Church Of St Patrick

This exceptional parish church, known as the "Queen of Holderness", is predominantly an early 14th-century building with a later 14th to early 15th-century spire and east window. The fabric incorporates reused 12th to 13th-century masonry and a north-west pier base from the 13th century. The church underwent restorations in 1866 and 1885. Vaulting was added to the west aisle of the south transept in 1888, to the nave south aisle in 1900, and to the nave north aisle in 1902.

Construction and Materials

The church is built of limestone ashlar with lead roofs throughout, except for flagstone roofs to the porches, Lady Chapel, and transept stair turrets. It follows a cruciform plan with a central tower, a four-bay aisled nave with north and south porches, two-bay aisled transepts (the south transept featuring a canted bay for the east Lady Chapel, the north with a north door), and a four-bay chancel with an adjoining sacristy to the north.

Throughout the building there is a stepped moulded plinth, angle buttresses and buttresses between bays with offsets, gargoyles and crocketed pinnacles. The transept buttresses also feature trefoiled ogee niches beneath crocketed ogee hoodmoulds with head stops above the first offset. A moulded sill string course runs throughout, and there are coped parapets and gables.

Exterior: Nave and Aisles

The north and south aisles of the nave have pointed three-light windows with flowing tracery. The west end features a large pointed five-light transomed window with curvilinear tracery set in a moulded reveal with grotesques, flanked by buttresses and pointed two-light aisle windows with curvilinear tracery in double-chamfered reveals.

The north porch is single-storey with gableted angle buttresses with crocketed coping supporting crocketed pinnacles. The outer entrance is a pointed roll-moulded arch of two orders with a hoodmould and head stops beneath a coped gable with cross finial. Inside, the porch has a three-bay roof with pointed wave-moulded ribs carried on stiff-leaf corbels, and a pointed inner arch of two filleted orders.

The south porch rises to two storeys with angle buttresses and a pointed roll-moulded outer arch similar to the north porch, plus a small square-headed traceried two-light window above. The inner arch is pointed with two filleted orders.

Exterior: Transepts

Both transepts have west stair turrets at the north and south angles with slit lights and octagonal roofs. They feature pointed two-light east and west windows: those in the north transept have partly-restored curvilinear tracery, while those in the south transept display reticulated and geometric tracery, all with moulded mullions in double-chamfered reveals.

The south transept's central canted east bay forms the Lady Chapel, which has buttresses and pointed two-light windows to each side with reticulated tracery, ornate roll-moulded mullions and reveals, beneath a moulded string course and hipped roof. The south side of this transept has a pointed two-light west aisle window with geometric tracery, a pointed three-light east aisle window with geometric tracery and filleted shafts with foliate capitals to the reveal, and buttresses flanking a large pointed four-light transomed central window with geometric tracery, shafted mullions and filleted shafts with foliate capitals to the reveal, all beneath a pointed fillet-moulded arch, crow-stepped string course and parapet with traceried oculus to the gable behind.

The north side of the north transept features pointed two-light aisle windows with moulded mullions and geometric tracery in double-chamfered reveals. Buttresses flank a small central segmental-pointed door of two keeled orders with a carved keystone bearing a figure of Christ beneath a crocketed ogee arch, set in an open gabled porch with filleted jambs and large carved lion and eagle corbels supporting a stone roof with crenellated parapets and a crocketed gable with restored finial. Above this is a pointed four-light transomed window with geometric tracery and filleted reveal, flanked by a pair of head-corbel image brackets with moulded trefoiled canopies, beneath a pointed fillet-moulded arch of two orders, crocketed gabled string course with carved finial, and parapet.

Exterior: Chancel and Sacristy

The chancel has pointed three-light windows with alternating reticulated and flowing tracery, filleted reveals and mullions, some restored. The north side has a segmental pointed door of two keeled orders with hoodmould and head stops. The large pointed seven-light east window has a filleted reveal, blind arcading of cinquefoiled arches below the transom with carved spandrels and shield bases to the mullions, and Perpendicular tracery to the window above. All windows have hoodmoulds and head stops.

The sacristy has buttresses and a small square-headed three-light mullioned east window.

Exterior: Tower and Spire

The three-stage tower has angle buttresses and moulded string courses between stages. The second stage features single east and west lancets and clockfaces. The third stage displays four-bay blind arcades of pointed moulded arches, the central pairs containing square-headed louvred belfry openings. Above is a moulded string course with gargoyles and coped parapet. Crocketed angle pinnacles with flying buttresses support an octagonal corona screen of cinquefoiled arches between pinnacled shafts around the base of the octagonal spire, which has a ball finial and weathercock.

Interior: Nave

A moulded sill string course runs throughout the interior. The nave arcades consist of pointed moulded arches of three filleted orders with filleted hoodmoulds and head stops, on compound piers with filleted principle shafts, moulded bases and ornate naturalistic foliate carving to the capitals. Exceptions are the plain moulded capitals to the west responds and the capitals to the two south-west piers, which have foliate bands and paterae. The north-west pier stands on sections of a large base for a 13th-century compound pier with keeled shafts, apparently in situ. Carved beast head corbels sit above the arcades.

