Church Of St Mary

SLEDMERE MAIN STREET SE 9263-9264 (south-east side, off)

17/40 Church of St Mary

20.9.66

GV II *

Church. 1898 with medieval origins to base of tower and with reused Norman corbels built into roof of organ chamber. By Temple Moore for Sir Tatton Sykes, 5th Baronet, and with carvings by John Thompson & Co. Sandstone ashlar with lead roof. 3-stage west tower, 5-bay aisled nave with south porch, 3-bay chancel with north vestry. Gothic Revival in the style of the C14 with reticulated-type tracery throughout. Tower: stepped and chamfered plinth. South-west stair turret. To west end are angle buttresses with offsets almost to full height. West side has pointed 3-light window under hoodmould. First- and second-stage bands. To third stage are pointed, 2-light belfry openings. Corbel table with central gargoyles. Battlements pierced with crosses. Nave: stepped and chamfered plinth. Gableted angle buttresses and buttresses between bays. South side. Porch to second bay has angle buttresses with offsets. Pointed-arched opening under hoodmould. Above are 3 crocketed ogee arches with statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary between 2 saints, one holding a key and the other a casket. Corbel table. Low decorative parapet. Within a pointed decoratively panelled door in surround of 3 orders of nook-shafts supporting roll-moulding, under hoodmould ornamented with fleurons. Elaborate tierceron-vault to roof. Otherwise south and north aisles have 3-light pointed windows under hoodmoulds. To east ends are octagonal stair turrets to corners, with blind arcaded tops. Chancel: chamfered plinth. Buttresses with gargoyles between bays, and at angles. 4-light, straight-headed windows throughout under hoodmoulds, except to vestry which has 3-light pointed windows and 2- and 3-light straight-headed windows; entrance to vestry a pointed plank door within moulded surround. Low parapet. Interior. Medieval triple-chamfered pointed tower arch under hoodmould with label stops and with double- chamfered sides. Nave has 4-bay triple-chamfered arcade on clustered piers with moulded capitals and bases and with roll-moulding to head. Ornate timber rood screen. Chancel is richly decorated with statues and has inner tracery to the windows. Triple sedilia and piscina. Roofs: aisles are vaulted with diagonally set ribs, nave and chancel have wagon roofs. Late C19 octagonal font with elaborate carved cover. Monuments: 2 Neoclassical marble wall monuments, black strigillated sarcophagi surmounted by white oil lamps in south aisle to Elizabeth Egerton and to the Kirkby family erected in 1795. In tower, to Sir Mark Masterman Sykes d 1823 by S Manning and J Bacon, a mourning female figure and broken column; and to Henrietta Masterman d 1813 by Rouw, a seated figure by a sarcophagus with an urn. Stained glass mostly by H V Milner, but north aisle windows by Burtison and Grylls. Pevsner N, Yorkshire, York and the North Riding, 1979, pp 343-4.

Listing NGR: SE9300364553