Church Of St Michael

The Church of St. Michael is a parish church located in Alwinton, with parts dating back to the 12th century. The chancel, the north aisle wall, the east end of the nave, and the lower part of the south transept are original from this period. The remainder of the church was largely rebuilt in 1851 by architect Pickering. It is constructed from dressed and snecked stone, topped with Welsh and Scottish slate roofs.

The church features a nave with a west bellcote and aisles, a chancel with a north vestry, and a south transept. The west end has two tall lancet windows and smaller lancets in the aisles. The three-bay nave includes a pointed-arched south doorway and lancet windows, while the clerestory has two-light windows with shouldered lintels.

Inside, the chancel has a priest's door with a renewed shouldered lintel, one original 12th-century south window, a two-light Decorated window with original tracery, and two 'low side' lancet windows. The east window is a 19th-century Decorated style. The transept features a cross-shaped carving in the gable, dated TSA 1672, commemorating Thomas and Ann Selby.

The interior includes a north arcade that is likely original but has been re-cut in the 13th century, featuring octagonal piers and double-chamfered pointed arches. The south arcade and chancel arch were constructed in 1851. There are ten steps leading up to the chancel, which has a crypt below that serves as the vault for the Clennel family.

The chancel displays shouldered rend arches to the low side windows and deeply-splayed reveals to the 12th-century south window. The Decorated window has a pointed rere arch, and there is a piscina from the 13th or 14th century in a pointed-arched recess. A plain round font on a thick round stem with a moulded base, likely from the 12th or 13th century, is present. In the north aisle, there are two table tombs with finely inscribed marble tops; one dates to 1701/2 for Thomas Clennel, while the other, from 1745, features moulded side panels with an excellent angel and memento mori. The south aisle contains a tomb for Percival Clennel, dated 1796 and made by Jobling of Gateshead.