England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
West Witton St Bartholomew

The Parish

The parish of West Witton lies in northwestern Yorkshire within the North Riding and roughly 4 miles southwest of the small town of Leyburn. West Witton sits on the A684 road which links Leyburn across the Pennines to Sedbergh. West Witton is a linear village with most properties lining the A684 for just under a half mile, it sits in Wensleydale tucked tight below high moorland close by to its south which constrains the village in that direction, to the north a shelf of more gentle terrain leads down to the River Ure. Like most parishes in the northern Yorkshire Dales the economy was based upon a mixture of the extractive industries, now closed, and upland low-intensity farming of a pastoral nature. The higher parts of the parish being the domain of sheep whilst the lusher pastures close to the Ure held cattle. Today it is outdoor pursuits which drive the economy with short-stay tourism the mainstay, there are numerous hiking trails, the Ure for fishing and the moorland road present a challenge to both on-road and off-road cyclists. West Witton is drained eastwards by the Ure, Wensleydale being the only dale not named after its river, once out of the hill-country it turns more southwards, passing east of Ripon meeting in turn the Swale, Ouse and Nidd to pass through York and reach the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. West Witton is sited on rising ground, the east of the village at 180 metres, the west at 200, to the south West Witton Moor rises to around 400 metres within a half mile but higher ground to the south on Melmerby Moor tops out at 551 metres at the Height of Hazely, the highest point around. Like most upland parishes much land was needed to support a viable population, roughly 5,100 acres constituted West Witton parish which would have supported a population of close to 500 parishioners. In Domesday time West Witton was recovering from the "harrowing of the north", held by Count Alan of Brittany it could muster 7 ploughs, with potential for 11 more, backed by extensive meadows.

The Church

St Bartholomew's church sits to the north of the A684 tucked away behind fronting properties and accessed by a footpath from that road. Early gazetteers describe a church as "a small building, supposed to have been erected in the reign of Henry I" but everything changed in late-Victorian times when the church was largely rebuilt. Very little of that early church remains, a tiny Saxo-Norman southern window belies the claim of Henry I's reign being of the 11th or 12th century, some early fabric was also left in situ in the northern wall of both nave and chancel. The western tower, itself, is a product of the 16th century overlooked by the rebuild. The Victorian rebuild of 1875 accounts for everything that remains, a church which would not be recognised by the participants in these marriages. There are two main ways to get to St Bartholomew, a footpath rises from the A684 just opposite the Fox Inn marked by a blue plaque, it squeezes between buildings to reach the churchyard, there is also a gated entrance from Church Lane to the west. Trees impede but do not block almost all of the angles leaving only the favoured southern aspects freely available for the photographer, the western tower lying within trees is particularly difficult to fully appreciate.