England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Stoulton St Edmund

The Parish

The parish of Stoulton lies in southern Worcestershire roughly 4 miles northwest of the market town of Pershore. Stoulton stands on the B4084 road, at a "T"-junction, which links Pershore through to the city of Worcester. Stoulton is a small village with a short run of properties on the B4084 extending into either side by short cut-off lanes. A smaller settlement, Hawbridge, sits a half mile to the southeast accessed by and out-and-back road from the B4084 adding a few more to the population. of the parish. Stoulton stands on fertile ground very suitable for farming, early gazetteers estimate that the parish was arable by 2:1 over pastoral methods and that ratio has only increased in its favour in modern times. Modern developments have come to the parish, the railway line from Worcester to Evesham passing through to the north without granting a station. Stoulton is drained southeastwards by a tributary of the Bow Brook which soon meets the Avon at Defford and soon after the Severn from where water makes its way south to the Bristol Channel. Stoulton is sited at around 40 metres above the sea, between it and Worcester is the local high spot of 62 metres, the land being very gentle. Stoulton parish is typically sized for its area covering 1,900 acres which would have supported a population of around 350 parishioners, Domesday Stoulton was a tiny place, held by the Bishop of Worcester its only asset was a small meadow and it recorded just 7 households.

The Church

St Edmund's church sits on the eastern edge of the village accessed along Church Lane from the B4084, the lane becomes a set of footpaths crossing eastwards beyond the church. Like many small country churches St Edmund has a long history, the main body of the church, both nave and chancel, date back to the 12th century Norman Romanesque period with Pevsner giving both a dating of c1130-40. The nave and chancel both have surviving 12th century windows and palaster buttresses whilst both northern and southern doorways are also largely original too. The traditional church-building era of the 14th century saw only a few windows replaced at St Edmund and the roofing replaced. Whatever tower existed in medieval times has been replaced on two occasions, in the 18th century a brick version replaced the original whilst the version we see today is from the 20th century completed in 1937. A Victorian restoration of 1848 added the timber porch as well as replacing several windows throughout the building, a further restoration of modern times was completed in 1915. Church Lane ends as a motorable road beyond the church, a cut-in outside the gates allows both parking and turning for a single vehicle. The churchyard is unfenced and open to the lane, once within there are a few trees dotted about which require a little care in angle selection by the photographer.