England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Elvington Holy Trinity

The Parish

The parish of Elvington lies in southern Yorkshire about 7 miles southeast of the city of York. Elvington is a substantial village which sits both on the River Derwent and also on the B1228 road which connects York with Howden. Elvington has grown larger in more recent times, at the time of this transcript it would have been a small riverside village. The development of the village's World War 2 airfield as the Yorkshire Air Museum is the main reason folk visit the village today. At the time of this transcript the parish would have a varied farming regime as its main economy, the position on the Derwent floodplain granting rich pastures as well as arable farming on higher ground. The Derwent drains southwards till it meets the Yorkshire Ouse and thence to the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Elvington is sited at around 10 metres above the sea, land is at or close to this height for many miles around. Elvington parish was fairly typical of the area, it would have covered just over 2,200 acres and would have supported a population of close to 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Elvington was a property of William de Percy, a small place with assets of just 2 ploughs, meadows & woodland but possessing 2 fisheries, presumably on the Derwent.

The Church

Holy Trinity church is on the southern edge of the village and rather close to the Derwent it is accessed by Church Lane heading south from the B1228. Sadly this is not some mediaeval masterpice but a Victorian replacement, indeed it is probaly at least the third iteration of church on this site replacing a brick church of 1803 as well as a mediaeval predecessor. The present church was built in the 1870s and is a rather idiosyncratic piece indeed. A fairly standard nave & chancel albeit with acrhes carved into an "Arts & Crafts" style is augmented by a semi-detached northwestern tower with a strange broken outline of at least 4 differing widths. Church Lane is rather narrow but there's space for a single car to park outside, the churchyard is surrounded by decorative wrought iron with intervening brick piers, two kissing gates granting entry. The churchyard is rather crowded with close foliage making for a difficult subject for photographers.