England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Stratford Tony St Mary & St Lawrence

The Parish

The parish of Stratford Tony lies in the extreme south of Wiltshire forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Hampshire. Stratford Tony is located roughly 4 miles southwest of the county town of Salisbury and sits a mile west of the A454 road which links Salisbury with Blandford Forum in Dorset. Stratford Tony is a small crossroads village sitting within the valley of the River Ebble between two blocks of chalk downs. The parish, like many in this area, consists of a thin strip from east to west but is extended to normal size by its north-south length; the purpose was to give each parish a share of the differing land-forms available from the rich riverside pastures of the Ebble valley to the scarcer grazing of the chalk downs. The area is dotted with track and roadways indicating a long human presence for travel through the area with the ancient Grims Ditch, the Ox Drove and the Roman road linking Salisbury & Dorchester passing through from differing historical periods. The Ebble drains the parish eastwards soon meeting the Avon and turning south to reach the English Channel through Christchurch Harbour. Stratford Tony is sited at around 60 metres above the sea but rolling chalk downs rise to both north and south rising to 180 metres in occasional higher places but generally around 150 metres. Stratford Tony parish covered a fairly standard acreage of almost 1,600 acres which would have supported a population of close to 150 parishioners. Domesday Stratford Tony was a slightly larger settlement than today's small village, a holding of Earl Aubrey of Courcy it could muster only 6 ploughs together with meadows and pastures but had 2 mills presumably powered by the Ebble.

The Church

The parish church of St Mary & St Lawrence sits south of the Ebble and west of the main parts of the village and is usually accessed through a complex set of wondering lanes. The church has been closed for worship as surplus to requirements and is now managed by a charitable trust. Much has changed here from the small medieval church that it must have once been, the 12th century Norman Romanesque styled doorway is reused rather than original and sits within an 18th century porch. The  main fabric from the medieval lies in the chancel relatively untouched since its construction in the early 14th century, at the opposite end is the squat western tower also of this vintage. Between and appearing candy-striped is the nave which is also of the 18th century as rebuild came here earlier than the traditional Victorian times. The interior too is worth a look with much 17th and 18th century woodwork creating an atmospheric feel. Visitors should park north of the Ebble and follow the tracks southwestward and then west to the churchyard. For the photographer this is something of a challenge due to the combination of a compact site and many trees clustered around that western tower leaving the best but the only aspects available.