England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
English Bicknor St Mary

The Parish

The parish of English Bicknor lies in the extreme northwest of Gloucestershire forming a stretch of the border with neighbouring Herefordshire and also a small, but not insignificant stretch of the border with Monmouthshire & hence also Wales. English Bicknor is located roughly 6 miles northeast of the market town of Monmouth, a journey that becomes 10 miles by road and sits a little over 2 miles northwest of the A4136 road which links Monmouth with Mitcheldean. English Bicknor is a long straggle of a village with most properties lying along a lane which runs from north to south, around the church there's a notable concentration, however. It is the River Wye which forms the dominant landscape feature hereabouts, its deeply incised meandering course passing around English Bicknor both to its north and west wherein lies the beautiful viewpoint of Symonds Yat Rocks. English Bicknor lies within the former Royal Hunting Forest of the Forest of Dean and the area abounds with ancient remains, from Norman times comes English Bicknor's own motte and bailey castle site, one of a string built to control the border with the unruly Welsh, of an earlier era comes Offa's Dyke, a linear fortification aimed at a similar role, by way of interest the National Trail of Offa's Dyke Way takes a detour away to the west far from the dyke's actual route through the area. The economy of the parish was underpinned by pastoral farming but the extractive industries arsing from both coal & iron-ore mining also impacted employing many. It is the Wye which drains the parish, heading on its convoluted way eventually to reach the outer Bristol Channel through the port of Chepstow. English Bicknor is built between 140 metres, at its northern end, rising to 160 metres at the southern end in a strongly undulating landscape where land rises to a local high point of 216 metres within the forested area to the southeast. English Bicknor parish was a little large by southern standards, covering close to 2,400 acres it would have supported a population of around 550 parishioners, its location on the edge of the extra-parochial area of the Forest of Dean would have made it a popular place for marriages of residents of that area hence the volume of marriages exceeds that would be expected of a parish of such a size. In Domesday times the Forest would have been forbidden ground exploited by the King & close associates for sport and venison, in particular, despite this one Norman's son William registered a small holding mustering merely a half-share in a single plough.

The Church

St Mary's church sits almost at the northern end of the village amongst a small cluster of properties that form a nucleus for the village, it sits opposite to Godwin's Lane accessed behind fronting properties long a short dead-end driveway. The church is largely built from the local sandstone rubble which weathers badly resulting in much later work of restoration phases designed to keep the church in good order. All of this later work has obscured a church which is rather ancient in origins, difficult to see from the external facade but Pevsner's forensic examination reveals a church with its origins in the immediately post-Conquest era. Norman Romanesque work of the 12th century abounds and is shown well in the late-Norman arcades. The early church was built with a central crossing tower but it and transepts are no longer present merely scars on the fabric. The replacement tower arch is of the 13th century Early English Gothic period, as is the chancel arch, the tower itself being only partly of this era whilst its battlemented top stage is of the Perpendicular era of late 14th century. Also Perpendicular, but fairly late in that era, is the typical clerestory inserted to improve internal lighting. Pevsner mentions several phases of restoration notably the 1839 phase which rebuilt the aisle and southern porch, the extensive restoration of 1894 which replaced most windows and the 10th century work of 1908 which tackled the only early 14th century Decorated window, that of the east window. A car or two can carefully park in the entrance to the driveway, taking care not to block residents access. At the end of that driveway sits a neat lychgate granting entry into a churchyard which has all of the favoured aspects available to the photographer, its clustering trees merely being to north and west.