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

The Parish

Winchester is one of Britain's oldest settlements reputedly founded by Celtic Britons during the Bronze Age. St Michael's parish forms a small portion of the southwestern part of the city centre. 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 Michael was one of the smaller by population, it covered a small area of a few city blocks, supporting a population of around 500 parishioners.

The Church

St Michael's church sits just southwest of the Cathedral Precinct between St George's Road and Kingsgate Street accessed by the narrow lane of St Michael's Passage. Pevsner describes it as a "curious building", originally built during the great church-building era of the Perpendicular only the western tower remains from that period. The removal of the western aisle in 1822 created a strange asymmetry in the building with the tower appearing out of true. Extensive work, almost a complete rebuilding, took place between 1882 and 1890 to create the present church. The church is almost hidden away behind fronting properties but the narrow route of St Michael's Passage forms the way into the site, the cramped churchyard, with trees in addition to enclosing properties, makes for a challenging piece to photograph adequately.