Church of St Michael is a Grade II listed building in the Westmorland and Furness local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 October 1986. Church.
Church of St Michael
- WRENN ID
- forbidden-bonework-nettle
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Westmorland and Furness
- Constituency
- Penrith and Solway MP: Markus Campbell-Savours (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 24 October 1986
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Church of St Michael, Skelton
- OS grid reference
- NY 439 354
- Coordinates
- 54.71069, -2.87136
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Michael is a parish church that dates from the 14th century, with significant alterations made in 1794 and a restoration in 1879. The building features walls made of large blocks of mixed pink and grey sandstone, with V-jointed quoins and an eaves cornice. It has a graduated greenslate roof supported by kneelers. The church includes a square three-storey west tower from the 14th century and a north lean-to porch. The nave, built in the 18th century, has five bays, while the single-bay chancel includes a north vestry. The late 19th-century porch features a plank door. The tower is adorned with a 19th-century two-light west window beneath a two-light bell opening and has a battlemented parapet with finials. A south slate sundial is dated 175-, with the last figure missing. The nave may incorporate parts of the medieval walls and has tall round-headed windows. The chancel features a 19th-century three-light east window and a lean-to vestry. Inside, there is a pointed tower arch, a flat plaster roof with timber beams, and stained glass from the 19th and 20th centuries. The interior also includes brass plaques commemorating members of the Toppin family of Musgrave Hall, an 18th-century panelled oak pulpit, and parts of a medieval tracery oak screen that is now enclosing a radiator, believed to have originated from Musgrave Hall until the 20th century. The chancel contains an 18th-century pedestal font with an oak cover, various 18th and 19th-century wall plaques, and a 16th-century brass subscription plate. An 18th-century altar rail with turned balusters completes the interior features.
Local climate
Church of St Michael sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,240 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 92% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 86% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 58 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 97% of listed buildings. Of these, 34 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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- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
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- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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