England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Lythe St Oswald

The Parish

The parish of Lythe lies in the extreme northeast of Yorkshire forming a lengthy stretch of the county's North Sea coastline. Lythe is located roughly 4 miles west of the port of Whitby and sits on the A174 road which connects Whitby with the metropolitan area of Teesside. Whilst Lythe village grants its name to the parish it is just a small village set around a T-junction and around a miles from the sea, within the extensive wider parish there are further settlements at Goldsborough & Kettleness, at Sandsend and Runswick Bay both on the coast and at the smaller inland hamlets of East & West Barnby. Despite the parish's northern location it was fertile and suitable for arable production but the parish's main income came from the extraction of alum from the underlying rocks, both Kettleness and Sandsend supported alum works from the 17th century onwards. Modern developments of a mineral railway line, hugging the clifftops, have now been dismantled however. Today tourism attracts many, to Runswick Bay and Sandsend for their beaches, for the coast generally for its scenery and also for its stretch of the Cleveland Way National Trail which follows that coastline. As a coastal parish numerous small, fast flowing, streams drain into the North Sea either at Deepgrove Wyke or at numerous spots around Runswick Bay. Lythe village sits at 140 metres above the sea whilst the wider parish rises from sea level to 197 metres on Potato Hill, to both south & west land rises to over 200 metres onto the edges of the North Yorkshire Moors. At almost 12,100 acres Lythe parish was very extensive, typical of a northern and upland parish, within that extensive acreage it would have supported a population of around 2,100 parishioners. In Domesday times 3 manors were recorded within Lythe parish, all 3 were held by Count Robert of Mortain but only Lythe, itself, recorded significant assets, 1 single plough was backed by the usual meadows & woodland.

The Church

St Oswald's church sits roughly a quarter mile east of Lythe village on the northern side of the A174 as it climbs Lythe Bank. The church site is undoubtedly ancient and believed to have been the main pre-Conquest burial site for this portion of Yorkshire's coast. The church, however, is largely a product of the early 20th century. From medieval times fragments remain, the eastern wall of the chancel is original and 13th century Early English Gothic with characteristic lancet styled windows to confirm the dating, the northern aisle and vestry are both in a Perpendicular style and are likely to be 15th century. The western tower complete with its short spire is believed to be a 20th century rebuild of a tower dating from 1769. All of the remainder of the church relates to the build of 1910, at the behest of the noted architect Sir Walter Tapper. The A174 is very busy so parking should be sought to the west of the site in a broad farm entrance from where a slanting path rises to the churchyard, the churchyard, itself, is open and uncluttered, if slightly steeply sloping, with no obstacles for the photographer.