Church Of St Cuthbert And St Mary

Church of St Cuthbert and St Mary

A church rebuilt in 1840–41 by the architect Ignatius Bonomi. It is constructed of rubble with ashlar dressings and has a Welsh slate roof. The building comprises a 4-bay nave and chancel in one block, with a 3-stage south tower that also serves as the porch.

The church stands on a stepped plinth with quoins. The tower is the dominant architectural feature. On its east side is a chamfered pointed doorway with a hoodmould, a first-floor 2-light window with chamfered mullions, and second-floor paired-lancet openings with hoodmoulds set in a recessed panel, above which is a corbelled parapet. The south side of the tower displays a ground-floor sundial in a traceried quatrefoil frame, with the first and second floors matching the east elevation. The west side has a ground-floor trefoil window and a blank first floor, whilst the second floor repeats the east side design.

The nave and chancel are articulated on both north and south sides by stepped ashlar buttresses dividing the bays. Each bay contains paired-lancet windows with hoodmoulds, a corbel table supporting the ashlar parapet, and ashlar coping. At the east end of the chancel, stepped buttresses flank a stepped triple lancet window with blind outer bays. The west end of the nave has a stepped triple lancet window with a trefoil in circle set in the gable above. A lean-to heating chamber adjoins the west end. Lying on the ground below the second-bay window on the south side are two stones of archaeological interest: a broken stone possibly from the 11th century, carved with an indented diaper motif and saltire cross on its narrow face, and a separate stone inscribed "W E MAY 1678" that was formerly built into the wall above the doorway of the original St Mary's Church at Barton.

The interior contains 6 bays in the nave and 3 in the chancel. The roofs are hammerbeam trusses with pointed-arched braces, ceiled only at the top in the nave and more completely in the chancel. At the junction of nave and chancel stand 3 chamfered ashlar pointed arches with hoodmoulds and impost capitals, the central arch being larger. The north side of the chancel contains an organ chamber and vestry with a contemporary organ case that nearly fills its pointed arch. On the south side is a side chapel with shuttered windows and a wrought-iron sanctuary lamp. The chancel is panelled and has an early 20th-century reredos. The nave retains its original pews.

A Romanesque font, consisting of a squat circular bowl on a short stem with a chamfered base, was brought from the site of the former St Mary's Church. The west window contains painted glass dated 1841 by Wailes of Newcastle upon Tyne, depicting the Commandments, Lord's Prayer, and Creed.

The church contains several monuments. On the south side of the nave is a wall monument to Thomas Dodsworth of Barton St Cuthbert (died 1680), Robert Dodsworth (died 1651), and Margaret Chaytor, formerly Robert's widow (died 1703). This includes a T-shaped brass to Thomas, signed "Phin. Briggs Ebor. fecit", set in an ashlar bolection-moulded frame, with painted gilt lettering for Robert and Margaret beneath a swan-neck pediment. Another wall monument on the south side commemorates Thomas Gyll, a lawyer who died in 1780, erected by his nephew Leonard Hartley. The north side of the nave displays a wall monument to George and Elizabeth Stelling (died 1795 and 1810 respectively) with oval copper plates in black marble and a pediment, and another to George Robinson (died 1792) and his brother Peter Robinson (died 1799) with an oval plaque set within an aedicule. In the porch is an elaborate altar tomb to Thomas Gyll (died 1691), his mother Firs Elizabeth Lister (died 1688), and his wife Eliza Gyll (died 1700), featuring diagonally projecting corner volutes, fluting above the side panels, the Gyll coat of arms on the end panel, and hollow-chamfered moulding to the inscribed lid.

Historical context

The site was originally occupied by a chapel dedicated to St Cuthbert, named because monks carrying the saint's body were said to have rested there. A second chapel dedicated to St Mary was built at the east end of Mary Gate, following a local tradition that two sisters quarrelled and refused to worship under the same roof. St Cuthbert's became ruined while St Mary's continued in use until the two curacies were consolidated in 1840, when the present church was built at a cost of £900. The chancel of St Mary's was demolished in 1840, and its nave was rebuilt as a mortuary chapel; only foundations now remain visible in its churchyard.

Margaret Chaytor, commemorated in the Dodsworth monument, was notable for her longevity, born in 1598 and dying in 1703 at the age of 105. Her second husband was Colonel Henry Chaytor, who defended Bolton Castle during the English Civil War.