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

The Parish

The parish of Stanley, created in 1826 from that of Wakefield, lies in central West Yorkshire about 2 miles northeast of its mother parish the industrial town of Wakefield. Stanley is a large industrial village sitting on the western banks of the River Calder, it stands astride the A642 road which links Wakefield with the modern motorways of both M62 and M1. Stanley grew up as an industrial centre, its principal industry being spinning of twine, these manufacturing jobs saw the population grown from a sleepy hamlet to a significant town over the late Victorian period. Nowadays Stanley sits amongst a largely urban framework of major roads and almost contiguous housing. The River Calder drains the parish eastwards joining the Aire at Castleford before reaching the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Stanley is sited at around 40 metres above sea level in a gently rolling countryside. Stanley parish was created from the larger parish of Wakefield and it covered around 4,000 acres, its population grew rapidly and reached 6,600 parishioners by the mid-19th century. In Domesday book Stanley was held directly by the King and could offer 13 ploughs (although perhaps optimistically there was said to be potential for almost 40 more) as well as meadows.

The Church

St Peter's church stands to the west of the A642 in an extensive sloping site. The church is a modern one, funded by the Church Commissioners to support the rapidly growing population, built in the 5 years prior to the creation of the parish and it is certainly a unusual if not controversial design. Pevsner is rather equivocal describing it as "more odd then beautiful" although he does says it is extraordinary. The western front with its twin and very thin towers dominates all comment on the building and they are certainly an acquired taste. The church sits in almost a parkland of a churchyard stretching up slope from the A642 and accessed by a stepped pathway from that direction. The rather open site is not restricting in its impact on photography.