St Michael

We do not know when the first church was established at Catwick, but there was a Saxon building here before the Domesday Book. One wonderful survivor of the Saxon church is set into the north wall of the chancel. This is a small carved stone depicting the Archangel Michael.

The Saxon church was replaced with the current building in 1272. The east window and transept windows survive from the 13th century church and are good examples of early Decorated style.

A medieval holy water stoop sits on a window sill in the north wall. There is a very nice stained glass window commemorating Godfrey and Elena Park, installed by their children in 1866.

There is no Roll of Honour or War Memorial in the village, but there is an unusual commemoration of the thirty men who served in the Great War. The village blacksmith, John Hugill, fixed a lucky horseshoe to the wooden doorpost of his forge. Then for each man who went to the war he nailed a coin near the horseshoe. The coins are mostly pennies and halfpennies, but there are also a German and a Swiss coin. All thirty men returned from the Great War, though Joseph Grantham, who served in the East Yorkshire Regiment, lost his arm. In the Second World War, another thirty men from Catwick served in the forces. A coin was added near the lucky horseshoe for each of them, and they all returned. Catwick was doubly thankful.