England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Quinton St Swithin

The Parish

The parish of Quinton historically sat in the northeastern corner of Gloucestershire in a bunch of Gloucestershire parishes that push into the adjacent counties of Warwickshire & Worcestershire in a complex fretted border area, such was the administrative issues that in modern times Quinton has been transferred to Warwickshire. Quinton is located roughly 6 miles south of the Warwickshire town of Stratford upon Avon and sits between a quarter mile and a mile east of the B4362 which connects Stratford upon Avon through to Chipping Campden. Quinton is a complex village, the church sits at the eastern end in the original village of Lower Quinton, built around a "T" junction of lanes. The lane running westwards from Lower Quinton has been extensively developed in modern times both to support the Royal Engineers' Depot at nearby Long Marston and as a village designated for expansion. The area has a long history of occupation as to the south of the village sits the isolated knoll of Meon Hill topped by the remains of an Iron Age hill-fort which is also reputed to have formed the base for Saxon defenders prior to a battle with Mercians nearby, The parish is a typical farming parish of the area with a mixed regime which early gazetteers estimate as 2:1 in favour of arable over pastoral. The River Avon lies some 4 miles to the north and sketchy drainage takes water across the plain to it, the Avon heads westwards to meet the Severn wherein water turns back south to reach the sea through the Bristol Channel. Quinton is sited at around 60 metres above the sea with Meon Hill looming to the south reaching 194 metres and further south the main range of Ebrington Hill at 259 metres as land rises from the influence of the Avon to the northern edges of Cotswold countryside. Quinton was a relatively small parish covering just over 1,100 acres and supporting a population of around 650 parishioners. Just Lower Quinton was recorded in Domesday Book as a holding of Hugh de Grandmesnil offering just 12 ploughs as it assets.

The Church

St Swithin's church sits on the southern side of Main Road, the east to west running lane that connects Lower Quinton with the B4362. This is a church which carries fabric from the earliest times right through each of the style eras of the medieval and all finished off with extensive work from the modern restorers. The southern arcade is the oldest part of the church, its original 2-bays being Norman and possibly as early as the 11th century. In the 12th century its northern equivalent, as well as the southern arcade's 3rd bay, was completed also in the Norman Romanesque style. To the eastern end is the 13th century chancel showing lancets styled windows in its northern walls indicative of the Early English Gothic style. By way of contrast the chancel arch is from the early 14th century and Decorated in style. The western tower is contemporaneous with the chancel arch, at least in its lower stages but its top stages and steeple come from the Perpendicular period of the later half of the 14th century. Typically the church also received a Perpendicular style clerestory to increase internal lighting. The Victorian restoration came in 1864 and gives us the east window of the chancel as well as refreshing much else besides, some of the interior work was, however, undone in the 1920s when new fittings replaced those of the interior. Main Road is of sufficient width to allow considerate on-road parking outside the churchyard which sits behind a low local stone wall, wooden gates at the eastern end granting entry. There are a few trees within the churchyard and the favoured southeastern aspect is impacted but all other aspects are available for the photographer.