St. Mary's Church

St. Mary's Church is Emmerdale's village church, located on the site of the old School House on Church Lane. 
The current church building has only been in use since 2002. Prior to that, the original St. Marry's Church was located on the outskirts of the village and was much bigger.
==History==
===The old church===
The original church claims to have been built in Viking times, serving the parish of Beckindale for centuries.
In June 1882, the church was gutted by fire, allegedly started by a local choirboy. The church was rebuilt and Albert Oldroyd donated a stained glass window which depicted Christ in a red robe, holding a fat lamb, with hills in the background. 
The church was the site of many funerals including Jacob Sugden in October 1972. In January 1994 the church had to deal with the most amount of bodies to be buried when a multiple funeral took place for the villagers who died in the plane crash. Archie Brooks, Elizabeth Pollard, Mark Hughes and Leonard Kempinski and the Hutchinson family all perished.
Many vicars served at the church during the years, including Edward Ruskin, Bob Matthews and Donald Hinton. The last vicar to be instated before the church moved was Ashley Thomas who was also the longest-serving vicar, having the position for almost 20 years.
===The new church===
The church once again suffered a fire in 2002, this time burnt down by local vet Zoe Tate who was sectioned under the mental health act following the incident. It was decided not to rebuild the church this time and instead its location was changed to the old village school and former tea room buildings.
In late 2008, St. Mary's was under threat of closure due to the falling number of parishioners attending services. The community rallied round to stop this and formed a choir and entered into a regional competition in the hope that winning would save the church. The church was saved when the new owners of Home Farm, the Wylde's bought the church for £500,000 and gifted it to the community.
The church has a blog and so, presumably, a website too.
==Vicars==
=== Current ===
*Charles Anderson (2020-)
=== Past ===
*Charles Haywood (c.1910s)
*Edward Ruskin (1960-1975)
*Bob Matthews (1975-1977)
*William Hockley (1977)
*David Cowper (1977)
*Donald Hinton (1977-1989)
*Tony Charlton (1990-1991)
*Reverend Jackson (1991-1994)
*Reverend Burns (1996)
*Ashley Thomas (1996-2012, 2014-2016)
*Jude Watson (2012-2014)
*Rhys (2018)
*Harriet Finch (2014, 2016-2018, 2018-2021)
==Christenings==
*Sam and Sally Skilbeck (1973)
*Samuel Skilbeck (1983)
*Joseph Tate (1995)
*Belle Dingle (1999)
*Kirk Daggert (2001)
*Gabrielle Thomas (2002)
*Christopher Tate Jr. (2004)
*Pippa and Poppy Hibbertt (2005)
*Sarah Sugden Jr. (2005)
*Cathy and Heath Hope (2007)
*Arthur Doland and Daniel Thomas (2007)
*Angelica King (2010)
*Leo Goskirk (2011)
*Molly Sharma (2013)
*Donna and April Windsor (2014)
*Moses Dingle (2015)
*Eliza Macey (2016)
*Isaac Dingle (2017)
*Eve Dingle, Theo Metcalfe and Harry Sugden (2020)
*Esther Spencer (2022)
*Reuben Harris (2023)
== Weddings==
St. Mary's Church has been the location of many Emmerdale weddings over the years. Here are the weddings that took place here:
* Janie Harker and Frank Blakey (1973)
*Christine Sharp and Joe Sugden (1974)
*Dolly Acaster and Matt Skilbeck (1978)
*Kathy Bates and Jackie Merrick (1988)
*Kate Hughes and Joe Sugden (1989)
*Elizabeth Feldmann and Eric Pollard (1992)
*Linda Glover and Biff Fowler (1996)
*Lisa Clegg and Zak Dingle (1998)
*Kelly Windsor and Roy Glover (1999)
*Mandy Dingle and Paddy Kirk (1999)
*Gloria Weaver and Eric Pollard (2002)
*Emily Dingle and Paddy Kirk (2002)
*Tricia Stokes and Marlon Dingle (2003)
*Dawn Hope and Terry Woods (2003)
*Katie Addyman and Andy Sugden (2004)
*Diane Blackstock and Jack Sugden (2004)
*Laurel Potts and Ashley Thomas (2005)
