England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
South Cerney All Hallows

The Parish

The parish of South Cerney lies in the extreme southeast of Gloucestershire forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Wiltshire. South Cerney is located roughly 4 miles southeast of the market town of Cirencester and sits about 1 mile west of the A419 road which links Cirencester with Swindon. South Cerney is a large village and largely cruciform in shape with a crossroads of lanes forming its core, properties line each of the lanes forming the crossroads with very little infill. The village is constrained to the southeast by the former gravel pits of the Thames floodplain now converted into leisure facilities as the Cotswold Water Park. Sitting on both the flood-plain of the Thames and with limestone of the Cotswold range within the parish South Cerney had a mixed farming regime with pastoral methods dominant, cattle on the flood-plain and sheep on the drier ground. In addition the limestone was extensively quarried for local building stone and for lime burning and, of course, the gravels of the Thames' former meandering courses was extracted for road building leaving extensive flooded pits. Modern developments have come to the parish, first to arrive was the Thames & Severn canal, now closed but once linking those two mighty rivers and targeted for its potential to be reopened, the former railway line between Cirencester & Cricklade has now closed and is partly re-purposed as a cycle & walking path, the A419 has been upgraded to fast dual-carriageway highway providing a link between the M4 & M5 motorways and carrying much heavy traffic. South Cerney is drained southeastwards by the River Churn which soon joins the Thames at Cricklade, from here it is a lengthy journey through Oxford, Reading and the capital to the North Sea. South Cerney is sited at around 90 metres above the sea in gentle terrain where only a few spots breach the 100 metre contour and those mainly to its west. South Cerney parish was typically sized for this area covering just over 2,900 acres, it would have supported a population of close to 1,050 parishioners. Already by Domesday South Cerney was a large settlement its 50 households sufficient to place it into the top 20% of settlements by population; shared between Ralph de Tosny and one Roger's son Walter tis assets of 22 ploughs, meadows and a mill made for quite a wealthy manor.

The Church

All Hallows' church sits towards the northeastern edge of the village accessed from the northwards running Silver Street along the dead-end Church Lane and sitting close to the course of the Churn. The cruciform layout was one favoured by the Norman conquerors and whilst it is incomplete here, with no south transept, this applies to All Hallows which has 12th century Norman origins. The southern doorway, despite being re-sited during Victorian restorations, is a splendid piece of 12th century Norman styling. The basal stages of the central crossing tower are also of this era with pointed arches to both west and east supporting. The 13th century is represented by the northern arcade which once had 4-bays but is now foreshortened. The chancel, 14th century and mainly Decorated in style, is the church's showpiece with a splendid east window and elaborately carved piscina. The tower once carried a spire but in 1857 it was damaged by lightning and removed. The church received a major restoration shortly thereafter in 1862, the work added the southern aisle and porch, extended both the nave and northern aisle westwards by a single bay and was also responsible for moving the southern doorway. Church Lane is narrow with difficult turning, there is easier parking at it start on Silver Street, it is only a short walk to the churchyard. The churchyard is a little busy with trees especially to the southeast, the photographer needs some scouting to identify the better viewpoints.