England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Neen Sollars All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Neen Sollars lies in the extreme south of Shropshire forming a length of the county's border with neighbouring Worcestershire. Neen Sollars is located roughly 6 miles northeast of the Worcestershire spa town of Tenbury Wells and sits about 2 miles north of the A456 road which links Tembury Wells with Bewdley & Kidderminster. Neen Sollars is a riverside settlement, linear in shape and running alongside the small River Rea and upwards on to the neighbouring ridge separating the Rea's valley from that of the Mill Brook. Like most small parishes in this area Neen Sollars would have been a farming parish and here pastoral methods would have dominated. Modern developments have come and gone from the parish, the Kingston Canal being first to arrive and then eventually close was followed by a railway line linking Tenbury Wells & Kidderminster which has also largely disappeared from its course alongside the Rea. The Rea and Mill Brook meet south of the village before heading to meet the Teme, matters turn eastwards as the Teme heads to join the Severn on its long journey to the Bristol Channel. Neen Sollars is sited on its rising site from 70 to 100 metres above the sea in rolling countryside , land rises steadily northwestwards towards Clee Hill which tops out at 533 metres at the hill-fort on Titterstone Clee Hill some 4 miles away. Neen Sollars parish was fairly typically sized for this area, covering close to 1,800 acres it would have supported a population of around 200 parishioners. In Domesday times Neen Sollars was a tiny hamlet of just 10 households, held by Osbern and managed by an under-lord named Siward the Fat it offered just a single plough but the Rea provided the means for a mill,

The Church

All Saints' church sits surrounded by the characteristic black and white houses of this area on a rising site about a quarter mile west of the crossing over the Rea. The church has a cruciform layout traditionally associated with early churches and, in particular, Norman era churches, here, however, we find an example built originally in the 13th or early 14th centuries. The local stone used is a coarse and "slabby" one in a colour which gives a leaden hue to the building, one which causes Pevsner to describe the church as "austere". The aging of the church is, however, difficult due to the extensive restoration, amounting to a partial rebuild of the 1850s. Documentary evidence dates construction to c1287 and evidence of both the Early English Gothic & Decorated styles of the build do remain but largely overlain by later work. The crossing arches of the early 14th century are the major piece allowing us to see the medieval beyond the Victorian whilst lancet windows proclaim the earlier work. The chancel was almost completely rebuilt in the 1850s as was the southern porch, most else was refreshed during the same period. Entrance to the churchyard is from the eastern end as the site rises steeply, the churchyard becomes steeply banked to way above head-height further west, a few small places may be found for safe parking. A few conifers gather around the western end of the church but other aspects are clear for the photographer.