England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hutton St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Hutton lies in northern Somerset roughly 3 miles southeast of the coastal resort of Weston super Mare. Hutton sits just over a mile south of the A371 road which links Weston super Mare with Cheddar. Hutton is a much grown village, early maps show a small settlement gathered around and either side of the junction between Hutton Hill and Church Lane, today Hutton stretches for 3/4s of a mile along Hutton Hill with most of its northeastern quadrant filled with modern developments. Hutton is severely constrained to the south by the rising steep slope of Bleadon Hill at the base of which it sits. Hutton parish carried a mixture of land-forms, wherein sat the village being arable, early maps show many orchards around the village now built over, to the north sat grazing marshes suitable for cattle whilst Bleadon Hill's sweet limestone pastures were the home of sheep. Modern developments just scrape into the parish, the railway line from Bristol to Bridgwater passing through the parish's western edge. Hutton sits barely 2 to 3 miles from the sea and water drains there primarily through man-made channels westwards reaching the outer Bristol Channel through the combined estuary with the Rive Axe. Hutton sits at between 10 and 30 metres above the sea on the fore-slope of Bleadon Hill which dominates southern views rising to 134 metres itself and 175 metres on its southward extension Loxton Hill. Hutton parish was typically sized for its area covering just under 1,900 acres which would have supported a population of around 450 parishioners, many more today. Domesday Hutton was a relatively small and rural holding of Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances offering just 3 ploughs backed by meadows, pastures and some woodland.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on the southern edge of Hutton on the southern side of the out-and-back running Church Lane and with the steeply rising slopes of Bleadon Hill climbing from the edge of its churchyard. Much of the church dates from the later medieval period and is nominally Perpendicular in style. The oldest dated item in Pevsner is the western tower to which he assigns a date of c1430. It is implied that building took place in two phases as the upper stages show differing design elements to those of base, typically for the late Perpendicular period it shows pinnacles to the top corner overshadowed by its tall stair turret. The nave. too. is from a similar period and shows similar design elements, the southern face is, however, obscured by the large and ill-fitting 19th century southern aisle. Both southern aisle and chancel were added and rebuilt respectively during an extensive Victorian restoration, Pevsner is highly critical of the attempt to maintain Perpendicular styling claiming the work had "no understanding of Perpendicular forms". In the early 21st century the vestry was extended to provide village meeting rooms. Whilst Church Lane is narrow there are a few spots where it is possible to safely park without causing a blockage. The entrance rises up a tarred pathway beneath a stately and rather tall evergreen, the photographer should not be deterred as south of the church there are good sight lines from the favoured aspects.