Diameter: 18" Bell 1 of 2
Dove Bell ID: 61958 Tower ID: 24584 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
West Heslerton: All Saints
Diocese of York
Church, 643029
http://www.buckrosecarrs.org.ukOverview
Grid reference: SE 911 758
The church is very simple externally, restored in the lancet style but retaining its late 14th-century windows in the nave. It is long and low, the nave and chancel the same width but the nave roof slightly higher. A little vertical emphasis is given by the tall twin-arched gabled belcote at the west end. The church was probably founded in the early-mid 13th century. The chancel was partly rebuilt in 1859. There was a thorough restoration in 1886 by C Hodgson Fowler, paid for Sir Tatton-Sykes, which in terms of the internal furnishing was one of the more modest schemes of work undertaken at this time in the area, although it would seem that all but the chancel was completely rebuilt.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
West belcote; 3-bay nave and north aisle; chancel and vestry.
Dimensions:
Nave 13m (40ft) by 6.5m (20ft).
Footprint of Church buildings: 205 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was probably founded in the early-mid 13th century. The chancel was partly rebuilt in 1859. There was a thorough restoration in 1886 by C Hodgson Fowler, paid for Sir Tatton-Sykes, which in terms of the internal furnishing was one of the more modest schemes of work undertaken at this time in the area, although it would seem that all but the chancel was completely rebuilt.
The area around West Heslerton is an archaeological site of national importance, with earthworks and underground remains of a substantial Romano-British and Saxon proto-urban settlement. The large-scale excavations here of the 1980’s and 90’s have changed our perception of the late Roman and early Saxon period. There are plainly visible earthworks in the fields to the south and to the east of the church, probably Saxon, early medieval and post-medieval in date.
Exterior Description
The church is very simple externally, restored in the lancet style but retaining its late 14th-century windows in the nave. It is long and low, the nave and chancel the same width but the nave roof slightly higher. A little vertical emphasis is given by the tall twin-arched gabled belcote at the west end. Below this is a square-headed west door with a label and chamfered jambs. There is a tall foiled lancet above this, and a trefoil-headed window in the west end of the north aisle.
The nave and aisle side walls have two square-headed 2-light windows with labels, with reticulated tracery in the nave windows and trefoil-headed lights in the north aisle. There is also a small paired two-light lancet window in the eastern bay of the nave, opening to a small lean-to defunct boiler house (this window therefore invisible from the outside). All openings are hollow-chamfered with hood-moulds, and the clear glazed windows have quite ornate iron ferrementa (1960’s). All gables have cross finials. There are several fragments of medieval grave slabs with foliate crosses, some engraved with mass dials, and at least four other mass dials, built into the walls of the nave.
The chancel south wall is pierced by four lancets (not three as in previous descriptions), the two middle ones original, the others inserted. A wall tablet is mounted between the old windows, to Christopher Wood (died 1826) and his wife and son, signed Monkman of Malton. The north wall has two original lancets to the east of the gabled vestry, which has a shouldered north door and a lancet in its east wall. The chancel east wall is pierced by a restored window of three stepped lancets beneath a 2-centred hood-mould.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1893
The east window is by C Kempe, the Crucifixion.
Stained Glass
1929
South-east window of the chancel. St George and Eustace, by Clayton and Bell
Stained Glass
1919
Easternmost north aisle window. Light of the World, by Clayton and Bell.
Stained Glass
1964
West window. Bright floral design by Rosemary Rutherford
Stained Glass
1939
Easternmost nave window. The Annunciation by Hugh Easton
Interior
Interior Description
Moving inside, the church is thickly whitewashed, and has a welcoming atmosphere. The furnishings and fittings are mostly of the period of the restoration, the nave fully pewed, but there are also several older wall tablets and ledger slabs in the floor. The north arcade has pointed chamfered arches on octagonal columns, without capitals. The doorway to the vestry in the east wall of the aisle is chamfered with a pointed arch beneath a chamfered hood-mould, with a decayed stop to the west. The small vestry has a pointed chamfered doorway in the east wall, now blocked. All the window openings have been widened and deeply splayed beneath chamfered segmental arches. The roofs are of the Waggon type, Victorian, taken down to simple stone corbels. The floors are of stone flags, with carpets.
Looking east, there is no chancel arch, the break marked only by a step and the pulpit, stalls and organ. A square-headed doorway, now blocked, can be seen in the chancel north wall. It is flanked my marble wall tablets. The main feature of note in the chancel is also in this wall, a late 13th-century segment-arched Easter Sepulchre with filleted roll moulding, beneath a crocketed, gabled canopy with a crocket finial. The gable tympanum contains a crudely carved Coronation of the Virgin enclosed in quatrefoil moulding a rare survival, between spandrels carved with foliage. The gable cuts across the adjacent window reveal. Below is a tomb with carved panelled sides of paired, pointed lights, beneath a band of quatrefoils. In the opposite wall near the east corner is a late 13th-century piscina beneath a restored pointed arch.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
1870
Oak chest, elaborately carved front
Reredos
1870
Rectangular reredos of blind tracery panels
Pulpit
1870
Oak hexagonal pulpit with blind tracery panels
Font (object)
The font, hidden away behind a folding screen in the north-west corner, appears to have lost its canopy and bowl, leaving an octagonal font of grey artificial stone with a plain flat lid, though the quatrefoil pedestal remains.
Organ (object)
Small organ, Positive Organ Company No 726.
Bells
Diameter: 21" Bell 2 of 2
Founded by Thomas del Wald
Dove Bell ID: 61959 Tower ID: 24584 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Churchyard
Grid reference: SE 911 758
Burial and War Grave Information
The church/building is consecrated.
The churchyard has been used for burial.
The churchyard is used for burial.
The churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Quinquennial Inspections
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