England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bullington St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Bullington lies in the northwestern portion of central Hampshire roughly 9 miles southeast of the town of Andover. At one time Bullington formed a major crossroad where the A34 met the A303 at Bullington Cross, both of these roads now are major dual-carriageway highways the A34 carrying traffic from the south coast ports north to the main motorway system whilst the A303 is the main route from London to Exeter. Bullington parish consists of the twin villages of Upper & Lower Bullington, Upper being east of Lower by a half mile, the two small compact villages sit either side of the River Dever. The parish was reasonably fertile with cereals grown on the higher ground whilst the water meadows of the Dever provided rich grazing for, mainly, cattle. Modern developments have come and gone from Bullington. a railway line from Winchester to Newbury in Berkshire passing through has closed and its route largely usurped by the A34's dual-carriageway. Bullington is drained westwards by the Dever the short distance to the Test where water turns southwards to meet the English Channel through the port of Southampton & Southampton Water. Bullington parish was fairly typically sized at just over 1,600 acres within which it would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. In Domesday times this was a really rural small community held by Wherwell Abbey offering just a pair of ploughs but the Dever, at least, provided a water-powered mill.

The Church

St Michael sits in Lower Bullington on the northern side of the lane running parallel with the course of the Dever, Gravel Lane. Like many small rural churches it contains ancient fabric, in this case the nave is dateable to the 12th century and is Norman Romanesque in style as shown by the blocked northern doorway and a single Norman lancet on its western face. Much else has been drastically altered "distressingly over-restored" says Pevsner in work of 1871. Within the overlay of restoration it is still discernible to see the chancel as Early English Gothic and 13th century whilst the flint and brick western tower still retains a single 14th century window on its western face. The 1871 restoration mainly attacked the chancel, replacing the east window as well as the southern porch and northern vestry. A loose picket fence surrounds the church which sits where a roughly surfaced lane heads north to cross the Dever and provides suitable off-lane parking. The churchyard is open and uncluttered with no obstacles for the photographer.