England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Binegar Holy Trinity

The Parish

The parish of Binegar lies in northeastern central Somerset about 4 miles north of the market town of Shepton Mallet. Binegar is a mid-sized village which sits on, and west of, the A37 road which connects Shepton Mallet through to Bristol. Most properties within the village are built around the junction of the A37 or along the westwards running lane (Station Road) heading for the church. Whilst Binegar was principally an agricultural village it sat on the southern fringe of the Somerset coalfield and some employment would have come from the mines which operated to the east between Binegar and Holcombe. The farming was largely pastoral as Binegar sat on the northern edges of the limestone Mendip Hills with their thin and poor soils being unsuitable for arable cultivation. Modern developments did arrive at Binegar with construction of a railway branch line between Shepton Mallet & Radstock but this has since been closed and all but disappeared. Binegar is drained eastwards by the headwaters of the Mells River which joins firstly the Frome and then the Avon to return back westwards through Bristol to the Avon Gorge and Bristol Channel. Binegar is sited at between 200 & 230 metres above the sea, the western end being higher, land continues to rise onto the Mendips which top out at almost 300 metres on nearby Beacon Hill. Somerset parishes are often small in extent, Binegar was such but was also peculiar in being thin and stretched on a north to south axis, presumably to grant a share of both the limestone country and the lower and slightly richer land to the north. Binegar is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

Holy Trinity church sits at the western end of the rising lane (Station Road in memory of that closed branch line). Sadly the church that sits here is not the venue for the following marriages being a Victorian replacement erected in 1859, the predecessor being removed. The church uses a mixture of styles, the main body being in that of the Early English Gothic whilst the western tower is 14th century Perpendicular. The church was clearly of little architectural interest for Pevsner who's description is short, a mere 3 lines of text outlining the principal features. Station Road is narrow but a pull-in can be found at the western entrance to the churchyard which is surrounded by a post and rail fence. The churchyard has a few trees dotted within, a large one taking the better southeastern aspect does limit the views available to the photographer.