England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Rothwell Holy Trinity

The Parish

The parish of Rothwell lies in southwestern Yorkshire, within the West Riding, and roughly 5 miles southeast of the metropolis that is modern day Leeds. Rothwell was a mining town, grown from a village, which sits a mile west of the A639 road, this road runs from Leeds to Castleford & Pontefract, there are numerous other A-class roads in the area which has become intensively urbanised. Rothwell in medieval times was a small to medium sized farming village, a mixed farming regime present; early maps show the village concentrated along the lanes parallel with the Oulton Beck on which it sits and running eastwards from the church & castle. The growth of Rothwell and other towns in this area came through the exploitation of coal, mines extensively covered the area and inbound migration expanded the settlement considerably. In addition to the coal mines there were quarries for the local stone for building as well as manufacturies for rope & twine, there was also that Yorkshire staple, a woollen mill. Today the mines have closed but Rothwell remains as a substantial town comparable in dimensions with a mid-sized market town, which it never was. Modern developments abound, railway lines criss-cross  the area whilst the modern M1 & M62 both carve their way through the wider parish. Rothwell sits on a peninsula of higher land between the Aire and Calder rivers, they meet further east before continuing onwards together with all of the other major Yorkshire rivers through to the North Sea arriving through the Humber Estuary. Rothwell has a valley-side site giving a range of altitudes from around 40 metres by the Oulton Beck up to over 70 metres in Rothwell Haigh, land continues rising westwards to over 100 metres within a few miles in fairly gentle terrain. Rothwell parish was rather extensive, carved in post-Conquest times from the immense Morley parish, it covered just over 8,600 acres and would have supported a population that exploded to over 7,400 parishioners, marriage volumes in the early part of the registers are consistent with a population of less than half of that figure. Back in Domesday times Rothwell was a mere rural settlement, held by Ilbert de Lacy, it could offer just 10 ploughs, meadows & woodland but did already have a mill.

The Church

Holy Trinity church sits on the western edge of the modern town, indeed it formed the western edge of thee original village, it sits on Church Street opposite the castle. Holy Trinity is a church that was as radically rebuilt in Victorian times as the town within which it sits. The basal structure has its roots in the late medieval period, the Perpendicular style of the mid to late 15th century, still quite late for a medieval church and undoubtedly not the first iteration on this site. Sadly only the western tower remains intact in medieval purity, strangely, to Pevsner's eyes, it looks identical to those at Barwick in Elmet and Thorner as well as other nearby towers. Also remaining from the medieval times are the southern doorway and the ceiling of the nave which has survived the rebuilding around it. Several phases of 19th century rebuild followed the growth of Rothwell and its growing wealth from the coal, the Georgian period saw the chancel rebuilt in 1826, later modified in 1850. The remainder, nave, northern arcade, aisle and clerestory were rebuilt in Victorian times, in 1873 and again modified in 1892 to result in today's church. The immediate surroundings of the church have no street parking but Butcher Lane and Blackburn Hall car parks are nearby allowing a leisurely visit. A neat lychgate, by the White Swan Inn, provides the main entrance to a churchyard which has no obstacles for the photographer.