England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Wasdale Head St Olaf

The Parish

The chapelry of Wasdale Head lies in southern Cumberland, part of the vast wider parish of St Bees that covers much of this area of the county. Wasdale Head lies, as its name suggests, at the head of its remote valley leading from the West Cumberland coast into the interior of the Lake District, roughly 11 miles southwest of the market town of Keswick, Wasdale Head is also 9 miles west from the nearest numbered road, the A591 connecting Keswick with Ambleside. At the time of this transcript Wasdale Head would have been one of the most remote parish churches in England, a haunt of a few hardy shepherds and miners. Today Wasdale Head is a Mecca for hikers and climbers being surrounded by the highest mountains in England, a circle of Yewbarrow, Kirk Fell, Great Gable, Scafell Pike & Scafell making it a busy hub with the Ritson's Bar the centre of lively evenings telling of adventures on the hills. Lingmell Beck drains the parish southwestwards into the deepest lake in England, Wastwater, emerging as the River Irt it reaches the nearby Irish Sea in a joint estuary with the Esk. Wasdale Head is sited at just 80 metres above the sea but land rises spectacularly all around reaching the highest ground in England on Scafell Pike at 977 metres little more than 2 miles from St Olaf's door. Wasdale Head parish covered an extensive area of upland England, an immense acreage of 15,000+acres of which 90% was described as waste", the population of the congregation gathered at the dale head was fewer than 50. Like much of northern England Wasdale Head is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover Cumberland.

The Church

St Olaf's church sits on the northern side of the track heading from Wasdale's main car park towards Sty Head Pass. The church has uncertain origins, first mentioned in documents of the mid-16th century there are rumoured to be Viking origins to this remote chapel. The church had no dedication until 1977 when it was granted to St Olaf. The combined nave and chancel originally had an earthen floor, the present one being laid as part of Victorian restorations. A tiny bellcote decorates the western end. The church can only be approached on foot a short walk of a little over 250 metres from the car park, the site is surrounded by a grove of ancient yews which pack around but leave sufficient space for photography.