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

The Parish

The parish of Marbury lies in the extreme south of Cheshire forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Shropshire, a little further west Flintshire is not too far away too. Marbury is located roughly 3 miles north of the Shropshire market town of Whitchurch and stands about 2 miles east of the A49 road road which crosses Cheshire from Whitchurch through to Warrington in Lancashire. Marbury village sits between two of the characteristic meres of the region, these formed in peri-glacial times as frozen blocks were melted within the soil to form shallow depressions which later filled with water, the two meres, one large and one small, are imaginatively name Big Mere and Little Mere. Marbury consists of a single lane lined with properties with twin spurs leading off, other settlements within  the wider parish include Norbury to the north, Wirswall to the south and Quoisley to the west, the latter two being merely hamlets. Modern developments criss-cross the parish, first to arrive was the Llangollen Canel connecting that Denbighshire town into the wider canal network, the railway line from Whitchurch to Nantwich followed and carves through the south of the parish. Much of the area's drainage has been impacted by the canal with clear streams only appearing eastwards as the Barnett Brook and the River Weaver, the latter takes water north through Nantwich and Winsford before turning northwest to reach the Mersey Estuary and thence to the Irish Sea. Marbury is sited at around 80 metres above the sea, land rises marginally southwards with spot heights of 115 metres being reached east of Whitchurch. Cheshire parishes are often extensive but Marbury parish covering just under 3,200 acres was comparatively small for this area, that acreage would have supported a population of around 800 parishioners. Marbury's Domesday entry shows a manor recovering from the "Harrowing of the North", King William's response to rebellion in the region, held by one William Malbank it had recovered to be able to muster a pair of ploughs with extensive woodland.

The Church

St Michael's church sits between the village's western edge and Big Mere, sitting behind fronting properties and accessed by the short dead-end spur of Church Lane. The church's medieval fabric is solidly Perpendicular and rich in the local red sandstone which gives an attractive warmth in evening sunshine. The nave is comparatively small with only 3-bays. The western tower is typically late-Perpendicular with battlements, grotesques and pinnacles for ornamentation. The chancel is a Georgian addition being completed in 1822 at which time the western end of the southern aisle was restored. A more thorough restoration of 1892 again targeted the chancel correcting the details to align with the Perpendicular style of the remainder. The same restoration replaced the roof and also restored the clerestory windows. Church Lane ends outside the churchyard with a swollen area suitable for a car or two to safely park, residential entries also lead off this so care is needed. Entrance is through a neat gated lychgate into a churchyard which is largely open and uncluttered with most aspects available to the photographer.