England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Brafferton St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Brafferton lies in northern Yorkshire in the southwestern corner of the North Riding and roughly 8 miles south of the market town of Thirsk. Brafferton sits within an area devoid of significant numbered roads, the closest such main road lying almost 4 miles west is the former A1, Great North Road,, nowadays upgraded to motorway standards as the A1M. There are actually two conjoined villages forming the main centre of population, Brafferton itself is contiguous with Helperby, the two forming a slightly fatter linear settlement parallel to the course of the River Swale. The presence of the river and its lush pastures varied the typical arable nature of this area of the Vale of York, although being prone to flooding its presence was a mixed blessing. The wider parish is a mixture today of arable fields of mainly cereals together with several large plantation woods on damper ground in the many local "moors". To the south of Helperby the land is formed as part of the estate of Helperby Hall with parkland extending southwards alongside the Swale. Modern developments have come to the parish, to its east runs the main London to Newcastle railway line and, at one time, a branch-line ran southwestwards linking Boroughbridge to that line but is now closed and dismantled. The Swale drains the parish southwards to join with all of the other Dales rivers to pass to the North Sea eventually through the Humber Estuary. Brafferton is sited at around 20 metres above the sea, a height which is rarely exceeded within a diameter of 5 miles of that village in this flat area of the county. Like many northern parishes Brafferton parish was extensive covering almost 4,600 acres which would have supported a population of around 850 parishioners, as only 150-ish lived in the named village they were dispersed widely across the wider parish. In Domesday times Brafferton lay toward the northern limit of Norman influence and was, in consequence, a rather small settlement shared by King William with 2 other landholders it could only muster 4 ploughs as meagre assets.

The Church

St Peter's church sits tucked away on the western edges of Brafferton village close to the course of the Swale and accessed by the short dead-end street of Holly Garth. Sadly the church has been much rebuilt in relatively modern times such that little of the original medieval structure survives. What remains of the medieval architecture is all of the later Perpendicular period from the 15th into 16th centuries. The major piece of fabric of the 15th century is the western tower whilst also Perpendicular but later is the arcade between chapels and chancel, Pevsner dates this to the early 16th century as are the chapels which adorn the church. The age of the chancel is a little more obscure with Pevsner failing to assign a date to this feature of 2-bays. The nave, however, is of more certain date having been completely rebuilt in Georgian times between 1826 & 1831, the design clearly did not impress Pevsner as he likens it to a Non-conformist preaching box rather than a typical Anglican village church. The east window of the chancel was renewed in 1878 and a northeastern vestry added in 1893 as typical Victorian interventions. The internal nave decoration of 1961 is labelled "striking" by Pevsner so may well merit a visit. A few spaces for on-street parking may be left by the locals allowing only a short walk to the churchyard along a path that dog-legs south to the church. A few trees are dotted about but they do not unduly impede the photographer.