England
& Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index |
The ParishThe parish of Imber lies in west central Wiltshire about 6 miles northeast of the market town of Warminster. Imber is nowadays largely inaccessible as it was commandeered by the military as a tank training area during World War 2 and has never been relinquished. Formerly completely out-of-bounds the village, largely destroyed, can now be visited during grace-and-favour events usually prompted by visits to St Giles' church where sporadic services are still held. At the time of this transcript Imber, at the heart of Salisbury Plain, would have been dominated by sheep rearing, the chalk down being covered with lush short turf for feeding the same. Today, despite the military exclusion, the land is still leased for farming around the tanks and other hardware, but arable farming predominates. The chalk is highly porous so there is no surface drainage in the area, in peri-glacial times valleys drained southwards to the River Wylye and dry valleys describe that former drainage pattern today, the Wylye joins the Wiltshire Avon at Salisbury and thence to the English Channel through Christchurch Harbour. Imber is sited at around 120 metres above the sea in rolling chalk downland, the swelling downs rise locally to heights of almost 230 metres on the Imber Range Perimeter Path which grants access to the edges of the training area. Imber parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering just over 3,000 acres it would have supported close to 400 parishioners, all parishioners with the exception of a few tenant farmers were removed during the military acquisition. In Domesday times Imber was a tiny place, held by Ralph de Mortimer it could muster just a single plough and a small pasture. |
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Register No | Covering Dates | Deposited With | Register Style | Quality Standard | Comments |
1 | 26th May 1754 - 28th December 1812 | Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre - Reference
- 1026/3 |
Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 4 entries per page | Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads | None |
2 | 12th July 1813 - 15th May 1837 | Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre - Reference - 1026/7 | Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register | Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads | None |
East
Coulston St Thomas a Becket
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Erlestoke
St Saviour
Great Cheverell St Peter Little Cheverell St Peter |
West
Lavington All Saints
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Edington
St Mary, St Katharine & All Saints
Heytesbury St Peter & St Paul |
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Heytesbury
St Peter & St Paul
Knook St Margaret |
1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830
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