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

The Parish

The parish of Barry is one of the most southerly in Glamorgan forming a stretch of the county's coastline with the outer Bristol Channel. Barry is located roughly 10 miles southwest of the city of Cardiff and stands at the terminus of the A4055 which links it with the county's capital. Barry is a much changed place, as recently as 1891 it was described in "The Builder" newspaper as "a barren beach with a farmhouse and 2 or 3 scattered cottages". It was principally a farming community despite its coastal setting, growing largely cereals on sticky clay soils. Offshore lay Barry Island, in geographical terms a tombola as it is connected by a strip of sand at low tide, on which sits the shrine of St Baruch and noted as a place of pilgrimage, excavations have revealed a structure dating from c1140. The modern town of Barry is a consequence of the development of its docks commencing in the 1880s and the development of Barry Island as a coastal resort facilitated by the arrival of the railways. Barry has grown from little more than a hamlet to a town which spreads over a triangular area 3 miles from west to east and the same distance from the coast to its northern apex, in the process it has engulfed the former separate parishes of Cadoxton, Merthyr Dyfan & most of Porthkerry. The small stream which once drained the parish now lies beneath the docks. Barry is sited between sea level and 80 metres above it in the Merthyr Dyfan suburbs, further northwards the land reaches the 100 metre contour west of Wenvoe as the highest ground around. Barry parish covered the relatively small ares of 430 acres with a further 300 as Barry Island, that acreage would have supported a population of around 100 parishioners, the 2021 census revealed its current population to be almost 57,000. Like most of Wales Barry is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

There marriages would have taken place with the medieval church of St Nicholas, this tiny medieval church was Norman in origin and sat on the western side of St Nicholas' Road, it also had Perpendicular features as a consequence of 15th century rebuilding. The church stood on the knoll known as St Osyth Court today where its replacement stands, as the medieval church was demolished and replaced with a Victorian replacement in 1874. That replacement church, in its turn, was also replaced by All Saints' in Park Road as the parish church and it now functions as the home of the local scout group. Images from 19th century artwork show a typical one cell church augmented with a western double-bellcote and with a thatched roof.