England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Kingsbury St Peter & St Paul

The Parish

The parish of Kingsbury lies in northern Warwickshire, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring Staffordshire and also is close to neighbouring Leicestershire. Kingsbury is a substantial and rather linear village built on the eastern banks of the River Tame and located about 5 miles south of the Staffordshire market town of Tamworth. Kingsbury lies on the former route of the A51 road which links Tamworth on to the metropolis of Birmingham, modern communications also pass nearby in the form of the Birmingham to Derby railway, numerous canals and the modern M42 road. Kingsbury has thus grown as a desirable commuter village for most of the Midlands area. Its principal economy at the time of this transcript would have agriculture with a mixed farming regime showing pastures in the Tame valley augmented by arable farming on higher ground. The River Tame drains northwards before eventually joining the River Trent and reaching the North Sea through the Humber estuary. Kingsbury is sited at around 70 metres above the sea and locally the land is gently undulating to around 160 metres at local high spots. By Warwickshire standards Kingsbury parish was on the large size, it covered almost 8,000 acres making it more typical of a northern parish, it would have supported a population of around 1,300 parishioners. In Domesday times Kingsbury was held by the infamous Countess Godiva (of naked horse riding fame) and could boast 18 ploughs, some meadows and woodland and a mill

The Church

St Peter & St Paul's church lies almost on the banks of the River Tame on the western side of the main road and accessed from the end of Church Lane. Much of the church seems to have been built as a distinct single construction which Pevsner dates to "about 1300", although he also reports that the nave shows features of the 12th century Norman period whereby the arcade piers, which are round, help to date it to this era. The church follows the normal design of nave, chancel and western tower albeit augmented by aisle and a northern transept. Pevsner is quite taken by the figured corbels which depict a "green man" and the second depicting a man with extended tongue and accompanied by a monkey. The church is accessed from parking in Church Lane by a short stretch of footpath, the site is extensively wooded and angles for photography are much restricted there being little in the way of a distant view of the building.