England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hinton Blewett St Margaret

The Parish

The parish of Hinton Blewett lies in northern Somerset roughly 8 miles north of the market town of Wells and within the Mendip Hills. Hinton Blewett sits about 2 miles east of the A368 road which connects Bath with the A38 (Bristol to Exeter) road at Churchill. Hinton Blewett is a compact small village sitting high up in the limestone hill country of the northern Mendip range most properties lies along the shallow valley formed at the headwaters of the brook "The Cam", a smaller stream also forms westwards as Hinton Blewett sits on something of a small and localised watershed. Hinton Blewett sits just west of Somerset's small coal-field so the local economy here would have primarily been devoted to pastoral farming, the local limestone was also quarried but mainly for local building stone. The Cam is the primary drainage heading northeast and becoming the Cam Brook before meeting the Avon to the southeast of Bath, the Avon flows westwards through Bath & Bristol to reach the sea through the Bristol Channel, water over the watershed heads northwards into Chew Reservoir, the River Chew and meets the Avon too but near Keynsham. Hinton Blewett is sited at around 140 metres above the sea in the limestone hills where local high spots rise to almost 170 metres to the southeast towards Chewton Mendip. Hinton Blewett was one of the smaller parishes in its area, covering just under 1,100 acres it would have supported a population of close to 300 parishioners. In Domesday times Hinton Blewett was equally rural and relatively small, held by William d'Eu it could muster 5 ploughs, had some small meadows & woodland patches but did have a mill.

The Church

St Margaret's church sits almost at the eastern end of the village tucked away on the northwestern of the village's two main lanes Upper Road. St Margaret is a church of the late medieval period and almost totally in the Perpendicular sttyle of the late 14th & 15th centuries. Built from the local "Blue Lias" stone it has the traditional layout of that period, nave & chancel with western tower. To this main body there are additions from the unusual period of the 16th & 17th centuries too. Following the religious turmoil of Henry VIII it is rare to find major church-building work thereafter. Much of the 16th century work is as the result of the enthusiasm of the then rector, Simon Seward who was in post from 1514 to 1559 during which time the northern aisle and eastern chapel were added to the main body. Slightly later and in the 17th century the tower acquired its parapet complete with pierced quatrefoils whilst some windows were altered to a square-headed format. St Margaret's major restoration came, not in Victorian times, in the 1920s when sensitivities were more pronounced, apart from the rough grey rendering the work was effective and not disruptive to the historical detail. Upper Lane is rather narrow but a small rough parking area on the verge outside the churchyard gate allows a single vehicle off-road. From these metal gates a pathway crosses the churchyard to the building, it sits in an extensive and uncluttered churchyard allowing unfettered viewpoints to the photographer.