England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Wilton St Cuthbert

The Parish

The parish of Wilton lies in the extreme north of Yorkshire not too far from its North Sea coast and also the River Tees which forms the border with neighbouring County Durham. Wilton is located roughly 3 miles north of the market town of Guisborough and 6 east of the industrial town of Middlesborough. Wilton sits on the A174 road which forms Middlesborough's southern bypass and leads onwards east to Redcar & Saltburn. Wilton parish had two notable centres of property, Wilton, itself, is a small village to the south of the A174 whilst Lazenby sits further west and north of the A174. At the time of this transcript Wilton would have largely been a farming village, there was some quarrying of the local stone for use for building materials but arable farming was the main activity. Nowadays the area north of the A174 is dominated by industry, Wilton Chemical Works being supplemented by the former steel works sites and the banks of the Tees harbours a vast car-park for imported vehicles. The rural quiet of Wilton village with its early 19th century "castle" forms a striking contrast. The Tees estuary sits roughly 4 miles north of Wilton village and largely man-influenced drainage takes water to it. Wilton is sited at around 50 metres above the sea but immediately south is Lazenby Bank, an outlier of the nearby North York Moors, whereby land rises sharply to 242 metres on nearby Eston Nab. An extensive parish in an area of extensive parishes, Wilton covered 3,400 acres and within that acreage would have supported a population of just over 350 parishioners. In Domesday times Wilton would have been part of the northern edge of the book's coverage, held by Count Robert of Mortain Wilton's assets were listed as 4 ploughs and a small meadow with much described as "waste".

The Church

St Cuthbert's church sits within the grounds of Wilton "castle", a large & castellated house sitting on the slopes of Lazenby Bank. St Cuthbert is an ancient church much reworked in modern times. Its origins lie in the 12th century Norman Romanesque era with that style well represented by round headed windows in the nave, a corbel-table in the chancel and the southern doorway which Pevsner tentatively places in the first half of the 12th century. Lancet windows from the Early English Gothic period are also found indicating re-work in medieval times. Pevsner belives the elaborate west end with its spire-topped bell-turret flanked by twin obelisks dates from the same era and architect as the construction of Wilton Castle e.g. c1810. It is in the first decade of the 20th century that the major rebuild took place with much scraping clean of the remainder leading to today's church. The church is approached from the A174 by following the signed route to the castle, the lane passing through extensive attractive parkland, the church can be found once the lane reaches the dense covert of trees and where parking may be found. The churchyard is sadly tightly packed with trees leading to much head-scratching for the photographer to get good aspects.