England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Clent St Leonard

The Parish

The parish of Clent lies in the extreme north of Worcestershire quite close to its border with neighbouring Staffordshire. The border here has been somewhat fluid and Clent has at times been considered part of Staffordshire finally being ceded to Worcestershire in 1844. Clent is a somewhat scattered settlement sited about 4 miles southeast of the industrial town of Stourbridge. Clent sits at the base and on the slopes of its eponymous Clent Hills, a bastion of high ground which separates the area from the West Midlands conurbation and provides a very pleasant area for hiking and recreation. Clent formerly sat on the A491 road which connects Stourbridge to Bromsgrove, thankfully this busy road now bypasses the village to the west. Clent has two principal settlements with Lower Clent being a half mile north of the main settlement. The area would have been agricultural at the time of this transcript, although with industry close by to the north. The sandstones which underlay would have supported arable but there would also have been much pastoral farming. Much of the drainage of the parish would have flowed westwards to join the River Stour at or near Kidderminster, eventually joining the Severn to reach the Severn Estuary. Clent is sited at around 160 metres above the sea but the Clent Hills to the east rise steeply to reach heights of over 300 metres on Walton Hill, a mile to the east of Clent. Clent parish was of a typical size for North Worcestershire parishes, it covered just short of 2,400 acres and supported a little more than 900 parishioners, however many Rowley Regis parishioners were married here as the transcript indicates. In Domesday times Clent was held directly by the King and could offer 11 ploughs and a small patch of woodland.

The Church

St Leonard's church sits on the southern side of Vine Lane, the main lane running west to east through the main settlement of Clent. Pevsner dates the remaining legacy features of the church to the late Perpendicular period of the early 15th century. There was, however, much restoration of the building during Victorian times which rebuilt the nave and northern aisle and added vestry and southern porch, these restorations chose a 13th century style which may not represent the true age of the building. The church sits surrounded by a chest-height brick wall and entrance is either from the junction with its fine view of the western tower or by a gateway and tarred path at the eastern end. The site has many trees and photographic angles are rather limited as a result.