England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bucknell St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Bucknell lies in the extreme southwest of Shropshire where it forms a place of borders, not only with neighbouring Herefordshire but also almost bordering Radnorshire and, thus, Wales. Bucknell is an oddity in that its parish includes land within Herefordshire, the hamlet of Coxall too. Bucknell is located roughly 12 miles west of the town of Ludlow and stands just under a mile, and across the River Teme, north of the A4113 which links Ludlow with the Radnorshire town of Knighton. Bucknell is a mid-sized and compact village largely built around an oval of lanes, two sides by the B4367. The area has a long history of settlement, the village, itself, contains the motte of the former castle built by the Normans whilst straddling the county border to the east is the Iron Age multivallate hill fort on Coxall Knoll. Whilst the hill-fort is Iron Age both Neolithic & Bronze Age finds reveal a much older phase of occupation. Today Coxall Knoll is beset by forestry, as are several other knolls in the area, each managed for quick-growth forestry, at the time of this transcript, however, the area would have been almost totally devoted to pastoral farming. Modern developments have come to Bucknell, the Mid-Wales Railway line from Craven Arms through to Llandrindod Wells passing through and granting Bucknell a station. Bucknell is drained eastwards by the Teme which meanders steadily eastward to meet the Severn, turn south and reach the sea through the latter's estuary. Bucknell is sited at around 140 metres above the sea in its valley setting, to the west land rises steeply to the border hills reaching 399 metres on Caer Caradoc and 424 metres on Stow Hill. At just over 2,800 acres (of which 1,200 lie in Herefordshire) Bucknell parish was a typical parish of western upland areas, that acreage would have supported a population of around 550 parishioners. Whilst Bucknell is recorded in Domesday Book as a holding of Ralph de Mortimer it is described as "waste", a term used to describe unimproved land, it sat at the western limit of Norman influence, hence the defensive castle, but had potential for up to 6 ploughs.

The Church

St Mary's church sits within the oval of roads forming the village centre some 200 metres north of Bucknell's railway station. Whilst St Mary undoubtedly has medieval origins, the work of an extensive phase of restoration of 1868 - 1870 largely rebuilt the church. Only fragments of the original fabric remain from this work, a blocked priest's doorway to the chancel from the 13th century Early English Gothic style is matched by undressed rubble masonry in the nave. Later work, in the form of a Decorated style window from the early 14th century also remains whilst most of the roofs date from 15th century. The Early English Gothic theme was retained by the Victorian restorers as they went about their work, the major changes included the southern porch in timber, a simple northern aisle and a vestry. The church's stand-out feature, its western bell-turret complete with spirelet is also an addition from that late 19th century work. Parking is easiest to the north of the churchyard where a triangular verge enables a single car to get off-road, here the churchyard is raised above road height and banked by a local stone wall alongside which a rising path leads to the church. Whilst the churchyard is relatively free of obstacles there is little room to the southwest before the edges of that raised section, care is needed to avoid a fall.