Church Of St Columba

The Church of St Columba is a church dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, with substantial rebuilding in 1855 by G. T. Andrews. It is constructed of ashlar with a graduated Westmorland slate roof. The church includes a west tower, a nave with a south porch and chancel under a continuous roof, and a north aisle with a vestry, all designed in the Decorated style.

The west tower has three stages, featuring a plinth, offset angle buttresses, and bands between stages. The southern face has a 2nd-stage clock face within a moulded surround. The belfry openings on all sides are two-light structures with cusped tracery within pointed arches with hoodmoulds. The tower is topped with a corbelled eaves and an embattled parapet adorned with large corner pinnacles and smaller pinnacles in the centre of each side. The west window, also resembling the belfry openings but with more elaborate tracery, is located on the first stage, with a quatrefoil in a circular surround above.

The nave has three bays, marked by offset angle buttresses. It contains two three-light windows with Decorated tracery in pointed arches with hoodmoulds on the south side, and a gabled south porch with a pointed-arched doorway featuring a hoodmould and stone coping. The north aisle mirrors the west elevation and has three-light pointed windows. The chancel has two bays, divided by offset angle buttresses; the left window is two-light with cusped tracery in a pointed arch with a hoodmould, while the right bay has a similar three-light window. The early 13th-century east window is four-light, with cusped Decorated tracery including petal motifs in the head, set within a pointed arch with a hoodmould. A corresponding three-light window sits within the north aisle’s east wall and is similarly designed. A gabled north vestry adjoins the north side, finished with stone copings and a gable cross at the east end.

Inside, the church features a three-bay 19th-century north arcade and a single similar arch to the north of the chancel. These arches are supported by octagonal piers with moulded capitals and double-chamfered pointed arches with hoodmoulds. The chancel arch is similar but employs round piers and capitals adorned with a leaf motif. Early 14th-century features include a piscina and sedilia, along with four niches that have cusped pointed-arched heads. A south chancel window features glass by Burne-Jones from 1857, while the south nave has glass by Kempe from 1893. The church also contains a brass memorial to Thomas de Topcliffe (1362) and his wife (1391).