parish was of a fairly typical size for this area of Buckinghamshire, it covered about 2,500 acres and would have supported a population of about 460 parishioners. In Domesday times Westbury was held by one Roger of Ivry and could offer 7 ploughs, some meadows & woodland and 2 mills.

The Church

St Augustine's church sits on the southern edge of Westbury almost dipping its toes into the Great Ouse. The church seems to have been almost a single continuous build from early 13th century to completion a century later. Pevsner makes the western tower the earliest portion dating to the early 13th century, from the later 13th century comes the chancel, it is likely the nave is between those dates in origin. Much of the fenestration is of the early English Gothic style from those periods. Later, and 14th century, are the arcades. The church is approached along Orchard Place and there's space for a couple of vehicles outside the gates. Once through the metal gates the churchyard is densely packed with trees making views extremely difficult to vary, the church being rather hemmed in except from the north.