England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Slimbridge St John

The Parish

The parish of Slimbridge lies in the southwestern portion of central Gloucestershire, it also forms part of Gloucestershire's coastline as it border the Severn Estuary. Slimbridge is located about 4 miles northwest of the large town of Dursley and sits on the flood plain of the Severn between the A38 & the modern M5 and the sea. Slimbridge is a large and largely linear village which runs along a lane leading from the A38 towards the Severn itself, many of the properties lie along this lane. Besides the A38 & M5, the parish forms a major transport route with the Gloucester to Bristol railway running through the parish as well as the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal. Slimbridge is nowadays more renowned for being the home of Sir Peter Scott's wildfowl collection, a mixture of public attraction, winter home for birds and an important research base into the lives of wildfowl. At the time of this transcript Slimbridge would largely have earned it living from pastoral farming on the rich floodplain soils of the Severn valley. A number of man made & natural channels drain the parish into the nearby Severn. Slimbridge is sited at just 10 metres above the sea, the broad plain of the Severn valley being much the same level until it butts up against the Cotswold escarpment. Slimbridge parish covered a fairly large area for a Gloucestershire parish, it covered almost 3,400 acres and the rich pastures supported a population of around 870 parishioners. In Domesday times Slimbridge was held directly by King William and could offer 32 ploughs and a mill.

The Church

St John's church sits on the northern side of Slimbridge's main lane about midway through the run of properties that form the nucleus of the village. Pevsner waxes lyrical about St John's church rating it as "probably the best example in the county of the Early Gothic style of the 13th century", a tribute indeed from that man. The earliest parts of the church, the nave and its attendant arcades, were erected around 1200 with the western tower & its spire was added by the end of the 13th century and the chancel probably begun but finished in the 14th century, the latter portion showing the Decorated style of that period rather than the Early English Gothic of the main portions of the church. At the same date as the chancel is the sacristy. From the Victorian era comes the windows of the clerestory, which again Pevsner states are "handsome". The church sits rather tight to the road, its spired tower dominating the view, as it does from all around the village. The site is surrounded by a low local stone wall, topped by iron railings. A metal gateway at the eastern end grants access via a tree-shaded pathway. The site is rather too small to get back sufficiently wide angles without the deficiencies of a fisheye lens and the tower is best viewed from the lane.