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

The Parish

The parish of Llanfair Waterdine lies in the extreme southwest of Shropshire forming a lengthy stretch of the county's border with Radnorshire, and hence Wales, with Montgomeryshire also close by. Llanfair Waterdine is located roughly 4 miles northwest of the Radnorshire market town of Knighton and sits across the River Teme from the B4355 road which links Knighton with Newtown in Montgomeryshire. Llanfair Waterdine is a relatively tiny village with a strip of properties lining the course of the river from the bridge to Lloyney as far as St Mary's church, the wider parish, and it is extensive, is largely upland grazing with a scattering of hamlets and individual upland farms. The east of the parish is bounded by Offa's Dyke, accompanied by Offa's Dyke National Trail, the ancient boundary dividing England from Wales, so technically Llanfair Waterdine would have once been considered Welsh territory. The Teme's river-meadows would have provided richer grazing for cattle but most of the parish lies at well over 300 metres and is largely the home of hardy sheep on rough upland pasture. Llanfair Waterdine is drained eastwards by the Teme which eventually meets the Severn joining that river in heading south to meet the sea through the Bristol Channel. Llanfair Waterdine is sited at around 210 metres at its church but land rises steeply on both sides of the Teme, 432 metres being reached by the Offa's Dyke trail on Llanfair Hill, whilst across in Wales Beacon Hill at 547 metres is the local high point. Llanfair Waterdine parish covered around 7,000 acres and would have supported a population of around 600 parishioners, mostly scattered across that acreage. Llanfair Waterdine does have an entry in Domesday Book as a holding of Ralph de Mortimer but was described as "waste" with no assets recorded.

The Church

St Mary's church sits about 300 yards northwest of the bridge across the Teme to Lloyney on the northern side of the narrow lane which parallels the Teme to its north. Sadly this church is not the venue for these marriages as it was a Victorian replacement completed in 1854 and replacing an earlier church which Pevsner alleges was from the 16th century. The previous church was clearly nothing exception as early gazetteers describe it as "a plain building with no steeple". The Victorian church also has no tower merely a western bellcote. Both nave and chancel are built of local stone using a style from the early 14th century, the Decorated. This basic structure is augmented with a southern porch and a northern aisle and vestry. A widening of the lane to the west of the church allows a car to park safely opposite the rickety flight of grassy steps, a wooden handrail is present to aid the elderly, required to reach the churchyard. Once within the are no obstacles whatsoever to concern the photographer.