England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Broughton in Furness St Mary Magdalene

The Parish

The chapelry of Broughton in Furness, its mother parish being Kirkby Ireleth, lies in that portion of the county known as Lancashire-over-the water forming part of the county's border with neighbouring Cumberland. Broughton in Furness is located roughly 15 miles north of the port of Barrow in Furness and sits immediately east of the coastal A595 road which hugs the coast from Barrow in Furness to Whitehaven. Broughton in Furness is a mid-sized village roughly built around a planned square of lanes. Broughton in Furness had a varied economy, the forested slopes of Furness were extensively coppiced and the village manufactured brush-stocks and hoops from the result. There were extensive mines for iron & copper ore interspersed with slate quarries and the Duddon estuary was navigable to close to Broughton in Furness so a small port for the export of such produce developed. The wider chapelry is fairly mountainous so much of the land was in upland grazing by the local hardy Herdwick sheep. Modern developments have come to the chapelry with the construction of the coastal railway line that echoes the A595 and extends all around western Cumberland from Barrow in Furness to Carlisle, a further branch line once ran up to Coniston but has now been closed and only bridges and cuttings remain to mark its course. Broughton in Furness sits barely 1 mile from the Duddon's estuary which drains water into the Irish Sea. Broughton in Furness is sited between sea level and 40 metres above it, land rises steeply westwards onto Black Combe which tops out at 600 metres in emulation of the nearby Lakeland peaks and dominates western views from Broughton in Furness. Roughly 7,300 acres of the extensive Kirkby Ireleth parish was assigned to Broughton in Furness, of that acreage, however, over 3,200 was described as unproductive "waste" actually upland grazing, that acreage would have supported a population of around 1,250 parishioners. Whilst Broughton in Furness does have an entry in Domesday Book it is one described as waste from the harrowing of the north and confiscated into the hands of the King with no assets.

The Church

St Mary's church sits a little away from the village reached by a short dead-end lane from that which connects the village with the A595 and southwest of the village. Whilst the church undoubtedly has medieval origins it has largely been rebuilt in modern times such that effectively it is a modern church. The Perpendicular styled east window & a few 16th century others are perhaps original but the main body of the church was rebuilt in 1874 and the western tower, complete with its saddleback roof, was completed in 1901. Overall this is a different building albeit on the same site to that in which these marriages took place. At the churchyard gates there is a small parking and turning area, please allow room for the latter, whilst there are trees in clumps around the churchyard and some restricted views enough remains to satisfy the photographer.