Parish records of Church Fenton

Includes register of christenings, 1630-1739, 1750-1996 (note this register uses the Dade registration scheme for the years 1777-1808); register of marriages, 1630-2019; register of burials, 1627-1739, 1750-1978 (note this register uses the Dade registration scheme for the years 1777-1812); register of banns, 1824-1981; register of services, 1924-2007; Book of condolences for Queen Elizabeth II, 2022; records concerning benefice income, including notes of leases, 1770-1810, 1900, rentals, 1795, 1804, correspondence and papers 1868, 1893, 1900, 1921, 1922, 1925-1935, and table of fees, 1923; charity records, including Alice Elizabeth Gibson Fund papers, 1946-1949, and Mary Thornton Trust papers, 1981; churchwardens’ records, including accounts, 1730-1772, 1775-1888, fabric papers, 1907, 1913-1978, visitors' book, 1966-1970, churchyard abstract of title and correspondence, 1912, 1936, property papers, 1900, 1913, list of common meadows let, 1738-1754, memo of an enclosure agreement between the churchwardens and Richard Wregglesworth, 1775, and miscellaneous papers, 1890, 1928; records of incumbents, including dilapidations, 1925-1951, parsonage house deed and correspondence, 1909, statistical returns, 1929, 1932, and incumbents' papers, 1925-1980; overseers’ records, including apprenticeship register, 1785-1800; records concerning parish rooms and societies, including minute books of the Parish Centre Management Committee, 1978-1994, papers relating to the sale of the Parish Centre, 1978-2005, and correspondence, 1976-1977; school records, including managers' minutes of meetings, 1892-1949, accounts, 1874-1904, correspondence, 1976-1977, managers' accounts, 1937-1986, correspondence concerning sale of school, 1954-1955, 1977-1978, and correspondence regarding diversion of footpath through old school yard, 1977-1978; Vestry/Parochial Church Council records, including minutes of meetings, 1831-1888, 1932-1980, accounts, 1936-2005, insurance papers, 1923, and miscellaneous papers, c.1960s; St Mary’s Kirk Fenton internal reordering DVD film, 2006-2007; book of condolence on the death of Queen Elizabeth II, 2022.

Although ‘Fentun’ was included in Domesday in the eleventh century, the name ‘Kirk Fenton,’ signifying the establishment of a church at the site, was not recorded until 1338, along with the name of the first known vicar. The church was subject to the peculiar jurisdiction of the Prebend of Fenton from the thirteenth century, when Archbishop Walter de Grey created the parish from the old Prebend of Sherburn. Prior to this a church may have existed at Fenton as a chapel of ease to the mother church at Sherburn in Elmet.
The oldest parts of the parish church date to c.1230 and a vicarage was ordained there in 1240, the same year that the church tower was built. It was restored in 1844 and 1966. In 1929 new stained glass was added by C. E. Steel of Leeds.
Originally dedicated to St John the Baptist, the church is now dedicated to St Mary. A vicarage house stood in the village from at least 1663, and was replaced in 1870, although the ‘old’ vicarage still stands. The living was augmented in 1833 by Parliamentary grant.
The parish includes Church Fenton, Little Fenton, Biggin and Bracken Hill. Today the parish is part of the united benefice of Tadcaster.

Records are open to the public, subject to the overriding provisions of relevant legislation, including data protection laws. 24 hours' notice is required to access photographic material.

The archive was deposited at the Borthwick Institute in 1966 by the incumbent. Further additions were made to the archive in 1978, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1997, 2008, 2014 and 2023.

Although ‘Fentun’ was included in Domesday in the eleventh century, the name ‘Kirk Fenton,’ signifying the establishment of a church at the site, was not recorded until 1338, along with the name of the first known vicar. The church was subject to the peculiar jurisdiction of the Prebend of Fenton from the thirteenth century, when Archbishop Walter de Grey created the parish from the old Prebend of Sherburn. Prior to this a church may have existed at Fenton as a chapel of ease to the mother church at Sherburn in Elmet.
The oldest parts of the parish church date to c.1230 and a vicarage was ordained there in 1240, the same year that the church tower was built. It was restored in 1844 and 1966. In 1929 new stained glass was added by C. E. Steel of Leeds.
Originally dedicated to St John the Baptist, the church is now dedicated to St Mary. A vicarage house stood in the village from at least 1663, and was replaced in 1870, although the ‘old’ vicarage still stands. The living was augmented in 1833 by Parliamentary grant.
The parish includes Church Fenton, Little Fenton, Biggin and Bracken Hill. Today the parish is part of the united benefice of Tadcaster.

A typescript finding aid, to file level, is available for consultation in the searchroom of the Borthwick Institute. This includes all material received up to and including 2023.

Registers of christenings, 1630-1853, marriages, 1630-1981, and burials, 1627-1978, are also available on microfilm at the Borthwick Institute (References: MF 666).
Our collection of parish baptism, marriage and burial registers has been digitised by both Ancestry and Find My Past. Copies of digitised records can be viewed online on Ancestry or Find My Past, as part of larger UK-wide parish registers datasets. You can find out more about these record sets, and how to find our registers, here: https://borthcat.york.ac.uk/index.php/are-you-looking-for-parish-registers.

Includes DVD. Access to audiovisual material may be restricted due to technical requirements, please contact the Borthwick Institute for more information.

Created by S. A. Shearn, 01.02.16.

A reprographics service is available to researchers subject to the access restrictions outlined above. Copying will not be undertaken if there is any risk of damage to the document. Copies are supplied in accordance with the Borthwick Institute for Archives' terms and conditions for the supply of copies, and under provisions of any relevant copyright legislation. Permission to reproduce images of documents in the custody of the Borthwick Institute must be sought.

Further accruals are expected.

Details of a stained glass window at St Mary's Church are deposited at the Borthwick Institute as part of the Metcalf Family Papers.

Published

GB 193