England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Marcross Holy Trinity

The Parish

The parish of Marcross lies in the south of Glamorgan forming a stretch of the county's coastline with the outer Bristol Channel. Marcross is located roughly 6 miles southwest of the small market town of Cowbridge and sits about 2 miles southwest of the B4265 road which links Llantwit Major with Bridgend. Marcross is a small village with a crossroads of lanes at its northeastern end and a string of properties lining the southwestward running lane which heads for the coast. Within the parish area there sits, on the coast at Nash Point, an Iron Age promontory fort, there has been erosion but it is possible to view the banks which suppressed access to the promontory for defensive purposes. To the north of the village's crossroads there are earthworks marking the site of a grange of Neath Abbey. Much of the parish is flat with easily worked soils, early gazetteers estimate almost 75% of the parish acreage was therefore set to arable with cereals dominating. Today there are hikers passing through as the coastline is followed by the new Wales Coastal National Trail. Marcross is drained to the nearby coastline by a small stream which runs parallel to the main street. Marcross is sited at around 50 metres above the sea at its church, the nearest local high spot is the village of Wick which manages to reach the 100 metre contour in gentle terrain. Marcross parish covered just 873 acres and would have supported close to 100 parishioners. Like most of Wales Marcross is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

Holy Trinity church sits on the western side of the main street and is almost the last building on its northwestern side. Whilst the western saddleback tower immediately draw the eye the main body of the church should not be ignored as it has fabric dating back to the earliest times of stone-built churches. Norman Romanesque styling is especially notable in the round arches, the chancel arch, tower arch and southern porch but much of the nave and chancel dates to the latter half of the 12th century. The chancel has lancet styled windows although Pevsner indicates these are 15th century rather than the 13th one would normally expect. The western saddleback tower, which gives the church its distinctive profile, was added in the 14th century when Decorated styling was prevalent. Like most churches there was a Victorian restoration, here of 1893, which Pevsner credits with being tactful and not spoiling the history. Whilst the lane passing the church is narrow, the is a short parallel residential street which allows careful parking. The church sits tight to a bank of trees at its northeastern corner but these do not interfere with the favoured aspects which are readily available for the photographer.