England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bolton All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Bolton lies in the western part of central Cumberland. Bolton is located about 5 miles south of the market town of Wigton. Bolton is a dispersed settlement with its notional centre at Boltongate which sits on the B5299 road which connects Aspatria with Caldbeck. Bolton is thus on the north Cumberland coastal plain north of the Lake District National Park. The coastal plain is fertile ground and agriculture would have been a mainstay, root crops were especially important; there were also employment opportunities in quarrying and using the local limestone and sandstones. Boltongate sits in the valley of the River Ellen which drains the parish westwards to reach the Irish Sea through the port of Maryport. Boltongate is sited at 140 metres above the sea and sits on the western slopes of an outlying ridge running westwards from the high fells of the northern Lake District, the Ellen lies some 30 metres lower whilst local heights rise along the ridge to 373 metres. Cumberland parishes are notably large in extent and Bolton is one of the larger, it covered almost 8,500 acres and would have supported a population of just over 1,200 parishioners. There is no specific mention of Bolton in Domesday Book which does not cover the area.

The Church

All Saints' church sits on the southern side of the B5299 road at its junction with the lane leading to Ireby. Externally the church is entirely in the Perpendicular style that was popular in the 15th century and All Saints is probably dateable to that century. The church is unusual in having transeptal chapels to both north and south as well as a porch and vestry on the northern side giving it a distinctly odd appearance. Pevsner describes the building as "one of the architectural sensations of Cumberland" and waxes at length on its interior. The nave contains a pointed tunnel-vault a feature more typical of Scottish churches and inspired by French styles. The bellcote is certainly an oddity as well as it is set back from the parapet and one can walk around it. There are entrances through the low local stone surrounding wall at both southern and northern ends of the site, the latter entered through the grounds of the tiny school. The site has few impediments to photography.