England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Thornton le Street St Leonard

The Parish

The parish of Thornton le Street lies in northern Yorkshire, south centrally within the North Riding and roughly 3 miles north of the market town of Thirsk. Thornton le Street is a tiny settlement, little more than a hamlet, that sits on the A168 road which connects Thirsk with Northallerton and which stands upon the ancient Roman road from York to Catterick. A small group of properties stands to the east of the A168 whilst the remainder of the parish acreage covers the territory of Thornton Estate, today a race horse stud stands within manicured parkland. The Vale of York is fertile country and Thornton le Street would have been primarily an arable farming community like so many others. Modern developments have come to the parish, the route of the East Coast main railway line from London to Edinburgh cuts through to the west of the parish. The Cod Beck drains the parish southwards joining the Swale to the south of Thirsk, thence through York to the North Sea and the Humber Estuary. Thornton le Street is sited at around 50 metres above the sea in gently rolling countryside where local heights barely rise a further 10 metres or so for some distance. By Northern Yorkshire standards Thornton le Street parish was on the small side, covering just under 2,800 acres it would have supported a population of just over 200 parishioners. In Domesday Book Thornton le Street is described as mere "waste" and is held by King William, himself, often northern frontier parishes are so described this being close to the northern edge of Norman influence at that time.

The Church

St Leonard's church sits just east of the busy A168 and is tucked away behind fronting properties. The church is of ancient origin despite the sparse entry in Domesday Book a church probably existed here as early as that book's creation. The nave is dateable to the 12th century in the Norman Romanesque style but much else has been modified over the centuries. Traces of Perpendicular work can be seen in the rounded headed windows whilst the Victorians certainly made restoration and changes, the tall western bell turret being a 19th century addition. The church is a simple one as befits a small parish with little in the way of ostentation, a typical small village church indeed. There is a gated entranceway from the A168 but the semicircular parking area is for residents, a better option is to approach from the north where a brick-weave path leads into the churchyard from that dead-end lane. An open & uncluttered churchyard with no obstructions to photography.