England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Frenchay St John the Baptist

The Parish

The parish of Frenchay sits in southern Gloucestershire roughly 5 miles northeast of the city of Bristol and stands on the B4058 road which links Bristol with Winterbourne. Frenchay was created in 1836 from the parish of Winterbourne to serve the expanding suburbs of nearby Bristol, it makes a presence within this project as a single marriage took place within the transcript period. For much of its existence Frenchay was merely a tything of Winterbourne, a settlement sitting on the western banks of the River Frome with most properties lining an out-and-back lane off the B4058 and sitting adjacent to its greatest asset, its expansive common, it would have been surrounded with fields. A typical farming parish of Gloucestershire it would have had pastoral farming as its mainstay, an iron works was sited in the area and employed many. Today Bristol has engulfed Frenchay it being merely a northeastern suburb of this extensive metropolitan area. Modern developments abound, the A4174 which encloses the parish is now Bristol's dual-carriageway outer ring road whilst to the west the modern M32 motorway connects the city to the M4. Frenchay is drained southwestwards by the Frome which meets the Avon at Bristol, the latter turning west to reach the outer Bristol Channel. Frenchay is sited at around 50 metres above the sea, across the M32 a few spots breach the 60 metre contour as the highest ground nearby. At the time of its separation it would have supported a population of close to 600 which is obviously not reflected in this marriage. Frenchay is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St John's church stands in a picturesque position within the confines of Frenchay Common just southeast of Beckspool Road. The church was constructed between 1832 and 1834 and intended as a chapel of ease to Winterborne which is over 2 miles to the north. The main body has the nave of 5-bays and is done in the Decorated style of the early 14th century. The western tower is an elegant piece of 3-stages and topped with battlements, the spire had to be restored in 1924. The church is approached along a surfaced track from Brackpool Road and has an extensive parking area reached just before the churchyard, there are a few trees around the western end but most views are available to the photographer.