England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Wragby St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Wragby lies in south central Yorkshire, within the West Riding. Wragby is located about 6 miles southeast of the town of Wakefield and 5 southeast of Pontefract. Wragby is situated on the A638 road which connects Wakefield with Doncaster. Of modern day Wragby there is little to speak of, much of the area being incorporated in the National Trust owned grounds of Nostell Park and its former Augustinian priory, a few properties sit alongside the A638 and within the townships of West Hardwick & Hessle. At the time of this transcript Wragby's economy would have based on farming, the land roughly equally divided between pastoral and arable modes, the estate of Nostell and its 18th century house dominated the employment opportunities. Wragby is drained eastwards by tributaries of the infant River Went, eventually joining the Aire near Goole and the North Sea through the Humber estuary. Wragby is sited at around 60 metres above the sea in gently rolling countryside with little in the way of extreme elevation, Wragby parish was fairly typically sized for this area of the county, it covered almost 4,200 acres and would have supported a population of around 850 parishioners. In Domesday times Wragby was listed under Nostell and held by one Ilbert of Lacy, it could offer just 10 ploughs and a small wood.

The Church

St Michael's church sits inside the grounds of Nostell Park just to the north of the A638 and stands in a parkland setting. The church appears almost totally to be from the Perpendicular period and appears to be from the latter part of that period, too. Documentary evidence places the building of the chancel to 1533 which is almost the end of that style's period of fashion. The church follows the standard layout from that era in having nave, chancel and western tower in this case augmented by aisles and arcades. The local sandstone is much in evidence, a stone which discolors readily as can be seen. The large car park for the park is just east of the pedestrian entrance and permits free visit to the church. The churchyard contains many trees but despite this views are maintained allowing adequate photography.