England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bickenhall St Paul

The Parish

The parish of Bickenhall lies in southern Somerset not too far from the joint border with neighbouring Devon & Dorset. Bickenhall is located roughly 5 miles southeast of the town of Taunton and lies about 2 miles west of the A358 road which links Taunton with Ilminster. Bickenhall is a rather distributed settlement, there being no distinct village as such rather farms and cottages are spread across the wider parish. The largest concentration is a loose aggregation northwest of the makeshift church/village hall. Like most parishes in this area pastoral farming, of mainly cattle, underpinned the local economy. Bickenhall is drained eastwards by the headwaters of the Fivehead River, its name suggesting the multiple sources that combine to form it, which eventually joins the River Isle followed by the Parrett, turning north and northwest the Parrett arrives at the outer Bristol Channel through the port of Bridgwater. Bickenhall is sited at around 80 metres above the sea in rolling countryside, land rises steadily westwards to the impressive summit of Staple Hill which dominates views to the southwest at 315 metres above the sea. Somerset has a few small parishes and Bickenhall was one of these, bare 1,000 acres made up its acreage and within that it would have supported around 250 parishioners. In Domesday times Bickenhall was a typical small rural holding of Count Robert of Mortain offering merely 5 ploughs as well as the usual meadows & woodland.

The Church

The original church of St Paul has long since been demolished, only the churchyard remains as a memory of what has been lost. Services today are held at the church cum village hall of St Paul which sits on the summit of a little knoll on the northern side of the main lane connecting Staple Fitzpaine with the A358. This building was constructed in 1849 and thus was not the venue for these marriages. It is a simple box showing typical lancet style Gothic revival windows and sits in a small churchyard devoid of any obstacles for the photographer.