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

The Parish

The parish of Biddestone lies in western Wiltshire close to both the border with neighbouring Gloucestershire and also with that for Somerset. Biddestone is located roughly 4 miles west of the large market town of Chippenham and is a large village built around a collection of lanes that sits around a mile south of the A420 road which connects Chippenham with Bristol. Biddestone once consisted of two parishes St Nicholas & St Peter, the latter long since extinguished. Biddestone's properties, including the church, make much use of the local limestone for building stone giving a pretty scene. The area, at the time of this transcript, was dominated by the raising of sheep, the local soils were too thin and unproductive for much arable farming, today with modern machinery & fertilisers arable dominated the local landscape. Biddestone is drained southeastwards by a small feeder stream to the Wiltshire Avon which is met immediately south of Chippenham, the latter makes its way back westwards to reach the Bristol Channel through the Avon Gorge and the port of Bristol. Biddestone is sited at around 120 metres above the sea, it sits on the dip-slope of the underlying limestone so land rises steadily westwards to local heights of close to 150 metres within a mile or so. By the local standards Biddestone parish was one of the smaller, covering just over 1,800 acres it would have supported a population of around 450 parishioners. In Domesday times Biddestone was a small place indeed, not worthy even of recording a plough, just meadows and pasture held by one Humphrey de L'Isle.

The Church

St Nicholas' church lies at the heart of the village on the northern side of Church Road and immediately west of the main junction of roads within the village. The church has its origins in the 12th century and a few pieces of the Norman Romanesque remain from that time, the southern doorway is the main piece whilst a pair of Norman windows grace the chancel. The major changes to the church came in the early 14th century and in the Decorated style. The chancel arch and most of the remainder of the fabric dates from this period, this includes the church's centrepiece the bold spire-topped bellcote that sits on the ridge of the nave. For once Pevsner does not mention a Victorian restoration so if one occurred it must have been light and/or sensitive. Church Road has ample parking outside the church which sits within a local limestone wall with an arched gateway granting access. Trees front to the road but once within there are no obstacles to photography.