England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Chardstock St Andrew

The Parish

Until 1896 the parish of Chardstock was one of most westerly parishes in Dorset bordering both Devon & Somerset on either side, at that date the parish was transferred into Devon becoming one of its most easterly and bordering both Dorset & Somerset. Chardstock is located roughly 3 miles south of the Somerset market town of Chard and stands a half mile west of the A358 road which links Chard with Devon's Axminster. Chardstock is a mid-sized crossroads village with properties gathered around a central junction of lanes but with most lying to its southeast where modern developments have added to the village. In addition there is the small linear village of Tytherleigh sitting upon the A358 and a dense scatter of small hamlets and other villages, such as Churchill, All Saints & Smallridge, across the wider parish. For much of the medieval and early modern period it was sheep that drove the local economy, their fleeces powering the textile industries of both Axminster and Chard, arable farming was restricted to valley bottoms where it intermixed with traditional livestock farming. In addition the local limestone was quarried for burning for lime. Today Chardstock is at the centre of the area's cider industry with many local producers and a thriving Farmers' Market scene. Modern developments have come to the parish, the railway line between Chard and Axminster just creeps into the extreme south of the parish. Chardstock is drained southwards by the River Kit, which has been powering mills since Domesday times, it shortly reaches the Axe before that river passes through Axminster and reaches the English Channel at Seaton. Chardstock is sited at around 110 metres above the sea but covers a broad range of heights from 70 metres by the Kit up to 243 metres on Bewley Down to the northwest. Chardstock parish was extensive covering around 5,800 acres, of which just over 1,000 were described by early gazetteers as "waste" or rough grazing, that acreage would have supported a population of close to 1,400 parishioners. Chardstock in Domesday times was a settlement of 72 households which saw it comfortably amongst the top 20% of settlements by population, held by the Bishop of Salisbury it mustered 21 ploughs, meadows, pastures & woodland and 2 mills making for a very wealthy holding indeed.

The Church

St Andrew's church stands on the western edge of the village on the southern side of the lane headed westwards to cross the Kit. Sadly there is very little of the medieval left in this church after it was extensively rebuilt in the mid-1860s making the majority of the church not the venue for these marriages. Only the 15th century Perpendicular southern aisle and porch remains from the medieval period. The rebuild of 1863 is described disparagingly by Pevsner as "over-powering and un-Devonian". The whole is topped off with a tower with a pierced parapet and conical-topped polygonal turret. The interior is a match for this kind of elaboration with much detailed carving. West of the churchyard there is a few spots where safe on-street parking may be found, the churchyard is entered through a white-painted arched gateway carrying the motto "Until the day break", the churchyard has a few easily avoidable trees with few obstacles to concern the photographer.