England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Nunney All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Nunney lies in eastern Somerset not too far from its border with neighbouring Wiltshire. Nunney is located roughly 3 miles southwest of the town of Frome and sits a half mile north of the A361 road which links Frome with Shepton Mallet. Nunney is a linear village stretching north from the A361, at Nunney Catch, for almost 3/4s of a mike with the subsidiary chapelry of Holwell lying on the A361 a half mile to the west. Nunney's principal claim to fame is its castle which stands opposite to All Saints' church, given licence to castellate in 1373 it is impressive for its symmetrical nature with defensive bastions at each corner of its oblong construction. The castle was eventually slighted in the Civil War after a 2-day siege in 1645 and following years of relative neglect the northern wall collapsed in 1810 but the site remains a tourist draw even today. Nunney had industry to go with the normal local mixture of pastoral farming inter-leavened with small amounts of arable, the town was a mini-Sheffield renowned for its manufacture of sharp-edged agricultural tools which employed many in the village. It takes only a glance at modern day maps to see the impact of the other industry of the region, large quarries for limestone dot the landscape westwards from Nunney. Nunney is drained northwards by the Nunney Brook which squeezes between church & castle forming a unique village feature before heading off to meet the River Frome and then the Avon to the west of Bradford on Avon, the Avon passes through both Bath and Bristol before reaching the outer Bristol Channel through it iconic gorge. Nunney Brook stands at 110 metres above the sea in the heart of the village whilst Nunney Catch is some 30 metres higher, land continues to rise steadily westwards reaching 280 metres at nearby Cranmore Tower, the local high point. At 2,800 acres Nunney parish was towards the largest end of the scale for its county, that acreage supporting a population of around 1,200 parishioners. In Domesday times Nunney was shared between William de Mohun and the Abbey of Montebourg, assets of 6 ploughs backed by meadows, pastures and woodland and they each held a mill or share thereof.

The Church

All Saints' church stands on the eastern side of Church Street opposite to the castle and slightly north of the village's main junction. Like many churches this is one much altered by Victorian work which masks the medieval origins of the building. Pevsner's investigations reveal a 13th century origin to the chancel with Early English Gothic styling revealed in its twin lancets on the northern wall and double-chamfered arches. Tracery in the aisles is indicative of the short Transitional period and given a date of c1300 whilst the reticulated tracery remaining in the transepts carries a later 14th century date of between 1330 & 1350 in the full-blown Decorated style.  Moving westwards the nave is Perpendicular in style with Pevsner assigning a date of late 14th century to its arcades and its wagon roof of c1500, clearly a later rebuild. The western tower is the final medieval piece dating from c1500 and contemporary with the re-roofing of the nave, indeed its 2nd stage carries a late 15th or possibly 16th century panel with the badge of the sponsoring Paulet family. Restoration work actually began in the Georgian period when western bays were added and the aisles re-worked between 1818 & 1826, this was followed by the almost complete rebuild of the chancel in the major restoration of 1874, the replacement of the nave's wagon roof in 1958 and the insertion of a tiled ceiling, which Pevsner disliked, in 1967. Church Street, despite it narrowness, is well used by locals with some parking almost within Nunney Brook in places, the churchyard is slightly raised above road height and entered up a short flight of steps. Sadly for the photographer the church sits tight into the southeastern corner and is beset by trees removing those favoured aspects, thus the views from Church Street offer the best option but require care on a sunny day,