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

The Parish

The parish of Caversham is the most southerly within Oxfordshire indeed it forms an extensive stretch of the border with neighbouring Berkshire, here formed by the course of the River Thames. Caversham is located immediately across the Thames from the large industrial town of Reading, separated only by Caversham Bridge and sitting on both the A4074 (Reading to Wallingford) and A4155 (Reading to Henley) roads. As a border settlement Caversham is often considered within Berkshire but anciently the Thames was the frontier of the two counties. Whilst Caversham has always been a large village today it is little more than a northern extension of the conurbation which Reading has become, a built-up area stretching for 10 miles east to west along the Thames and almost 6 miles from the M4 motorway to the northernmost reaches of Caversham's suburbs. At the time of this transcript Caversham was a substantial village and regional centre for its hinterland, the main employment within the wider parish being typically in arable farming. Most of the area's modern developments have occurred south of the Thames with Great Western Railway and motorway on the Reading side of the divide leaving Caversham to retain something of the rural within its streets. The Thames drains the parish eastwards through the capital to reach the North Sea. Caversham is sited at around 50 metres Thames' side but rises away from the flood-plain to local heights of just over 80 metres in its higher suburbs. Caversham parish was large for its county, covering almost 4,500 acres it was more reminiscent of the acreage of an upland parish and within that acreage a population of just over 1,600 parishioners would have been supported. In Domesday times Caversham was again an important settlement, one of the largest 20% of settlements recorded within that tome, held by Walter Giffard it assets included 17 ploughs, extensive meadows and woodland as well as a mill.

The Church

St Peter's church sits almost on the banks of the Thames immediately south of the A4074 and bordering the grounds of Caversham Court. Whilst St Peter has ancient origins it has been extensively modified over the centuries both within the medieval period and also Victorian and 20th century times. A reused Norman Romanesque styled window in the vestry as well as the retained southern doorway in the same style indicate an origin as early as the 12th century but these scant remains are all that date the building to that period. A 14th century rebuild is indicated by extensive details from the Perpendicular era, both the main northern wall and the northern chapel show this style especially well. Much else is, however, relatively recent, in 1878 the western tower was completely rebuilt and a southern aisles added whilst in the 1920s work continued by extending the chancel. The Warren leads south towards the Thames from the A4074 along the edge of the churchyard and has ample parking for a visit. The sloping site has a raised bank for most of its northern edge with wrought-iron railings to the south, a broad pathway leads into the churchyard which has a plethora of trees within making for a real challenge for the photographer to adequately capture the building.