England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Rushbury St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Rushbury lies in southern central Shropshire roughly 6 miles east of the market town of Church Stretton. Rushbury sits a half-mile south of the B4371 road which links Church Stretton with Much Wenlock and sits in the vale below the impressive ridge of Wenlock Edge. Rushbury is a small and compact village with properties lying along a north to south running lane. It is difficult to believe but once this small village was granted a market, by King Edward I but due to its proximity to both Church Stretton and to Much Wenlock those market rights have long since disappeared. The vale below Wenlock Edge carries numerous small streams and is a maze of small fields of mainly pasture with cattle making up the main source of income. The area is well-known to geologists as it contains a complex and much folded geology spanning eons of time and was an area that birthed modern geology in the UK. Modern developments came and went, a branch railway line linking the main Marches railway to Much Wenlock and serving the quarries of Wenlock Edge fell into disuse and has largely disappeared. Rushbury is drained southwestwards by the Lakehouse Brook which acquires a number of differing names before reaching the River Onny close to Craven Arms, from here the Onny heads south joining the Teme and finally the Severn to the south of Worcester before reaching the sea through the Bristol Channel. Rushbury sits on a little knoll at 170 metres above the sea but land rises steeply onto Wenlock Edge to the south where the local high point above Lilywood reaches 283 metres. Rushbury parish is one of larger parishes in its county, covering just over 3,600 acres it would have supported a population of around 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Rushbury was a relatively small place, a holding of Roger de Lacy it could offer merely 7 ploughs and some woodland but did possess a mill.

The Church

St Peter's church sits on the eastern side of Rushbury's main lane as it winds through the village. The church is ancient and venerable with some of the oldest fabric in its county, Pevsner points out the herring-bone masonry at the base of both northern and southern walls which is Saxo-Norman in origin and probably pre-Conquest in date. Whilst the 11th century is shown by this masonry the bulk of the church is still ancient but of the 12th century. The long and low chancel is described by Pevsner as "a fine, coherent piece of c1200" and this date is carried too by the blocky western tower and by the blocked northern doorway to the nave and its opposite number the southern doorway. Lancet windows of the Early English Gothic period can be found throughout the building unless altered during more modern times. The timber framed southern porch, whilst still medieval in age, goes undated by Pevsner. An extensive restoration of the mid 1850s saw much work on the building but the roofs which they replaced are a tribute to their skills being a fine embellishment of the late medieval originals. The most noticeable piece impacted by the restoration is the western tower which acquired its top-most stage at that point. A small triangular area for parking can be found at the southern end of the site where the village telephone box lies and a flat entry can be found, the remainder of the churchyard being banked high above road level, Sadly most favoured southern aspects are taken by surrounding trees leaving only the more tricky northern views for the photographer.