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

The Parish

The parish of Lowick lies in the extreme north of Northumberland not too far from its border with Scotland. Lowick is located roughly 10 miles south of the border town of Berwick upon Tweed and sits on the B6353, a linking road between the A1 (Newcastle to Berwick) road and the A697 (Wooler to Coldstream) road. Lowick is a small and largely linear village with most properties lining either side of the B6353 as it passes through, the wider parish, which is extensive, includes the smaller settlement of Bowsden as well as a scatter of farms and cottages, often in the past fortified in this area often fought over between English and Scots. Lowick has a long history, crossing the B6353 at right angles is the ancient Roman road serving north of the notorious Wall. Whilst most of the parish would have been engaged in farming with hardy cereals such as oats and grazing being the main forms, a few were engaged in the extractive industries with some coal measures and local stone exploited. Lowick is drained eastwards by the curiously named Dry Burn which soon meets the South Low before reaching the nearby North Sea just north of the Holy Island causeway. Lowick is sited at around 100 metres above the sea as the coastal plain rises into the fore-hills of the nearby Cheviot range, to the west land continues rising to local high points  at 146 metres on Rhodes Hill whilst to the southeast the isolated summit of the Kyloe Hills rises to 202 metres on Shepherdskirk Hill. Lowick parish was typically extensive as are many northern parishes, covering about 12,000 acres it would nevertheless have supported a population of around 1,900 parishioners, it appears to be much lower than that these days. So far north Lowick was beyond the range of Domesday Book consequently it is not mentioned in that book.

The Church

St John's church stands between the B6353, here Main Street, and Church Lane in a broad churchyard stretching between the two main streets of the village. The church is not medieval having been completely rebuilt in 1794 with the masonry of the nave and tower of that date. This is all confirmed by an inscription inside the pointed-arched south doorway of the tower recording that fact. Despite the relatively recent build there has been time for substantial modification, the 1830s saw the church "Gothicized" as Pevsner puts it whilst the 19th century also saw the church's distinctive saddleback topping to the tower added, Pevsner declines to date said feature. The final work recorded dates from 1887 with the addition of chancel and vestry to complete today's church. A small triangular parking area sits outside the Main Street entrance, directly opposite the Black Bull Inn, allowing a car or two to safely park off-road. From here a curving pathway leads through the extensive churchyard to the church which has no obstacles around it to deter the photographer.