Treasures from the Parish Chest: exploring North Yorkshire’s church history from archives to architecture

These online pages have been created as a guide to accompany an exhibition of historic parish records from the Record Office collections in Northallerton, featuring items spanning a period of over 500 years. They include images and information about all the material on display, and much more to provide further detail and context, and to demonstrate the wide range of records to be found in Anglican parish church archives.

The earliest item on display is a handwritten contract for the building of St Anne’s church, Catterick dated 1412; the most recent, a drawing of the interior of St Mary’s, Masham dated 1969. There are a range of parish registers from 1538 onwards, account books from the 16th-19th centuries, written by officers of the parish who were responsible for the upkeep and day to day running of the church, the welfare of the poor and maintenance of the roads. Architects’ drawings of proposals for Victorian church restoration and rebuilding feature alongside a 19th century churchyard plan recording burials at Richmond, St Mary.

This documentary evidence is complemented by contemporary church photography and words by Sophie Cawthorne (@churchoftheday on Instagram). From the Anglo-Saxon minster of Kirkdale, St Gregory to the 20th century murals at Helmsley, All Saints, Sophie illustrates over a thousand years of the heritage, architecture and artistry of a selection of North Yorkshire churches. She has also produced a slideshow of photographs of her 20 favourite churches.

The idea for this exhibition first arose out of an Instagram collaboration between Sophie and the Record Office (@north_yorkshire_archive), which started in 2022 with regular posts showcasing Sophie’s photographs of North Yorkshire churches alongside images of related parish records from the Record Office collections.

Visit the following pages to find out about parish church records at the Record Office and how to access them:

[Click on the links below to open pages; clicking on most images within pages will open full-screen versions]

• Parish record collections at the County Record Office
• Parish registers: 1538 to 1753
• Parish registers: 1754 and after
• Officers of the parish
• Churchwardens and their accounts
• Church and churchyard
• Vicarage and school
• Glebe, terriers, tithes and enclosure
• Architects’ drawings, church restoration and rebuilding
  • Temple Moore at East Moors and Kirkdale
  • Charles Hodgson Fowler at Northallerton
  • Two phases of restoration at Hutton Rudby
• Other sources for researching church history in Record Office collections
• Further information and useful links

Explore the history of a selection of North Yorkshire churches, with text and contemporary photographs by Sophie Cawthorne:

• Introducing Sophie and 20 of her favourite North Yorkshire churches
• Kirkdale, St Gregory’s Minster
• Burnsall, St Wilfrid
• Selby Abbey, St Mary and St Germain
• Bedale, St Gregory
• Thirsk, St Mary
• Hubberholme, St Michael and All Angels
• Whitby, St Mary
• Kirk Hammerton, St John the Baptist
• Helmsley, All Saints

These blog pages have been written by Gail Falkingham, North Yorkshire County Record Office and Sophie Cawthorne to accompany an exhibition at the County Record Office from 2nd April to 31st July 2024.

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