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

The Parish

The parish of Hullavington lies in northwestern Wiltshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Gloucestershire. Hullavington is located about 4 1/2 miles north of the market town of Chippenham. Hullavington is a large and fairly compact village sitting in lanes about a miles west of the A429 road which connects Chippenham with Malmesbury & Cirencester. Hullavington sits on the limestone of the Cotswold Hills and its economy, at the time of this transcript, would have been underpinned by sheep grazing on the thin limestone soils. A further source of income would have been quarrying of the limestone for local building. Today Hullavington is augmented by the presence of army barracks nearby and aided by its proximity to the nearby modern M4 motorway has become a favoured commuter location. The parish is drained to the northeast by the Gauze Brook which soon joins the River Avon before reversing its direction head south and westwards to reach the Bristol Channel through the port of Bristol. Hullavington is sited at around 100 metres above the sea, the limestone here forms a plateau and the land gently undulates close to that mark for some distance. Hullavington parish was on the large size for the area, it covered almost 3,100 acres and could support around 600 parishioners. In Domesday times Hullavington was held by Ralph of Mortimer and could offer 10 ploughs plus meadows, pastures and woodland.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on the northwestern side of Hullavington's main street and is more or less the centre of the rather elongated village. The church has its origins in the 13th century and has many features of the Early English Gothic architecture of that century. Pevsner sites the arcades as the earliest features and mentions also the northern chapel as characteristic of that era. There was clearly a major rebuild in the Perpendicular era as much else is of that major church-building era. A large church which would have been funded on the proceeds of mediaeval wool industries. The church sits behind a low local limestone wall and entrance is by a fine lychgate at the eastern end of the site. The church sits fairly tightly to the western edge of the churchyard but there are adequate photographic views from other directions.