England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Sulgrave St James

The Parish

The parish of Sulgrave lies in southwestern Northamptonshire quite close to both the border with neighbouring Oxfordshire and also with Buckinghamshire, too. Sulgrave is located roughly 8 miles northeast of the Oxfordshire town of Banbury and sits about 2 miles north of the B4525 road which links Banbury across to the busy A43 near to the Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit. Sulgrave is a mid-sized village which has an oblong of lanes, tilted at a northeasterly angle, forming its main centre, short spurs of properties head south and west from this oblong. Like most parishes in this highly rural area, Sulgrave was primarily a farming village, a mixed regime with both arable, mainly cereals, and pastoral regimes present. Modern developments have come and largely disappeared from Sulgrave, a branch railway line linking Brackley with one of the major lines from London to Leamington Spa has since closed and been largely removed. Sulgrave is drained wastwards by the headwaters of the River Tove, this passes through Towcester before meeting the Great Ouse on the northern extremities of Milton Keynes, the latter eventually reaching the North Sea through The Wash. Sulgrave is sited at around 150 metres above the sea, land continues to rise gently westwards eventually reaching 183 metres on nearby Thenford Hill, the highest land for some distance. Sulgrave parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering almost 2,000 acres it would have supported a population of close to 550 parishioners. In Domesday times Sulgrave was a relatively small rural manor, held by the brother of Ansculf, Giles, it could muster just 8 ploughs and an 8 acre meadow.

The Church

St James' church sits to the southwest of the village, reached along the narrow lane of Church Street. St James has really ancient origins although the evidence has been re-seated by later restoration, a Saxon triangle-headed doorway graces the base of the western tower. The upmost stages of that tower are later, despite the lowest stages having been completely restored in the late 1880s, and show the styling of the Early English Gothic era of the 13th century. The Victorian restorations were extensive bit beneath those later changes the basic fabric of the church is from a typical 14th century rebuild, both chancel arch and southern arcade retain the Decorated styling of the first half of that century, whilst the southern widow of the chancel is of the later Perpendicular era. All is, however, overwritten by Victorian work which included the complete rebuild of the northern aisle whilst restoring most of the remainder of the church. Church Street is rather narrow so parking must be careful to not restrict resident's access. The churchyard, set back from the road behind a broad grassy verge, has a neat lychgate for entry and passage through its local stone walling, once inside there are few obstructions to concern the photographer.