England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Winterbourne Monkton St Mary Magdalene

The Parish

The parish of Winterbourne Monkton lies in north central Wiltshire about 7 miles northwest of the market town of Marlborough. Winterbourne Monkton is a small and compact village lying in a shallow valley within the chalk downland, it sits astride the A4361 road which heads north from Avebury towards Swindon. The area abounds with ancient monuments, trackways, tumuli and sarsen stones but at the time of this transcript it was largely used for pastoral farming. The shallow valley is intermittently filled with the headwaters of the infant River Kennet which drains the parish southwards and then east to meet the Thames at Reading and thence the North Sea through the capital and the Thames Estuary. Winterbourne Monkton is sited at around 160 metres above the sea but local heights rise upon the downland to almost 260 metres on Monkton Down whence runs The Ridgeway National Trail. The landscape is largely open with broad sweeping slopes. Winterbourne Monkton parish was relatively small for this area, it covered around 2,000 acres and would have supported around 250 parishioners. In Domesday times Winterbourne Monkton was held by Glastonbury Abbey, it could offer 11 ploughs as well as small meadows and more extensive pastures.

The Church

St Mary Magdalene's church sits on the western edge of the village at the end of a lane which crosses the valley before turning into a bridleway. The church is another which has been extensively renovated to the point of complete rebuilding. In this case the restoration of 1878 reused some of the original mediaeval church making tentative dating possible. A lancet window in the chancel indicates origins in the Early English Gothic period, whilst both northern and southern doorways are 14th century survivals. Other windows show Decorated & Perpendicular features indicating earlier transformations. The narrow lane meanders across the valley, the church being largely tucked away behind farm buildings is not immediately obvious until a gateway beside a barn leads into the churchyard. Once within the churchyard is relatively open and free from photographic obstructions.