England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Ulverston St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Ulverston is located in the detached portion of Lancashire across Morecambe Bay e.g. Furness now part of the modern county of Cumbria. Ulverston is the major market town of this part of Furness. The town is located on the main A590 road which runs from the M6 motorway throughout Furness ultimately to Barrow in Furness. Ulverston parish was very large and spread way up into the Lancashire part of the Lake District from the Furness coast, however the parish was divided into a further 5 chapelries some of which were licensed for marriages and have separate pages accordingly. The town of Ulverston lies on the coastal plain of Furness at about 20 metres above sea level, however it lies right at the edge of that plain and land rises sharply to the northwest to fells way over 300 metres high. The parish consisted mostly of pastoral land with sheep on the fells and cattle on the coastal marshlands. Much of the area was controlled by the ancient abbey of Furness. Ulverston has a long history, it merits the briefest mention in Domesday Book (unusual for this far north) but its growth as a market town and regional centre was interlinked with the dissolution of the abbey enabling commerce to grow in the area.

The Church

St Mary's church is in an elevated and tucked away site to the north of the main market square of the town. It is approached up narrow and steep streets and footpaths and is slightly aloof from the town. The bulk of the church is of the Perpendicular era of the 14th/15th centuries but there are features, notably the south doorway (Norman) which indicate the presence of the building for many years prior to that date. The tower, a rather squat affair, was rebuilt in the mid-16th century following the destruction of a previous tower in an almighty storm. The church sits in a graveyard which is left to rough grass with wildlife rich areas.