England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Exhall by Alcester St Giles

The Parish

Warwickshire has two parishes named Exhall, hence the suffix of "by Alcester" to distinguish this one from that in the Coventry suburbs. Exhall is located in western Warwickshire not too far from its borders with both neighbouring Worcestershire but also with Gloucestershire. Exhall is located about 2 miles southeast of the small market town of Alcester and sits in lanes a mile east of the busy A46 road which connects Alcester with the Worcestershire market town of Evesham. Exhall is a small and quite linear village stretching along its lane for over a half mile. At the time of this transcript, and indeed still today, this was a rural and arable farming community; cereal crops predominating with only small areas devoted to pasture. Exhall is drained westwards by a small tributary of the River Arrow which is soon joined, in turn the Avon and then the Severn are followed to reach the Bristol Channel through the Severn Estuary. Exhall is sited at around 50 metres above the sea and sits at the foot of an isolated hill, topped by Oversley Castle which rises to 105 metres, otherwise the countryside is gently undulating between 50 & 100 metres above the sea. Exhall parish was one of the smaller in Warwickshire, it covered just over 800 acres and would have supported a population of barely 200 parishioners. In Domesday times Exhall was equally small, if not smaller, than today; held by one William son of Corbucion it could offer a single plough and a small meadow

The Church

St Giles' church sits on the southern side of the single lane running through Exhall, roughly midway through the occupied stretch. The church is an early foundation showing Norman features in its nave which is the earliest portion The northern doorway, capitals and arch are singled out by Pevsner as from this period. Later comes the chancel, Pevsner dates it to the 13th century, which shows lancet windows characteristic of the early English Gothic style. As is very common a significant restoration occurred in Victorian times, in this case 1862, when the church was refreshed and the bellcote added. The church is well screened by trees from the lane but is sited just north of Glebe Farm where a rising path heads to a white gate grating entry. Once inside that screening of trees there are few obstructions to photography within the churchyard.