England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Calne St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Calne is located in north central Wiltshire about 5 miles southeast of the larger market town of Chippenham. Calne, itself, is a market town albeit smaller than its near neighbours. Calne sits at the junction of the A4 (London to Bath) road with the A3102 (Lyneham to Melksham). Calne grew up at the foot of the Wiltshire Downs on a shelf of lower lying land to the west of the main chalk escarpment of the Downs. This position gave Calne access to the products of the vast sheep-runs that were the Wiltshire Downs and for many centuries wool and the production of cloth underpinned the market town's economy. Nowadays that industry has disappeared but Calne is still an important market for the local area as well as supporting many small business enterprises. Calne has a long history with Roman remains found within the town indicating very early occupation, its centre grew up where the A4 crosses the infant River Marden and much of early Calne lies along this road, today Calne has expanded notably northwards and the A3102 now bypasses to the west. The River Marden drains the parish to the northwest joining the Avon at Chippenham and reaching the Bristol Channel through Bristol and the Avon Gorge. Calne is sited at 70 metres above the sea but to its east land rises on to The Downs and local heights reach 258 metres on Morgan's Hill, around 3 miles southeast of the town. Calne parish, which incorporated the chapelry of Blackland (which held its own marriages), was one of Wiltshire's larger parishes, it covered over 21,500 acres and supported a population of almost 5,000 parishioners most in the town itself. In Domesday time Calne was held directly by King William, it was already a wealthy place with 34 ploughs, meadows, pastures & woodland and an impressive 9 mills.

The Church

St Mary's church sits at the heart of the market town just east of the A4 and within yards of the Marden. The church is best accessed from Kingsbury Street which grants a fine view from the south. As Pevsner states the church is "the proud church of a prosperous clothier's town" and its tower dominates the town in Perpendicular glory. Superficially a typical Perpendicular church, the interior reveals the building to be much older. The nave shows features of the Norman period and carries a date in the late 12th century, similarly the arcades are of the same period. The dates for other portions of the church vary based on the unfortunate collapse of the original transeptal tower, this collapsed in 1638 and much rebuilding was necessitated. Its replacement was erected as a curious northern tower rather than being rebuilt in the original position. AS the exterior indicates much else is Perpendicular and probably reflects replenishment and addition from 14th century onwards. The latest restoration of 1864 rebuilt the southern porch, chapel and transept. St Mary's sits inside an enclosed "close" within the town, housing pressing close by to the site, a low local stone wall separates churchyard from the street. Given its enclosed location it can be tricky to capture the full vista of the building.