England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Michaelstow St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Michaelstow lies in western central Cornwall, not too far from its northern coastline. Michaelstow is located about 3 miles southwest of the market town of Camelford. Michaelstow is a rather dispersed settlement with no obvious centre to it, the notional centre, grouped around junction of lanes and church, sits just a few hundred yards west of the B3266 road which links Camelford with Bodmin. The landscape is rather undulating as it sits just to the west of the high ground of Bodmin Moor, but off the moor itself. The main economic activity of the parish would have been in farming with a mixed regime dominating, both pastoral and arable agriculture would have taken advantage of the richer soils off of the Moor. Michaelstow sits midway between the Rivers Camel & Allen and is drained by a small tributary of the latter. Both run down to the southwest to join and reach the Irish Sea through Wadebridge. Michaelstow is sited at around 150 metres above the sea, the landscape is strongly undulating, local heights nearby reaching 220 metres whilst the Allen valley is almost a 100 metres lower. By Cornish standard Michaelstow parish was relatively small, it covered around 1,600 acres and would have supported a population of just over 200 parishioners. There is no specific mention of Michaelstow in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Michael's church sits by the notional centre of Michaelstow namely the junction of lanes sitting below the B3266. The church makes extensive use of the local granite. It's startling grey colour being characteristic of the area. The church is believed to have been started in the 13th century when nave, chancel were constructed. All three have been much modified over the centuries and the church has been repeatedly enlarged. The principal enlargement is 15th century in date when the western tower was added as well as the aisles and porch. Extensive renovations during the Victorian era resulted in today's church and further changes were necessitated in 1982. The church sits on the southern side of the descending lane from the B3266, the churchyard being enclosed within a head-height local stone wall. A white gate grants access, the churchyard has many trees (it sits in the sheltered valley of the tributary of the River Allen) and these do impact on the angles available for photography.