Church Of St Oswald

Church of St Oswald

A parish church of 12th, 13th and 14th-century date, with the nave rebuilt around 1820 and the chancel mostly rebuilt in 1862 by R. J. Withers. The building is constructed in coursed limestone rubble with some greenstone and ironstone rubble, some limestone ashlar, some red brick and some render. The roofs are slate with stone coped gables, a single cross finial and a few decorative ridge tiles.

The church comprises a mid-14th-century west tower, a nave with north vestry, and a rectangular chancel. The west tower has a plinth, moulded string course and three-stage diagonal buttresses rising to the bell stage. A pointed west doorway features a moulded surround, hood mould and plank doors. Above this is a small late 13th-century pointed window with Y tracery, hood mould and a single mid-12th-century long snouted dragon head label stop, with a weathered head immediately above. A small rectangular opening appears in the south side just below the moulded string course defining the bell stage. Bell openings on all four sides feature those on the west, east and south with pointed openings containing richly cusped ogee arches and quatrefoils above. Heads rise above the west and south bell openings. A 19th-century north bell opening has a round head with two round-headed lights. Moulded eaves project above with corner gargoyles, and tall battlements crown the tower.

The north side of the nave has two rectangular windows, each containing three round-headed cusped lights, divided by a two-stage buttress. A 19th-century north vestry has a plinth, west doorway with four-centred head and partially glazed door, and an east window of two cusped pointed lights. The chancel features broad brick buttressing on its north side. The east end has a plinth, two-stage diagonal buttresses and a pointed window of three cusped lights with intersecting tracery and an early 14th-century hood mould with label stops. The south side of the chancel has a plinth and a 19th-century pointed window of two cusped lights with quatrefoil, hood mould and label stop heads. A blocked late 14th-century window to the west has a triangular head, two cusped lights with a diamond above, hood mould and single label stop.

The nave features a brick plinth and three rectangular windows, each containing three round-headed cusped lights with hood moulds. A pointed, double-chamfered tower arch of around 1820 has moulded jambs. An early 13th-century chancel arch, heavily restored in the 19th century, has a pointed, double-chamfered head with the inner order supported on polygonal responds with moulded abaci. A small early 13th-century capital appears to the south-west. The chancel contains a moulded 19th-century organ arch with shallow pointed head and chamfered jambs, and a pointed 19th-century vestry doorway beyond with continuous moulded surround and plank door.

The chancel north wall contains a late 13th-century tomb set in a 19th-century tomb recess with ball flower decoration. The recumbent female effigy has angels supporting a pillow, hands in prayer, a shield lying on her middle, a dog at her feet, a re-cut face and rich drapery. The roof structure of the 19th-century timberwork features ornate corbels and bosses. The south side of the chancel has two pointed 19th-century sedilia with cusping and a large central dove.

The nave contains numerous monuments. An early 13th-century richly coped Purbeck marble coffin lid is preserved. An early 17th-century ashlar monument to Sir Vincent Fulnetby and wives (c.1593) features tall finials and numerous shields. A pink, white and grey veined marble monument commemorates Sir Sapcote Harington (died 1630) and his wife, both in prayer under round-headed arches with three daughters and two sons in prayer set beneath, with a winged skull and laurel wreath. A white marble monument to Dorothy Leigh (died 1613) depicts a woman in a ruff kneeling at a prie-dieu. Brasses re-set on ashlar in 1890 commemorate William Mettram of Bolington (died 1590), with a standing woman in embroidered dress to the right, a fragment of a praying woman on the left with a knight's armoured legs below, and coats of arms in between. A white marble monument to Anna Matham (died 1602) shows Death with sickle and hour glass, a woman kneeling in a ruff with three sons and two daughters in front of her and three daughters behind. A grey marble monument to Charles and Elizabeth Metham (1628) depicts a man and woman kneeling opposite each other, wearing ruffs. The font features quatrefoiled panels dating to 1902. The 20th-century furnishings include altar rail, pews and lectern.