England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Knowle St John the Baptist, St Lawrence & St Anne

The Parish

The parish of Knowle lies in western Warwickshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Worcestershire. Knowle is sited roughly equidistant from the city of Birmingham and from Warwick being 10 miles southeast of the former and 10 northwest of the latter. Knowle sits on the A4141 which links Solihull through to Warwick. Until the late 17th century Knowle was a mere chapelry of the then vast Hampton in Arden parish before becoming one in its own right. Knowle is a much expanded village in modern times, early maps show a mid-sized crossroads settlement with an oval of lanes holding most properties together with a eastwards running extension towards the Grand Union Canal. This former road pattern is still discernible in today's layout but Knowle has expanded towards Birmingham engulfing Copt Heath, to the west incorporating both Tilehouse Green and Dorridge into a broad expanse of urban development of small town size. At the time of this transcript Knowle would have been a mere farming parish with roughly equal parts of arable and pastoral methods, today it also functions as a dormitory suburb for both Birmingham and Warwick. Modern developments have come aplenty, the aforementioned Grand Union Canal, linking Birmingham with London, arrived first followed by the Birmingham to Warwick railway line granting Dorridge a station whilst today's modern M42 motorway carves its way through the area to the west of Knowle. Knowle is drained northwards by the River Blythe which joins in turn the Tame and Trent on their long journey to reach the North Sea arriving through the Humber Estuary. Knowle received it name because it does just that, it sits on a knoll at around 120 metres above the sea land does, however continue to rise southwest to reach 140 metres where M42 meets M40. The parish of Knowle is one of the more extensive in its county, covering almost 3,300 acres within which it would have supported a population of around 1,200 parishioners. Knowle, itself, is not, however, mentioned in Domesday Book but the manor of Longdon sitting just southwest of Copt Heath is so mentioned, it was held by one Thorkil of Warwick, presumably a Saxon survivor, and was poor in assets with just 2 ploughs backed by the usual meadows & woodland.

The Church

The parish church with its series of dedications to St John, St Lawrence & St Anne, sits opposite the Royal Oak Inn at the junction of the A4141 with the Kenilworth Road (B4101). This is a church almost entirely of the Perpendicular style and one which is described, rightly, by Pevsner as "a church of some ambition". Its origins are well documented with its foundation recorded as 1396 and its consecration in 1403. The most attractive feature of the church is the use of alternate bands of differing coloured stone, a white stone from the Forest of Arden is intermixed with a more regionally traditional red sandstone from the Kenilworth quarries. Pevsner is able to discern the distinct phases of build despite the unified styling of the church, first came chancel, nave and 4-bay aisle, soon after the southern aisle was added together with a 5-bay arcade which overtops the chancel, the next phase saw chancel extended and a northern chapel added. Even the western tower shows evidence of two stages to its build, its precise dates are uncertain but it post-dates the nave. Clerestory and battlements completed the initial build which Pevsner estimates as complete by c1440, Just as the build was in several stages over a lengthy period so were the Victorian and later restorations, Pevsner records work in 1860, 1877, 1891, 1900, 1921 and an extended phase of minor works from 1909 to 1932, only the 1900 phase saw major modification with the addition of the vestry and organ chamber. The Kenilworth Road has a number of on-street parking bays extending eastwards from the entry point of double wooden gates at the western end. The church sits in an extensive churchyard which continues for some distance to the north, close properties and a few tree mar the western end but otherwise all favoured aspects are readily available for the photographer.