*Donna Windsor and Marlon Dingle (2006)
*Viv Windsor and Bob Hope (2006)
*Alice Wilson and Sam Dingle (2006)
*Rosemary Sinclair and Tom King (2006)
*Val Lambert and Eric Pollard (2008)
*Lexi Nicholls and Carl King (2009)
*Nicola De Souza and Jimmy King (2010)
*Rhona Goskirk and Paddy Kirk (2012)
*Katie Sugden and Declan Macey (2012)
*Chas Dingle and Dan Spencer (2012)
*Maya Stepney and Liam Cavanagh (2013)
*Alicia Harding and David Metcalfe (2013)
*Kerry Wyatt and Dan Spencer (2014)
*Laurel Thomas and Marlon Dingle (2014)
*Ali Spencer and Ruby Haswell (2014)
*Katie Addyman and Andy Sugden (2014)
*Chrissie White and Robert Sugden (2015)
*Debbie Dingle and Pete Barton (2015)
*Laurel Dingle and Ashley Thomas (2016)
*Joanie Wright and Zak Dingle (2016)
*Tracy Shankley and David Metcalfe (2016)
*Rhona Goskirk and Pierce Harris (2017)
*Brenda Walker and Bob Hope (2018)
*Jessie Grant and Marlon Dingle (2019)
*Lisa Dingle and Zak Dingle (2019)
*Lydia Hart and Sam Dingle (2020)
*Chas Dingle and Paddy Kirk (2020)
*Dawn Taylor and Billy Fletcher (2022)
*Rhona Goskirk and Marlon Dingle (2022)
*Kim Tate and Will Taylor (2022)
*Charity Dingle and Mackenzie Boyd (2023)
*Laurel Thomas and Jai Sharma (2023)
*Belle Dingle and Thomas King (2024)
*Mandy Dingle and Paddy Dingle (2024)
===Failed weddings/jiltings===
Not all weddings in Emmerdale end happily ever after. In fact, some don't happen at all. Like these:
*Tina Dingle and Luke McAllister (1995)
*Lisa Clegg and Albert Dingle (1997)
*Kathy Glover and Biff Fowler (1999)
*Nicola Blackstock and Carlos Diaz (2001)
*Tricia Fisher and Marlon Dingle (2002)
*Charity Tate and Tom King (2005)
*Kelly Windsor and Jimmy King (2007)
*Chas Dingle and Carl King (2010)
*Gabby Thomas and Nicky Miligan (2023)
==Funerals ==
Sadly, many Emmerdale residents have lost their lives. And St. Mary's Church has been home to many of the funerals.
*To be added.
*Jacob Sugden (1972)
*Sharon Crossthwaite (1973)
*Trash (1973)
*Peggy Skilbeck (1973)
*Harry Mowlam (1986)
*Mr Metcalfe (1987)
*Lady Tara Oakwell's father (1998)
*Alice Dingle (2006)
*Tom King (2006)
*Rosemary King (2008)
*Jack Sugden (2009)
*Shadrach Dingle (2010)
*Terry Woods (2011)
*Jackson Walsh (2011)
*John Barton (2012)
* Carl King (2012)
*Alan Turner (2013)
*Gennie Walker (2013)
*Gemma Andrews (2014)
*Donna Windsor (2014)
*Katie Sugden (2015)
*Ruby Haswell (2015)
*Val Pollard (2015)
*Edna Birch (2016)
*James Barton (2016)
*Joanie Dingle (2017)
*Ashley Thomas (2017)
*Lawrence White (2018)
*Chrissie White (2018)
*Gerry Roberts (2018)
*Grace Dingle (2018)
*Lisa Dingle (2019)
*Frank Clayton (2019)
*Paul Ashdale (2021)
*Leanna Cavanagh (2021)
*Andrea Tate (2021) (Memorial)
*Faith Dingle (2022)
*Liv Dingle (2022)
*Victor Anderson (2023)
*Heath Hope (2024)
*Ethan Anderson (2024)
==Events==
To be added.
*2002: Set on fire by Zoe Tate, who was suffering from a schizophrenic episode.
*2009: Set on fire by Sally Spode, trapping Laurel Thomas inside and then calling the fire brigade.
*2023: Victor Anderson dies in the church.
==Choir==
St. Mary's Church used to have a choir in, consisting of many villagers, including:
===1974=== 
*Rev. Edward Ruskin
*Ethel Ainsworth
*Alison Gibbons
*Henry Wilks
===2008===
*Rev. Ashley Thomas
*Louise Appleton
*Rodney Blackstock
*Edna Birch	
*Lisa Dingle
*Sam Dingle
*Betty Eagleton
*Leyla Harding	
*Bob Hope
*Nicola King
*Val Pollard
*Doug Potts	
*Laurel Thomas
*Alan Turner
*Gennie Walker
===2017-present===
* Rev. Harriet Finch
*Rodney Blackstock
*Lydia Dingle
*Sam Dingle	
*Vinny Dingle
*Bob Hope
*Nicola King
*Eric Pollard	
*Wendy Posner
*Amelia Spencer
*Arthur Thomas
*Gabby Thomas	
*Laurel Thomas
*Brenda Walker
*Kerry Wyatt
Former members:
*Emma Barton
*Bernice Blackstock
*Jessie Dingle
*Doug Potts
Category:Buildings in Emmerdale
Category:Buildings in Beckindale
Category:Buildings in Church Lane
Category:Locations
Category:Churches