England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Overbury St Faith

The Parish

The parish of Overbury lies in the extreme south of Worcestershire, it not only forms an extensive part of the border with neighbouring Gloucestershire but forms a peninsula of Worcestershire which is almost entirely enclosed within the latter county. Overbury is a small village which nestles at the foot of Bredon Hill, the village is largely built along a lane which runs along the hill's base and also a rising lane climbing northwards on to the hill. Overbury is located about 5 miles northeast of the Gloucestershire town of Tewkesbury and 7 miles southwest of Evesham. Overbury sits in lanes around 2 miles north of the A46 road which connects those two towns. At the time of this transcript Overbury would have been a farming community, a mixed farming regime of both arable and pastoral farming in place. The local stone underlying Bredon Hill would also have been quarried for local building stone providing employment for some. Overbury is drained southwards by a small tributary of the Carrant Brook which joins the Severn at Tewkesbury and thence the Irish Sea through the Bristol Channel. Overbury is sited at 70 metres above the sea, the northern parts of the village being some 50 metres higher, local heights (Bredon Hill) top out at almost 300 metres by the hill fort topping Bredon Hill around 3 miles north. Overbury parish was larger than many parishes in the area, it covered around 3,800 acres and would have supported a population of just under 900 parishioners. In Domesday times Overbury was held by the Bishop of Worcester and could offer just 15 ploughs and small meadows & woodland.

The Church

St Faith's church sits at the main crossroads of lanes within the southern part of the village. The church has ancient origins, the nave shows features which Pevsner describes as Norman and 11th or 12th centuries when the church would have been cruciate in form. The clerestory windows are also Norman in form. The chancel is later and Early English Gothic in style. Pevsner is full of praise for this piece describing it as "the finest piece of architecture". Overlaying these early features is the replacement central tower, which was built during and in the Perpendicular style and sits incongruously on top of Norman capitals. A Victorian restoration of the late 1870s added the tower vault and refreshed generally resulting in today's building. The church sits at the junction on the northwestern side, a fine lych gate granting access through the low, local stone surrounding walls. Trees are something of an impediment to adequate photography as they, in particular, crowd around the western end of the building.