England
& Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index |
The ParishThe city of Wells lies in central Somerset, St Cuthbert is the principal parish, although records also are found for the Cathedral (dedicated to St Andrew). Wells is located at the foot of the Mendip Hills about 19 miles south of the city of Bristol and the same southwest of the city of Bath. Wells is located at the major crossroads of the A39 (Bath to Taunton road) and the A371 (Shepton Mallet to Weston super Mare road). The early origins of Wells date to Saxon times, the 8th century foundation of St Andrew's collegiate church often being cited as the start of the city's growth. The city grew substantially such that by the Norman invasion it was one of the notable small cities of the realm. The city has a strategic site, built at the foot of one of the few crossings of the Mendip Hill and on the edge of the Somerset Levels which stretch away to the south. Nowadays Wells is still one of the smallest cities in England but an attractive tourist destination in itself. St Cuthbert's parish covers the widest part of the city, St Andrew being restricted to the Cathedral Precinct is much smaller but at the time of this transcript held 3/8ths of the population. Whilst St Cuthbert included a substantial area of farmland, principally pastoral, the city's notable industry was stocking knitting and many of these parishioners would have been engaged in that industry. St Cuthbert's parish would have supported a population in excess of 4,500 parishioner sin quite a small area. With its "out-parish" St Cuthbert was actually a large parish for this part of Somerset. Wells is sited at around 40 metres above the sea, the Mendips rise to the north almost to 300 metres above the sea. Because of the porous limestone there is little surface drainage in the northern sector of the parish, the south drains into the River Sheppey and thence the River Brue to reach the Bristol Channel through Bridgwater. In Domesday times the land was held by the Bishop and boasted a very impressive 55 ploughs, 9 mills as well as pastures, meadows and woodlands - a wealthy place indeed. |
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Register No | Covering Dates | Deposited With | Register Style | Quality Standard | Comments |
1 | 19th May 1754 - 22nd December 1763 | Somerset Heritage Centre - Reference - D/P/w.st.c/2/1/6 | Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 4 entries per page | Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads | None |
2 | 26th December 1763 - 11th June 1778 | Somerset Heritage Centre - Reference - D/P/w.st.c/2/1/7 | Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 4 entries per page | Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads | None |
3 | 14th June 1778 - 24th October 1785 | Somerset Heritage Centre - Reference - D/P/w.st.c/2/1/8 | Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 3 entries per page | Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads | None |
4 | 8th November 1785 - 18th April 1799 | Somerset Heritage Centre - Reference - D/P/w.st.c/2/1/9 | Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 3 entries per page | Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads | None |
5 | 2nd May 1799 - 12th December 1812 | Somerset Heritage Centre - Reference - D/P/w.st.c/2/1/10 | Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 3 entries per page | Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads | None |
6 | 11th January 1813 - 25th December 1833 | Somerset Heritage Centre - Reference - D/P/w.st.c/2/1/11 | Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register | Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads | None |
7 | 30th December 1833 - 22nd June 1837 | Somerset Heritage Centre - Reference - D/P/w.st.c/2/1/14 | Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register | Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads | None |
Priddy
St Lawrence
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Chewton
Mendip St Mary Magdalene
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Emborough
St Mary
Binegar Holy Trinity |
Westbury
St Lawrence
Wookey St Matthew |
Ashwick
St James
Wells St Andrew Dinder St Michael |
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Glastonbury
St John
North Wootton St Peter |
1755 1760 1765 1770 1775 1780 1785 1790 1795 1800 1805 1810 1815 1820 1825 1830 1835
Corrections to Tinstaafl Transcripts