England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Salton St John of Beverley

The Parish

The parish of Salton lies in the extreme southeast of the North Riding of Yorkshire not too far its border with the East Riding. Salton is located about 7 miles southwest of the market town of Pickering, it sits within an extensive area devoid of significant numbered roads, the closest such roads being at Pickering. Salton is a small village built around a three-way junction of lanes on the banks of the River Dove, to the south at the confluence of the Dove and Seven is Brawby, a similar sized village on the peninsula between the rivers,. The presence of all of these waterways is indicative that the land is low lying and frequently subject to flooding, prominent levees follow the rivers keeping the waters out, pastoral farming would have dominated accordingly. The Dove & the Seven are soon joined by the Rye which takes the water of all 3 eastwards to join the Derwent, here an about turn takes it back southwestwards to meet with the Yorkshire Dales rivers and to flow into the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Both Salton & Brawby sits at around 20 metres above the sea, the landscape is dominated, however, by the triplet of knolls at Great Edstone (72 metres), Martin (69 metres) and Normanby (63 metres), all three being the sites of large glacial deposits when the Vale of Pickering was a lake in the Ice Age. Many of the parishes in this area are extensive, Salton is not one of those covering merely just over 2,800 acres, it would have supported a population of close to 350 parishioners. Both Salton & Brawby are recorded in Domesday Book both held by the Archbishop of York, whilst Salton offered a pair of ploughs, meadows and a mill, Brawby came with just a small meadow.

The Church

St John's church sits to the south of the main body of properties in Salton on the western side of Brawby Lane and adjacent to the church hall. This is a very old church with most fabric dating back to the earliest times for stone-built churches. After due deliberation Pevsber comes to the conclusion that the chancel was built first c1140 with the nave following a decade later. The two builds are reflected in differing sizes of windows some tiny other quite large. The western tower is later than the main body but still Norman, Pevsner places it towards the end of the 12th century. It's tower arch seems to have been added as an afterthought as it is Early English Gothic in style and 13th century as is the lancet window shown on the southern face of the nave. The church received a very sensitive Victorian restoration in 1881 which preserved its historical interest whilst making good any defects, further repairs were necessary in 2019 again keeping things stable. There is ample parking outside the gates and alongside the church hall, the churchyard has a few trees to the west but all other angles are open for the photographer.