England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Haughton le Skerne St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Haughton le Skerne lies in southern County Durham not too far from its border with neighbouring Yorkshire. Haughton le Skerne is located about 2 miles northeast of the industrial town of Darlington and lies just under a mile west of the A66 road which forms Darlington's bypass and connects it with Stockton on Tees. Once a distinct and separate village Haughton le Skerne is today almost swallowed by the expansion of Darlington, a brief green corridor along the valley of the River Skerne is all that separates the two. At the time of this transcript the parish would have been largely rural and dominated by farming, a mixed regime of both arable and pastoral farming in place. The parish had a brief moment in history as part of the route of the Stockton & Darlington rail line, the first passenger line in England, passed through the southern edge of the parish, albeit that original route is now disused. The village of Haughton le Skerne is just one of many settlements within the wider parish, which was so large as to be subdivided into a separate chapelry of Sadberge. The Skerne drains the parish southwards the short distance to the Tees which forms the border with Yorkshire, here water turns east and heads for the North Sea through the conurbation of Teesside. Haughton le Skerne is sited at around 40 metres above the sea, the land is fairly gentle hereabouts rising steadily northwards to local heights of close to 80 metres. Haughton le Skerne parish was extensive, as are so many in Durham, it covered just over 10,200 acres and in the wider parish there would have been close to 1,500 parishioners, this count would include the parishioners of Sadberge which was also licensed for marriages and will have its own page. Like most of Durham there is no mention of Haughton le Skerne in Domesday Book which has sparse coverage north of the Tees.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits on the main route from Haughton le Skerne towards Darlington and close to the crossing of the River Skerne. The church has ancient origins being essentially Norman Romanesque in style and probably dates from soon after the conquest, Pevsner does not sanction a specific date but 12th century is plausible. The core of the church, nave chancel and western tower are contemporary and have only minor modifications to show for a remodeling exercise in the Perpendicular style of the 15th century. Much later, in 1895, transepts, vestry & southern porch were added to the building amongst a general restoration and refurbishment. The church sits within an oblong churchyard formed within the shallow fork of Haughton Road and Salters Lane, parking is better in the latter where an entrance leads into the churchyard. The site is a little constricted due to the shallow forking roads and has quite a few trees which do somewhat limit the angles available for photography.