England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Kings Sutton St Peter & St Paul

The Parish

The parish of Kings Sutton lies in the extreme southwest of Northamptonshire forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Oxfordshire, the border here being the River Cherwell. Kings Sutton is located roughly 4 miles southeast of the Oxfordshire town of Banbury and stands just over a mile northeast of the B4100 road which links Adderbury with Bicester. Kings Sutton is a large village, at its core is an oblong formed by parallel lanes running west to east, modern developments have grown the village northwards in more recent times. Kings Sutton sits within an extensive parish which was largely farmed in pasture, early gazetteers estimate over 2/3rds of the parish acreage was managed pastorally. Modern developments have caused the recent growth, a series of improvements have arrived at the parish, firstly the Oxford Canal designed to link the Thames with the Midlands in an alternative route to the Grand Union Canal arrived, the railway line also arrived in Victorian times linking the village's station with both London and Banbury and sparking noticeable commuter growth, finally the modern M42 meanders in and out of the west of the parish connecting London and Birmingham. All of these transportation infrastructure improvements have lead to the area being primed for light industrial growth in what is now termed "Motorsports Valley". Kings Sutton is drained southwards by the Cherwell which eventually meets the Thames at Oxford from where water flows eastwards through both Reading and Windsor to the capital and onward to the North Sea through the Thames Estuary. Kings Sutton is sited at around 100 metres above the sea with the western edges some 10 metres lower, land rises eastwards towards nearby Brackley with a few spots breaking the 150 metre contour. Kings Sutton parish covered just over 4,400 acres which would have supported a population of close to 1,300 parishioners. In Domesday times Kings Sutton was shared between King William, with the major share, and 3 others, the collective assets of 13 ploughs, extensive woodland and 3 mils indicate a prosperous middle sized manor.

The Church

St Peter & St Paul's church sits on the western edges of the village quite close to the Cherwell and bordered to its east by Red Lion Street and to the north by  Church Avenue. The church has fabric dating back to the earliest times with most of the 12th century Norman Romanesque fabric found within the chancel. Also early and given a dating of c1200 is the southern arcade to the nave. It is, however, the early 14th century period of the Decorated that have granted the church its utter magnificence. Pevsner rightly describes the early 14th century tower and its later 14th century stunning spire as the "finest spire in a county of spires", praise indeed and rightly so, it stands an impressive 198 feet in height. The nave is also not overshadowed by the towering spire, it too has its origins in the early 14th century and together with the aisles presents an aura of grandeur and airiness, the latter improved in the 16th century by insertion of a clerestory. There was little change during the Perpendicular era with only the southern porch which was added in that time. There was much work carried out by Victorian & later restorers in 3 documented phases of activity, the first of 1866 was a typical general restoration, that of the 1880s was more major resulting in a partial rebuild of the main body of the church and also of the spire, the spire needed further attention in the 20th century with repairs carried out in 1968. The finest approach to the churchyard is by Red Lion Street, which has on-street parking and allows an uninterrupted view of the great height of the spire, views from directly south & west are markedly impeded by trees leaving only the remaining angles for the photographer.