England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Charwelton Holy Trinity

The Parish

The parish of Charwelton lies in the extreme southwest of Northamptonshire, it forms part of the county's border with neighbouring Warwickshire and is not too far away from Oxfordshire too. Charwelton is located roughly 5 miles southwest of the market town of Daventry and sits on the A361 road which links Daventry with Oxfordshire's Banbury. The village of Charwelton is unusual in having moved away from its church to the newer site on the main road. Around the church are the lumps and bumps of the deserted village of Church Charwelton whilst on the A361 sits a newer, compact small village with most properties either lining the main road or along either side of the lane that eventually leads ti the church. Like most rural villages Charwelton would have been, and today largely still is, a farming village, here rich pastures were in dominance albeit today more arable has crept in. Modern developments have come and gone from Charwelton, a branch railway line from Warwickshire's Rugby to Brackley once passed through granting Charwelton a station but all is closed and largely dismantled. Charwelton sits at the headwaters of the River Cherwell, apocryphally it rises in the cellar of a nearby farmstead, which drains the parish southwards, the Cherwell meets the Thames to the north of Oxford before passing through that city and the capital before reaching the North Sea. As befits a headwaters' village Charwelton is quite high for its area, sitting at around 150 metres above the sea, nearby stand isolated hilltops, the highest Blackdown Hill carries the local radio mast at 222 metres. Parishes in western Northamptonshire are frequently quite large for rural southern England, Charwelton covered an acreage just short of 2,300 acres and would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. In Domesday times 3 landholders shared Charwelton, each carrying a meagre share of its 7 ploughs, to boost Count Robert of Mortain's share it held the mill.

The Church

As already mentioned Holy Trinity church sits away from its present village within the confines of Church Charwelton and almost a mile to the southeast, three distinctly differing approaches are available all involve a walk. Most of the church is a product of the 14th century and is built either in the earlier Decorated style or in the subsequent Perpendicular era. Of the main body the northern arcade is the best example of the early 14th century Decorated style which abounds in the nave; at the western end stands the big ashlar western tower which, too, is in that Decorated style. The major piece in the late 14th century Perpendicular style is the two-storeyed southern porch. A single anomaly breaks this 14th century origin with part of southern aisle showing 3 steeply stepped lancets which are reputed to be of c1300 thus in the short Transitional style period pushing back the age of the church by a quarter century. The major exception to the medieval lies at the eastern end of the church, the chancel is a 20th century rebuild completed in 1904. Two approaches run from the village where parking may be found, the local Jurassic Way Trail is signposted across the fields whilst the metaled Church Street, a roughly surfaced, unfenced track crosses the same pastures from the village. Alternatively one can park on the lane running to Preston Capes from where a similar footpath runs south to the church. The churchyard is open and uncluttered with no obstacles for the photographer.