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

The Parish

The parish of Nynehead lies in western Somerset not too far from its border with neighbouring Devon. Nynehead is located around 1 1/2 miles north of the market town of Wellington and sits about a mile east of the B3187 road which links Wellington with Wiveliscombe. Nynehead is a rather small and compact village which sits on the edges of the flood-plain of the River Tone, the river grants rich alluvial pastures to the parish underpinning the main economic activity of pastoral farming. Dairy cattle are the speciality with sheep on slightly drier land, the river formerly used to flood these adjacent pastures but was largely canalised in the early 19th century to prevent this. Modern developments have come to the parish with Brunel's Great Western Railway line, here linking Taunton with Exeter, passing through the east of the parish before crossing the Tone. Nynehead is drained eastwards by the Tone which, after passing through Taunton eventually meets the Parrett and turns north to reach the outer Bristol Channel through the port of Bridgwater. Nynehead is sited at around 50 metres above the sea in gentle terrain, away from the river's influence land rises to slightly over 100 metres at nearby Langford Heathfield. Covering just 1,200 acres Nynehead parish was toward the smaller end of the scale for Somerset parishes, within that acreage it would have supported a population of around 350 parishioners. Nynehead is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

All Saints' church sits to the west of the main group of properties adjacent to Nynehead Court, the earliest house on that site dating to the 14th century whilst today's manor house is of the late 17th century and built for the Sanford family who did much to improve the village. Whilst the church has its origins in the brief Transitional period between Early English Gothic & Decorated styles and for a few decades either side of 1300, very little remains of this early church due to improvements in late medieval and Victorian times. Traces of the Transitional style are noted by Pevsner in the basal stages of the western tower and also in the jambs of the transept arch, Documentary evidence indicates that the aisle was rebuilt in 1410 but little else of the Decorated style abounds. It was to the Perpendicular style that most modifications can be attributed in medieval times, the 3-bay arcades being good examples of the style as well as the upper stages of the tower, the southeast chapel and the arches to the chancel. In Victorian times work in 1869 saw the remodelling of the chancel, the addition of a northeastern organ chamber and the transformation of the northern transept into the Sanford family's private chapel. Further work in 1912 saw the northern wall of the nave rebuilt to complete today's church. A gated pathway, with ample parking outside, leads to the churchyard, Nynehead Court is nowadays a care-home for the elderly and shares the entranceway, whilst there are a few trees gathered around the western tower most aspects are readily available for the photographer.