England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Alne St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Alne lies in central Yorkshire within the North Riding but bordering the West. Alne is located about 4 miles southwest of the small market town of Easingwold and sits a little over 2 miles west of the A19 road which connects Easingwold through to York. Alne, today, is a two-part village; the original settlement sits on the eastern banks of the River Kyle grouped around the church whilst a modern development grew up close to the main London to Newcastle Upon Tyne railway line which cuts through the east of the parish and which once gave Alne a station, now closed. The wider parish, for it was extensive, included the hamlets of Aldwark, Flawith, Tholthorp, Tollerton, and Youlton with almost 3/4 of the parish population living outside Alne village. The area was primarily a farming community in the Vale of York, a mixed farming regime has moved significantly towards arable in more recent times. The River Kyle drains the parish southeastwards, joining the Ouse, passing through York and reaching the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Alne is sited at around 15 metres above the sea, the vale here being largely only gently undulating with local heights barely reaching much above 20 metres for some distance. Alne parish was a large one, covering 10,900 acres it was more typical of an upland mountain parish in extent than a lowland farming community, collectively the villages that made it up would have supported a population of around 1,700 parishioners. In Domesday times Alne is recorded as a holding of the Archbishop of York but its assets were not detailed beyond a mention of 4 ploughlands and it is assumed that much was "waste" and uncultivated.

The Church

St Mary's church sits in the original village close to the River Kyle and on the western side of the main loop of lanes forming the village centre. St Mary is an ancient church with the nave, chancel & western tower all dating from the 12th century and Norman Romanesque in style, some speculation regarding the age of the priest's doorway have placed that feature into the Anglo-Saxon period but Pevsner queries that date. Whilst the church's core is Norman there are later features the east window and northern chapel are Decorated in style and 14th century whilst the northern arcade is a century later and Perpendicular. The tower was largely rebuilt in the 18th century, a date of 1766 is mooted whilst many windows date from Victorian restorations. The church sits on the western side of Church Wind with ample parking space outside the gates, a tarred pathway leads through screening trees into an open and unobstructed churchyard with no photographic difficulties.