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

The Parish

The parish of Cottingham lies in southeastern Yorkshire about 5 miles northwest of the port of Hull. Cottingham, formerly a market town and latterly a very large village, is now an integral part of the metropolitan area of Hull. Cottingham sits about 2 miles east of the A164 which connects Beverley through to the Humber Bridge. In the 14th century Cottingham was the third most populous place in the east Riding and it had only dropped a single place by the time of this transcript. With a mediaeval market and fairs it was every inch a market town. By the end of the 18th century Cottingham became the place of residence of choice for wealthy Hull merchants and many plush residences were built to accommodate them. With the coming of the railway in 1846 Cottingham became a very desirable commuting centre for the nearby port and there was great expansion of housing stock which has continued till today with Cottingham now contiguous with Hull. In more recent times Cottingham has became the site of much of Hull University with those mansions forming residences for students. As a market town Cottingham's economy would have been dominated by the buying and selling of local agricultural produce as well as those trades requiring a large population to support, today Cottingham has many light industrial and retail premises supporting the local population as well as the wider metropolitan area. Cottingham is drained by much man-altered streams the short distance to the nearby outer Humber Estuary. Cottingham is sited at less than 10 metres above the sea, albeit the western end, around the hospital, is at nearly 40 metres, land continues to rise gently westward onto the southern edges of the Wolds but remains below 50 metres for many miles. Cottingham parish was very extensive for a lowland parish, it covered just over 9,800 acres and would have supported a growing population of close to 2,000 parishioners. In Domesday times Cottingham was already a significant settlement, held by one Hugh son of Baldric it could offer a modest 11 ploughs together with substantial woodland, more lucrative assets included a mill and no fewer than 5 fisheries.

The Church

St Mary's church sits at the heart of the old town of Cottingham on the southern side of Hallgate and at the eastern end of the main commercial high street. The church is magnificent and more fitting to a substantial town, it has been called Hull Holy Trinity's "little sister" for its similarity in style and decoration to that church. Whilst there was undoubtedly a church here from the 12th century the present building was begun in the 13th and in the Decorated style. The oldest part is the nave whilst the broad five-bay arcades come soon after and are also Decorated. The chancel and and crossing tower come from the following century being Perpendicular in style and the latter is quite magnificent dominating the skyline of the town. The pinnacles topping the tower were something of an afterthought being added in 1744. Like most churches the Victorian restoration was substantial, in this case quite early in that era in the 1840s, further work ensued in the 1890s to complete today's building. Parking on Hallgate is not permitted so side streets are best sought. The churchyard, surrounded by a low brick wall, has many trees which, sadly, do somewhat restrict the views especially when in leaf, a church to capture in the winter as photography is very impeded.