England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Richmond St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Richmond lies in northern Yorkshire, in the North Riding within which it is one of the principal towns, and some 44 miles northwest of the city of York. Richmond sits to the west of the A1 (Great North Road) on the A6108 which links it to the A1 eastwards and to Leyburn to the southwest. Richmond stands at the point where the Yorkshire Dales rise from the Vale of York at the entrance to the upper Dale of Swaledale, as such it was identified early on by the Normans as a stronghold with the castle begun by Count Alan of Brittany as early as 1071. The castle was typical of the Norman conquerors in having a central motte and and extensive outer bailey and was described in early documents as some what formidable. By the early 14th century the use of the bailey had changed becoming the town's market place as it is today. For much of its existence Richmond has been the principal market town of Swaledale and the adjacent vale, a centre for trade in the farming produce of the area and also a centre for marketing the lead that was extracted from the upper dale. The wider parish was typically pastoral with sheep the principal livestock. During the later medieval period the wool from those sheep launched a knitting trade with the town noted for its stocking production, that trade withered following the intensification of factory production further south in the county. Modern developments have come and gone from the parish, the railway line linking to the main east coast lines having closed. Today Richmond earns much of its income from tourism, the town, itself, is picturesquely set upon a bluff above the Swale and has several picturesque walks around both castle and river, the town sits astride the Coast to Coast National Trail and receives many overnights from hikers traversing the land from west to east, its position at the head of the dale also makes it an ideal base for exploring the scenery and industrial heritage of Swaledale. Richmond is drained eastwards by the Swale which turns southeast when reaching the vale, the Swale joins with the Ure to the east of Boroughbridge and shortly after, to the northwest of York, with the Ouse before passing through that city and on to the Humber Estuary and the North Sea. Richmond is sited at between 100 metres above the sea at the Swale to around 240 metres at its northwestern edges, the Gallowfields Trading Estate, land continues to rise into low hills westwards where Marske Moor reaches 332 metres with the higher hills of upper Swaledale evident beyond. Richmond parish included a substantial rural hinterland and covered around 2,300 acres, that acreage would have supported a population of close to 4,000 parishioners. In Domesday Book the area was still suffering from the "harrowing of the north" following rebellion by northern lords, Count Alan still held the manor but only 9 households were recorded with just 4 ploughs, some woodland and a fishery recorded as assets.

The Church

St Mary's church occupies a position in the northeast of the town, it was sited beyond the original town walls, it is accessed from Frenchgate by the steeply descending Church Wynd. The church was undoubtedly first built as part of the Norman settlement of their fortified town during the 12th century, very little of that early church remains as fabric in today's church merely a pillar and arcade at the western end of the nave. Much of the church we see today was the result of a major expansion of the church in the late 14th and 15th centuries, the 14th century saw the northern porch and construction beginning on the western tower which was completed in the following century. Between 1487 and 1506 the church's nave and aisles were completely rebuilt in the later Perpendicular style only to be rebuilt once more in the Georgian period, c1750. The church received an extensive Victorian restoration in 1859 under the auspices of the noted Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott which have us most the exterior appearance we see today as well as internally exposing the timber roof and adding bench pews. Given the church sits within a bust market town this is one to visit after first making use of the town's car parks. Church Wynd descends steeply from Frenchgate, its eastern pavement being stepped to ease the gradient, to the churchyard gates from where the churchyard opens out, this too continues to descend towards the south which presents the major obstacle for the photographer, a lesser obstacle being the close set trees impeding views of the western tower, however, enough angles remain albeit with some walking around required to identify them.