England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Tarporley St Helen

The Parish

The parish of Tarporley lies in central Cheshire about 10 miles southeast of the county town of Chester. Tarporley is a small market town which sits on the A51 road which connects Chester with the salt-town of Nantwich. Thankfully that busy road now bypasses Tarporley to its west. Tarporley parish covered a much wider area than that of the town itself and incorporates what are today substantial villages dotted thereabouts. Tarporley is largely built either side of its High Street, the former route of the A51, with more modern developments spreading outwards. Tarporley was granted its market in the 13th century but it did not lead to substantial growth and today Tarporley is merely a rather large village but with all services still present. The area is dominated by pastoral farming as Tarporley sits on the Cheshire plains, in recent times more arable farming has crept in with the advent of heavy farm machinery. Modern transport links pass through the parish, the Shropshire Union Canal running 2 miles to Tarporley's south as well as the Chester to Crewe rail line albeit Tarporley has no station. Tarporley is drained eastwards by numerous small brooks all heading for the River Dane thence to the Irish Sea via the Weaver & Mersey. Tarporley is sited at around 90 metres above the sea and land thereabouts is generally at or below that figure for some miles. Tarporley parish was extensive, as are many in Cheshire, it covered just over 6,000 acres and would have supported a population of over 2,500 parishioners, albeit only 1,100 would have lived in Tarporley the town. In Domesday times Tarporley was a very small place indeed, it was held by one Gilbert "The Hunter" and could offer just a pair of ploughs and very small meadows and woodlands.

The Church

St Helen's church sits just west of Tarporley's High Street, screened by fronting properties and accessed by a short metalled access road. IN appearance the building seems to be Victorian but this is an artifact of the extensive remodeling that the Victorians did to the building. At its core is a church of the Perpendicular period built largely of local red sandstone. Since that build of the late 14th century the church has been extensively reworked. Through the 1860s and 1870s the nave, chancel, tower and southern chapel have all been remodeled to the present form. The entrance way leads to a nice lychgate granting entry to the extensive churchyard all behind the street facing properties. The site is fairly open and there are few restrictions to photography.