England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Great Langton St Wilfrid

The Parish

The parish of Great Langton lies in northern Yorkshire about 6 miles northwest of the large market town of Northallerton. Great Langton sits on the B6271 road which connects Northallerton with Richmond and sits tight to the northern banks of the River Swale. Great Langton is a small and compact village consisting of a few properties along the B6271 and as northward running dead-end lane. Given the parish contains extensive areas of the Swale floodplain it was a mixed farming area, pastures on the riverside and arable on higher ground. The Swale drains southwards joining the Ure near Boroughbridge and thence through York to the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Great Langton is sited at 40 metres above the sea and sits within the wider context of the Vale of York, hence local heights reach to little more than 60 metres within a mile or two. Parishes around this part of Yorkshire are often quite extensive but Great Langton was more typical of a southern parish, covering around 1,600 acres it would have supported a population of close to 250 parishioners. In Domesday times Great Langton was fairly near to the Norman's northern extent yet was a holding of Count Alan of Brittany offering land for 9 ploughs and a 12 acre meadow.

The Church

St Wilfrid's church sits in a detached position amongst fields around a half mile southeast of the village. A small church as befits its congregation and consisting of a simple nave & chancel topped by a western bellcote. These simple features disguise an ancient building, the southern doorway is Norman Romanesque in style and Pevsner believes it is early 12th century, its opposite number on the northern side being a half century later. It is likely that the first building was modified during the 14th century as a fine Decorated style window graces the eastern end. For once Pevsner fails to mention a Victorian restoration so it is likely the fabric was little disturbed during that era. A narrow lane heads southeastward from the B6271 towards Ainderby Steeple and just beyond some pylons a grassy track heads to the church, park sensibly by the lane and walk the 200 metres to the church which sits in an open and relatively unobstructed churchyard.