England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Witton Gilbert St Michael & All Angels

The Parish

The parish of Witton Gilbert lies in north central County Durham about 4 miles northwest of the city of Durham. Witton Gilbert is a large village sitting astride the A691 road which connects Durham with Lanchester & the mining settlement of Consett. Much of Witton Gilbert sits just to the north of the main road with much new development in the upper reaches of the village along the route of the B6312. At the time of this transcript Witton Gilbert would largely have been a farming community, predominantly pastoral with some arable in more favourable soils. Today Witton Gilbert functions largely as a commuter village in support of both Durham and the wider conurbations alongside the Tyne to the north. Witton Gilbert sits on the northern side of the valley of the River Browney, this drains the parish eastwards merging with the Wear in Durham before reaching the North Sea through the port of Sunderland. Witton Gilbert is sited at around 110 metres above the sea with its newer estates some 40 metres higher, the landscape is quite hilly with local heights rising to 232 metres on Charlaw Fell just to the north. Witton Gilbert parish is quite small for a Durham parish, it covered just over 2,500 acres and would have supported a population of almost 1,250 parishioners. There is no mention of Witton Gilbert in Domesday Book which has scant coverage of this area.

The Church

St Michael & All Angels' church sits almost on the banks of the Browney and a quarter mile south of the A691 accessed along a narrow lane, Coach Lane. Whilst the church has early origins sadly there is little of that left due to the almost complete rebuild in Victorian times. The walls of the chancel and the southern side of the nave are Norman Romanesque in style and all of the church would have been present at that time, probably 12th century. Other windows have been reused and they indicate that changes were made during the 14th century incorporating the fashions of that time. The present buildingis, however, largely a Victorian rebuild. Coach Lane terminates at a small parking area, it continues as a footpath, where entry is made through a rather tall lychgate. THe churchyard has quite a few trees and the church is slightly hemmed in from the south which somewhat limits photographic angles.