England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Ilmington St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Ilmington lies in an area previously detached from the south of the county of Warwickshire, county boundaries in this area (where Warwickshire, Gloucestershire & Worcestershire all meet) were extremely convoluted with detached portions of each county and a confusing one at that. Local Government reorganisation in 1974 smoothed the current county boundaries and left Ilmington in Warwickshire. Ilmington is located in the northern end of the Cotswold range of hills about 4 miles northwest of the Worcestershire market town of Shipston on Stour. Ilmington sits in a network of lanes about 2 miles west of the A429 (which follows the ancient Roman Road of Fosse Way) which links Warwick to Cirencester. Ilmington consists of a curious oval of lanes, elongated on a northeast/southwest axis enclosing an area which includes St Mary's church. Ilmington sits on the edge of a plain butted against the escarpment of the Cotswold to its southwest. The main economy of the parish would have been mixed farming but quarrying of the limestone and also weaving of silk were important employers. Much of the parish is drained by the Humber & Small Brooks, they head northwards to join in sequence the Rivers Stour, Avon and Severn before making their way to the Irish Sea through the Bristol Channel. Ilmington is sited at 110 metres above the sea but land rises steeply to its southwest onto the Cotswold range and local heights of over 250 metres lie within a mile of the village. Ilmington parish was of a large size for a south Warwickshire parish, more in common with its Cotswold neighbour in Gloucestershire, it covered around 3,700 acres and would have supported around 900 parishioners. In Domesday times Ilmington was largely held by the Count of Meulan with a small portion held by one Robert of Stafford, the parish could offer about 15 ploughs and had a small meadow.

The Church

St Mary's church lies in that parcel of land encircles by the oval ring of Ilmington's lanes, it can be accessed from most directions only by footpaths running from those lanes. The church is very early and largely dateable to the Norman period of 12th century. Pevsner cites both northern and southern doorways and chancel arch as showing undoubted Norman styles. The western tower, a rather squat and blocky piece, he dates to maybe a half century later and the transepts also show the Gothic Early English style of the 13th century. However, like many churches St Mary was extensively renovated by the Victorians who largely replaced most of the fenestration albeit keeping the original architectural styling. Much of the site is enclosed by a low local stone wall and footpaths cut through the churchyard and between properties to access the site from many angles. The churchyard is somewhat heavily wooded and photographic angles are particularly inhibited if one seeks a landscape portrait of the entire building.