England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Windlesham St John the Baptist

The Parish

The parish of Windlesham lies in the extreme northwest of Surrey forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Berkshire, it is also not too far east of that with Hampshire. Windlesham is located roughly 7 miles northwest of the town of Woking and sits just over a mile east of the A322 road which connects Bracknell with Guildford. Windlesham is a curiously dispersed settlement with no real village center defining it, rather a collection of properties interspersed with stretches of woodland and heath, there is a substantial collection of modern properties south of the A30 and Windlesham Hall, however. Windlesham sits within the Surrey Heathlands, an area of glacial sandy deposits that was of very low fertility, the poor soils did little for arable farms and consequently much land was set to grazing, both sheep and rabbits were locally common, and much was used for woodland and heathland management. The heaths were particular noted for their broom plants which supplied a local besom-making industry. Windlesham grew largely as a result of the desire for rural retreats with many large properties set in seclusion within both heath and wood. Modern developments have come to Windlesham, the railway may have passed it by, a branch line to Camberley from Ascot passes just to the west, whilst the modern M3 motorway sits less than a mile to Windlesham's south. Windlesham is poorly served by surface drainage, the soils being light and porous, but the headwaters of "The Bourne" eventually drain eastwards to meet the Thames at Weybridge from whence matters pass through the capital to the North Sea. Windlesham is set on a gently undulating stretch of heath at between 60 and 90 metres above the sea with no significantly greater heights for some distance. By the standards of Surrey and, indeed, southern England Windlesham parish was extensive, a result of the poor quality of land, covering almost 5,800 acres it is more typical of an upland parish in extent, within that acreage it would have supported a population of around 1,900 parishioners. In common with much of the Surrey Heathlands Windlesham is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St John the Baptist's church sits to the southwest of the majority of Windlesham on the northern side of Church Road and fairly close to the noise and disturbance of the M3. St John is one of a limited number of 17th century churches, not an era noted for the building of new places of worship of the Anglican faith. The reason for this is that Windlesham's medieval predecessor succumbed to a major fire and the church had to be rebuilt, this was completed in 1680. Some materials, medieval windows reset, indicate that the previous church was of the typical 14th century styles of the Decorated & Perpendicular as these grace the southern face of the replacement church. The choice of brick for the church gives it a relatively modern appearance. Despite the relatively late construction there were modifications made by the Victorians, in 1838 a long transeptal aisle was added to the north but this was later removed in 1874 when a new chancel together with an enormous new nave and northern aisle replaced it. The rather unsightly stucco that was applied in 1838 was also removed but later in 1925. Church Road has an unusual narrow parallel lane running beside it, Palestine Street, where roadside parking can be found outside the post and rail fencing marking the churchyard. Neighbouring properties sit rather close on the southern side of the churchyard making those aspects unavailable and severely limiting the views available to the photographer.