England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Welwick St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Welwick lies in the extreme southeast of Yorkshire forming a stretch of the county's coastline with the outer Humber Estuary. Welwick is located roughly 2 miles southeast of the small market town of Patrington and sits on the B1445 road which connects Patrington with the Spurn Peninsula. Welwick is a small and compact crossroads village with most properties either lining the B1445 or along the lane which heads southwards to the Humber Estuary's banks. Most of the parish lies below 10 metres on alluvial silts and gravels deposited by the historical shifting of the spit that encloses part of the estuary, this land is nowadays heavily arable with vast fields of cereals and root crops, at the time of this transcript it would have had a more mixed rotational farming regime. In addition to intensive farming there would have been exploitation of the exposed muds of the estuary for shell-fish. Welwick is drained mostly by field drains which ferry water to the nearby estuary. As already mentioned the village is low-lying, barely 10 metres above sea level with most of the parish lower than that, in flattish terrain the local high spot stands only at 30 metres about a mile northeast of the village. As with many parishes with reclaimed land Welwick parish was quite extensive covering almost 3,300 acres, it would have supported a population of close to 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Welwick was probably as large then as it is today, held by the Archbishop of York it offered 10 ploughs backed by typical meadows & pasture.

The Church

St Mary's church stands at the western end of the village, the B1445 performing a set of right-angled bends to pass two sides of the churchyard. The church has its origins in the 13th century but was much extended and rebuilt during the early 14th such that only the tower arch is notable as being of the Early English Gothic style. Much of the nave was also present but during the Decorated period of the early 14th century it was modified by the addition of aisles, 4-bay arcades & a clerestory, the basic chancel was also extended eastwards and the southern doorway reconstructed. Much remained unchanged thereafter until more modern times, in the 18th century the original 2-storey southern porch was more simply rebuilt whilst in the 19th century a light and sensitive restoration was performed which did not add significantly to the pre-existing fabric. The B1445 passing the churchyard is unsafe for on-street parking given its blind right-angled bends, it is better to park after it has straightened within them main village. The churchyard is entered through white gates at the southern edge, it has a row of trees to the southwest of the church which impacts views from that angle but all other aspects are available for the photographer.