Church of St Michael and St Mary

This imposing parish church was begun around 1133, when the living of Melbourne was given to the Bishop of Carlisle, though construction was not completed until the early 13th century. The church underwent alterations in the 15th century, with the tower probably heightened in 1602 when the present bells were hung, and the chancel partly rebuilt at a similar date. Sir George Gilbert Scott carried out a major restoration between 1859 and 1862, with later repairs following.

The church is built of ashlar with some rubble stone and has shallow-pitched leaded roofs concealed behind plain parapets with ridgeback copings. The aisles and chancel feature coved eaves string courses, while plain eaves bands appear elsewhere. The building has an unusual plan comprising an aisled nave, a western narthex flanked by towers, a crossing tower with transepts, and a lower two-bay chancel.

West Elevation and Towers

The west elevation features a magnificent central semicircular-headed 12th-century doorcase with five orders—three roll-moulded and two chevron-moulded—set on plain nook-shafts with carved capitals displaying figurative designs, simple volutes, and interlacing foliage. Above this stands a continuous band, then a four-light flat-headed 15th-century window with trefoil-headed lights and incised spandrels beneath a long dripmould, topped by a shallow gable. The unfinished flanking towers have wide flat clasping buttresses and projecting 19th-century parapets on plain corbel tables.

Each tower's west elevation contains a single 19th-century lancet, while the side elevations feature 12th-century semicircular-headed windows with roll-moulded arches on plain nook-shafts with carved capitals, plus sill bands and small 19th-century lancets above. The south tower's south elevation also has narrow slit staircase windows in its western buttresses.

Nave Elevations

The north elevation of the nave shows a slightly advanced section of stonework at the west end containing a heavily restored 12th-century door with two roll-moulded orders and one plain order, with figurative capitals on the nook-shafts. To the east, the aisle displays a 12th-century continuous sill band with three flat 12th-century buttresses below, extending to the last bay of the nave which is plain. Above are four 15th-century three-light windows with trefoil-headed lights and incised spandrels. Higher still are five 12th-century roll-moulded semicircular-headed clerestory windows with scalloped capitals.

The south nave elevation is similar except for four 12th-century buttresses below the sill band and a blocked 19th-century door at the east end of the aisle. The clerestory above features five early 13th-century double pointed lancets.

Transepts and Crossing Tower

Beyond the nave to the east on the north side stands the northern transept, which has continuous 12th-century sill bands at both aisle and clerestory levels. A 16th-century clasping buttress appears below the sill band at the western corner, and a full-height 12th-century buttress at the eastern corner. The north elevation contains a central 12th-century window similar to those in the towers, with figurative capitals, two similar smaller windows above with scalloped capitals, and two more similar windows at the same height on the western facade. The east elevation has a 16th-century panel tracery window set within the blocked 12th-century arch that once led into the former chapel below, and a three-light 15th-century window similar to those in the north aisle above.

The southern transept has a similar south elevation to the northern transept's north elevation, except that the western corner features a 12th-century buttress with small staircase windows. The west elevation of the south transept has one 12th-century window at clerestory level similar to the northern ones, and the east elevation shows a similar blocked 12th-century arch at the base but with a 19th-century geometric tracery window within and a 12th-century plain window above.

Above both transepts rises the central crossing tower, with attached 12th-century shafts at each corner extending to the top of the original 12th-century tower—those on the south side are less mutilated than those on the north. The northern side displays a later clock face in a moulded stone surround, and the east side has two tiers of three semicircular 12th-century openings that originally looked into the 12th-century chancel. The lower tier features a large plain central opening flanked by narrower roll-moulded stilted arches, while the upper tier has openings of similar size, all plain.

Above, the tower has a tall bell stage erected around 1602. This has a chamfered sill band with a single double-chamfered pointed louvred bell opening plus returned hoodmould to each side, and a coved string course with central gargoyles below embattled parapets.

Chancel

The chancel shows rough stonework to the west on either side where the transept chapels originally abutted it. Above on the south side appears one blind semicircular-headed arch, the remains of a former frieze of blind arcading. To the east, each side has a 12th-century window similar to those in the transepts, and beyond are flat 12th-century buttresses. Beyond these, the original 12th-century stonework curves inward and disappears into later stonework, which has stepped clasping buttresses with cyma reversa moulded copings at the eastern corners. The east elevation features a central five-light 17th-century window with stepped trefoil-headed lights and a returned hoodmould.

Interior: Nave and Aisles

The interior contains five-bay north and south arcades of 12th-century stilted chevron and roll-moulded semicircular-headed arches on large plain columns with angle-spurred bases and scalloped or volute capitals. Between the arches above the capitals are double half-shafts rising to clerestory level, possibly for transverse arches. The northern clerestory passage has a 12th-century arrangement with stepped tripartite openings of semicircular-headed roll-moulded arches on plain columns with scalloped capitals. The southern clerestory has an early 13th-century arrangement with double pointed roll-moulded arches on a central column with moulded capital, except for the eastern bay which has one small semicircular arch attached to the east of the 13th-century opening.

