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

The Parish

The chapelry of Hawes, its mother parish being that of Aysgarth, lies in the west of North Yorkshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Westmorland. Hawes is located within the valley of the River Ure, as Wensleydale it is the only such dale not named after its river, and sits some 16 miles up river from the neatest significant town namely Leyburn. Hawes, itself, is a small market town sitting on the A684 which crosses the Pennines from Leyburn to Sedbergh. Sitting within the narrow confines of its valley site most of Hawes either lines the A684 or exploits the easier ground of the side valley of the Gayle Beck. Hawes sits within some remote upland farming communities and whilst small in itself it provides the usual market town services, providing a market for the sale and exchange of local produce and also the specialist services needed in this remote area. The wider parish consists of upland farming, a low-impact moorland economy underpinned by sheep on higher ground and cattle in the valley bottoms. A small manufacturing base utilising the wool of the many local sheep was established and the area is renowned for its production of the iconic Wensleydale Cheese. Modern developments came and went from Hawes, an ambitious railway line from Northallerton running along the valley at one time passed Hawes to meet with the Settle-Carlisle line at Garside, it has since closed and largely been dismantled. Today Hawes earns its living from tourism, the scenery of the area attracting thousands for weekend and longer stays, it is also a major stop on Britain's oldest hiking trail, The Pennine Way, and its fishing is legendary too. The Ure drains the chapelry eastwards, once clear of the Pennine high ground it turns south and merges with the other Dales rivers to meet the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Hawes is sited at around 240 metres above the sea, it is surrounded by lofty reaches of the Pennine Range rising to 716 metres on Great Shunner Fell, Pennine Way hikers next objective when heading north, other hills to both south and north regular exceed 600 metres. The chapelry consisted of an extensive acreage within the vast parish of Aysgarth, early gazetteers place the chapelry's acreage at just over 16,000 acres within which a population of around 1,600 parishioners would have been supported. As would be expected Domesday Book does not mention Hawes, it ceases its mentions at Fors Abbey, near Bainbridge, and further down the dale.

The Church

St Margaret's church sits just off the A684 and set into the slopes of Gayle Beck's valley, it is passed en route by The Pennine Way on its entrance into the town. Sadly today's church is a Victorian replacement for the venue in which these marriages took place having been built between 1850 & 1852. The church is large, the nave comprising 5 bays and the chancel a further 2. The church is built utilising the rather stark grey stone of the area, a feature of the town, and granting it a rather dour look in the frequent heavy weather of the Pennines. The church utilises the Decorated style of the early 14th century for its inspiration. The churchyard sits on the western side of Penn Lane and is steeply sloping, the church, itself is crammed into the southeastern corner removing those favoured aspects from the portfolio, a tricky building to adequately capture given its location.