England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Radford Semele St Nicholas

The Parish

The parish of Radford Semele lies in southern central Warwickshire roughly 2 miles east of the town of Leamington Spa. Radford Semele stands either side of the A425 road which links Leamington Spa with Southam and just over a mile west of the ancient Roman Road of Fosse Way. Radford Semele was a small settlement sitting on the southern banks of the River Leam, to the north of the A425 there is the parish church and Radford Hall, originally a 17th century house but much modified in the Georgian period, whilst to the south the original village was set around T-junction of the A425 and the lane running southwards. Because of commuter pressure there are now modern developments expanding the village from its original core. Like most villages in southern Warwickshire farming was the main economy, here with the rich alluvial floodplain of the Leam it was probably weighted towards pastoral farming of mainly cattle. Modern developments have come to the parish, to the north of the church runs the route of the Grand Union Canal built to connect London with the Midlands it exploited the valley of the Leam to transit Leamington Spa and Warwick. On the western edge of the parish is the railway line connecting Leamington Spa with Banbury, the branch line which once headed northeastwards to Rugby has closed leaving only parts of its former infrastructure. Radford Semele is drained westwards by the Leam which soon meets the Avon, the latter continues mainly westwards to reach the Severn at Tewkesbury, here water turns south to eventually reach the sea through the Bristol Channel. Radford Semele is sited on the valley side rising from 60 metres at the church to 80 metres in its south-easternmost properties, away from the Leam  the low knoll of Crown Hill at 101 metres is noticeably the highest point around. Radford Semele parish covered almost 2,100 acres which would have supported a population of close to 500 parishioners. Domesday Radford Semele was a holding of Thorkil of Warwick, who may well have been a Saxon survivor, the assets of the manor were 12 ploughs, a small meadow and a mill.

The Church

The dead-end lane of Church Lane once lead solely to the parish church of St Nicholas and to Radford Hall, nowadays there are modern developments accompanying the two. Sadly for the parish St Nicholas was gutted by fire in 2008 which means that much of what we see today is the result of the successful reconstruction of the church carried between 2012 & 2013. Surviving from the medieval predecessor Pevsner notes a single 12th century Norman window in the nave's southern wall and the 15th century Perpendicular western tower. During the Victorian era the church had received a restoration which added a northern aisle, the chancel arch replaced and the stone reredos also added, these also survive in today's church. Modern addition from the restoration work added a toilet block to the northwest and a vestry to the southeast. Whilst parking is possible on Church Lane outside the lychgate, there is also a small car park to the north with space for 4-5 vehicles. There are a few trees, particularly to the west of the church, but nothing to markedly inconvenience the photographer.