England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Brantingham All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Brantingham lies in the extreme south of Yorkshire, indeed in the extreme south of the East Riding as it forms part of the border (albeit on the inner Humber Estuary) with neighboring Lincolnshire. Brantingham is located about 15 miles west of the port of Hull and is a small and compact village sitting at the foot of the Wold's escarpment. Brantingham sits just east of the busy A63 dual carriageway which connects Hull with the start of the M62, modern communications also pass through the area as the rail line from Hull to York passes through the southern portion of the parish. Brantingham would have had a rather mixed economy as a result of its location. Pastoral farming would have dominated, sheep on the Wolds and cattle on the grazing marshes bordering the Humber Estuary, a small portion of land would also have been arable. As a coastal parish Brantingham is drained by numerous man-made drains running to the nearby Humber Estuary and thence to the North Sea. Brantingham is sited at around 30 metres above the sea but land rises steeply to the northeast onto the Wolds, local heights rising to 165 metres on Cave Wold; the village stands on the Wolds Way National Trail and is a popular walking location. Brantingham parish was fairly typically sized for its area, it covered almost 3,400 acres and would have supported a population of around 650 parishioners. In Domesday times Brantingham was held largely by St Cuthbert, Bishop of Durham, with a smaller portion held by Count Robert of Mortain. Collectively the parish could offer 23 ploughs, extensive meadows & woodland and an impressive 4 mills.

The Church

All Saints' church sits away from the village on the lane which climbs Cave Wold and is almost a half mile northeast of the main junction of lanes forming the centre of the village. Of the mediaeval only the Perpendicular 15th century tower survives along with reused masonry. The remainder of the church was wholly rebuilt in 1872 at the expense of local resident Christopher Sykes. Reused capital sin the southern doorway show features of the 13th century so clearly the building had earlier features than the Perpendicular tower. The church stands on the eastern side of its lane (Dale Road) in a large churchyard surrounded by a low local stone wall. The dale in which it sits is attractively wooded but the site is almost free of photographic impediments.