Description

SE 55 NW NUN MONKTON THE AVENUE
(east end)

2/24 Church of St Mary
15.3.66

GV I

Church. Late C12 - early C13 with restoration and rebuilding of east end
and vestry 1873 by J H Walton, and stained glass by Morris and Company.
Limestone ashlar, plain tile roof. 7-bay continuous nave and chancel with
north vestry to 2 eastern most bays. West front: integral central tower
interrupting steeply pitched roof. Round-headed west portal of 5 orders on
slim shafts with stylised foliate capitals. Zigzag enrichment to the
2 inner and the outermost orders, and hoodmould with head stops. Triangular
gable with pellet decoration supported on miniature shafts with waterleaf
capitals, enclosing trefoiled niche. Doorway flanked by pairs of round-
headed niches with roll-moulded arches on shafts with waterleaf capitals,
the outer ones set into flat buttresses at the angles of the facade; that to
extreme right contains weathered, headless figure. Above the doorway set on
a continuous sill are 3 stepped lancets with banded shafts, nailhead
enrichment and hoodmoulds. Narrow staircase window to right of central
lancet. Shouldered belfry openings to each face of tower with corbel table
above. Pyramidal roof. Nave, south side: 3 round-headed doorways, that to
west of 3 chamfered orders and the central one, now blocked, of 2 plain
orders. The easternmost door is largely a C19 reconstruction, with existing
original sections confirming its accuracy. It consists of 3 orders, the
outer one with zigzag enrichment, held on shafts with stiff-leaf capitals.
Pellet and nailhead enrichment to jambs. Plain hoodmould with decorative
stops. Upper storey: lancets with hoodmoulds on continuous string course,
separated by flat buttresses. Nave, north side: blind lower storey with
full-height flat buttresses and C19 vestry to east. Upper storey: lancets
with hoodmoulds. East end, rebuilt in 1873: band bearing inscription "To
the glory of God and the Memory of Anne, wife of Isaac Crawhall, this
chancel is rebuilt and dedicated AD 1873", flanked by flat triangular-headed
buttresses. 3 stepped lancets with banded shafts and nailhead and dogtooth
enrichment. Vesica above, and cross to apex. Interior: 3 tall arches
carrying tower to west end. The nave walls carry an ornate triforium and
wall passage. The wall is divided by vaulting shafts into wide and narrow
bays, the wide bays containing deeply-splayed pointed windows with banded
shafts, hoodmoulds with headstops and nailhead enrichment. The narrow bays
contain paired pointed arches with banded shafts and between their heads a
sunk trefoil panel with roses on the cusps. Over these is a trefoil-headed
opening ornamented with roses. This is an extremely fine triforium arcade.
1873 east end in similar style with polished marble shafts. Memorial
brasses to south wall of chancel to George Payler, died 1689 and Elizabeth
Payler died 1724/25; George Payler died 1678 and Lady Maria Carey died 1679;
Bethia Darcie, died 1671. Elaborate font with polished coloured marble
shafts and inlay, and wrought-iron altar rails, both of 1873 restoration.
Stained glass in east window probably from designs by Sir Edward Burne-
Jones, considered by Pevsner to be the finest in the West Riding. The
Church was the priory church of a community of Benedictine nuns founded
c1153 by William de Arches. Anon, The Parish of Nun Monkton, nd.
Archaeological Journal, Vol 4, 1847. Pevsner N, Yorkshire: The West Riding,
second edition, 1967.

Listing NGR: SE5115157927

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St Mary at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17538222

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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