England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Merevale Our Lady

The Parish

The parish of Merevale lies in northern Warwickshire not too far from the county's border with neighbouring Leicestershire. Merevale sits roughly 7 miles northwest of the industrial town of Nuneaton and about 1 mile south of the A5 road linking Tamworth through towards Hinckley & Nuneaton. Merevale was an estate-based parish, created from the grounds of the 12th century Cistercian Abbey and continued as the estate of Merevale Hall. There are few remains of the Abbey merely parts of the refectory and some anonymous stretch of walling. The Hall, resembling a castle with an embattled tower and walls, dates from the middle of the 19th century. Of more normal properties there are few signs of anything resembling a village. Despite the estate nature of the parish it was surprisingly industrial with a coal mine operating for many years, it lives on in the name of Colliery Farm west of the church. The remainder of the economy would have been driven by the needs of the estate with pastoral farming dominant over arable. To the south lies an extensive woodland area, Monks Park Wood, which would have been coppiced for woodland products and a source of wild meat. Modern developments all skirt the northern edges of the parish  keeping to the same corridor as the A5 which in its turn follows the Roman Watling Street and is now a fast dual-carriageway, the first to arrive was the Coventry Canal soon followed by the railway line linking Nuneaton with Tamworth. Streams through the estate grounds have been landscaped to water-bodies but all drain northwards into the River Anker which forms the county border, the Anker meets the Tame and in turn the Trent before partaking in that mighty river's long journey to the North Sea arriving through the Humber Estuary. Merevale is sited at between 90 & 150 metres above the sea on rising ground from northwest to southeast, further south the highest ground is at Bentley Common where a spot height records 177 metres. Merevale parish was fairly typically sized for its area covering a little over 2,200 acres and supporting a population of close to 300 parishioners. Merevale is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

The church of Our Lady sits immediately inside the estate grounds accessed from Merevale Lane through an elaborate faux-medieval Victorian gateway, the gateway clearly amused Pevsner. Our Lady has rather unusual dimensions with a small nave and much larger chancel giving a slightly lopsided effect. Pevsner attributes this to the parish church being derived from the abbey's "Capella ante portas", the chapel outside the gates serving pilgrims and travellers and discrete from the church within the abbey itself. Enough fabric remains despite extensive Victorian work to place the church's origins into the 13th century Early English Gothic period. Lancet styled windows on the western wall being typical of that era's fashion. Building and change undoubtedly continued throughout the medieval period as early 14th century Decorated styled windows are found in southern chancel aisle whilst the splendid 5-light eastern window is Perpendicular. The chancel was also remodelled in the same era with a tentative dating of c1500. At least 4 periods of Victorian work are documented in Pevsner, the first of 1847 created the vestry in the space of the former nave aisle, further work of 1875 tackled the northern aisle whilst its southern equivalent was restored in 1884, finally a thorough restoration of 1893 added the tiled belfry as part of a thorough restoration. A substantial lay-by sits outside the entrance gatehouse allowing a leisurely visit, after passing through the gatehouse the churchyard is open and uncluttered with views from most angles readily available for the photographer.