Kirk Levington

England Yorkshire  Yorkshire Parishes K-R  North Riding  Kirk Levington



Parish History
Kirk Levington St Martin is an Ancient Parish in the county of Yorkshire. Yarm, Yorkshire is a chapelry of Kirk Levington. Other places in the parish include: Castle Leavington, Castle Levington, Picton, Low Worsall, Pickton, and Castleleavington.

LEAVINGTON, KIRK (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Stockton, W. division of the liberty of Langbaurgh, N. riding of York; containing, with the townships of Castle-Leavington, Pickton, and Low Worsall, 483 inhabitants, of whom 233 are in the township of Kirk-Leavington, 2 miles (S. S. E.) from Yarm. This place, formerly called Leventon, and in Domesday book Lentune, or "the town upon the river Leven," was once the inheritance of the crown, and was bestowed by the Conqueror upon the Bruces, who held under the king. They continued proprietors until about the time of Richard I., or John, when the estate passed to the Percys, with whom it remained up to the reign of Henry VIII., since which time the lands have been owned by different families. The place suffered greatly in the incursion made by the Scots under the command of Sir James Douglas and the Earl of Murray, in the 12th of Edward II., and on this account the inhabitants were exempted in the following year by that monarch from paying his taxes. The parish is on the road from Yarm to Thirsk, and is bounded on the west by the river Tees, and on the east by the Leven, which flows through a picturesque dale: the township comprises 2133a. 1r. 35p., of which 1170 acres are arable, 782 meadow and pasture, 20 woodland, and 160 road and waste. The soil is chiefly a strong fertile clay, more favourable for corn than grass. The level grounds near the Tees at Worsall, and on the border of the Leven at Castle-Leavington, consist of a deep rich loam; about Pickton the soil is rather inferior. From various situations are fine views of the Cleveland hills. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £100; patron and appropriator, the Archbishop of York, whose tithes in the township of Kirk-Leavington have been commuted for £428. The church is a small ancient edifice.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 42-46. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51099 Date accessed: 29 March 2011.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, nonconformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Poor Law Unions
Stockton Poor Law Union, Durham

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Yorkshire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.