England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bramshall St Lawrence

The Parish

The parish of Bramshall lies in eastern Staffordshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Derbyshire. Bramshall is located about 2 miles west of the market town of Uttoxeter. Bramshall is a fairly large village sitting on and north of the B5027 road which connects Uttoxeter with Stone. Bramshall has expanded much in recent times being a rural and small village until recent developments, the village now stretches for almost a half mile north of the B5027. The mainstay of the economy at the time of this transcript would have been pastoral farming, proximity to the local market of Uttoxeter being quite beneficial. Bramshall is drained to the east by small tributaries of the Tean before reaching the Trent at Burton Upon Trent and eventually the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Bramshall sits on a slight ridge at around 130 metres above the sea with land gently undulating to around the same level from some 20 metres lower. Bramshall parish was quite small by Staffordshire standard, it covered just under 1,300 acres and would have supported a population of just over 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Bramshall was tiny indeed, held by one Robert of Stafford, it could offer just a pair of ploughs and a very small wood.

The Church

St Lawrence's church sits in an enclosed setting behind properties to the east of Church Lane, which runs north from the B5027. The church is not a mediaeval one but was rebuilt at the expense of Lord Willoughby de Broke in 1835 in a style very reminiscent of a "Commissioners Church". The bulky western tower together with nave & chancel in one piece are also typical of the style. The use of faux-Perpendicular style fenestration completes the picture of a substantial church built to be fairly massive and impressive but lacking in any great architectural innovation. The church is rather hidden from view, a narrow tarred access heads east from Church Lane about 300 yards from its junction with the B5027. A hedge-lined pathway leads onwards into the churchyard. A bank of trees immediately south of the chancel causes a few photographic images restricting the best angles somewhat.