England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Whitton St John

The Parish

The parish of Whitton lies the extreme north of the county of Lincolnshire, the parish borders the estuary of the River Humber which divides Lincolnshire with adjacent Yorkshire. Whitton is definitely one those places at the "road's end" accessed by a narrow lane which runs northwards from the nearest significant road, the B1430. Whitton's nearest significant population centres are Scunthorpe, almost 10 miles south, and Barton Upon Humber, 8 miles east. Whitton is perched on a low ridge of land which stands as an escarpment above the level of the Humber at some 15 metres above sea level, this elevation gives it spectacular views across the mud-flats and shipping lanes of the broad estuary; it also exposes the settlement to winds from almost every direction! Whitton was historically an agricultural settlement with the fields now dominated by arable crops. The parish was relatively small and supported barely 200 parishioners. In Domesday times the land was owned by Henry de Ferrers and supported a very healthy 10 ploughs.

The Church

St John's church sits on the eminence of the low escarpment with a steep drop to the north to the shores of the Humber. The church is of very little architectural merit as it was largely rebuilt in the 1890s. Pevsner dismisses the church in half a dozen lines mentioning only the reuse of Roman stonework and an apparently original south window. The churchyard is enclosed by a head-high stone wall of flints where a wrought iron gate gives access to a tarmac path leading to the entrance through a doorway on the western tower. There is little tree cover and the site is airy and with spectacular estuary views, a remote spot indeed.