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

The Parish

The parish of Acton lies in southern Cheshire not too far from its border not only with neighbouring Shropshire with which it forms a part of the border but also with neighbouring Staffordshire. Acton is located just a mile west of the market town of Nantwich but the parish covers an extensive area of rural Cheshire containing 14 further townships as well as the relatively small village of Acton. Acton village sits at the junction of the A51 (running from Nantwich to Chester) and A534 (Nantwich to Wrexham) roads and is just a small and compact village of a few hundred folk. The area is crisscrossed by canals both Llangollen & Shropshire Union Canals passing either side of Acton village. The economy of the area, at the time of this transcript, would have been dominated by pastoral farming on the clay-rich soils of the Cheshire Plains, in addition Acton parish would have participated in the salt industry of the area for which it is famous. Acton parish sits on the western side of the valley of the River Weaver and this drains the parish northwards to reach the Mersey Estuary at Runcorn and thence to the Irish Sea. Acton village is sited at around 60 metres above the sea and sits on the broad and broadly level Cheshire Plains, albeit land rises gently to around twice that height towards the western border with Bunbury parish. Cheshire parishes are often large in the rural areas and Acton parish was no exception, the parish covered around 15.500 acres and would have supported a population of over 4,100 parishioners albeit only 300 were living in Acton village, itself. In Domesday time Acton was held by one William Malbank and could offer 17 ploughs, meadows and woodlands plus a mill and intriguingly an hawk's eyrie.

The Church

St Mary's church sits at the heart of Acton village at the junction of Chester Road with Monks Lane. The church is an early one for the county with features from the Early English Gothic period of the 13th century. The western tower shows this in particular with its lancet style windows but internally the piers show the same period but are curiously over tall for the present height of the church. Much else within the building dates from the period when the Decorated style was evolving into the Perpendicular which was the great church-building era within England. The church was undoubtedly lowered in height and much redesigned during that period. From later period comes the chancel parapet which was another replacement this time in the 17th century. A mini-disaster befell the church in 1757 when the tower partially collapsed and the present top is shows the work of the early Gothic revivalists. An extensive restoration took place in the 1890s which masks much other dating detail. The church stands in a corner site protected by a knee-height local stone wall with multiple entrances. The churchyard is a little hemmed in to the west but this doesn't unduly restrict photographic opportunities.