Church of St Mary is a Grade II* listed building in the North Yorkshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 12 July 1985. A Medieval Church. 1 related planning application.
Church of St Mary
- WRENN ID
- drifting-threshold-spindle
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- North Yorkshire
- Constituency
- Wetherby and Easingwold MP: Sir Alec Shelbrooke (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 12 July 1985
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Mary, Kirkgate, Tadcaster, LS24 9BL
- OS grid reference
- SE 485 435
- Coordinates
- 53.8855, -1.26222
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Mary is a church dating from the early 14th and early 15th centuries. It was dismantled in 1875-77 and subsequently re-erected and raised by 1.25 metres to protect it from flooding. The building is constructed of magnesian limestone ashlar with a Welsh slate roof.
The church comprises a three-stage west tower, a three-bay aisled nave, a south porch, and a two-bay aisled chancel. The tower has diagonal buttresses with offsets surmounted by pinnacles. The west doorway features round arches within a moulded surround, topped with hood-moulds and headstops. Above the doorway is a five-light window with re-cut panel tracery and a hood-mould with angel stops. A canopied niche for a statue is located on the south side, damaged by weathering. The twin two-light bell openings on the second stage have small buttresses with offsets and griffins, surmounted by pinnacles and battlements.
The south porch includes diagonal buttresses with offsets and pinnacles, a pointed arch set within a double-chamfered surround and a hood-mould, and a pointed doorway in a double-chamfered surround. The nave and aisles feature a chamfered plinth. To the south aisle and north and south nave clerestory, buttresses with offsets are surmounted by pinnacles. The north aisle has single-story buttresses. Windows are straight-headed with three trefoiled lights. Upper sections are punctuated by a string course with gargoyles and battlements. The chancel is similar to the nave, with matching buttresses, battlements, and pinnacles. The chancel windows are largely three-light, straight-headed windows with Perpendicular tracery, the south aisle windows being under hood-moulds with badly weathered fleurons. Pointed doorways are visible within the chancel aisles, one under a hood-mould and another under a reused Perpendicular traceried window head. A single light window is found in the south aisle. A five-light window with Perpendicular tracery highlights the east ends of both the chancel and south aisle.
Inside, the nave has a north arcade dating from around 1300, with circular piers, moulded capitals, and re-cut double-chamfered arches. A re-erected Norman arch is located in the south aisle, featuring a single order of nook shafts with decorated capitals and chevron modelling to the head, with a two-light trefoil-headed window inset. The chancel has a double-chamfered arcade to the south aisle, with fleurons on the easternmost arch and capitals of octagonal piers and responds. There are two double-chamfered arches to the north. Remaining pieces of medieval stained glass are present in the west end of the south nave aisle. The east window contains glass from around 1875-80 by Morris, while a window in the south aisle is from around 1890 by Powell Bros of Leeds. A window in the north nave aisle is by Adam and Small of Glasgow and dates from around 1879.
Local climate
Church of St Mary receives an average of 750 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 71% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 93% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 39 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 75% of listed buildings. Of these, 19 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
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- 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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