England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Horningsham St John the Baptist

The Parish

The parish of Horningsham lies in the extreme west of Wiltshire, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring Somerset. Horningsham is located about 4 miles southwest of the market town of Warminster. Horningsham lies about 2 miles east of the B3092 road which links the Somerset towns of Frome and Gillingham. No mention of Horningsham would be complete without mention of its northern neighbour, Longleat House and Estate. This tourist attraction is known throughout the land for its mock safari experience whereby visitors can drive through a parkland landscape amongst African wildlife including lions. Horningsham village lies to the south of that estate and is a curious linear settlement largely built along a straggling east to west running lane. Horningsham is built across a shallow valley, a small stream runs to the north through the estate before eventually joining the River Frome and thence the Avon - reaching the Bristol Channel through the Avon Gorge. The area was a mixed farming landscape, nowadays more arable than pastoral, and the landscape is softly rolling. Horningsham is sited at around 160 metres above sea level with hill crests to the south a further 30 metres higher. Horningsham parish was of a fairly typical size for a Wiltshire parish and would have supported almost 1,300 parishioners. In Domesday times Horningsham was shared between one Agenwulf (a surprising Saxon remain) and Alfred of Marlborough, it supported just 2 ploughs, some woodland and a mill.

The Church

St John the Baptist church lies on the northern side of Horningsham's lane towards the eastern end of the village. The church is almost entirely a Victorian rebuild, the original church having been demolished at the request of the Marquis of Bath (owner of Longleat Estate), it therefore dates from around 1844. It is unusual in having an offset southwestern tower. The building, however, clearly had little to interest Pevsner as he passes over it in a handful of lines. The building sits in a very open graveyard which is surrounded by a low stone wall. Access is at the western end of the site where a short driveway leads to wooden gates. The site slopes markedly towards the north and with hardly a shrub in sight has no restrictions on photography other than that lie of the land.