England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Horspath St Giles

The Parish

The parish of Horspath lies in central Oxfordshire about 4 miles east of the city of Oxford. Horspath is a substantial village which lies just over a mile east of the busy eastern ring-road of Oxford (here the A423), it has much expanded during modern times from what would have been a compact and mid-sized village. The village maintains it's distinct identity despite the ever expanding growth of Oxford, the busy dual-carriageway providing a barrier still between the city and its rural suburbs. At the time of this transcript Horspath would have been a farming village, on the heavy clay soils a mixed farming regime would have been in place. Modern developments did come to Horspath with the construction of a branch rail line from Oxford to Wheatley which is now disused. Horspath is drained southwards by the Northfield Brook which skirts Oxford to meet the Thames flowing thence through the capital to the North Sea. Horspath is sited at close to 100 metres above the sea in fairly gentle terrain, land rises to the north to almost 160 metres. Horspath parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering just under 1,200 acres it would have supported a population close to 300 parishioners. In Domesday times Horspath was an equally unremarkable village, held by Roger D'Ivry in could offer just 5 ploughs and the usual meadows & woodland.

The Church

St Giles' church sits at the heart of the old centre of Horspath on the northern side of Church Road. The church has been modified substantially since its first construction but enough remains to identify the stages in its life. The building has its origins at the latter end of the Early English Gothic period of the mid-13th century, from this early period only it cruciform layout and the southern doorway and arcade remain. The build must have crossed into the next era of architectural style as the southern transept was completed in the Decorated style. The  crossing tower is of the 15th century and Perpendicular and reflects a rebuild of that period. It is, however, in the Victorian era that major changes took place; in 1840 there saw a complete rebuild of the chancel whilst in 1852 not only was the northern wall of the nave rebuilt but a northern transept added too. It is, however, internally that St Giles has its centrepiece, the extraordinary stone figures standing at either end of the tower arch, one playing a set of bagpipes and the other giving a gesture of amazement, are unique in this country. Church Road is narrow but carries little traffic and parking is acceptable, the church is enclosed within a local stone wall with a wooden gate granting entry, the church is rather hemmed in to both north and west but the better aspects are available to photographers.