England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Frodsham St Laurence

The Parish

The parish of Frodsham lies in the extreme north of Cheshire forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Lancashire, the border being formed by the broad estuary of the River Mersey. Frodsham is located roughly 10 miles northeast of the county town of Chester and stands on the A56 road which links Chester with Warrington. Frodsham is a market town and regional centre for shopping and trade, the early town consisted merely of a single long street (the route of the A56) with the subsidiary settlement of Overton, containing the parish church, sitting above on a bluff of sandstone, the final termination of a lengthy ridge forming a spine across the county. Frodsham is separated from the expanding new town of Runcorn by the course of the River Weaver. Several townships including Alvanley, Helsby, Kingsley, Manley, Newton-by-Frodsham, and Norley also lie within the extensive parish, today Helsby is a substantial village a mile southwest and sitting below its own sandstone bluff and Kingsley some 3 miles southeast is a village large enough to merit its own parish in more southern areas of the land. At the time of this transcript Frodsham parish was almost entirely agricultural, inland arable whilst the extensive salt flats to the north offered rich pastures. Frodsham, itself, has expanded considerably in modern times spreading along the A56 for almost 2 miles of continuous urban development but constrained to the north by the modern M56 and to the east by the Weaver. Modern developments abound in the area, the Weaver Navigation is part of the extensive Cheshire canal network whilst to the north of the marshes lies the mighty Manchester Ship Canal built to bring cotton to Manchester and avoid the former double-handling at Liverpool. Railways arrived in 1850 with a line from Chester to Warrington serving Frodsham with a station and spurring some commuter growth as mansions were built for the wealthy high above the town. The final infrastructure arrived as the M56 motorway connecting Chester and North Wales to the M6 spine. The Weaver drains the parish the short distance to the Mersey Estuary which then takes water to the Irish Sea. Frodsham is sited at around 15 metres above the sea at the A56 but rises to over 150 metres atop the sandstone ridge to the south. Frodsham parish was extensive, early gazetteers estimate it to be over 32 miles in circumference and about 15,000 acres in extent, that acreage supporting close to 5,800 parishioners. Domesday Frodsham was altogether a much smaller place, a holding of Earl Hugh of Chester its assets of 4 ploughs backed by meadows & woodland were, however strongly enhanced by its mill, 2 fisheries with a further half share and a half share in a salthouse giving a substantial income to the Earl. In addition to Frodsham's holding Earl Hugh also held Kingsley with a further plough and 2 more fisheries as well as Helsby and Alvanley which added a further plough each.

The Church

St Laurence's church sits halfway up the sandstone bluff within the settlement of Overton and standing on the northern side of Church Road. St Laurence in its many guises has been on this site since its foundation in the 11th century, waves of change, as in so many churches, have contrived to make it appear externally to be entirely Decorated and Perpendicular in style with Victorian overlain upon that base, the church is, however, more complex than that simplicity suggests. Traces of the 12th century Norman church remain within the northern arcade and more extensively in the clerestory, Pevsner indicates that the clerestory is unusual in being so early and reflects the substantial Norman church that St Laurence must have been. It was the 14th century that saw much change and the introduction of those Decorated and Perpendicular styled elements. The western tower is of the 14th century but of indeterminate date, the chancel, too, with a 14th century origin but extended in the 15th in the Perpendicular style. The 15th century also saw the addition of the northern chancel chapel as well as the impressive 7-light east window. Work continued into the 17th century whence two porches were added, the first of 1715 the second in 1724, in addition the southern wall was rebuilt but this proved only temporary as it  was also rebuilt during the substantial Victorian restoration of 1880 - 1883. That work restored and partly rebuilt much of the church's exterior giving it that more modern appearance we see today. Church Road has some on-street parking mostly to the east of the main entrance opposite the Ring O' Bells Inn where there is also a small car park. To please the photographer all of the churchyard trees sit to the north of the church allow free rein to all of the favoured southern aspects.