Church Of St Mary

The Church of St. Mary is a parish church located on Holy Island, dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, with some earlier masonry incorporated into its structure. The bellcote was added in the 18th century. The building features a nave constructed of random rubble, a chancel made of dressed stone, and an ashlar bellcote, all topped with a Lakeland slate roof. The church comprises a nave, aisle, chancel, south porch, and north vestry.

At the west end of the nave, there is a large 19th-century lancet window flanked by giant offset buttresses that arch above. The 18th-century bellcote has keyed round-arched openings and a stone pyramid roof. Smaller buttresses support the aisles. The nave has four bays and includes a Victorian south porch, Victorian lancets, and one large blocked window, with buttresses in between. The north side of the nave features an old vestry to the right and two windows with Y-tracery. The east window of the north aisle is a three-light design.

On the south side of the chancel, there is a blocked priest's door and a small low side lancet, along with three lancets that have continuous hoodmoulds. The east end showcases three stepped lancets with hoodmoulds and has buttresses between them. The north side has two lancets and a low side window.

The church has a gabled roof with flat coping and cross finials, and a vane is present on the bellcote. The aisle roofs are low-pitched with parapets.

Inside, the church features a 13th-century south door with a continuous chamfer, four-bay arcades, and a north arcade dating to around 1200 with round piers and capitals. This arcade has three chamfered round arches made of banded pink and white voussoirs, with the west bay featuring a pointed arch from a 13th-century extension. The south arcade consists of hollow-chamfered pointed arches and octagonal piers. The chancel arch is double chamfered and from the 13th century, with remains of a Saxon chancel arch visible above, along with Saxon masonry. A trefoiled piscina is located in the south aisle, and a large medieval grave cover is set into the north wall of the chancel. The east window was created by Mayer of Munich, while the chancel south window was made by Atkinson. The chancel also contains hatchments displaying the arms of the Selby, Haggerston, and Askew families, as well as Victorian oil lamps mounted on brackets. A large 18th-century baluster font and a painted wood memorial to Jane Moffitt from 1797 can be found in the south aisle.