England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Portsmouth St Thomas

The Parish

The parish of Portsmouth lies in the extreme south of mainland Hampshire forming a stretch of the coastline with the Solent. Portsmouth is located roughly 72 miles southwest of the city of London and 21 miles southeast of Southampton. Portsmouth is a city, a market town, and a major civil & military port which stands at the southern end of the A3 road leading to it from London. Portsmouth is somewhat unique in being the only British City which sits upon an island albeit the narrow Port Creek which technically separates it from the mainland is narrow and muddy and breached by a railway line, 3 standard road bridges and a motorway. Unlike many British cities Portsmouth has little history before the late 12th century, it became founded as a consequence of siltation rendering Portchester un-navigable, the settlement was, therefore, moved to Portsea Island's southwestern corner where an inlet, the Camber, formed its focal point. By the end of the 12th century the parish church had been founded, a town laid out and a market charter, in 1194, granted at the same time as the first formal harbour was constructed. For most of the next 2 centuries the city's fortunes flagged, it was declared subservient to Southampton, suffered incursions from the French  and its development as a market failed to take-off impeded by its location on an island away from the arable heartlands. By the start of the 15th century Portsmouth's strategic potential began to be realised and a lengthy program of defensive fortification began to be constructed, many of which remain to this day. Under the two Henry's VII & VIII the naval port came into being along with the town's walls and a castle at Southsea. Under Charles II, following the restoration of the monarchy, Portsmouth was named and developed to become the chief naval base in the land surpassing even the Thames & Medway ports. The naval dockyard continued to be expanded in both capacity & defensive capability until the late 18th century when Fort Cumberland was also built at Eastney Point turning Portsmouth into a garrison city as well as a naval port. As a civil port Portsmouth traded mainly with the near continent, imports of timber from Scandinavia and wine & other luxuries from France & Spain whilst exports were mainly of agricultural produce, it must be stated too that Portsmouth had a minor role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Modern developments began to arrive in the mid 19th century, a short-lived canal (the Portsmouth & Arundel Canal) was cut through from Langstone Harbour but failed to grow, the railway arrived from London in 1847 sparking two new developments for the island, Portsmouth became a port for travel to both the Isle of Wight and also the continent and it also acquired its seaside resort, Southsea, a typical mix of hotels, B & Bs, amusement arcades, fun-fairs and other typical seaside fare. The expansion of the city from the tiny area of the Portsmouth parish began in the early 20th century such that Portsmouth & Portsea are now effectively a single port city, Portsmouth was granted city status in 1927 and St Thomas became upgraded to its cathedral. Unfortunately for the residents of the city its strategic importance was recognised by enemy forces during both World Wars 1 & 2, the city and especially the port taking a battering from bombing that laid waste large areas of Old Portsmouth, Portsea, Landport and the western parts of Southsea. The redevelopment of the city has created a modern shopping centre, an improved road network and the modern M275 motorway spur improving the previous bottlenecks of the twin bridges over Port Creek. In more recent times many of the military bases have closed moving to mainland sites but Portsmouth remains one of the largest cities in the land and a major civil & naval port. As a coastal settlement Portsmouth has many drainage points into the adjacent English Channel. Portsmouth is sited between sea level and 5 metres above it on flat land, there being no high ground on Portsea Island. Portsmouth parish occupied merely the walled area of the original town, merely a few acres, the population of the city, net of Portsea, was estimated at close to 9,400 parishioners but the volume of marriages recorded is more typical of a population in excess of 20,000. Portsmouth is not mentioned in Domesday Book, a reflection of its late origins.

The Church

St Thomas's church, or rather cathedral, sits quite close to the sea and the Clarence Pier, it occupies a large block of land between the High Street & St Thomas' street. The church began life as a mere chapel of ease to Portsea St Mary, at the behest of  John de Gisors, merchant, ship-owner and lord of the manor of Titchfield, in c1180. Only the eastern part of the chancel and the transepts survive from the earliest church built in the 12th century Norman Romanesque style, the church was first created as a statement piece designed to showpiece the nascent settlement and was given a grand Norman church from the outset. By the 14th century the town had grown sufficiently the chapel of ease was elevated to full parish status. During the Civil War the church suffered a disaster, Royalist forces had begun to use the central crossing tower a watch tower, it came under attack which caused the tower and much of the nave to collapse in 1462. Between 1683 & 1693 and following the restoration a national appeal by King Charles II raised the funds to create a new nave, in a classical style, anew crossing tower complete with a wooden cupola and lantern for shipping. During the Victorian era minor restorations took place in 1843 and 1902 without significantly changing the character of the church. Following St Thomas' elevation to cathedral status an ambitious program of Neo-Byzantine extensions expanding the nave westward, but work halted in 1940 due to the war. The church survived the intense bombing of the city despite the near annihilation of most of the surrounding area, after the necessary repairs to bring the church back to good order the program to create a cathedral for the city to be proud of began again in 1990 and was completed under architect Michael Drury, who added the final western bay, twin western towers, rose window, and bronze west doors by Bryan Kneale. The cathedral was re-consecrated in 1991. Like most urban churches this is one to visit after first finding a suitable car park, the church sits within an entire city block but is placed closer to St Thomas St than the High Street so the better views are from the latter side, a  few trees create issues but most are easily avoided by the photographer.