England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Horley St Etheldreda

The Parish

The parish of Horley is one of the most northerly in the county of Oxfordshire and forms an extensive stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Warwickshire. Horley is located roughly 4 miles northwest of Banbury and sits a couple of miles north of the A422 road which links Banbury with Stratford upon Avon. Horley is a rather linear village rising up a ridge from a small stream to the ridge-top for over a half mile, the parish church standing proud on almost the highest ground. The small stream was once an important source of food for the village as remains of fish ponds stand to the west. Horley was a farming parish with a mixed set of regimes both pastoral and arable in roughly equal proportions as estimated by early gazetteers, today there has been, like elsewhere, a shift towards arable. In addition to farming Horley stands on an ironstone, which gives the church its splendid colour in evening sunlight, that was quarried with a railway, now dismantled, to take the stone into nearby Banbury. Horley is drained southwards by both its small brook and the Sor Brook which runs to its east, the Sor Brook becomes the major stream passing around Banbury to join the River Cherwell, the Cherwell is one of the major feeders for the Thames, which it joins south of Oxford, the Thames passes through London and to the North Sea through its estuary. Horley is sited on rising ground from 120 metres to 160 metres, its ridge continues rising into Warwickshire reaching 215 metres at Edge Hill before plunging off an escarpment. Horley parish was typically sized for the area covering 1,200 acres and supporting a population of around 400 parishioners. In Domesday times 3 landholders shared Horley with assets totalling 15 ploughs, meadows & woodland and 2 mills it was a moderately prosperous manor.

The Church

St Etheldreda's church stands towards the northern end of the village in the shallow fork between the main village street and Little Lane, the main entrance is from the latter as the churchyard stands well above head height above the main street. St Etheldreda contains fabric from the very earliest times, the central crossing tower shows it was probably intended to be cruciform but appears to have never had transepts. The crossing tower and the chancel are the earliest fabric and date back to the Norman Romanesque period of the 12th century, albeit they were reworked in the 14th. The tower's bell opening area a varied array with east and west 12th century whilst the north and south are 15th. Whilst the nave was almost certainly constructed at the same time it appears later as it was rebuilt in the 13th century in the Early English Gothic style. Three doorways show off the style rather well. Pevsner calls the 4-bay arcades "remarkably tall and stately for a village church", their style is consequential of further remodelling of the church in the earl 14th century when a clerestory was inserted, the southern aisle enlarged and the southern porch added all in the Decorated style. The normally busy period of the Perpendicular era saw little work beyond a rebuilding of the northern wall of the northern aisle. Restoration came late to the church being completed in 1915 and being light and sensitive. Visitors should make a bee-line for the interior where they will find in the northern aisle a stunning wall-painting of St Christopher which experts have described as "one of largest and most perfect representations of the saint in the country", it is well worth a visit in its own right. Little Lane is well used by locals for on-street parking, the entry is loomed over by the church's western end, unfortunately a batch of trees intrudes upon the favoured southeastern aspects but all other angles are available for the photographer.