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

The Parish

The parish of Wandsworth lies in the extreme north of Surrey indeed it forms part of the boundary, here formed by the River Thames, with neighbouring Middlesex. Wandsworth is located about 6 miles southwest of the city of London and has nowadays been totally absorbed within the urban area of the capital. At the time of this transcript Wandsworth was a large village separated from the sprawl of London by open fields. Wandsworth sits on the southern bank of the Thames at the point where the Wandle enters the latter. Wandsworth sits on the A3 road, the former London to Portsmouth road but many other busy A class road cross the district as well as rail routes into the capital. Wandsworth's close proximity to the capital had lead to the development of industries as well as farming of the land for supporting the capital. Wandsworth is notable for its dyeing, hat making, mills, distilleries and in particular brewing, the Youngs Brewery dominating the local scenery until recent times. Nowadays Wandsworth is a fairly typical outer London suburb, a local centre for its area and a contiguous swathe of housing supporting the businesses of the capital. As Wandsworth grew up in the shallow valley of the Wandle, this stream now largely enclosed and hidden drains the parish into the nearby Thames and thence to the North Sea. Wandsworth is sited at just 3 metres above the sea and the area is best described as gently sloping. Wandsworth parish was fairly typically sized for the area, it covered almost 2,500 acres, its population was growing rapidly during the period of this project and almost doubled from the 1801 figure of 4,500 by 1851. In Domesday times Wandsworth was something of a backwater, it was held jointly by William son of Ansculf (a rare Saxon) and the Abbey of Saint Wandrille, it could offer just 6 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

All Saints' church sits in the centre of Wandsworth on the northern side of Wandsworth High Street, here the joint routes of the A3 and the South Circular Road. Sadly All Saints is not a mediaeval building only the western tower is more than 300 years old. The tower is dated by Pevsner at 1630 with most of the remainder built in the late 1770s. Despite this late origin the building was extensively modified in 1841 to leave the present building. Fortunately All Saints did not suffer unduly during World War 2 bombing. Pevsner clearly finds little of architectural merit or interest in the church, his account covering only a handful of lines. All Saints is little separated from the street, a foot high wall forms only part of its boundary. Being hemmed in by properties it is difficult to obtain adequate position without photographing from the opposite side s of the High Street, given the traffic a risky maneuver.