England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bath St James

The Parish

The city of Bath lies in the extreme northeast of Somerset quite close to both its border with Wiltshire and also that with Gloucestershire. Bath is located about 12 miles southeast of the Gloucestershire city of Bristol and 107 miles west of London. Bath sits on the A4 road which connects those two places and is sited in the valley of the Avon river, Bath also has modern communications; the Kennet & Avon Canal runs through the city, as does the London to Bristol Templemeads rail line whilst some 10 miles north runs the M4 motorway. Bath has a long history supposedly existing prior to the Roman invasion it became an important settlement for the Romans in part because of its mineral springs, the city is still famous for its archaeological remains of that period. Sacked by the Saxons Bath had a spell of neglect through the dark Ages before reviving under the Norman conquerors where it supported 154 burgesses. Bath's popularity soared in the 18th century whence it began to expand from the original walled city site. Supplied with fine limestone quarries the Bath-stone produced the genteel spa town of today. The parish of St James occupies the southern portion of the ancient city covering just a few acres of the urban area. Today Bath is a curious mixture of tourist destination and industrial city, the urban area has spread to incorporate what were neighbouring villages and hamlets into an urban area roughly 3 miles in diameter. The Avon drains the city westwards passing through Bristol to reach the Bristol Channel through the Avon Gorge. Bath is sited at just 10 metres above the sea but is deeply incised into the valley of the Avon, land rises sharply to almost 250 metres within a couple of miles of the city. As stated St James' parish covered just a few blocks of the southern part of the city and also acted as the mother church for the suburban parish of Lyncombe & Widcombe. In Domesday times the city was held directly by King William, it was a large an prosperous urban site and was not detailed in Domesday Book but as it was taxed to 20 geld units its was clearly an important asset for the Crown.

The Church

St James church is sadly no more having been subject to damage from enemy action during World War 2 the church lay for many years as a gutted wreck but was finally demolished in 1957 leaving just its burial area which nowadays functions as a small park. The church, which stood on Stall Street was built in the late 1760s, so the first marriages would have not been at that venue, in a classical style. The steeple, shown in archive imagery, was added in 1843 as part of a general restoration.