St Thomas a Becket
Hampsthwaite, Yorkshire
The early history of church life in Hampsthwaite is far from clear and is to some extent based on supposition.
Delightful North Yorkshire village church with a medieval 'weeping cross' in the churchyard.
Ripley, Yorkshire
A 14th century church adjacent to Ripley Castle ,the home of Sir Thomas Ingilby in a village between Harrogate and Ripon. Sometime around the year 1395 Sir Thomas Ingilby of Ripley Castle, near Harrogate, built a church opposite his castle to replace an earlier chapel half a mile to the south that was suffering from subsidence. The chapel's condition had become so desperate that it became known as the 'Sinking Chapel'.
Sir Thomas reused carved stones from the earlier chapel and created a very simple building with a nave, north aisle, chancel, a two-storey chantry, and a stumpy west tower. Within a few decades, a south aisle and north chapel were added along with a small chantry. The church remained unaltered until 1567 when Sir William Ingilby (1518-1578) had the tower heightened. He gave the tower its distinctive external turret stair and added a clerestory to the nave. Inside the church the Ingilby Chapel thought to date from before 1547 with fine pews carved for the Ingilby family. On the east wall are bullet holes where Royalist prisoners were shot by Cromwell's men during the civil war
Against the exterior of the south wall are gravestones salvaged from the Sinking Chapel. With the gravestones is a stone coffin now used as a flower bed. The churchyard has a Weeping Cross and is a unique survivor of many such crosses in England.
Hampsthwaite, Yorkshire
The early history of church life in Hampsthwaite is far from clear and is to some extent based on supposition.
Birstwith, Yorkshire
This beautiful Victorian church stands on a hill looking over the village of Birstwith through which runs the river Nidd.
Harrogate, Yorkshire
St Wilfrid's church, is a wonderful example of the work of Temple Moore and his son in law, Leslie Moore which stands proud in the centre of town.