England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Upleatham St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Upleatham lies in the extreme north of Yorkshire quite close to its border with neighbouring County Durham and close to its North Sea coast. Upleatham lies in that part of Yorkshire ceded to the new county of Cleveland during England's 1974 Local Government Reorganisation but is historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire. Upleatham is located about 3 miles northeast of the market town of Guisborough and sits about the same distance inland from the coast at Saltburn by the Sea. Upleatham is a small and compact village built largely to the north of the B1268 road which cuts across a corner between the A174 & A173 roads. The area around Upleatham is quite industrialised but Upleatham would have largely been an arable agricultural community at the time of this transcript. The Skelton Beck, which is quite deeply incised and runs through the south of the parish, is draining eastwards to reach the sea at Saltburn by the Sea. The topography is rather undulating, Upleatham being sited at around 120 metres above sea level, although the church is almost 50 metres lower and the village slopes steeply towards the southeast. By the standards of the area Upleatham parish was a small one, it covered just 1,100 acres and supported a population of around 300 parishioners. In Domesday times Upleatham was a relatively underdeveloped place held by Earl Hugh of Chester, it reported just a single plough (albeit with potential for over 30) as well as meadows and woodland.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits slightly away from the main part of the village on the southern side of the B1268 and overlooking the deep valley of the Skelton Beck. The church, which claims to be one of the smallest in the country if not the world, was entirely rebuilt in 1835 in a Neo-Norman style. The building is certainly short and strangely appears like a remnant of a once bigger building. The church stands, surrounded by fields, behind a low stone wall and a gate at the western end grants access. There are no obstacles to photography in this open and windswept site.