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St.MARY the VIRGIN, THORNTON IN CRAVEN.
This church was founded in 1280 but the solid little church you see today, which is set atop a little knoll above the village, dates from the mid 15thC. The perpendicular Tower is inscribed with the date of 1510. There is an octagonal covering dating from 1764 in the churchyard which covers a draw-well. There is also a second graveyard located at the other side of the house you see in the background. BACK TO REPORTS PAGE |
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St.MICHAEL'S, BRACEWELL.
Once the private chapel of the Tempest Family, it stands overlooking it's rural parish. The Archway to the south stands where the Tempest's Manor house once stood, it was demolished in 1656. The chapel itself dates from 1100 although old records say there was a priest here in 1135, records at Fountains Abbey refer to a chapel here before 1147, a time of devastation in Craven by feudal barons.
The Tower is 15thC, battlemented, with five feet thick walls. It is unusual as it rises in two stages with clear evidence of pitch marks from an earlier roof on its eastern side. The porch is usually the most prominent feature on the outside of a church after the Tower. The south doorway within this Church is Norman with shaped edge mouldings, and capitals but no shafts. The Font is a simple undecorated piece dating from the 12thC.
The south window of the Chancel and some windows of the North aisle contain some pieces of 14thC stained glass. There is also Henry's Parlour. This is a barn where the deposed Henry VI hid,whilst fleeing for his life after the battle of Hexham in 1464. It stands near one of the church entrances. |
