England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Kirkandrews on Esk St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Kirkandrews (the suffix is required to distinguish from that on Eden) lies in the extreme north of Cumberland and indeed England forming a lengthy stretch of the border with Scotland. Kirkandrews is located roughly 11 miles north of the city of Carlisle and covers a broad rural area either side of the A7 (Carlisle to Edinburgh) road. As its suffix implies the River Esk forms the southern edge of the parish whilst the northern edge carries the nation's border, to the northeast lies the chapelry of Nichol Forest which was licensed for marriages and will have its own page in this project. There is no village of Kirkandrews as such and most folk lived in isolated and fortified settlements given the area's long history of cross-border conflict, Kirkandrews House being one such settlement and home of the church. The area was largely farmed with pastoral methods in dominance although hardy cereals such as oats were also grown. The major employment came from quarrying of the local free-stone which employed many. Today the Esk has a reputation amongst fisherman as a classic salmon river, a draw for visits to fish. Modern developments have largely come and gone, a branch railway line following the Esk having been closed, whilst careful examination of the maps shows that the London to Glasgow West Coast mainline does sneak into the far southern corner of the parish. The Esk drains the parish southwestwards soon joining with the Eden to form the Solway Estuary and hence to the Irish Sea. Kirkandrews is sited at around 20 metres above the sea but sits beside the river, east of the Esk land rises to local heights of around 125 metres at nearby Easton. Kirkandrews parish was typically extensive as a northern parish, covering over 11,600 acres and in earlier times would have supported a population, rather dispersed, of just over 1,900 parishioners, today the area appears depopulated and largely rural. Being so far north took Kirkandrews beyond the area of coverage for Domesday Book hence it is not mentioned in that book.

The Church

The church on this site has had a chequered history having to be rebuilt repeatedly, Pevsner records rebuilding as having happened in 1606, 1637 and finally in in 1775, thus the final and present church was created during the period of this transcript. The church sits within the grounds of Kirkandrews House, which dates from 1552 and was a stronghold for the notorious Graham family of reivers. The church is a box-like structure constructed of ashlar blocks and, strangely is oriented on a north to south axis rather than the traditional east to west line. Pevsner calls the design "sophisticated simplicity" as the church lack too much in adornment, the main feature which draws the eye being the square tower topped by an open rotunda of columns at the bell-stage. To access the church one notes a small white sign on the A7 which points the way across the parkland to the site where a joint parking and turning circle allows a relaxed visit, the churchyard is devoid of any obstacles for the photographer.