England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bothal St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Bothal lies in eastern Northumberland not too far inland from its North Sea coastline and roughly 3 miles east of the market town of Morpeth. Bothal sits a quarter mile south of the A197 road which links Morpeth with Ashington and is a modest small village sitting in a picturesque spot above the course of the River Wansbeck. Although this small village grants its name to the parish it is by no means the largest settlement in the parish with Longhirst, Pegswood and especially Ashington being far larger if more modern settlements. These large villages, or in the case of Ashington a town, have grown up through the exploitation of the areas abundant coal with large mines dominating the employment in the area. The wider parish is farmed with a mixture of both arable and pastoral methods present. Nowadays the mines have closed and the area has gone through a period of decline as a consequence but with investment in bringing replacement light industry to the area some regeneration has occurred. Modern developments criss-cross the parish most being redundant mineral lines but he main East Coast Railway line between London & Edinburgh passes through granting Pegswood a station. Bothal is drained the short distance to the North Sea by the Wansbeck which reaches the latter to the south of Newbiggin. Bothal is sited at around 15 metres above the sea at its church but much of the parish occupies a height between that and 50 metres with Longhirst's southern edges the highest ground at 56 metres. Most Northumberland parishes are extensive and Bothal was no exception covering just under 7,600 acres and supporting a population of close to 800 parishioners. Like most of England north of the River Tees Bothal is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits to the south of the small settlement of Bothal accessed by a short dead-end lane from the main street, beyond the church the lane becomes a footpath across the Wansbeck to North Choppington. St Andrew is a church of complex building history with several phases embedded into the building we see now, it takes much of Pevsner's time to determine the sequence. The origins of the church lie c1200 in a simple church of nave, northern aisle and southern chapel, the walls of the nave probably pre-date even this early time. To this early church, in the 13th century and Early English Gothic in style, was added today's chancel complete with characteristic lancet windows typical of the style. The 14th century and its Perpendicular style saw the southern chapel enlarged to become a full southern aisle and a clerestory of small trefoiled ogee lights added too. The unusual western bellcote sitting atop a broad buttress, which reminded Pevsner of a chimney breast, is of uncertain date but believed to be "post-Reformation" hence probably 17th century. A typical Victorian restoration of 1887 saw the eastern end of the chancel rebuilt and a southern porch added as well as restoring the remainder of the church. The dead-end lane passing the church is of sufficient width to allow parking outside the gates, the churchyard, however, will have the photographer scratching their head as it is beset with trees with both eastern and western ends almost engulfed by the same, a challenge to find adequate viewing points.