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

The Parish

The parish of Stainton, also known as Stainton in Cleveland, lies in the extreme north of Yorkshire forming a lengthy stretch of the county's border with neighbouring County Durham, here formed by the course of the River Tees. Stainton is located roughly 5 miles southeast of the Durham industrial town of Stockton on Tees and sits about 1 mile east of the A19 road which links Stockton on Tees through to the A1 (Great North Road). Stainton is a much changed place, early maps show a discrete and compact village centered on the area immediately north of the parish church where a lane formed a short main street before forking into two. Today Stainton is merely the southwestern suburb of the metropolitan area of Middleborough part of an urban area that stretches up to the course of the Tees and for 12 miles either side of the river from the western edges of Stockton on Tees through to Redcar on the North Sea coastline. At the time of this transcript Stainton would have been surrounded with fields and most would have been pastures. Other than the main village of Stainton there were other villages such as the chapelry of Thornaby (not licensed for marriages at this time) and townships such as Hemlington, Ingleby Berwick and Maltby. In addition to the pastoral farming there was an extensive quarry for the local whinstone, a hard sandstone very suitable for building and especially for making pavement it being hard-wearing. Modern developments abound within the parish as both the A19, to the west, and the A174 (Middlesborough's southern bypass), to the north, have both been upgraded to high-speed dual-carriageway highways.  Stainton sits just east of the Tees and is drained westwards to it by Stainton Beck, the Tees, however, takes the water back east and into the North Sea through its estuary. Stainton is sited at around 40 metres above the sea whilst land to its southeast rises gently to around 80 metres in a few spots in relatively gentle terrain. Stainton was a large parish, as are most this far to the north of England, covering some 6,100 acres it would have supported a population of around 2,250 parishioners. In Domesday times several manors within Stainton parish were recorded, all being holdings of Earl Hugh of Chester and all recovering from the "harrowing of the north" following rebellion against Norman rule. Curiously all of these 7 manors record exactly the same 9 ploughs as their assets one can only assume a level of duplication may have occurred.

The Church

St Peter & St Paul's church sits at what was the southern end of the original High Street of Stainton at the junction of Hemlington Road with Meldyke Lane. Whilst the majority of the church dates from the later medieval period or from modern rebuilding, Pevsner does identify that the church may well have had an earlier iteration as the chancel arch is clearly of the 13th century Early English Gothic period. It is likely therefore that the church was substantially rebuilt in the late 14th or early 15th century. The Perpendicular styling of that era is, however, restricted solely to the small western tower and to the northern transept. The church's western doorway was the first element to receive restoration being rebuilt in the 18th century. That work was followed in Georgian times by the rebuilding of the nave in c1800, in Victorian times the chancel too was rebuilt in 1876 and in more modern times still a general restoration occurred in 1901. Even into the 21st century additions have occurred with the parish rooms added to the northeast in 2001, thus many elements of the church post-date the majority of these marriages. Hemlington Road has on-street parking to the east of the site well used by locals, the churchyard has an imposing whinstone wall surrounding it with metal gates for entry,  a few trees dot the churchyard but most are decorative and easily avoided by the photographer.