Church of St Oswald is a Grade I listed building in the Cumberland local planning authority area, England. A Medieval Church.
Church of St Oswald
- WRENN ID
- ancient-cinder-jay
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Cumberland
- Constituency
- Whitehaven and Workington MP: Josh MacAlister (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Oswald, Dean
- OS grid reference
- NY 070 253
- Coordinates
- 54.61486, -3.44028
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Oswald is a parish church that dates back to the 12th century, with extensions from the 13th and 15th centuries and alterations made in the 17th century. It is constructed from squared blocks of calciferous sandstone and features a graduated greenslate roof with coped gables and cross finials. The church has a three-bay nave that includes a south aisle and porch, as well as a twin open east bellcote. The chancel is also three bays and has a north vestry.
The north wall of the nave displays lower courses from the 12th century and a blocked doorway, along with narrow round-headed windows from the 13th century. There are restored two-light windows, one of which has a head made from a medieval grave slab. The south aisle wall and porch from the 13th century feature a round-headed arch and doorway, with both single and two-light ogee-headed windows. The 15th-century chancel includes two-light ogee-headed windows beneath hoodmoulds, and there are medieval carved beast gargoyles at the eaves. The east window is a three-light Tudor style.
Inside, the nave contains a Norman font set on a 20th-century shaft and a 19th-century stained glass window in the west. Corbels indicate the original lower roof, and a built-in medieval cross slab is located in the north wall. The aisle features four bays with round arches on round piers, a south tomb recess, and an aumbry recess. A single-light window has a sill made from a fragment of a medieval cross slab, which is also used as flagging. The original chancel arch has been replaced by a plaster pointed arch, while the original corbelling remains intact, complete with uninscribed shields. The aumbry is situated in the south wall, and the north door, now leading to the vestry, has a chamfered surround beneath a hoodmould. The lintel for the east window is a reused medieval cross slab belonging to a member of the Branthwaite family of Branthwaite Hall, and statue corbels flank the east window.
Local climate
Church of St Oswald sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,510 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 98% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 99% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 32 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 58% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 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.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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