England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Silverstone St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Silverstone lies in southern Northamptonshire forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Buckinghamshire. Prior to 1831 today's parish was merely a detached portion of Green's Norton parish and all marriages prior to that date would have occurred there. Silverstone is located roughly 3 miles south of the market town of Towcester and sits on the former route of the A43 road, now bypassing to the south, which links Towcester with Brackley. Silverstone is a large and linear village with most properties either lining that former main road or to its north, the village runs for well over a mile along the former A43. Like most parishes in this area a mixed farming regime dominated the local economy with almost equal measures in arable and pastoral methods, today arable is dominant. Silverstone is, however, made famous from the re-purposing of its World War II airfield which was converted by the Royal Automobile Club in 1948 into a motor racing circuit and is nowadays the spiritual home of that sport in the UK sharing the British Grand Prix with Brand's Hatch in Kent. The circuit straddles the county border to the south of the village. Silverstone is drained northeastwards by a small brook which joins the River Tove at Towcester, the latter heads southeastwards to meet the Great Ouse on the northern edges of Milton Keynes New Town before passing through much of the eastern Midlands to eventually reach the North Sea through King's Lynn and The Wash. Silverstone is sited at around 130 metres above the sea with land continuing to gently rise to the south, a spot height of 156 metres by Beckett's Corner in the circuit marks the highest land hereabouts. Roughly 1,700 acres was set aside from Green's Norton to form Silverstone parish with that area holding a population of close to 1,000 parishioners, it must be stressed again that most marriages were held elsewhere hence the low volume recorded. In Domesday times Silverstone was a tiny place of merely 7 households with assets of just a single plough backed by meadows & woodland, meagre returns for its 3 landholders.

The Church

St Michael's church stands at the junction of Church Street & Stocks Hill, the notional centre of what is a linear village. The church which nowadays stands here is not the venue for these marriages as this church was completed as a replacement in 1884 at the expense of Sir Robert Loder of Whittlebury. The local yellow sandstone gives an attractive appearance to what is a relatively simple church with nave and aisles, lower chancel and all capped at the western end by a shingled wooden turret and spirelet. The style of the early 14th century, the Decorated, is used in a "correct and precise" manner as Pevsner states whilst internally this is varied with Early English Gothic elements in the arcades. The junction of Church Street is a broad triangular plain used by locals for on-street parking. The entry to the churchyard is through a narrow stepped lychgate, the western end of the church is restricted by close trees but otherwise there are no obstacles for the photographer.