St. Mary's Church is Emmerdale's village church, located on the site of the old School House on Church Lane.
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, started by a local choirboy. 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
- 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)
- Harriet Finch (2014, 2016-2018, 2018-)
- Rhys (2018)
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)
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)
- Kate Hughes and Joe Sugden (1989)
- 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)
- Alice Wilson and Sam Dingle (2006)
- Donna Windsor and Marlon Dingle (2006)
- Viv Windsor and Bob Hope (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)
- 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)
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)
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)
- 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)
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.
Choir
St. Mary's Church used to have a choir in, consisting of many villagers, including:
1974
2008
2017-present
Former members: