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

The Parish

The parish of Harewood lies within the West Riding of Yorkshire, not too far from its eastern border with The Ainsty and located roughly centrally within its county. Harewood is sited about 8 miles north of the city of Leeds and sits on the A61 road which connects Leeds with Harrogate. Whilst the main village of Harewood is a substantially large village in itself the wider parish also encompasses smaller villages notably Weeton and East Keswick. Mention of Harewood would not be complete without the estate which dominates the parish, associated with the Lascelles family from the mid 18th century the extensive parkland together with house and and castle make it one of Yorkshire's major tourist attractions. The village of Harewood appears to be a "model village" manufactured for its aesthetics but does, in fact, reside on its original site. Granted a charter in 1209 for a market the village failed to develop to full market town status perhaps because of the close proximity of Leeds and Harrogate which absorbed local agricultural trade. The economy of the parish was intimately tied with that of the estate, early gazetteers place arable, pastoral and forest management into roughly equal proportions within its acreage. Nowadays Harewood House earns it keep from the flocks of tourists that come to admire its manicured parkland and marvel at the furnishings of the elaborate county mansion of the Lascelles. Harewood sits high in a bluff overlooking the nearby River Wharfe which drains the parish eastwards, the Wharfe, one of the Yorkshire Dales great rivers, drains through the city of York, meeting with other Dales rivers to flow into the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Harewood is sited at roughly 100 metres above the sea, some 70 metres above the level of the Wharfe while land continues rising southwestwards to top out at 165 metres on nearby The Bowshaws. A typical northern parish Harewood covered just over 12,000 acres within which a population of close to 2,700 parishioners would have been accommodated of which almost 900 would have been within Harewood village, itself. Whilst Harewood is described in Domesday Book as a holding of King William, like many this far north it is described largely as "waste" being under-developed with only potential for 5 ploughs identified specifically.

The Church

All Saints' church resides within the estate of Harewood House, all on its own and northeast of the house within its own tree-fringed churchyard. For once dating evidence is conclusive with documentary evidence describing its completion in a single building campaign ending with consecration in c1410. The church follows the standard layout of the Perpendicular period with nave and chancel augmented by a western tower. The nave and chancel appear externally as one there being no change in height whilst the western tower is embraced by the aisles of the nave. Despite the complete build there have been several periods of change which have augmented the structure, in the mid 18th century the southern porch necessitated repair and renewal and towards the end of that century the eastern gable was rebuilt with battlementation which was also added to the western aisle. The Victorian period saw further change which a major restoration of the early 1860s attending to roofing as well as removing most of the interior woodwork making for a rather austere interior. The outstanding feature of this typical Perpendicular church is, however, the series of elaborate monuments to the estate families which make it worth a visit in its own right. The formal gated entry of the Harewood Approach leads across parkland to a crossroads where on turns north to the church's own small car park. The churchyard is compact and densely fringed with trees which fortunately do not inhibit the better aspects for the photographer.