England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Winchester St Lawrence

The Parish

Winchester is one of Britain's oldest settlements reputedly founded by Celtic Britons during the Bronze Age. St Lawrence parish forms a tiny area of the city centre immediately north of the Cathedral. Winchester is dominated by two factors, the River Itchen which winds its way through eastern Winchester and the mighty Cathedral which overshadows the whole city. Standing about 40 metres above sea level in what would have been a broad chalk stream valley before settlement came to the city, it is now a bustling metropolis and home to the Hampshire Record Office. Winchester is nowadays a prosperous city and market place for much of central Hampshire. The city was divided into 9 parishes, plus the close of the cathedral and St Lawrence was one of the smaller by population and area, it covered just a few blocks and would have held a population of around 300 parishioners.

The Church

St Lawrence church sits at the heart of Winchester, just a few hundred metres north of the Cathedral Close and cheek by jowl with the main High Street. The church is totally hemmed in by commercial buildings, including the city's Butter Market and is almost impossible to photograph adequately. The building is a 15th century Perpendicular example with a western tower flush to the pavements of Great Minster Street. The building is clearly of little architectural interest as Pevsner's description is terse and covers just a couple of lines.