England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Witherley St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Witherley is one of the most westerly in its county, forming part of the border with neighbouring Warwickshire, here formed by the ancient Roman Road of Watling Street giving both county and parish a curiously straight edge. Witherley is located just over a mile east of the Warwickshire town of Atherstone and sits on and immediately north of the A5 road which follows Watling Street and links London with Holyhead. Witherley is a riverside settlement formed where both Roman Road and A5 cross the River Anker and most properties line the route of the river branching westwards from Witherley's main lane. Today Witherley has almost become joined to the expanding small town of Atherstone, only the green belt along the course of the Anker keeping it discrete. At the time of this transcript Witherley would have been a farming community, arable on drier parts of the parish with pastures along the Anker. The Anker drains the parish northwestwards, meeting firstly the Tame and then the Trent before making a long journey to the North Sea arriving through the Humber Estuary. Witherley is sited at around 70 metres above the sea, land rises steadily southwestwards across the Anker reaching local heights of almost 180 metres within nearby Monk's Park Wood. A typical lowland parish Witherley covered close to 1,600 acres within which some 500 parishioners would have been supported. Witherley is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Peter's church sits on the western, riverside, edge of Witherley accessed by Church Road from the main lane through the village. The church sits almost on the banks of the river Anker. The elegantly tall tower & spire is what immediately strikes you regarding the church, standing 156 feet high it is a landmark for many a mile. The tower, however, is not the earliest portion of the church, the nave & northern aisle date from the early 14th century and are in the Decorated style of that era. That tower is late and Perpendicular in style comprising diagonal buttresses, panelled battlements, pinnacles and that slender crocketed spire. Of a similar age to the tower, the 5-bay clerestory is a typical 15th century addition designed to improve internal lighting. The somewhat awkward chancel, which stands higher than the nave, is part of the major restoration of 1858 being a replacement for a medieval predecessor. Church Road has street parking enabling an extended visit, the churchyard, thankfully, is broad to the southeast, a necessary requirement to encompass both spire and main body.