England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Darton All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Darton lies in southwestern Yorkshire, within the West Riding, some 3 1/2 miles northwest of the industrial town of Barnsley. Darton sits on and either side of the A637 road which links Barnsley with Huddersfield. Darton is a village much grown, prior to the industrial revolution it was merely a riverside village on both banks of the River Dearne with subsidiary villages of Barugh, Kexbrough and Mapplewell within the wider parish. The wider parish was extensive farmed with early gazetteers estimating roughly 2:1 in favour of arable over pastoral methods. With the industrial revolution came mining for coal with 3 active pits within the parish, further industrialisation came with nail making, a speciality of Mapplewell, as well as vitriol and bleaching works, the local grit-stone was also extensively quarried for building stone. As a consequence Darton has expanded considerably east of the Dearne engulfing Mapplewell whilst Barugh has also grown to become contiguous with Barnsley. Whilst the mining has finished Ordnance Survey maps still depict the spoil heaps as legacy of the past employment. Modern developments have some in abundance to Darton, the railway line linking Barnsley with both Wakefield and Huddersfield passes through granting Darton a station, in addition the modern M1 motorway cuts a similar pathway along the Dearne's valley linking Sheffield with the north. Darton is drained southwards and then east by the Dearne which passes through Barnsley before meeting the Don at Mexborough, the Don becomes ultimately man-influenced and canalised as it crosses the once Fenland of that portion of the county before joining the other rivers of Yorkshire's Dales to reach the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Darton is sited on rising sites either side of the Dearne's bridge which stands at 60 metres above the sea, both eastern and western suburbs rise to 110 metres, land rises steadily westwards into the fore-hills of the Pennines reaching a pot height of 269 metres at nearby Hoylandswaine. Darton parish was extensive covering just short of 4,500 acres as are many in the north, this acreage would have supported a population of around 3,600 parishioners, growing markedly during the period of this transcript which indicates a more average population of closer to 2,000. In Domesday times Darton is recorded as mainly "waste", a victim of William's harrowing of the north, a holding with Ilbert de Lacy had managed to re-emerge with a pair of ploughs.

The Church

All Saints' church sits on the edges of the Dearne's floodplain and a few hundred metres west of the bridge over the same. The church's history is well-documented and indicates a complete rebuilding during the late-Perpendicular era. Documentary sources state the rebuild begun in 1480 replacing a previous incarnation, a wall-plate indicates that the chancel was complete in 1517. The church's architecture is in full agreement with these dates as both the main body and the western, and lofty, western tower are all in the late-Perpendicular style. Pevsner does point to the chancel arch as possibly being the only survivor of the earlier church. The nave is an impressive 4-bays and comes complete with clerestory, the chancel has twin 2-bay chancel chapels to augment it. It is that lofty western tower, however, which draws the eye, the height is achieved with only 2 stages but braced with diagonal buttresses and battlemented at the very top. A substantial and very typical Victorian restoration took place between 1867 and 1868 to complete today's church. The churchyard stands at the junction of the very busy A637 with Church Street diagonally opposite the Rose & Crown Inn, neither road has parking provision anywhere close by so sides streets away from the site are recommended. The main entrance is at the junction where short flight of steps leads to a pathway crossing the extensive churchyard to the church, for the photographer that extensive churchyard permits most favoured aspects with no issues close to the church except in the northeastern corner.