Church Of St Michael

Church of St Michael

This church at Garton-on-the-Wolds was built around 1132 for the Prior of Kirkham Abbey. It has undergone significant alterations and additions over the centuries, including 14th-century windows, a 15th-century upper stage to the tower, and the addition of a vestry. The most substantial interior changes came in 1856–7, when the church was extensively restored and decorated by the architects J L Pearson and G E Street for Sir Tatton Sykes, 5th Baronet of Sledmere.

The building is constructed of sandstone ashlar with a grey slate roof. It comprises a 3-stage west tower, a 3-bay nave with a south door, and a 2-bay chancel with a single-bay north vestry.

The tower has a stepped and chamfered plinth and clasping full-height pilaster buttresses with offsets. The west entrance features a studded plank door set within a surround of 4 orders, with nook-shafts carrying scallop capitals. The outer three arches are decorated with chevron moulding, while the inner arch is roll-moulded, all beneath a decorative hoodmould with patterned abaci and impost bands. A mass clock is positioned to the right of the door. Above are three eroded carved figures. A decorative sill band frames a round-arched window between single nook-shafts with volute capitals, its two arches displaying chevron moulding beneath a continuous hoodmould. Above this lies a slit window, followed by 2-light 4-centred arched belfry openings with Perpendicular tracery to the head and hoodmould on all sides. The south side of the tower contains a round-arched window to the first and second stages, while the north side has a round-arched window to the second stage. The tower is crowned with embattled parapets, stepped corner pinnacles and central pinnacles.

The nave has a chamfered plinth and pilaster buttresses with offsets between each bay on both north and south sides, topped by a corbel table. The south side features an advanced gabled doorcase in the first bay, containing a round-arched studded plank door surrounded by 4 orders of nook-shafts with scroll and scallop capitals. Chevron moulding adorns the first, third and fourth arches, with roll-moulding on the others. The hoodmould and abaci are decorated with rosettes. Single nook-shafts at the outer corners of the doorcase support the gable, topped with further nook-shafts with scallop capitals. To the left of the doorcase is a round-arched window, repeated in the second bay. The third bay contains a 3-light pointed window with Decorated tracery to the head beneath a hoodmould. The north side has a round-arched window in each bay.

The chancel has a chamfered plinth, pilaster buttresses and corbel table. The south side features round-arched windows to each bay with incised zigzag moulding to the heads. The north side is occupied by the vestry; its west side has a round-arched entrance with a studded door, its head roll-moulded and supported on imposts. The vestry's north side contains two round-arched windows. The main chancel on the north side has a round-arched window with zigzag moulding to the head. The east end has a chamfered plinth and clasping buttresses. A sill band supports three round-arched windows with shafts bearing scallop capitals between them; the heads display chevron moulding beneath a continuous hoodmould. The gable contains a central round-arched window flanked by two blind oculi with brattished moulding.

The interior carries the ambitious decorative scheme designed by Street. A dado of Staffordshire tiles runs throughout. Elaborate painted wall decoration on the nave and chancel depicts Biblical scenes and the months of the year, with painting by Clayton and Bell. The ceiling is painted as a barrel vault. The Norman tower arch, heightened in the 15th century, features a single order of nook-shafts with scallop capitals, a frieze, abaci and a double-chamfered pointed arch. To the south of the tower arch is a Caernarvon-arched doorway with a fish-scale lintel. The chancel arch has a single order of shafts with scallop capitals, two orders of roll-moulding, and a hoodmould decorated with balls and zigzag moulding. Above this is a 19th-century 3-arched arcade with scallop capitals, roll-moulding and hoodmould. A round-arched piscina with nook-shafts is also present. Other interior features include a white marble reredos by Street, a 19th-century font and cover, and medieval monuments comprising a knight with crossed legs and a lady with a canopied head.