England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Wanborough St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Wanborough lies in northeastern Wiltshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Berkshire. Wanborough is a large and much expanded village which sits roughly 4 miles east of the town of Swindon. Wanborough sits roughly a mile east of the A419 road which connects the modern M4 motorway through to Cirencester in Gloucestershire and beyond to the M5, a much upgraded and busy road. Whilst Wanborough's basic structure of a square of lanes with church at the southwestern corner still remains it has grown through infill into a commuting centre for nearby Swindon in modern times. At the time of this transcript the local landscape would have been dominated by pastoral farming, the thin soils being unsuitable for cereals until the advent of modern fertilisers. Today the area has transformed into one of arable farming typical of the south of England. Wanborough is drained northwards by small streams which merge to form the infant River Cole which continues steadily northwards to meet the Thames at Lechlade, from there matters turn east through Oxford and the capital to the North Sea. Wanborough occupies a rising site, the north at 100 metres whilst the south, around the church sits some 40 metres higher, the village sits upon the fore-slope of the nearby Wiltshire Downs which rise to almost 280 metres on nearby Liddington Hill. The parish of Wanborough, extended, like a few around here, from north to south, was an extensive one covering just over 4,600 acres it would have supported a population of close to 1,000 parishioners. In Domesday times Wanborough was a smaller place held by the Bishop of Winchester it could offer 8 plough, the usual meadows and pasture and possessed a mill.

The Church

As already mentioned St Andrew's church occupies the southwestern corner of the village sitting at the end of a short dead-end lane which becomes a footpath heading across the fields towards Liddington. The church is unusual and distinctive in possessing twin towers, the slender one sitting above the chancel/nave boundary is actually the earlier being earl 14th century in origin, hence its Decorated styling, whilst the more traditional western tower was commenced in 1435 and is Perpendicular. Both nave and chancel were contemporary with that earlier tower but have been modified extensively since. Whilst earl 14th century in origin their roofs were heightened in the same period as the western tower was built whilst slightly later but still Perpendicular in style a vestry was added to the north. A traditional restoration of 1887 made fewer changes than normal, but did scrape the interior walls removing all traces of what went before. A small car park sits to the north of the churchyard allowing for an easy visit, the churchyard, surrounded by a local stone wall, has arched wooden gates to grant entry and has no significant obstacles for the photographer.