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

The Parish

The parish of Harborough Magna lies in the east of Warwickshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Leicestershire. Harborough Magna is a small and compact village sitting roughly 3 miles north of the industrial town of Rugby, the village sits on and west of the B4112 road which connects Rugby through to Nuneaton. Whilst the village has properties along the B4112 running between Harborough Magna and its satellite settlement of Harborough Parva, the main grouping is around the church and west of that road. Hereabouts the soils are rather heavy with clay and consequently, at the time of this transcript, a mixed farming regime would have been in place with pastures dominant; today, with the advent of heavy farm machinery, there is a more arable based farming economy. Modern developments have come to Harborough Magna, first to arrive was the Oxford Canal shortly followed by the West Coast main railway line from London to Glasgow which both cut through the parish to its south, finally the modern M6 was also routed through the parish, this time to its north. Harborough Magna is drained southwards the short distance to join the Avon which turns westwards eventually reaching the Severn and thus through to the Bristol Channel. Harborough Magna is sited at around 120 metres above the sea on a ridge of higher land that continues rises northwards to reach just short of 140 metres. Harborough Magna parish was fairly typically sized for a southern farming parish, covering just over 1,300 acres it would have supported a population of just under 400 parishioners. In Domesday time both Magna & Parva were recorded as one, two landholders (Ansegis and Richard, the forester) shared the land with assets totaling just 4 ploughs, a small meadow but there was a mill in Ansegis' holding.

The Church

All Saints' church sits just west of the B4112 enclosed within the loop of Main Street. The church has its origins in the 13th & early 14th centuries but has received substantial Victorian restoration masking a lot of the finer dating detail. From the 13th century comes the chancel arch, often the first part of a church to be built, and the two-bay southern arcade. The early 14th century is represented by Decorated styling in the northern arcade. Building continued into the later 14th century with the style switching with national fashion into the Perpendicular, the western tower is an example of this later style, It is to the Victorian restorers, however, that much of the present appearance can be attributed, that western tower was modified by re-surfacing whilst the western entrance was created and the southern aisle rebuilt, this work can be reliably dated to the late 1860s. Main Street winds through a set of right-angled bends around the churchyard where, by the entrance, it is widened to permit parking. The churchyard has a surrounding brick wall with metal gates for entry, sadly there are a few closely set trees which markedly restrict the angles available to the photographer.