England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
St Weonards

The Parish

The parish of St Weonards lies in southern Herefordshire not too far from the border with neighbouring Monmouthshire and hence with Wales. St Weonards is located about 7 miles west of the market town of Ross on Wye and sits on the A466 road which links Monmouth through to Hereford. There is not too much to modern day St Weonards, a few properties line the A466 whilst the rest of the parish is a typical rural scatter of farms and cottages. Whilst Herefordshire is traditionally know for cider orchards and hop gardens this area of the county, being slightly more elevated is better known for its beef cattle as well as arable crops in a mixed farming regime. St Weonards is drained by a stream known as "The Gamber" which soon joins the Garron Brook before reaching the nearby Wye as its meanders around Huntsman's Hill, thence to the Bristol Channel through the port of Chepstow. St Weonards is sited at around 110 metres above the sea and land continues to rise southwestwards to reach just over 170 metres at nearby Garway. St Weonards parish was one of the larger in extent within Herefordshire, covering just over 4,500 acres it was more typical of an upland parish in acreage, within that space would have been just over 600 parishioners. St Weonards is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Weonard's church (a unique dedication within England apparently) sits just east of the A466 tucked away behind fronting properties. Whilst the church has remnants of earlier days, a pair of lancets within the nave are dated to c 1300, most of the church comes from the late Perpendicular period of the early 16th century albeit modifed extensively in later times. Documentary evidence dates the northern chapel to 1521 and the western tower to 4 years later and this seems to be a good date for much of the fabric. The church follows the typical late medieval layout of nave and chancel with western tower augmented by aisles and arcades. Further documentary evidence hints at much rework in the early 18th century but the Victorians removed much of that as well as extending the chancel eastwards; two campaigns of 1874 & 1884 resulted in many changes to result in today's church. As the A466 passes through the knot of properties there is a small round green on the eastern side with a fork to the left leading to the church and its neighbouring farm. A large parking area permits an extended visit, the churchyard has few obstructions to photography other than some trees grouped around the eastern end.