The aisles have segmental moulded arches to the north and south doors, original carved corbels and springers carrying the inserted sexpartite vaulting, and stone benches. The north bench incorporates re-set 13th-century dogtooth moulding, while the south bench has a pair of re-set 13th-century graveslabs with incised crosses in round-arched recesses.

The parvis to the south porch has a stone staircase from the aisle, a pointed two-light window with reticulated tracery above the south door, and a three-bay roof with pointed chamfered ribs.

Interior: Crossing and Transepts

The crossing has pointed arches of three filleted orders on large compound piers with three smaller shafts between angle shafts, all filleted and with foliate capitals. The inner face of the tower has blind arcading to north and south with three bays of pointed arches on head corbels, with head corbels supporting arch-braced wall posts to the tower floor.

The transepts feature three-bay arcades similar to the nave arcades with carved figure corbels above, and pointed filleted arches from aisles to crossing on compound filleted responds with foliate capitals.

The north transept has corbels and springers for unfinished vaulting, two trefoiled piscinas to the east with hoodmoulds and carved heads to bowls, a pointed chamfered door to the stair turret with a small square-headed door above.

The south transept's arch to the crossing is flanked by corbelled platforms to doors with bold nailhead-moulded surrounds and steps above the arch forming bold zigzag moulding with carved figures and grotesque. The east aisle has trefoiled piscinas to south and east with hoodmould and head stops, and original sexpartite vaulting with filleted ribs and foliate bosses supported on wall shafts with foliate capitals.

Interior: Lady Chapel

The Lady Chapel has a trefoiled piscina with hoodmould, head stops and moulded bowl. The blank reredos panel features a foliate frieze and a tripartite niche above with a re-set 13th-century figure of the Virgin and Child beneath a central cinquefoiled arch with crocketed ogee hoodmould and crocketed sub-cusped gable, flanked by pinnacled buttress shafts and smaller trefoiled ogee arches with crocketed hoodmoulds. The chapel is covered by a lierne vault with moulded ribs, carved bosses and a fine hollow pendant lantern boss bearing carved reliefs of St John, St Catherine, and the Annunciation.

The west aisle to the south transept has original corbels and springers carrying inserted vaulting.

Interior: Chancel

The compound pointed chancel arch has fillet mouldings dying into walls with foliate corbels below, and roll-moulded jambs and ornate corbels for the former rood loft.

The chancel has stone benches and a fine triple sedilia with adjoining piscina. These have buttress shafts with blind tracery and crocketed gabled pinnacles supporting richly-crocketed ogee arches with ornate finials above the sill string course.

The very fine Easter sepulchre on the north side is flanked by similar buttress shafts with crocketed gabled pinnacles. It has a tripartite lower relief panel depicting sleeping soldiers beneath richly-crocketed ogee arches, a blank panel above with an inserted 20th-century aumbry, a relief panel with the rising Christ flanked by angels, and a niche above with a sub-cusped crocketed ogee arch.

Collared rafter roofs run throughout, with that to the chancel restored, featuring ornate ashlar moulding to the wall plate.

Monuments

In the chancel are a black marble matrix with indents for a priest effigy and inscribed border, another with indents for small plaques at centre and corners, an inscribed brass plate on the north wall to John Duncalfe and family of 1637 with inscribed arms, and another on the south wall to Mrs Emot Shaw of 1652.

The south transept contains a mutilated effigy from Kilnsea Church of a woman beneath a crocketed ogee canopy, oval wall tablets to Elizabeth and John Featherstone of 1796 and 1802, and late 18th to early 19th-century floorslabs.

The north transept has wall tablets in the south aisle to Mary Robinson of 1763 with urn finial, to Mary French of 1782 with fluted pilasters and frieze, to Robert Robinson of 1783 with carved frieze and scrolled pediment; in the north aisle to Mary Pearson of 1800 with pediment and urn; on the north wall to George French of 1802 with draped urn; and oval tablets to Susanna and John Featherstone of 1804 and 1805.

Fittings

The church contains a fine 14th-century limestone ashlar font with a 12-sided bowl featuring blind arcading of richly-crocketed gables on pinnacled buttress shafts and two-light panels with varied infilling of curvilinear tracery, foliage and animals. It stands on a short moulded pedestal and stepped base.

The late 14th-century oak chancel screen, altered in 1487 and restored in the 19th century, has five bays with two-light blind traceried lower panels with ornate crocketed tracery and carved spandrels, a frieze with carved paterae, pointed two-light upper panels with crocketed ogee lights, a wider central round-headed opening with blind traceried doors and sub-cusped ogee arch with crocketed curvilinear tracery, and a restored upper section with pinnacled buttress shafts and frieze.

The octagonal panelled oak pulpit is dated 1612 with carved principals and upper panels, plus a later octagonal tester and steps with wrought-iron balustrade. Two bench pews of 1684, formerly from the Hildyard family pew, stand at the west end of the nave.