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

The Parish

The chapelry of Rylstone lies in the northwest of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Rylstone is a chapelry of Burnsall parish and was licensed for marriages at times during the period of this transcript. Rylstone is located about 5 miles north of the large market town of Skipton. Rylstone is a small hamlet situated on the B6265 road which connects Skipton with Grassington. This is very much an upland area, situated within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Rylstone is not much of a settlement, merely a handful of farms and cottages and given the harsh conditions it is likely to have been that way at the time of this transcript. The main economy of the area is provided by pastoral farming, of cattle in the valleys and sheep on the rougher, upland pastures. The parish is drained by the Eshton Beck which runs southwestwards to join the Aire, this eventually finds its way to the North Sea through the Humber estuary. Rylstone is sited at around 200 metres above sea level but within a mile or two heights rise to above 500 metres on the Pennine ranges. Rylstone chapelry covered an area of just over 3,000 acres - comparable in size to many parishes but rather sparsely populated; it would have supported a population of around 120 parishioners. In Domesday times Rylstone was clearly still in Saxon hands, its tenants being gentlemen called Dolgfinn & Ravenkel. Its assets were not specifically listed but it was taxed at 5.5 geld units making it relatively wealthy.

The Church

St Peter's church stands to the northeast of the notional centre of the hamlet, accessed by a tarred footpath from the B6265. The church follows the standard layout of nave, chancel & western tower augmented by aisles. The present building dates from 1853 when it replaced a previously timber private chapel of the Norton family. The church is clearly of little architectural interest as Pevsner in his guide merely records its date of construction with little comment. The path to the church leaves the B6265 opposite the duck pond and rises gently to the site through farm buildings, it is drivable to the church where parking can be found. Within the churchyard there are no major obstacles to photography.