At the west end of the nave, the narthex has a central 12th-century arch with similar mouldings to the nave arches, set on compound piers. To either side, from the aisles into the towers, are unmoulded semicircular arches on plain impost bands, with similar narrower arches from the towers into the central bay of the narthex set on triple half-shaft responds. The three bays have crude groin vaulting with a gallery above. Each tower has a roll-moulded 12th-century window on the aisle side with carved capitals on the nook-shafts. All 12th-century windows have similar internal mouldings.

Interior: Crossing and Transepts

The east end of the nave has a similar arrangement of arches into the crossing and transepts as at the narthex. The crossing arch is set on double half-shaft responds with cushion capitals, with similar arches to the other sides of the crossing tower showing carved capitals and bases towards the chancel.

The nave aisles and transepts have continuous 12th-century sill bands, and the transepts have a similar band at clerestory level. The crossing features triple semicircular-headed arches in three tiers above the main arches, with full-height half-shafts between each arch and sill bands at each level. The lowest tier of arches opens into the transepts and nave, with a larger plain central arch flanked by roll-moulded stilted arches with scalloped capitals. Above are roll-moulded blind arches all of the same size, and above again are plain blind arches. The lowest arches are plain on the transept side but have roll mouldings on the nave side—the central one with moulding in the soffit of the arch and those to the sides with it on the outside of the arch. Between the north transept and the chancel is a deep squint through the crossing pier.

Roofs and Furnishings

The chancel roof is 16th century, while other roofs are 19th-century copies. The south side of the chancel has a blocked segment-headed doorcase at the west end and is otherwise very plain. The crossing contains 19th-century timber choir stalls with trefoil-headed arcaded fronts and 20th-century timber screens across the transept arches. The south transept is completely filled with a 20th-century organ, but the north transept has simple late 19th-century pews and altar rail, a wooden altar with mosaiced front, and a small alms cupboard on the north wall.

The nave has 19th-century pews with quatrefoils on the bench ends and an octagonal stone pulpit of similar date with four polished marble colonnettes around a central stem and carved heads in roundels on each side. The font in the narthex has a large 12th-century circular stone bowl set on four square columns and a central stem, with a 19th-century font cover. The south aisle has a small pointed piscina at the eastern end and a 20th-century timber screen across the transept arch similar to those in the crossing. The north side of the crossing arch preserves a fragment of 13th-century wall painting.

Memorials and Monuments

There are six diamond-shaped painted hatchments from the 19th century relating to the Coke/Melbourne family: two in the chancel, one over each transept arch from the aisles, and two more in the north aisle.

The chancel contains one slate and white marble memorial to Reverend Middleton who died in 1830, and the crossing has one small mosaiced memorial to Frank Elms of around 1914. An inscription in the stone of the crossing arch records that the timber screens were dedicated to Edward Harcourt who died in 1935.

The north transept chapel has several wall memorials to the Cantrell family: three early 19th-century slate and white marble memorials with Gothic aedicules and one brass memorial dated 1890. The south transept contains an early 14th-century tomb niche with effigy and three early 17th-century marble slabs to the Hardinge family.

The north aisle has one circular memorial with moulded alabaster surround and slate plaque to Mary Godkin who died in 1783, and four early 20th-century memorials—three mosaiced ones to the Tasker family and one in slate and white marble to John Knight who died in 1900. At the west end of the aisle is a war memorial, and beneath the arch into the tower is a simple stone plaque to Sir Roger Curtis who died in 1954. The west side of the north tower has an inset 13th-century child's coffin lid and an 18th-century gravestone to Richard Dalman.

The south aisle contains one slate and white marble memorial to the Briggs children who all died in 1846 and another similar one to Penelope Lowe who died in 1830. There is also a fine painted stone memorial to William and Isabel Dawson who died around 1614, which has a bowed inscribed plaque set in an elaborate strapwork surround with columns to the sides topped by steeple finials. The west end of the aisle has one early 19th-century slate and coloured marble wall memorial to John Pasteur and his wife of around 1819.

Stained Glass

There are several stained glass windows, though none of any great age. The chancel windows all have stained glass of around 1870, those to the east and south in Chartres style. Stained glass in the north chapel has all been dedicated: the upper east window to Leonard Robin of around 1918, the upper north windows in pre-Raphaelite style to H Cantrell of around 1909, and the lower north window of around 1862 to Joseph Cantrell. The north aisle has a stained glass war memorial window and one window dated 1920. The one stained glass window in the south aisle is dedicated to Thomas Haines who died in 1869.

Historical Note

The chancel originally had an apsidal east end and flanking apsidal chapels to the transepts, a plan type reminiscent of the Carolingian tradition which has led people to assume that the church was planned much earlier than 1133, although it is unlikely that such a grand building would have been erected without important ecclesiastical backing.