Church Of Saint Oswald

The Church of Saint Oswald is a Grade II* listed building located on Main Street in Oswaldkirk. It dates back to the 12th century, with late 13th-century additions and significant restoration in 1886, which included substantial rebuilding of the chancel. The church is constructed from limestone, sandstone, and millstone grit rubble, with ashlar detailing and a Westmorland slate roof.

The structure features a 5½-bay nave that includes a western bellcote and a south porch, alongside a 3-bay chancel with a vestry to the north. The west front is marked by massive quoins, one of which is likely a reused Saxon cross shaft. Above the entrance, there is a single-light trefoil-headed window and a bellcote. The nave's south door is set in a Victorian porch beneath a rebuilt basket arch, which incorporates finely detailed beaded foliate capitals. The nave has 2-light trefoil-headed windows, with the eastern window being the only original one. On the north side, there is a doorway with two chamfered orders, the outer supported by shafts with stylised foliate capitals, along with a narrow round-headed chamfered window to the right and an original 2-light trefoil-headed window to the left.

In the chancel, the south side features a blocked square-headed priest's doorway, which has a 14th-century foliate cross grave slab fragment built into the jamb, flanked by two square-headed 2-light 19th-century windows. The north side contains the 19th-century vestry. The east end showcases a 3-light 19th-century window in the Decorated style, alongside a 2-light ogee-headed window for the vestry.

Inside, there is a 17th-century pulpit and panelling in the chancel, along with fragments of medieval window glass in the east bay of the nave windows. The west wall of the nave displays monuments, including a plaque for Mary Thompson, who died in 1747, featuring a medallion with a child held by a putto, and a white marble plaque for Edward Thompson, who died in 1742, surmounted by a medallion with a bust.