England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Shrewsbury St Alkmond

The Parish

The parish of St Alkmond (spelling varies between that and Alkmund repeatedly, the church sits in St Alkmond's Square yet signage is for St Alkmund) lies within the county town of Shropshire, Shrewsbury. Like many ancient towns & cities, Shrewsbury is divided into multiple parishes of which St Alkmond was one of five. Shrewsbury lies some 154 miles northwest of London and lies in the northern part of central Shropshire sitting upon a meander of the River Severn. Shrewsbury has ancient origins, the A5 road from London to Holyhead follows the ancient Roman way of Watling Street, it formerly passed through Shrewsbury but today, thankfully bypasses it to its south. By the time of King Alfred Shrewsbury was amongst the largest towns in England, so large it was granted the right to mint coinage. Shrewsbury then served as a royal base to counter incursions from nearby Wales and also was an important stronghold during the Civil War. Once peace with the Welsh had been achieved Shrewsbury became the principal market for the produce of the Marches and mid-Wales, it is said that the greater portion of cloth made in Denbighshire, Montgomeryshire & Merioneth was marketed through Shrewsbury, as well as the vast herds & flocks of the area. As well as being a market providing for trade and specialist services Shrewsbury manufactured thread, yarn & canvas as well as some heavy & light industry. Modern developments have come in abundance to the town, the Shrewsbury Canal arriving in 1793 quickly followed by rail links to Birmingham and the capital, in more modern times the A5 is almost of motorway standard as it forms the principal road artery to much of mid & northern Wales. Shrewsbury is drained by the mighty Severn, sourced on the mountains of mid-Wales the river reaches something of a hiatus across the plains of Shropshire before turning southwards on a long journey to reach the sea through the Bristol Channel. Shrewsbury is sited at between 45 & 60 metres above the sea, land is at or close to that height for some distance although some of the western suburbs rise to around 80 metres. Of the 5 parishes of Shrewsbuty St Alkmond is the most central, occupying the centre of the meander with an arm stretching towards the northwest as far as the Smithfield Road. Although it occupied a relatively tiny acreage St Alkmond was the least in terms of population but still crammed over 1,600 parishioners into that tiny space. Shrewsbury is mentioned extensively in Domesday Book, held by 6 named landholder but its assets are not detailed, this is common in larger places, needless to say it was amongst the largest settlements recorded in that book.

The Church

St Alkmond's church (or if you prefer St Alkmund's church) sits in the heart of Shrewsbury's ancient medieval centre, the oldest parts set within an extensive meander of the Severn, the church sits on St Alkmond's Square and to the east of Fish Street. The church is a grand town church but of relatively recent origin in the main. When the town's St Chad suffered a major calamity in 1788 and the burghers of the town decided to take action to prevent a similar calamity at St Alkmond by demolishing the main body of the church leaving only the mighty tower from the medieval period. That tower at 57 metres in height dominates the centre of the town, it is built in four stages and topped by a tall & slender spire. The tower is built in the Perpendicular style of the late 14th or 15th centuries and Pevsner assigns it a date of c1472 based upon donations in documented wills. The remainder of the church dates from its rebuild between 1794 & 1795 and is as grand a church as befits the town centre. Like most town churches access is bast achieved on foot but given its location crammed within a medieval street pattern and with adjoining commercial and private properties it is a challenge to photographs. The photographer will have to search long to get sufficiently far back to achieve a full landscape view given the height of that tower and without using fish-eye lenses.