England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hill Deverill The Assumption

The Parish

The parish of Hill Deverill lies in southwestern Wiltshire not too far from the county's joint border with both Somerset and with Dorset. Hill Deverill is located roughly 3 miles south of the market town of Warminster and sits just south of the A350 road which links Warminster with the Dorset town of Shaftesbury. Hill Deverill is a tiny place, in truth it is literally nothing more than a southward extension of its larger neighbour Longbridge Deverill, extending as a strip of properties on the B3095 which follows the valley to the west of the River Wylye. Like most parishes in this area, which sits on chalk, Hill Deverill would have been a pastoral parish dominated by sheep grazing the thin sward of the chalk downlands surrounding, afew cattle would have graced the lusher pastures alongside the Wylye. Hill Deverill is drained northwards by the River Wylye which makes an abrupt turn back southeast at Warminster merging with, in turn, the Nadder & the Wiltshire Avon close to Salisbury, the Avon runs south to meet the English Channel through Christchurch Harbour. Hill Deverill is sited at around 120 metres above the sea but rolling downs surround reaching heights of 284 metres on Whitecliff Down to the west. At just over 1,400 acres Hill Deverill parish was fairly typically sized for its area, within that acreage it would have supported a population of close to 100 parishioners. In Domesday times Hill Deverill was shared between Edward of Salisbury & Osbern Giffard and was also a relatively small settlement offering just 3 ploughs amongst the usual meadows, pastures & woodland.

The Church

The church of the The Assumption was deconsecrated in the 1980s and has been sold as a private dwelling with no access. The church was rebuilt in the 1840s (Pevsner says 1841, Historic England 1843) incorporating merely part of the eastern wall of its medieval predecessor, it was, therefore, not the venue for these marriages. A simple structure of nave & chancel augmented by a western bellcote, it was clearly of little architectural interest for Pevsner who's account covers a mere 4 lines of largely descriptive text. The former church stands on the eastern side of the B3095 opposite a footpath headed for the downs to the west and just north of the narrow lane leading to a crossing of the Wylye. Viewing is strictly from the roadside and is therefore limited in the angles available for the photographer.