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

The Parish

the parish of Bowdon lies in the extreme north of Cheshire forming part of the border with neighbouring Lancashire. Bowdon parish is a vast one covering a large area of northern Cheshire and including within its bounds the chapelries of Altincham, Carrington, Hale & Ringway (all not licensed for marriages) as well as numerous townships. Bowdon is located 6 miles north of the market town of Knutsford and stands immediately east of the A56 road which connects Manchester with Northwich. Bowdon, itself, was a small town on the Cheshire plains north of the River Bollin, here its economy was largely based upon pastoral farming whereas Altrincham was the principal market town of this area of Cheshire providing the usual services and market that smaller villages seldom provided. All of this changed with the coming of modern developments, first came Cheshire's famous canal system with the Bridgwater Canal constructed through the parish. It was, however, the coming of the railways that sparked intense expansion of development in the area. As early as 1841 areas of Bowdon were offered for development and with the arrival of the railway line from Manchester to Knutsford, the area became Manchester's desirable suburbs for the wealthy. Leafy, villa-lined roads sprouted all over leading to today's urban sprawl which is contiguous through to Stockport and hence to Manchester and its Lancashire suburbs. Further developments arrived in more modern times with the construction of the modern M56 as part of Manchester's outer ring. Bowdon is drained northwestwards to the nearby Mersey and hence to the Irish Sea through the port of Liverpool. Bowdon is sited at around 60 metres above the sea, it stands on the highest ground between the Mersey and the wider Cheshire plains. Bowdon parish, as already intimated, covered a vast acreage, reminiscent of a northern upland parish, covering just over 16,900 acres the population would have risen steadily towards a figure just under 9,400 parishioners. In Domesday times Bowdon's chapelries and townships were separately recorded the whole being held by one Haimo de Mascy, collectively they mustered just 4 ploughs, small patches of meadow & woodland but there was a mill at Bowdon.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on Church Brow, its name indicating the highest ground for miles around with fine views across the plains. Whilst there was a Perpendicular church here in the 1850s it was virtually rebuilt. The resulting church is large as befits a parish church of such a populous parish. With a six-bay nave, wide-reaching transepts and mighty four-stage western tower, all utilising the local red sandstone to good effect it is an impressive sight. Whilst the rebuild retains some of the original fabric only the 16th century aisle roofs are mentioned as such in Pevsner's account. The church stands at the junction of Church Brow with Stamford Road and the latter has small parking bays inset into the pavements, the former has on-street parking too. The site is separated from the surrounding streets only by a low wall. Strangely the church is crammed into the northern edge of the churchyard with little gap to the busy road, the southern aspect has a broad and largely clutter-free extent leaving the better angles for the photographer.