England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Claughton St Chad

The Parish

The parish of Claughton lies in the northernmost part of Lancashire "south of the Sands" not too far from the county's borders with both neighbouring Westmorland and also with Yorkshire, it is located roughly 7 miles northeast of the town of Lancaster. Claughton sits on the A683 road which links Lancaster with Kirkby Lonsdale and on to Sedbergh, it is a rather linear village with most properties lining that road or in short dead-end lanes either side. Claughton sits on the southern side of the valley of the River Lune and it was the grazing provided by the lush pastures of that valley which provided the main income, some extraction of the local flagstone also occurred. Modern developments have come and gone from Claughton, a short cut railway line connecting Lancaster directly with the line running northwestwards from Leeds has been closed and trains now run directly to Carnforth for Lancaster. Claughton is most notable, however, for the relocation of its Elizabethan manor house, moved bodily to a new location in the 1930s in an audacious act, only Claughton Hall Farm, a former wing, remains at the original site. Claughton is drained southwestwards by the Lune which makes its way the short distance to the nearby Irish Sea arriving through Lancaster. Claughton is sited at between 30 & 40 metres above the sea but as it sits amongst the fore-hills of the nearby Pennines land rises steeply to the southeast onto the local summit of Catton Moor topping out at 361 metres. Various estimates of the parish acreage are available online, from close to 1,600 to over 2,200 acres, it nevertheless was a very small parish for an upland area, within that acreage it would have barely supported a population of just over 100 parishioners. Claughton is mentioned in Domesday Book as a holding of King William, himself, but is described as "waste", a term used to describe undeveloped land.

The Church

St Chad's church sits at the northeastern end of the village, just east of the A683 and accessed by one of the many stub lanes that are found in the village. When Pevsner visited the church had been declared redundant but appears to be freely accessible. The church has 13th century origins, evidenced only by a single remaining window on the eastern end with cusped intersecting tracery of the Early English Gothic era. Dating of the remainder of the church is difficult as a result of the many episodes of rebuilding it has undergone. Work in the 18th century not only rebuilt much of the church but also added the bellcote that graces its western end. Early 19th century work followed but has been largely masked by yet more work in 1904, a major rebuild from which most of the fabric now dates including the porch & vestry. The lane running east from the A683 is narrow but carries very little traffic so is suitable for careful on-street parking. The churchyard, itself, is open & uncluttered with no obstacles for the photographer.