England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Appleby St Bartholomew

The Parish

The parish of Appleby lies in the extreme north of Lincolnshire not to far from its coastline with the Humber Estuary. Appleby is located roughly 5 miles northeast of the industrial town of Scunthorpe and stands on the B1207 road (which follows the ancient Roman Road of Ermine Street) which links Winterton through to the A18 west of Brigg. Appleby is a crossroads village but here most properties lie either along the B1207 or on the lane headed eastwards into the marshland that lies in that direction. The marshes to the east were originally seasonally flooded by the River Ancholme but have been extensively drained and not provide rich soils suitable for growing high value table vegetables, the drier parts of the parish to the west are typically set to cereals like most of the remainder of Lincolnshire. Modern developments penetrate the southern reaches of the parish with the railway from Scunthorpe to Immingham passing through without granting a station. Appleby is drained northwards by a series of man-made drainage ditches which have superceded the old Ancholme River, the main channel, the Weir Dyke, is carved due north taking water to the Humber Estuary, to the west of South Ferriby, and thence to the North Sea. The east of Appleby stands at just 5 metres above the sea rising to almost 20 metres up a gentle climb, the climb continues rising westwards to reach 77 metres to the north of the deserted medieval village of Sawcliffe, before dropping down the Jurassic limestone escarpment. Like most parishes with tracts of reclaimed land Appleby parish was extensive for a county with many tiny examples, Appleby parish covered just under 6,200 acres and would have supported a population of around 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Appleby was shared by 3 land-holders with Roger de Bully having the largest holding, collectively the assets amounted to 21 ploughs, some small meadows and a half league of woodland.

The Church

St Bartholomew's church stands opposite the junction of Church Rise and Carr Lane, the lane which heads into the reclaimed lands. There has undoubtedly been a church here from early times, the 12th century Norman Romanesque styled font being testimony to that fact, as far as the structure of the church there is no trace of such an early period. The 3-bay arcades show the double-chamfered arches typical of the early 14th century Decorated Gothic period indicating that the nave is probably 13th century in its origin. The western tower is later and from the early Perpendicular period albeit topped with an ashlar top-stage from the Victorian period. Also Perpendicular but later still is the chancel arch. Much of the exterior of the church we see today, however, is the result of work done in the 19th century, a Georgian restoration is documented from 1820-23, further Victorian alterations from both 1862 and more significantly in 1883 when the tower was rebuilt acquiring its top-stage, the tracery and battlementation of the main body are also from that later phase. Church Lane is of sufficient width to allow on-street parking, and to the west of the site is widened for extra convenience. There are some trees gathered around the entrance gates and the church is placed close to the southern boundary but neither are impeding enough and leave enough viewpoints to satisfy the photographer.