England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
South Cadbury St Thomas a Becket

The Parish

The parish of South Cadbury lies in southeastern Somerset not too far from its border with neighbouring Dorset. South Cadbury is located roughly 7 miles west of the market town of Wincanton. South Cadbury sits a half mile south of the almost motorway standard A303 road which connects London to Exeter. No mention of South Cadbury would be complete without mentioning its dominant feature Cadbury Castle, described by Pevsner as "the most impressive hill-fort in Somerset", which sits enigmatically 70 metres and a half mile above the village. Whilst its origins are pre-Roman there is some doubt as to when it was first occupied, perhaps as early as Neolithic Britain; it was certainly populated throughout the pre-Roman times and may have been the site of a battle with the latter's forces soon after conquest. It is the "Dark Ages" re-occupation of the 5th & 6rh centuries that has lead to speculation of a connection with King Arthur's Camelot, a connection that is exploited by the area to attract tourists today. The village, at the time of this transcript, would have been a typical south Somerset pastoral farming village, the lower lands by the River Cam set to cattle with sheep on the drier slopes above. The fast A303 has improved access to the area but is mainly to whisk heavy traffic through to the wider southwest. The River Cam drains the parish westwards, joining the Yeo at Yeovilton and then the Parrett at Langport to reach the outer Bristol Channel through the port of Bridgwater. South Cadbury is sited at around 80 metres above the sea, the castle's hill at 151 metres but this is just a spur for higher hills to the southeast where almost 200 metres is met on Pen Hill. Somerset has many small parishes and South Cadbury was one of these, covering just 800 acres it would have supported a population of close to 250 parishioners. In Domesday times South Cadbury was a tiny holding of one Turstin, perhaps a Saxon survivor, the assets of just a single plough and some meadow and woodland made it an obscure place in contrast to its Arthurian fame today.

The Church

St Thomas a Becket's church sits towards the south of the village just before the track heading to the castle site. The church is essentially a creation of the late 13th and early 14th centuries and features some Decorated and mainly Perpendicular style features. Whilst the arcades are Decorated in style much else is later and Perpendicular. Following the standard layout of that era the church has nave & chancel augmented by a western tower, that tower shows a higher stair turret at its northeastern corner and is highly decorated with battlements and pinnacles. Work to improve and restore the church started early, in 1835 the southern aisle was extended whilst in Victorian times (1870s) the chancel was rebuilt maintaining the accuracy of its previous style.Whilst Church Lane is narrow it is widely used for parking, indeed at busy tourist times it can be impossible and the large car park for the castle must be sought. The churchyard is raised slightly above road level and is banked by a local stone wall with a flight of steps rising into it. The churchyard has no obstacles for the photographer.