England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Winwick St Oswald

The Parish

The parish of Winwick lies in the extreme south of Lancashire not too far from its border with neighbouring Cheshire. Winwick is located roughly 3 miles north of the industrial town of Warrington and sits on and mostly east of the A49 road which links Warrington with Wigan. It is important to distinguish Winwick village from its wider parish, the parish, one of the ancient parishes of Lancashire, is extensive and includes the chapelries of Ashton in Makerfield, Newton in Makerfield, Lowton, Newchurch in Culcheth & Croft all of which, except Croft, were licensed for marriages and will have their own pages within this project. Winwick village is a mid-sized village sitting within a fork formed by the A49, to its west and the A579 (Warrington to Leigh) roads, it is roughly triangular in shape with those two roads forming the arms of that shape. The parish was primarily a farming district with a mixed farming regime dominated by pastoral methods in the majority. Today the wider parish is one of almost complete urbanisation with those former chapelries now forming substantial settlement in their own right. Modern developments criss-cross the area, railway lines running north to south and east to west include some of the oldest passenger lines in the country whilst modern motorways, the M6 & M62 almost enclose Winwick. Winwick is drained southwards by the Sankey Brook, its largely canalised route soon joining the Mersey turning west and reaching the Irish Sea between the twin ports of Liverpool & Birkenhead. Winwick is sited at around 30 metres above the sea in gentle terrain where heights of above 40 metres are uncommon. As already mentioned the original parish of Winwick was extremely extensive, covering over 26,000 acres and being over 10 miles in length from north to south; within that extensive area would have resided around almost 18,000 parishioners albeit this double-counts the population of those chapelries. Whilst Winwick is mentioned in Domesday Book it was listed with no population or assets, some of the chapelries also warranted similar basic entries too.

The Church

St Oswald's church sits embedded within the fork formed by the two main roads at the southern apex of that triangle. As Pevsner rightfully writes it is "an impressive, evidently medieval church" albeit one with major changes in more recent times. The remaining medieval structures are predominantly from the mid-14th century and largely from the Perpendicular period. The church's showpiece its impressive western tower complete with its stone spire is of this period; it shows twin shields of local lords Sir Gilbert de Haydock & Sir Gilbert de Southworth both of whom were alive c1358. Also from the 14th century and best revealed internally is the southern arcade, its northern equivalent is Tudor in date and from the 16th century. The church also shows that classic Perpendicular feature, a clerestory designed to improve internal lighting and here it is late 14th century. Change in Tudor times included not only that northern arcade but most of the internal ceilings in panelling with angels. Skipping on to the Victorian age we come to the chancel, a piece created by the famous (notorious?) Pugin created between 1846 & 1849. A more general restoration followed in 1869 to which much of the exterior is owed. Whilst the main road outside the church, the A573, has a few dedicated parking spots these are few and frequently occupied, more general street parking may be found along Myddleton Lane to the east. The church sits within a triangular churchyard which has quite a few arboreal obstacles requiring a degree of cunning by the photographer to find the better aspects.