England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Thornton le Moors St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Thornton le Moors lies in central northern Cheshire quite close to its coast with the estuary of the River Mersey. Thornton le Moors lies about 6 miles north of the city of Chester. Thornton le Moors is a small village situated on the A5117 road which runs parallel to the river estuary between two junctions of the modern M56 motorway, the motorway runs through the south of the parish. One cannot mention Thornton le Moors with out mentioning the modern phenomenon of Stanway Oil Refinery which sits between the A5117 and the Manchester Ship Canal, a warren of piping, flares and chimneys dominating the small village to its north. Besides the township of Thornton le Moors, the parish also incorporated the small hamlets of Hapsford (2 miles east), Dunham on the Hill (3 miles southeast) and Wimbolds Trafford (2 miles south). The area would largely have been used for pastoral farming, it being low lying land on what would then have been a fairly wild estuary bank and surrounding watermeadows. The River Gowy drains the parish northwards running the short distance to reach the Mersey Estuary and thence the Irish Sea through the port of Liverpool. Thornton le Moors is sited at just 10 metres above sea level, Dunham on the Hill (as its name suggests) is some 20 metres higher. Cheshire parishes are often quite large and by those standards Thornton le Moors was one of the smaller, it still covered just over 5,000 acres and supported a population of just over 900 parishioners. In Domesday times Thornton le Moors was quite a small place, it was held by one bigot of Les Loges and could offer just a single plough and a small meadow.

The Church

St Mary's church sits about 200 metres south of the A5117 on the eastern side of the lane which runs south towards Wimbolds Trafford. St Mary's church has its origins within the Decorated period of church architecture belonging to the early 14th century. The southwestern tower is the most notable feature from this period. Much else dates slightly later and is in the Perpendicular style which is the great church building era in England, these later features may reflect an extended build period but more likely restoration and improvement during that era. Some further work was carried out to the chancel during Tudor times as well as the usual Victorian amendments and restoration. The church sits on a T junction in a slightly elevated site banked by a low local stone wall. Access is at the southwestern corner where well-worn stone steps rise to a pair of metal gates granting access to the churchyard. The site is generally quite open and there are few restrictions to photography.