Church Of St Michael

Church of St Michael

A parish church in Linby, built over several centuries from the 12th to 19th century, and substantially restored in 1898 by Austin, Johnson and Hicks of Newcastle, with further work in 1914. The building is constructed of coursed and squared rubble with some random rubble and ashlar, with ashlar dressings and slate roofs. It features a west tower, nave, chancel, south aisle, vestries, and a north porch.

The west tower dates to the 13th and 14th centuries and rises in two stages. It has a moulded string course and eaves band decorated with two gargoyles to the south, and a moulded crenellated parapet topped with four crocketed pinnacles. The south-west corner contains a canted stair turret with five lights. The first stage has a chamfered lancet to the south and a moulded 13th-century door with hood mould on the west side, above which sits a late 14th-century triple lancet with panel tracery, hood mould, and mask stops. The second stage displays four 14th-century cusped double lancets with hood moulds, and a clock to the north.

The nave, of three bays, has two late 18th-century double lancets with Y tracery to the north. The chancel's east end contains a late 19th-century cusped triple lancet in 15th-century style with hood mould and coped gable with cross. The south side of the chancel includes a blocked door, a 13th-century cusped lancet, and a 12th-century double lancet with hood mould.

The south aisle, three bays in size, dates to the 14th century and was raised in the 16th century. It has a moulded eaves band and coped west gable. Its east end features a restored 14th-century ogee-headed triple lancet with reticulated tracery and hood mould. The south side has a blocked doorway, a 13th-century double lancet with hood mould and mask stops, and a 16th-century cusped double lancet with chamfered square reveal and hood mould.

The south-west vestry is mid-20th century, comprising three bays with a parapet, a door to the west flanked by single casements, and a casement to the south. The lean-to north vestry is late 19th century with two buttresses, coped gables, a shouldered doorway to the west, and two lancets to the north.

The north porch dates to the early 16th century. It has two diagonal buttresses, each decorated with traceried and shield panels. The gable bears a shield panel and cross finial, and is covered with a slab roof. The moulded doorway with hood mould is flanked on the left by a squint. The interior contains stone benches and a chamfered transverse rib vault. A 19th-century inner door retains a 12th-century tympanum.

The interior of the church is notable for several key features. The tower arch, 13th century, is chamfered and rebated with moulded imposts. The nave's south arcade, 13th century and three bays, comprises two octagonal piers and responds with moulded square bases, nailhead and cable moulded capitals, and double-chamfered and rebated arches. The north side of the nave contains two windows by Hardman, dated 1875. The roof is a kingpost type of late 18th-century date, partly ceiled.

The chancel features a plain 13th-century arch. Its north side opens to the vestry via a four-centred arched opening and contains a traceried 15th-century style screen, with a small cusped ogee recess to its right. The east end has a 20th-century timber dado and gradine with a window containing 19th-century stained glass. The south side has two windows to the east, a blocked door and hagioscope to the west. The roof is scissor-braced and dates to the 19th century.

The south aisle has a panelled dado added in 1972. Its east end contains a stained glass window by P & Q from 1958. The south side features a cusped ogee-headed piscina and aumbry.

The fittings include carved and shaped 19th-century benches, late 20th-century stalls and desks, a heavily carved 19th-century octagonal timber pulpit, a 19th-century lectern, and an octagonal font. There is a carved 18th-century armchair and a large chip-carved and inscribed settle bearing the arms of John Ayre Sitwell, dated 1652. A carved late 17th-century armchair is also present.

Memorials include fragments of a 14th-century cross, an alabaster tablet on corbels from 1557, moulded ashlar tablets from 1679 and 1684, marble and slate tablets from 1806 and 1891, and two carved wood panels, one inscribed "Rich. Roe in Eperston Fecit 1700".