If a medieval inhabitant of Cottingham in the East Riding was called upon to explain what a parish was, he or she might list features such as distinct boundaries, a parish church, its rector and vicar, and the payment of tithes. They might add that the parish church was where their babies were baptised, their dead buried and where everyone attended Sunday services. The natives of Skidby in the same parish might take issue with this description, but it encapsulates the devotional experiences of many, though not all, medieval Christians, which revolved around the parish church. In this chapter, we seek to elaborate on that medieval parishioner's putative description of their parish and parish church; first, examining the formation and development of parishes in all three countries and, secondly, by setting out the functions of those churches. Understanding how parishes were formed in all three countries is essential before we can discuss the relationship between parish church and chapel.

Origins of the parish

The Cottingham resident's description of a parish would have been valid for parishes after the twelfth century. Quite a different description would have been given by someone living in the eleventh century. Then a parish or parochia might not be commonly known, and, when it was, it would refer to the area under the authority of a particular bishop. For instance, in 1182 districts such as Teviotdale, Annandale and Liddesdale were said to belong to the parochia of the diocese of Glasgow. Around thirty years later, a perambulation (that is, a walk around the boundary) of the parish of Campsie suggests that parochia had come to mean the defined territory of a local church, and the same change in meaning also occurred in twelfth-century England. Before turning to look at the local and wider factors behind this modification, we will discuss what was there prior to the twelfth century. It is important to do so because early church organisation often has a bearing on chapel development.

The traditional narrative recounts that it was David I (1124–53) who introduced what are sometimes called Anglo-Norman features such as parishes and tithes to Scotland. This account should be modified, as research by John Rogers, G.W.S. Barrow and Alasdair Ross demonstrates that the pre-existing churches tended to be the ones that gained parochial status.