England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Boningale St Chad

The Parish

The parish of Boningale lies in the extreme east of Shropshire, indeed it forms a small part of the border with neighbouring Staffordshire. Boningale is located about 6 miles northwest of the large Staffordshire industrial town of Wolverhampton. Boningale is small, little more than a hamlet and sits just to the south of the A464 road which connects Wolverhampton with Shifnal & Telford. Most of Boningale's properties lie along a short side road to the main A464. The main economic activity of the area, at the time of this transcript, would have been pastoral farming. Boningale is drained by a number of small streams heading southwest to join the River Worfe, and thence the Severn to the the north of Bridgnorth, from here the Bristol Channel is eventually reached through the Severn Estuary. Boningale is sited at around 80 metres above the sea and land is fairly gently undulating to local heights some 50 metres higher on Nurton Hill within a couple of miles. Boningale parish was small by Shropshire standards, it covered just 1,000 acres and would have supported a population of just under 200 parishioners. There is no specific mention of Boningale in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Chad's church sits on the northern side of the narrow lane curving through the hamlet. The church has very ancient origins, Pevsner cites Norman style features to both the nave and chancel and nominates a 12th century date for these. The church would appear to have been re-roofed in the 16th century but otherwise was more or less unchanged until the Victorians made their usual alterations, a southern aisle added in 1861 and a southern porch in 1894. Pevsner claims the southern aisle rather overpowers the simple Norman structure to which it was appended. Church Lane has sufficient grassy verge for parking and the churchyard is surrounded by a low local stone wall, a pair of wooden gates at the western end of the site granting access. The southern half of the site is rather overpopulated with mature trees, including a substantial beech, making it tricky to achieve adequate angles for photography.