England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Owthorne St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Owthorne lies in the extreme southeast of Yorkshire forming part of the county's eastern North Sea coastline. Owthorne is located roughly 15 miles east of the port of Hull and sits at the eastern end of the A1033 road which connects it with that port. This area has seen dramatic changes over the centuries, being steadily eroded westwards by the sea, the present centre of population is the large coastal village of Withernsea, Owthorne itself lying out to sea nowadays, albeit the name is remembered in a northwestern portion of Withernsea. This coastline is built on soft and largely unconsolidated Eocene sands, a rock type which exposes the land to severe erosional events but provides rich arable soil. Modern developments have come and gone from Withernsea, indeed the very place is a creation of the construction of a railway line eastwards from Hull to it. The intention to create a major seaside resort led to much development but things never really took off and eventually the line has closed leaving Withernsea as just one of a small coastal resorts today. The population has been largely maintained as a relatively economic location for commuting into the large port of Hull. Strangely for a coastal settlement drainage heads away from the sea eventually to be channeled to the outer Humber Estuary by the Winestead Drain. Owthorne is sited at just 10 metres above the sea and whilst land does rise gently to around 30 metres in places the landscape is largely flat. Owthorne parish's acreage has been steadily shrinking over the centuries from once being over 4,400 acres down to a more typical size today, within that acreage a population (pre-development) of just over 250 parishioners could have been supported. In Domesday times Owthorne was a holding of Drogo de la Beuvriere and was relatively small offering just 10 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

Churches on this coastline have a history of falling into the sea, originally there were two medieval churches of Owthorne St Peter and Withernsea St Nicholas. The latter was rebuilt inland after the first Withernsea church fell in the 15th century whilst the former tumbled over the shallow cliffs in 1816. Quite where these marriages occurred is debatable as a consequence but probably a bit of both. Today St Nicholas remains but the congregation has moved to a new church on Hull Road namely St Matthew, a modern building on 1935.