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

The Parish

The parish of Crathorne lies in the extreme north of Yorkshire not too far from its border with County Durham. Crathorne is located roughly 9 miles south of the Durham industrial town of Stockton on Tees and sits on the former route of the A19 road which links Stockton with Thirsk and which now bypasses Crathorne to its west. Crathorne is a small and compact village sitting on the edge of the deeply incised valley of the River Leven, most properties lies around the junction of the old A19 with the side lane headed for Hutton Rudby. The village stands at the eastern end of the parish with most of the land lying on a level area westwards, that was fairly fertile land which was largely arable, early gazetteers estimate roughly 3:1 in favour of arable over pastoral methods. There was some extraction of the local limestone for both burning for lime and local building, the villagers also engaged in linen manufacture and bleaching. Modern developments have come aplenty, the railway line between Northallerton and Stockton passing to the west and the A19 has been upgraded to high speed dual-carriageway highway. Crathorne is drained northwards by the Leven which meets the Tees to the east of Yarm, the latter passes through Stockton & Middlesborough to the North Sea. Crathorne is sited at around 50 metres above the sea , land rises only gently east of the Leven reaching just over the 70 metre contour in one or two spots. Crathorne parish covered 2,450 acres, a not atypical size for the area, and would have supported a population of close to 300 parishioners. Whilst Crathorne has an entry in Domesday Book it was one of many suffering from the "ravaging of the north" and described simply as "waste".

The Church

All Saints' church stands almost on the brink of the fall into the gorge-like valley of the Leven, at the eastern end of the village. Archaeology has discovered Saxon gravestones from what must have been a very earlier predecessor of today's church and one that was probably only timber. Whilst today's church has its origins in the medieval period very little remains of that style in the fabric. The nave has the oldest fabric, now restricted to the northern & southern walls, which date to the early 14th century Decorated period. The southern doorway is contemporary with the nave's remaining medieval walls. Both the western tower and the chancel, however, are the product of a major rebuild completed in 1888. At the western end of the site there is a broad triangular area for parking outside the lychgate which grants entry to an expansive churchyard with no obstacles for the photographer.