England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bobbington Holy Cross

The Parish

The parish of Bobbington lies in the extreme southwest of Staffordshire forming an extensive stretch of the border with neighbouring Shropshire. The parish is unusual in that it has land within both counties but the larger portion is of Staffordshire. Bobbington is located about 6 miles east of the Shropshire market town of Bridgnorth and sits a little over 2 miles north of the A458 road which connects Bridgnorth with Stourbridge and Dudley. Bobbington is a small and compact village with most properties lining a "U" shaped stretch of narrow lane. Like many parishes in this area it would have been an agricultural parish with a mixed farming regime dominated by pastoral farming of mainly cattle. Bobbington is drained northwestwards by a small tributary of the River Worfe which is shortly joined, the latter meets the Severn to the north of Bridgnorth and turns south reaching the sea through the Bristol Channel. Bobbington is sited at around 80 metres above the sea in fairly gentle terrain, land rises steadily to the southwest reaching just over 150 metres at the A458. Bobbington parish was slightly small in extent for a Staffordshire parish, covering just under 2,700 acres it would have supported a population of around 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Bobbington was a tiny place, held by one Robert of Stafford, it could muster just 3 ploughs and a small area of woodland. 

The Church

Holy Cross church sits within the "U" shaped curve of lanes with properties curling around the churchyard. The church is certainly an ancient one albeit much modified over the centuries. Pevsner identifies the northern arcade amongst the earliest pieces and dates it to the mid-Norman period of the late 11th or early 12th century. Further early work can be found in the aisle which retains a lancet window of the Early English Gothic period e.g. 13th century. The church was much modified during its Victorian restoration, in this case from the 1870s. Most of the fenestration was replaced at that time but the major change was the addition of the southern tower, a curious placement as most churches have the tower at the western end. Whilst the tower gives the church character Pevsner is churlish in describing it as "uninspired". The church is approached by Six Ashes Road where metal gates give way to a long, thin car park and a diagonal tarred pathway leading to the church. The churchyard is rather open but there are many trees clustered tightly around the western end limiting those angles for the photographer.