England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Cramlington St Nicholas

The Parish

The chapelry of Cramlington, its mother parish being St Andrew Newcastle upon Tyne from which it is detached, lies in southeaster Northumberland roughly 9 miles north of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. Cramlington sits immediately west of the A19 road which connects the Tyne Tunnel with the A1 Great North Road. Cramlington is a much changed place mostly a modern development of the 20th century, early maps show a simple crossroads settlement gathered around the parish church and Cramlington Hall,  a mid 18th century Palladian styled villa. At the time of this transcript Cramlington would have principally been a pastoral farming area. In addition to farming there were extensive extractive industries with excellent quality coal mined and the local stone quarried. The creation of today's Cramlington was a function of the New Towns movement of the mid 20th century, although not government approved or funded the plan was to create a new town with a population growing to a target of 80,000 folk. The town was to be segregated into commercial, industrial and residential zones with vehicles also segregated. Despite closure of the area's pits and the loss of that traditional employment by 1990 the town had grown to house 30,000 residents and spreads over an shaped like a reversed P with the northern area broader and carrying the industry whereas the narrower eastern portion held the remains of the old village and the majority of the housing development. Modern developments abound the railway line between Newcastle and Edinburgh passes through granting Cramlington a station and the A19 & A189 roads which enclose the settlement are now upgraded to fast dual-carriageway highways. Cramlington is drained eastwards by Seaton Burn which meets the North Sea at nearby Seaton Sluice, Cramlington is sited at around 70 metres above the sea at its parish church to the west of the New Town stands Down Hill which at 95 metres is the highest ground around. The area of the chapelry covered just under 3,400 acres and would have supported a population of close to 2,700 parishioners, the volume of marriages is strikingly lower than that figure would generate and more typical of a rural settlement of around 300-400 persons. Like most of northern England there is no entry for Cramlington in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Nicholas' church stands within the core of the old village on Blagdon Terrace. Like most things in Cramlington even the parish church of St Nicholas is not ancient nor is it medieval rather it is a Victorian replacement completed in 1868 and therefore not the venue for these marriages. The church is built in the style of the Early English Gothic which had become fashionable once again. The church is large as befits this enlarged community and consists of a 4-bay nave complete with aisles, a chancel and a large western tower. There are several areas of Blagdon Terrace were on-street parking is available directly outside the churchyard. There are trees around needing a little scouting to find the better views for the photographer.