England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Broadwey St Nicholas

The Parish

The parish of Broadwey lies in southern Dorset about 3 miles north of the coastal resort of Weymouth. Broadwey sits on the A354 road which links Weymouth with the county town of Dorchester. Today's Broadwey is a much larger place than that at the time of this transcript, then the settlement consisted of a string of properties lying along the Dorchester Road with a distinct concentration south of St Nicholas' church. Today the A359 is almost completely built alongside from Weymouth to Broadwey and the village has also expanded considerably with a modern development headed southeast across the railway line. Broadwey occupies the final low-lying basin before the A359 climbs over the Jurassic limestone ridge of Bayard Hill, that position gave it access to both the low lying pastures close to sea level and also higher sheep-runs on the poorer soils on the coralline limestone. Modern developments have come to the parish with the construction of the railway line linking Dorchester with Weymouth, a branch line to Portesham & Abbotsbury which once branched away here is nor dismantled but the main line grants Broadwey a station albeit named Upwey after the village further north. Broadwey is drained southwards by the River Wey which waters the famous nature reserve of Radipole before entering the English Channel through Weymouth harbour. Broadwey is sited at around 30 metres above the sea at St Nicholas' church but land rises to the dramatic ridge to the north topping out at tumuli bedecked Ridge Hill at 165 metres offering fine views down to the iconic Maiden Castle Hill Fort. Covering just 1,100 acres Broadwey parish was towards the smaller end of the parish scale for Dorset but that acreage would have supported around 500 parishioners. In Domesday times the two "Weys" Broadwey and Upwey were recorded as one with no fewer than 6 landholders but with 47 households a large enough settlement to be amongst the largest 20% of settlements recorded in that book; its assets were varied just 11 ploughs but with extensive meadows & pastures and no fewer than 11 mils and 12 salthouses bringing in substantial revenues and making for a wealthy manor indeed.

The Church

St Nicholas' church stands at the junction of the Dorchester Road with Mill Street close to where the former Abbotsbury branch railway line crossed the Dorchester Road. Pevsner seems rather disappointed in the church describing it initially as "quite big but where nothing goes harmonious with anything", a terse comment on what is something of a jumble of architecture. The effect has been created by a succession of 19th and early 20th century enlargements which have reused original features dragging them from the original places in the process. Whilst there remains features from both 12th century, the southern doorway, and the 15th century, the west end incorporated a 15th century Perpendicular styled window, most early fabric has been moved and reused. Pevsner records no fewer than 5 19th and early 20th century interventions beginning in 1815 with the creation of the northern aisle, the western end was rebuilt and extended westwards in 1838, the chancel was rebuilt in 1862 and extended eastwards in 1896 and finally the southern aisle and choir southern aisle were added on 1901 incorporating that 12th century Norman Romanesque doorway. Parking is allowed to both north and south of the site on the Dorchester Road, the main entrance sits at the Mill Street junction where a curving pathway leads to the church across a churchyard with no obvious difficulties for the photographer.