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

The Parish

The parish of Cromhall lies in southern Gloucestershire roughly 4 miles southwest of the small market town of Wotton under Edge. Cromhall sits on the B4058 road which connects Wotton under Edge with the city of Bristol. Cromhall, itself, is a minor hamlet west of that road where sits Townwell the main settlement within the parish. Settlement is rather dispersed in smaller hamlets more widely such as Leyhill, Bilstone and Cromhall Common each holding a small proportion of the parish's population. Cromhall sits on the limestone area of the county, that limestone being extracted and largely burnt to make lime for improving soil qualities, a small coal-mine did start but was largely uncompetitive; the main activity for the parish was pastoral farming. Modern developments have come to the parish with the modern M5 motorway carving its way between Cromhall and nearby Thornbury. With porous limestone underlying the parish drainage is a little ephemeral eventually emerging to the southwest as Ladden Brook, the Ladden meets the River Frome at Frampton Cotterell with the Frome disappearing sub-surface within the bounds of Bristol to join the Avon and pass through beneath the suspension bridge to the Bristol Channel. Cromhall is sited at around 60 metres above the sea but easternmost views are dominated by the Jurassic escarpment "the Edge" which rises abruptly to local high spots of around 200 metres. Cromhall parish was larger than is the norm for southern rural parishes, covering just under 2,600 acres it would have supported a population of close to 700 parishioners. Whilst Cromhall is mentioned as a holding of King William in Domesday Book the entry refers to a region rather than the specific settlement, 197 ploughs and 10 mills being totally out of all proportion to today's small settlement.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits at the western end of Cromhall accessed along the dead-end lane of Church Lane. Whilst there was a thorough Victorian restoration which masks much of the dating detail sufficient remains to indicate the church's early origins. Pevsner identifies the lowest stages of the curiously placed northern tower as 12th century and Norman Romanesque in age, the topmost stages being late 14th century Perpendicular additions. The main body of the church has its origins in the early 14th century, retained Decorated-styled windows and the northern doorway being the most clear representatives of that early 14th century era. The later 14th century style of the Perpendicular is represented not only by the uppermost stages of the tower but also, rather splendidly, by the lofty southern arcade and by the southern chapel, now converted to an organ chamber. The restoration came between 1852 & 1853 and was a thorough exercise, Pevsner bemoans the, perhaps, excessive dark pointing The main addition of the restoration was a northern vestry added to the chancel A small lay-by sits outside the village's primary school allowing a visit, the church, unfortunately, is placed close to the western edges of the churchyard with trees clustered around the western end, otherwise all other aspects are available to the photographer.