England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Withiel St Clement

The Parish

The parish of Withiel lies centrally within Cornwall roughly 5 miles west of the town of Bodmin. Withiel sits just over 2 miles north of the A30 road which links Bodming through to Penzance. Withiel is a small crossroads village built around a junction of three lanes that all meet at the church, it stands on steep ground above a tributary of the River Camel. Withiel sits south of an outlier of granite, similar to Bodmin Moor, in lower but still hilly countryside, the occasionally steep ground being unsuitable for crop growing pastures dominate the local farming economy. The valley in which the village sits is also well-wooded which would have been exploited for woodland products. Some rudimentary ore extraction also took place from streaming alluvial deposits for tin ore. Withiel is drained eastwards by the tributary of the Camel which is soon reached taking water northwards through Wadebridge to the Camel Estuary and the Irish Sea. Withiel is sited at around 110 metres at the parish church, some 65 metres above its small river, land rises to the north of that stream reaching 216 metres on nearby St Breock Downs. Covering a little over 2,700 acres Withiel was smaller than many of near neighbours, it would have supported a population of close to 450 parishioners. In Domesday times Withiel was a holding of Canons of Bodmin Priory, as it was throughout the subsequent medieval period, it was a modest farming manor offering just 4 ploughs backed by pastures and woodland.

The Church

The 3 lanes all meet at the complex junction at which stands St Clement's church, the local Saints Way Trail passes through the churchyard. Whilst there has been a church here since early times the oldest fabric within St Clement today is the 13th century northern doorway in the Early English Gothic style. The bulk of the main body of the church, the nave and chancel combined into a single chamber, is dated to the 14th century and represents a substantial enlargement of the original 13th century church. Later in the 15th century the church acquired today's 3-stage western tower, which Pevsner describes as "stately", the 15th century also saw the creation of the southern aisle whilst the smaller northern aisle began life as a chantry chapel. By 1523 the church is recorded as being "in disrepair", the church was brought back to good order at the behest of the Canons but they ceased control with the Reformation. The church received 19th century restoration as early as the 1820s in the Georgian era, that work largely rebuilt the chancel and was responsible for the disposition of the interior fixtures and roofs. As the church sits at a noticeable bend in the main lane with blind corners it is better to park a little away from the churchyard. The churchyard is raised above road height at shoulder height, the church being perched on a pedestal-like small expanse of graveyard, there are also close trees to the south limiting the views available to the photographer.