Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building in the Calderdale local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 January 1968. A Medieval Church.

Church of St Mary

WRENN ID
dreaming-lime-peregrine
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Calderdale
Constituency
Calder Valley MP: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
24 January 1968
Type
Church
Period
Medieval
Address
Church of St Mary, Church Street
OS grid reference
SE 108 211
Coordinates
53.68686, -1.83787
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Mary is a parish church primarily of the 13th and 14th centuries, with a chancel arch dating around 1180, a tower constructed around 1490, and subsequent additions and alterations. It comprises a nave, chancel, west tower embraced by aisles, a south porch, and a vestry. The building is constructed of rubble with some ashlar, and has stone slate roofs. The chancel features late 15th-century windows with depressed arched heads. The east window is of five lights; the side windows of the chancel and the east windows of the aisles are similar and of three lights. Most other windows are flat-headed and of two lights, largely dating from the 19th-century restoration by W. H. Crossland in 1856, although the west window of the tower has three lights with simple tracery. The tower is of three stages with diagonal buttresses and an embattled parapet, with two-light belfry windows. A south porch was added in 1696, featuring a round arch and a gable topped by a reset sundial of 1648. 19th-century gates lead to the porch. A weathered sanctus bellcote sits atop the nave gable. The chancel has angle buttresses with goblets and gargoyles, and the angle buttresses at the east end of the aisles feature a carved "Savile Owl."

Inside, the chancel arch is likely from around 1180, though altered to a steeper angle. The nave arcade consists of four bays with octagonal piers and a collar-rafter roof. The chancel has two bays and a 15th-century slightly cambered panelled ceiling with moulded ribs. The tower bay features semi-octagonal engaged piers with an arch of three chamfers. The chancel aisles were originally built as chantry chapels dedicated to St Nicholas and St John. Furnishings include a high-quality 15th-century east window depicting the life of the Virgin, restored and slightly rearranged by William Wailes of Newcastle around 1850; he also designed the west window in 1866. Parclose screens, dating from the 16th or early 17th century, are of simple design with tracery at the heads. A rood screen, designed by Fellowes Prynne around 1920, is in a florid German Gothic style. A plain octagonal font is believed to be 17th century. Four miserere seats are loose within the church. Wall monuments include those to William Horton of Howroyd and Mary Horton, dating around 1750, featuring a good portrait medallion, others to the Thornhills of Fixby, dating from 1669 to 1758, and a monument to Northend Nicholas, dated 1818, by Walsh and Dunbar of Leeds.

Local climate

Church of St Mary sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 980 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 78% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 71% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 46 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 87% of listed buildings. Of these, 26 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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