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

The Parish

The parish Rokeby lies in the extreme north of Yorkshire forming part of the border with neighbouring County Durham, here formed by the River Tees. Rokeby is located about 3 miles southeast of the Durham market town of Barnard Castle and sits less than a half mile north of the busy A66 trans-Pennine route connecting the A1 at Scotch Corner with the Cumbrian town of Penrith. Rokeby parish is dominated by the grounds of Rokeby Park, an estate parish where most land was held by a single landowner and inbound migration was restricted so a distinct village did not arise. The estate has a picturesque setting between the twin rivers of Tees and Greta and standing above their confluence. The grounds are dominated by Rokeby Hall, a Palladian style house of the early 18th century. The local economy would have been dominated by the affairs of the satate being predominantly pastoral in nature. The Tees drains the parish eastwards reaching the North Sea through its estuary. Rokeby is sited at around 130 metres above the sea but land rises steadily westwards onto the Pennines quickly reaching 311 metres within 2 or 3 miles. Rokeby parish was not extensive by northern standards, covering just over 1,100 acres it was more reminiscent of a lowland rural parish in extent, that acreage would have supported a population of just over 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Rokeby, sitting almost on the northern edge of that book's coverage, was held by Count Alan of Brittany but was described as "waste" with potential only for a pair of ploughs.

The Church

St Mary's church has an unfortunate situation sitting, as it does, on the northern side of the busy A66 and almost a mile west of Rokeby Park; busy traffic rushes within metres of the churchyard. An unusual and rather recent church it is not orientated in the usual east to west alignment being on a north/south axis. The church was completed in 1778 which is an unusually late date for a pre-Victorian church, built to the direction of the Robinson family at the hall some 50 years after the present house. A century after completion a chancel was added to the building. The church is no longer in use for worship and its abandonment and its precarious position have made it the frequent recipient of heritage crime, its future at time of writing is in some doubt. A lay-by sits opposite the church's site and great care is needed to cross the busy road to reach it. The site has no obstacles whatsoever to photography being open and rather bleak in poor weather.