England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Harwood Dale St Margaret

The Parish

Harwood Dale is a chapelry of Hackness parish which was licensed for marriages at times so included within this project. Harwood Dale is located in the extreme southeast of the North Riding of Yorkshire quite close to its North Sea coast and also to the North Yorkshire Moors National Park. Harwood Dale is located about 7 miles northwest of the port and resort of Scarborough. Harwood Dale is situated on a winding upland road about 2 miles west of the A171 road which connects Scarborough with Whitby. There is not much to Harwood Dale, no village as such merely a collection of farms and cottages spread around the valley and northern slopes of the West Syme river. Harwood Dale is an upland chapelry and much of the extent is rough moorland unsuitable for agriculture, what farming there is will largely have been pastoral although incomes may have been topped up by quarrying and mineral extraction. The West Syme river drains the chapelry westwards to join the River Derwent and to reach the North Sea just north of Scarborough. Situated in its valley Harwood Dale is sited at around 100 metres above the sea but local heights reach well over twice that height within a mile or two of the church. As an upland chapelry Harwood Dale covered a large area, almost 5,600 acres but would have supported a population of less than 250 parishioners. There is no specific mention of Harwood Dale within Domesday Book which has scant coverage of this area.

The Church

The present St Margaret's church sits on the southern side of Harwood Dale's lane on a knoll above the West Syme. The church was built in 1862 and is small as befits a low population in the area. This church replaced a building of 1634 which lies in ruins some 1 mile northwest. The present church has nave & chancel in one augmented by an apse and topped by a square bell-turret. The church clearly has little architectural interest as Pevsner dismisses the building in a mere 3 lines spending more time lamenting the ruin of the 17th century predecessor. St Margaret's sits on a bend of the lane where an access track leaves for parking. The site is a square enclosed within a waist-height local stone wall. There are quite a few trees along the roadside but once within the churchyard there are few obstructions to photography.