England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Littleton on Severn St Mary of Malmesbury

The Parish

The parish of Littleton on Severn lies in southwestern Gloucestershire, as its name suggests it has the Severn, in this case the estuary, at the western edge of the parish. Littleton on Severn is a rather small place with most properties lying around a square of lanes and is located about 2 miles west of the small town of Thornbury. The village lies about a mile from the banks of the Severn Estuary on the flat pasture lands that border the river and a mile north of the B4461 road which connects Alveston with Aust. Modern developments pass through the parish or nearby, the modern M48 being the major significant road nearby. The parish would have largely been a pastoral farming community and today little has changed. As a coastal community numerous drains, most man-modified, drain the parish into the nearby estuary. Littleton on Severn is sited at around 20 metres above the sea whilst land rises eastwards away from the river to local heights of over 80 metres nearer to Thornbury. Littleton on Severn parish was relatively small for this area, it covered just short of 1,700 acres and would have supported a population of around 200 parishioners. In Domesday times Littleton on Severn was held by Malmesbury Abbey, a small place even then offering 10 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

St Mary of Malmesbury's church sits just north of the northern edge of the square of lanes, hidden away behind fronting farms and trees. Sadly the church was extensively rebuilt during the 1870s and retains little of its mediaeval origins. The arcade retains its 14th century origins whilst the tower arch and a few windows are also original or rebuilt reusing the original materials. The layout is unusual in having the tower in the southwestern position rather than the usual central or western locations. Otherwise the church has little architectural interest for Pevsner as his account is short and merely describes the layout. A small sign marks the turning down a shared access track for church and neighbouring farm, a small pull-in sits just outside the churchyard. The churchyard, surrounded by a low local stone wall, is mostly open and with few obstruction to photography.