England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Earls Croome St Nicholas

The Parish

The parish of Earls Croome lies in southwestern Worcestershire not too far from its rather convoluted border with neighbouring Gloucestershire. Earls Croome is located roughly 2 miles northeast of the Severn-side town of Upton upon Severn and sits a quarter mile east of the A38 road which links Worcester with Tewkesbury. Earls Croome is a small village built around a 3-way junction of lanes with most properties lining one or other of those lanes. The village sits on slightly hjigher ground just east of the Severn's flood-plain, that location gave Earls Croome a mixed farming regime which early gazetteers estimated was roughly 50:50 arable and pasture. In addition the local limestone was quarried but only for local building or burning for lime. The parish is dominated by Earls Croome Court, a timber-framed and probably 17th century house for many years the seat of the Earls of Coventry. Modern developments have come to the parish with the modern M5 motorway between Birmingham and Bristol passing through to the east. A series of small brooks takes water from the parish the short distance to the Severn which heads southwards passing Tewkesbury and Gloucester to reach the sea through the Bristol Channel. Earls Croome is sited at below 20 metres above the sea, but still 10 metres above that of the Severn, the area is flattish with only a few spots just breaching the 30 metre contour. By Worcestershire standards Earls Croome was a small parish, covering a little over 1,100 acres it would have supported a population of close to 200 parishioners. In Domesday Earls Croome was recorded jointly with Croome D'Abitot, the book has 2 records, both held by the Bishop of Worcester, and it is tempting to align each with one of the two villages, neither were large and merely held around 5 ploughs backed by typical meadows & pastures.

The Church

St Nicholas' church stands on the eastern side of Church Lane which forms the north to south spine of the village. St Nicholas has its origins in the 12th century and is rightly celebrated for the artistry and skill of the craftsmen who first built it. Both nave and chancel were first constructed in the latter half of that century in the Norman Romanesque style, The original western front of the church was elaborately designed with shafted and arcaded masonry. The chancel arch features zig-zag mouldings, continuous imposts, and an intricate carving of a lion on the southern abacus. Externally, the north and south walls contain blocked, decorative Norman doorways framed by columns and zig-zag arches. Over the next 3 centuries sundry windows were replaced in a series of styles, Early English Gothic, Decorated and Perpendicular. The major change came in 1832 when the original medieval western front was entirely dismantled leaving only fragments preserved in the grounds of the vicarage to suggest what has been lost, the rationale was to rebuild the western tower of 3-stages which entailed also rebuilding the western wall. A typical Victorian restoration followed in 1869 which was mainly concerned with the nave roof whilst in modern times (2007) flooding necessitated the construction of a new stone floor and timber panelling. Church Lane is of adequate width for parking outside the gates where a sparse lychgate grant entry. The churchyard is narrow from north to south and tree-lined which restricts landscape images to those taken along the church, views from directly east or west are not impacted.