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

The Parish

The parish of Amberley lies in the southwestern portion of central Sussex roughly 5 miles north of the market town of Arundel. Amberley sits about 1 1/2 miles east of the A29 road which connects Arundel with London. The village consists of a single long street running from the ruined castle at its western end for almost a mile eastwards with most properties concentrated at the western end. The village occupies a strategic position witting in the mouth of the gap in the South Downs formed by the River Arun, to the southeast the Downs rise dramatically whilst to the north of the village lie the wetlands of Amberley Wild Brooks, a nature reserve. The castle was obviously placed to plug the gap changing usage from being a manor house of the bishops of Chichester to being largely fortified in the 14th century, the curtain wall from that expansion being the most spectacular remains today and a tourist draw. The contrasting geography would have given the parish a varied farming regime, cattle grazing the wet grounds to the north, sheep grazing the thin turf of the Downs whilst patches of arable would have been on drier and more productive ground. Modern developments arrived in the form of the railway line linking the capital with Arundel which grants Amberley one of the land's most picturesque stations betwixt river and Down. The landscape, the station and the crossing of the Arun make it very attractive to hikers with the South Downs Way National Trail passing through, Amberley being a popular overnight spot for that route. The Arun drains the parish southwards passing through Arundel to reach the English Channel at Littlehampton. Amberley is sited at between 5 and 35 metres above the sea, the village rising gently eastwards, to the south the South Downs rise as an escarpment to local heights of 193 metres on nearby Rackham Hill. Amberley parish was towards the larger end of the scale for its area, covering almost 2,900 acres it would have supported a population of around 700 parishioners. Held by the bishops of Chichester Amberley was already a major settlement in Domesday times being of sufficient size to be placed amongst the largest 20% of settlements by population, its assets of 24 ploughs indicated the nature of the holding with only token meadows and woodland to back that intense farming activity.

The Church

St Michael's church sits at the western end of the village cheek-by-jowl with the ruined castle, Pevsner comments that as its tower overlooked the curtain wall it made a nonsense of any defensive position being able to attack the interior directly. Reflecting the ancient origins of the village the church is also ancient with its basic fabric dating largely from the 12th century and built in a Norman Romanesque style. Pevsner believes the 12th century church began as a small affair with characteristic tiny windows, a representative sits on the northern wall, that was widened and generally enlarged between c 1150 & 1160. The following century of the 13th saw the construction of the chancel complete with its lancet styled windows and the western tower whilst during the short Transitional era the southern doorway was completed c1300. There is little impact from the later medieval periods and, indeed, Pevsner fails to mention a Victorian restoration so matters have largely rested unmolested from those early times. A small parking area sits just east of the church, there is more parking within the main area of the village, where broad wooden gates give way to a path heading to the church. Within the churchyard a single large tree dominates views from the south whilst to the west the close proximity of the castle area also impacts views, all other angles are readily available for the photographer.