England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Wroxall St Leonard

The Parish

The parish of Wroxall (sometimes rendered as Wroxhall) lies in western central Warwickshire about 6 miles northwest of the county town of Warwick. There is not much to Wroxall, today, just a scatter of farms and cottages and the area is dominated by the parkland estate of the former abbey. Wroxall sits just west of the junction of the A4177 which curves northwest and then northeast from Warwick to join the A452 northwest of Kenilworth, with the A4141 which continues the original direction heading for Solihull. Wroxall's origins are closely tied to its abbey, founded in 1135 in the reign of Henry I for the Benedictine order, the grounds are now the home of a luxury hotel. The Elizabethan mansion which also stood there and was purchased in his later years by Sir Christopher Wren was replaced some 150 years subsequently and forms the hotel. Wroxall's residents would have largely earned there income from farming and on the stiff clay soils a mixed farming regime would have predominated. The parish is drained eastwards by headwaters of the Inchbrook Beck which makes its way eastwards to join the Avon before turning back westwards and heading for the Bristol Channel through the Severn estuary. Wroxall is sited at around 120 metres above the sea, the land is broadly at or close to that level for many miles. By Warwickshire standard Wroxall parish was rather small, it covered just over 1,800 acres and would have supported a population of just below 180 parishioners. There is no specific mention of Wroxall in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Leonard's church is formed from the remains of the Benedictine Abbey and sits within the grounds of the estate, now a hotel complex. The is largely formed from what was the northern aisle of the abbey together with portions of the abbey church. Whilst the abbey dates from 1135, the portions forming the church are in the Decorated style of the early 14th century, documentary evidence records the church's consecration in 1315 which accords with the architecture. The curious brick, western, tower dates from much later Pevsner states it was post Civil War in the 1660s. The southern chapel is also later and Victorian. The church is accessed from the A4141 at the gated entrance where a long driveway heads determinedly westwards to a car park. The church is nowadays run by the Renewal Christian Centre and sits in a parkland setting albeit the northern side is masked by many trees.