England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Backwell St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Backwell lies in the extreme north of Somerset roughly 7 miles southwest of the Gloucestershire city of Bristol. Backwell sits on and to either side of the A370 road which connects Bristol through to Weston super Mare. Backwell, nowadays a large commuter village, was at one time sufficiently large enough to be granted market town status, the market granted by King Edward 2nd has long since been discontinued, its proximity to Bristol suppressing the regional trade that could be expected. Backwell had a varied economy, underlain by both coal which was extensively worked, and a calcareous stone that took a high polish, and was worked for decorative work, these extractive businesses supplemented the typical pastoral farming characteristic of the area. Modern developments arrived with the building of the Great Western railway line from Bristol to Taunton which gave Backwell a station and spurred growth north of the A370 as Backwell became a much favoured commuter site for the nearby city. Backwell sits on slightly higher ground above a patch of the Somerset Levels which are drained by the River Kenn which heads for the nearby outer Bristol Channel arriving to the immediate south of Clevedon. Backwell occupies a sloping site, by the newer properties and the station it sits at just 10 metres whilst the southern edge, and the church, sit at 60 metres, land continues to rise southeastwards to top out at 202 metres on nearby Potters Hill. Backwell parish was fairly typically sizzed for this area, at just over 2,900 acres it would have supported a population of around 1,150 parishioners. In Domesday times Backwell was an equally important settlement with a population sufficient to place it amongst the largest 20% recorded, held by Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances it could boast 14 ploughs, the usual meadows, pastures and woodland and there was a mill.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits almost a half mile from the A370 on Church Lane, which skirts the steep slope of Backwell Hill. Archaeological investigations in the 1980 found a strange large stone beneath the nave which is reputed to be from a small Saxon church which covered the area marked by today's chancel & the first bay of the nave. Slightly later is a trace of the 12th century Norman Romanesque in the form of a squint in the chancel whilst the basic form of the church was established in the 13th century with Early English Gothic work, remaining as the frame of a window in the northern aisle. From these beginnings the church has undergone two major changes, the first, in the 15th century, was an almost complete rebuild of the fabric in the then fashionable Perpendicular style, masking almost all earlier detail. The imposing tower is the best feature typifying the era, at 103 feet in height it certainly forms a landmark across the Levels to the west. Finally the church received a major restoration in the early 1870 which not only refreshed most of the 15th century work but also rebuilt the northern wall of the church. Church Lane is quite narrow but well-used by locals for street parking, the churchyard is enclosed in a local stone wall with metal gates standing between two imposing evergreens marking the entrance. The church sits close to the southern edge making the better landscape views from outside the churchyard.