England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Erlestoke Holy Saviour

The Parish

The parish of Erlestoke lies in western Wiltshire roughly 6 miles southwest of the canal-side town of Devizes. Erlestoke sits on the B3098 which links Westbury through to the A360 (Devizes to Amesbury) road. Erlestoke is one of a string of spring-line settlements sitting along the base of the escarpment that forms the heart of Salisbury Plain. Erlestoke is small, more or less an estate village dominated by the grounds of Erlestoke Park, formerly associated with a late 18th century house which sadly burnt in 1950 but now home to part of HM Prison Erlestoke. Of the village little exists other than a few cottages sitting along the lane running northwards from the B3098. Erlestoke parish like its near neighbours was extended on a north to south axis, it is very narrow from east to west, this was to provide access to all of the local land-forms from the clay vale to the north used for crops to the high limestone of the escarpment where sheep were the main element. Modern developments have come to the parish with Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western railway line from London to Taunton passing through to the north without granting a station. Erlestoke's drainage is northwards in sketchy channels which gradually merge into the Semington Brook before joining the Avon, the latter heads westwards through Bath & Bristol to reach the outer Bristol Channel. Erlestoke is sited at around 80 metres above the sea but southern views are dominated by the escarpment rising to 222 metres within a mile at Stoke Hill, the ridge is dominated by extensive signs of early occupation, tumuli, barrows and strip lynchets. Despite its narrowness Erlestoke parish covered just over 1,900 acres and would have supported a population of around 400 parishioners. Erlestoke is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

Holy Saviour church sits just inside the former estate grounds of Erlestoke Park, right beside the imposing twin pillars of the gates and also beside the B3098. As can readily be seen today's church is a late Victorian replacement for the medieval predecessor which was dedicated to St Mary. Holy Saviour was completed in 1880 so was not the venue for these marriages. Unusually for the period in which it was built the architect choose to use a Perpendicular style when more Gothic versions had come back into fashion. Also unusually the church has a differing layout with a porch tower midway along its length rather than the standard west position. There is a substantial car park just beyond the church allowing a leisurely visit. The site has no obstacles whatsoever to impede the photographer beyond a single easily avoided tree.