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

The Parish

The parish of Alkerton lies in the extreme north of Oxfordshire forming a short stretch of the border with neighbouring Warwickshire. Alkerton is a small and compact village which lies roughly 6 miles northwest of the market town of Banbury and sitts about a mile west of the A422 road which connects Banbury with Stratford upon Avon. The parish is underlain by ironstone and this gives the properties an interesting colour, umber in evening sunshine. Whilst the local stone was quarried for building the dominant force in the local economy was farming and here a mixed regime would have been in place. Alkerton is drained southwards by the infant Sor Brook which joins the Cherwell to the south of Banbury, the latter continues southwards to reach the Thames then through the capital to the North Sea. Alkerton is sited at around 150 metres above the sea but sits in a steep sided valley outside that valley land is something of a dissected plateau with local heights rising to 227 metres on Shenlow Hill to the west. By Oxfordshire standards Alkerton was a tiny parish, covering not even 700 acres it nevertheless would have supported close to 200 parishioners. Im Domesday times Alkerton was shared between one Miles Crsipin and the ubiquitous Bishop Odo, collectively their holdings only offered 6 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

St Michael's church sits to the north of the village accessed by a rough track from the sharp bend in the only lane through the village. The church originates in the brief period when Norman Romanesque was changing from the fashion into the early English Gothic, this transitional period is dated fairly closely to the cusp of 12th into 13th centuries. The church's best example of this period is that of the southern arcade, much else has been so radically modified over the centuries. Much work was done in the 14th century utilising the Decorated style, the top two stages of the tower are of this design as are some windows. The Perpendicular period saw further window replacement and the addition of a clerestory to improve internal light. The 17th century brought further change as the chancel had to be rebuilt in that century whilst a light Victorian restoration added the organ chamber as well as a general refresh. As you pass through the village a prominent white sign points the way to the church, rising along a roughly surfaced track to the site, abroad verge allows parking once the churchyard is reached. A compact site but with few obstacles to photography.