England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
East Rounton St Lawrence

The Parish

The parish of East Rounton is located in the far north of Yorkshire close to the border with neighbouring County Durham. East Rounton is located about 7 miles north of the market town of Northallerton in lanes just west of the busy A19 road which links Northallerton to the industrial centres of Teeside. East Rounton is one of a pair of villages with its neighbour to the west less than half a mile away. East Rounton sits on a low plain to the northwest of the dramatic escarpment of the North Yorkshire Moors which rise about 4 miles to the southeast and form the dominant feature in the landscape. The plain was formerly dominated by pastoral farming but has increasingly switched to arable through modern farming techniques. Nowadays fields are more likely to hold wheat and barley or oilseed rape than flocks of sheep or cattle. East Rounton is sited at around 70 metres above sea level, what drainage there is is heading southwards into the River Wiske which is heading south to Thirsk, York and ultimately the Humber estuary. This was a rather small parish at only 1,600 acres and it supported a tiny population of just under 100 parishioners. In Domesday times East Rounton was held directly by the King and supported 4 ploughs.

The Church

St Lawrence's church is sited alongside a lane which runs north to south through the parish. The church is not an old one being constructed in 1884. There is a nave, chancel and bellcote. The church clearly didn't impress Pevsner as he dismisses it in less than two lines of text preferring to comment on the reredos which came from Newcastle Upon Tyne Cathedral and is, he states, "too big for the church". The graveyard is set within a wooden picket fence surrounding and entry is gained by a lychgate which appears older than the church itself. The site is well wooded making sight lines rather difficult and is mostly set to grass with a stone pathway accessing the church.