England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Startforth Holy Trinity

The Parish

The parish of Startforth lies in the extreme north of Yorkshire, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring County Durham. Startforth sits on the south bank of the River Tees immediately opposite the substantial County Durham market town of Barnard Castle, although in a separate county it functions as part of that town. The Tees is crossed by the A67 road and Startforth sits on that road with its notional centre at the junction with the B6277 which follows the Tees valley. Startforth is a compact settlement, most property being along the main road or to its south. The area is dominated by pastoral farming, although a thread making industry sustained many in Startforth itself. The Tees is headed eastwards to reach the North Sea through the industrial conurbation that is Teeside. Startforth is sited at around 150 metres above sea level although land rises noticeably to the west into the Pennines where the National Trail of The Pennine Way runs at over 400 metres above the sea some 5 miles west of Startforth. By the standards of this part of northern England Startforth parish was rather small covering less than 1,100 acres it is more typical of a southern parish, the parish, however, would have supported almost 800 parishioners. In Domesday times the land was held by one Count Alan of Brittany, the survey is lacking in detail as to the assets of the community in those times.

The Church

Holy Trinity church sits on the southern edge of Startforth on the western side of the B6277 as it leaves the village. The church is a Victorian rebuild which was completed in 1863. The style use is Early English although Pevsner devotes only a few lines to it. There was clearly nothing significant architecturally in the building although its spire is a rather handsome addition to the skyline. The church sits behind a mid-height stone wall and access is through an attractive lychgate. There are a few trees in the graveyard which rather restrict viewing and photography angles without limiting them irrevocably.