England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Whitburn Parish Church

The Parish

The parish of Whitburn lies in the extreme northeast of County Durham forming a lengthy stretch of the county's North Sea coastline. Whitburn is located about 4 miles north of the industrial port of Sunderland and sits on the A183 road which links Sunderland with South Shields. Whitburn lies mostly in the space west of the A183 and north of the B1299, which runs inland from it, to the east of the A183 there is development toward the sea. In the wider parish sit the subsidiary settlements of Cleadon and South Bents, which occupies the tenuous piece of countryside between Whitburn & the ever expanding urban area of Sunderland. The local economy, at the time of this transcript, has 3 distinct strands, as a port Whitburn was merely a minor fishing port, the wider parish saw a mixed farming regime and the local magnesian limestone was an excellent building stone and much quarried. It was, however, coal which lay at depth below the parish that fueled growth in Victorian times as seams were accessed by deep-sunken shafts, often extending below the North Sea. There was some small attempt to capitalise upon the trend for sea-bathing but the sands of Whitburn Bay provided only small access to the sea and this attempt largely failed to grow a full-blown seaside resort. As a coastal settlement numerous small becks drain the parish, the most notable reaching the southern edges of Whitburn Bay. The parish extends in height from sea level to a local high point of Cleadon Hills at 83 metres in fairly flat terrain. Whitburn parish was extensive, as are most northern parishes, it covered close to 4,200 acres and would have supported a population of around 1,100 parishioners. Domesday has little coverage north of the county's southern border so in consequence Whitburn is not mentioned in that book.

The Church

Whitburn's parish church, it would appear to have no known dedication albeit Pevsner alludes to a dedication to St Andrew without stating the source. Little of Whitburn sits south of the B1299 and west of the A183, the church and former hall are the exception with Church Lane running to a dead-end from the B1299. Like many churches of this coastline Whitburn's example has ancient origins, perhaps as early as pre-Conquest times. Pevsner believes there had been an early aisleless Saxon nave into which the more reliably dateable arcades of 5-bays have been inserted at or close to 1200. Of a similar date one finds the basal stage of the western tower and the chancel, the latter's extension shows the Early English Gothic styled lancet windows for confirmation of its early 13th century date. That western tower shows 2 further eras in its construction, to the 12th century basal stage there is an early 13th century stage and finally the topmost stages are from the late 14th or early 15th centuries adding Perpendicular styling to its complexity. Like most churches Whitburn's church received a Victorian restoration, here it fell in 1868 and was a very significant affair; the aisles were rebuilt to a wider footprint and the work added a southern porch, a vestry and an organ chamber, all in a slightly clashing Decorated style not shown elsewhere. Church Lane is narow but is widened enough in a couple of spots to enable a car or two to safely park. The churchyard is raised above road-height with local stone banking pierced by a traditional lychgate with steps rising through it. Sadly for the photographer the church sits within a veritable forest of trees with only minimal angles available which must be carefully sought by the photographer.