England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Aston Clinton St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Aston Clinton lies close to the eastern edges of central Buckinghamshire about 3 miles west of the Hertfordshire town of Tring, indeed it is only the thin strip of Buckland parish that prevents Aston Clinton from forming part of the border of the 2 counties. Aston Clinton sits on the former route of the A41 road which links Aylesbury with London, that road now bypasses Aston Clinton to its north. Aston Clinton is a village which has grown significantly in modern times, early maps show the village confined to a triangular shape with the old A41 its southern limb and most properties along wither that road or the two other limbs of the "V" shaped triangle. Today Aston Clinton has expanded considerably southeastwards along the A41's former route and also infilled such that it has become contiguous with Buckland to the north. Aston Clinton is one of a number of parishes that form narrow strips descending from the crest of the Chiltern escarpment down and into the vale below, narrow from southwest to northeast yet extending for a considerable distance in the other dimension. The purpose of this arrangement was to grant the parish access to all of the differing land-forms from sheep grazing on the Chilterns and arable farming in the vale. In addition to this mixture of farming methods the local population were utilising straw to plait other products for sale. Modern developments have come to the area, Aston Clinton sits between two branch canals of the Grand Union Canal, to the south the Wendover Branch and to the north that for Aylesbury. In moving the A41 northwards it has also been upgraded into a fast dual-carriageway. Various sketchy water channel s funnel water northwards from Aston Clinton each headed for the River Thame which sweeps water westwards and then south to meet its larger target, the Thames at Dorchester, the Thames makes its way through London to the North Sea. Aston Clinton is sited on rising ground from 90 to 120 metres above the sea but southern views are dominated by the chalk escarpment of the Chilterns which rises to 260 metres on Aston Hill. Despite being narrow the parish of Aston Clinton covers a little over 3,800 acres and would have supported a population of close to 1,000 parishioners. In Domesday times Aston Clinton was just of sufficient size its 45 households made it a member of the top 20% of settlements by population, held by Edward of Sheffield its assets were extensive too, 17 ploughs, backed by meadows & woodland and also it held a mill.

The Church

St Michael's church sits just south of the old A41 accessed along Church Lane which passes the church and terminates at the village's cricket ground. The earliest part of the church revealed by Pevsner is that of the southern arcade, its alternating octagonal and circular piers with double-chamfers are typical of the 13th century Early English Gothic. Moving east the chancel is of the early 14th century in the Decorated style of the first half of that century. The remainder of the main body is from the slightly later half of the 14th century in the Perpendicular style. The nave shows a typical feature of that period, the clerestory inserted to improve internal lighting. Whilst the tower arch is also of the late 14th century it adjoins a western tower that is much later having been rebuilt in 1800. The Victorian restorers kept returning to this church with 3 distinct campaigns recorded by Pevsner, the first of 1850 tackled the chancel whilst both those of 1858 & 1867 were primarily directed at the nave, the effect is to prompt Pevsner familiar comment of "over restored". Whilst Church Lane is narrow there are spots where it is safe to leave a vehicle. The photographer will find the church something of challenge due to the sheer number and density of tree cover around, a few spots have clearer views but there are just a few.