England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Compton Martin St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Compton Martin lies in northern Somerset about 6 miles northeast of the town of Cheddar. Compton Martin sits at the base of the Mendip Hills, on its northern side, one of a series of spring-line villages that follow the break of slope below these hills. Compton Martin sits on the A368 road which connects Bath through to the coast near Weston Super Mare. Much of Compton Martin is built along this road, with properties lying largely to its north and along a loop road which also heads out and back to the north. Unlike many places immediately east which lay on the small coalfield, Compton Martin would have been a farming community, largely indulging in pastoral farming with cattle on lower ground and sheep on the higher limestone of the Mendips, this farming income would have been supplemented by quarrying of that limestone for local building stone. The River Yeo rises from the base of the limestone hills and drains Compton Martin to the northwest running the short distance to the Bristol Channel and reaching it to the north of Weston Super Mare. Compton Martin is sited at around 100 metres above the sea but the Mendip rear up to the south reaching over 260 metres within less than a mile, an impressive escarpment that attracts many tourists to the village. Most of the parishes along the Mendip's northern edge are elongated on a southwest to northeast axis to access all of the available land types and Compton Martin followed this trend, it was typically sized for the area covering close to 2,200 acres and would have supported a population of around 600 parishioners. In Domesday times Compton Martin was held by one Serlo de Bercy and as a relatively smll holding offering 7 ploughs together with the ususal meadows, pastures and woodland.

The Church

St Michael's church sits to the south of the A368 on the fore-slopes of the Mendip escarpment and raised above road level. The church has ancient origins and is built largely in the Norman Romanesque style of the 12th century. Pevsner goes out of his way to praise the church for retaining these features describing it as "the best Norman parish church in Somerset". The Norman features are concentrated on the rear and sides of the church, the chancel and aisle arcades together with the clerestory all being of this era. Some of the decorations show a style developed during the constrcution of Durham Cathedral, at the other end of the country, and Pevsner speculates that these might in some way be connected. Within these clasping Norman features lies a 15th century nave and the western tower, these being Perpendicular in style and representing a substantial rebuild or refresh at that date For once Pevsner does not mention a Victorian restoration and if one occurred it did little to alter the building. A narrow lane, The Batch, rises up the slope from the A368 to the church entrance, it is narrow but with just about sufficient room to park. Entrance gates continue up the slope to the churchyard which is relatively open and has few obstacles to photography.