England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hooton Roberts St John

The Parish

The parish of Hooton Roberts lies in southern Yorkshire roughly 4 1/2 miles northeast of the industrial town of Rotherham. Hooton Roberts sits on the A630 road which links Rotherham with Doncaster. Hooton Roberts is a small village with most properties lining either the A630 or the B6090 which head westwards from it. Hooton Roberts would have had an economy underpinned by pastoral farming but with many also employed in quarrying the local lime & free-stone. Such was the quality of the local stone that it was used in the construction of nearby Wentworth House. Hooton Roberts sits just to the north of the coalfield that underlies this area of the county but some would have walked to nearby parishes for mining work. Hooton Roberts is drained westwards by a small brook which soon meets the River Don, the Don takes water north and then east passing through Doncaster and crossing Yorkshire's fen country to meet with the Dales rivers and pass through the Humber Estuary to the North Sea. Hooton Roberts is sited on rising ground from 30 t0 50 metres above the sea, land rises eastwards passing the appropriately name Hill Top at 84 metres to reach around 130 metres to the south of nearby Conisbrough. Hooton Roberts was a small parish in an area of many such small parishes, it covered around 1,000 acres and would have supported close to 150 parishioners. Domesday Hooton Roberts was held by Roger de Bully and was recovering from the "harrowing of the north", it mustered just 4 ploughs and some woodland.

The Church

St John's church stands on the northern side of the A630 roughly mid way along the stretch of the village that lines that road. Outwardly the church appears typically late medieval but internally Pevsner reveals a much more nuanced story, between the chancel and the southern chapel there lies a rounded archway sure sign of a 12th century Norman Romanesque piece whereas late 12th century responds have Transitional styled capitals from that short era. The 2-bay nave complete with its own southern chapel is later and probably from the Perpendicular era but much modified. Similarly the western tower, complete with pinnacles, is also from the same era. Much rework was made necessary in 1700 following a major fire in the church which largely made true dating of these parts something of a guess. Further changes occurred during the Victorian restoration of 1876 which created a new chancel arch whilst re-purposing the original 12th century version. Parking on the main road is ill-advised but there is a broad gateway between the churchyard and the Earl of Stratford Inn which allows a car or two to safely get off-road, the inn may also tolerate short term parking in its car park. Southern views of the church are unimpeded but the western end and the tower is largely blocked by close-set trees limiting the views from that angle.