Nominal: 1200 Hz Weight: 336 lbs Diameter: 24" Bell 1 of 3
Founded by Unidentified (inscribed)
Dove Bell ID: 7360 Tower ID: 15049 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: quarter Cracked: No
Whenby: St Martin
Diocese of York
CCT Church, 643114
http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/St-Martins-Church-Whenby-North-Yorkshire/Overview
Grid reference: SE 630 698
The nave, tower and chancel with their ashlar masonry and prominent battlements are more finely constructed than the north aisle, and it is therefore the best view of the building which is seen as the church is approached either along the ridge from the west or up from the road to the south. The north aisle, which its random rubble masonry and lack of parapets, is decently concealed from sight.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Churches Conservation Trust
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
West tower, nave with a two-bay arcade opening into a north aisle of the same length. The chancel is shorter but also has a two-bay arcade opening into a north co-terminous chapel. There is also a south porch.
Description of Archaeology and History
The first mention of a church at Whenby is in 1250, but the present building is all Perpendicular and c.1480 has been suggested as a date, but the rougher masonry of the tower and north aisle indicates that these parts may be earlier. The church was restored in 1871 at a cost of £700 - which is probably when the roofs were renewed and the chancel refurnished - but the architect is not recorded. Some work was done in c.1910 by Herbert Clavell Ingram, a pupil of Bodley and Garner who was born in 1877 and began practice in 1901.
Exterior Description
The nave, tower and chancel with their ashlar masonry and prominent battlements are more finely constructed than the north aisle, and it is therefore the best view of the building which is seen as the church is approached either along the ridge from the west or up from the road to the south. The north aisle, which its random rubble masonry and lack of parapets, is decently concealed from sight.
The west tower is not high. It has two stages the lower of which has a blocked doorway with continuous mouldings (which may well have been reset) and a two-light window above which is also surrounded by disturbed masonry. The top stage has two-light belfry openings with trefoiled heads set within rectangular recesses (that on the north with only a single light). At the western angles are buttresses, that to the south-west being an ordinary diagonal buttress but that at the north-west beginning as an angle buttress parallel to the west wall and then about halfway up suddenly becoming a diagonal buttress like the other. There seems no very good reason for this peculiarity. Both buttresses die into the wall below the parapet and there are no pinnacles. The embattled parapet stands above a moulded stringcourse, and there is a moulded plinth at the foot of the tower.
The nave continues the moulded plinth, as does the chancel. The south wall of the nave is divided into two bays by a buttress close to the middle. To the east of this is a two-light window with cinquefoiled heads to the lights and a curved hood ending in triangular carved heads. There is a similar window towards the west end of the wall and next to this is the south porch, a grand piece of design on a relatively humble scale. This has a moulded arch in the south gable which is virtually semi-circular and has decayed moulded imposts (altogether looking rather seventeenth-century). In the gable above, a small shield carved with the sacred monogram IHS looks like the work of Bodley and therefore was presumably added by Ingram. It is set above a moulded course which has evidently been altered at each end. Judging by the style of the porch, it originally must have had a roof of lower pitch and an embattled parapet, the present roof being quite steep and without parapets. The floor is paved with stone flags and there are stone benches along each side under the two two-light windows with cinquefoiled heads in each wall give the porch its particularly grand character for so small and remote a church. The porch is not bonded into the nave wall.
The chancel is slightly lower and slightly narrower than the nave but otherwise continues the same style, with two south bays each containing a two-light window like those of the south nave wall and articulated by buttresses like those of the nave except that those on the chancel formerly terminated in pinnacles above the parapet. The east wall has a three-light window with trefoil-headed lights of equal height under panel tracery with a moulded hood. The parapet crowns the low-pitched gable with the tops of the battlements running parallel to the slope.
The north wall of the north aisle is continuous and is divided into three bays. The eastern one has a two-light window with trefoiled heads to the lights under a square head and the other two bays each have a two-light window similar to those on the south wall but slightly plainer (and without hoods). In the western bay there is a small doorway with a two centred arch. The west gable is faced with ashlar similar to the nave, chancel and tower and has a two-light nineteenth-century window.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1919
The east window has three lights representingThe Crucified Christ flanked by Our Lady and St. John; by Burlison and Grylls.
Interior
Interior Description
The internal walls of the nave and chancel are stripped of plaster, while those of the north aisle and chapel remain plastered. The north arcade has an octagonal pillar with octagonal moulded base and capital and there are semi-octagonal responds at the east and west ends of the arcade. The former is like the pillar but the latter has a carved head in each panel under the moulded impost. The tower arch is set off-centre towards the north and has two chamfered orders, the inner resting on crudely carved corbels against the plain responds. The floor is paved with black and red tiles which probably date from the 1871 restoration and the simple timber roofs appear to be of this time also. There is no proper chancel arch, but the division is marked by a Perpendicular screen and by an arch-braced tie-beam slightly more prominent than the others. It rests, moreover, on short colonettes and stone corbels set lower than the others. The north arcade of the chancel seems to be almost entirely a nineteenth-century reconstruction, and between it and the altar there is a doorway with a continuous moulding of two hollow chamfers. This poses a problem, partly on account of its unusual position and partly because there is no evidence whatever of its existence outside the church. It may perhaps have been moved here simply as an architectural feature in one of the restorations. The chancel floor is two steps above the level of the nave and there is then one step at the communion rails and another for the footpace. A piscina in the south wall has a round drain set off-centre.
The north aisle follows the arrangement of the chancel except that the chapel is only one step above the aisle and the screen here is seventeenth-century rather than fifteenth. The roof is rather plainer and runs the full length of aisle and chapel without a change in the design. There is a multilated carved head on the north side of the respond between nave and chancel which may be connected with a previous roof structure.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
c.1871
The altar is a pine table in the gothic style.
Altar
In the north chapel is a Jacobean communion table with baluster legs.
Pulpit
1923
The pulpit is of oak, three sides of a hexagon with fielded panels in each face and set on a stone base.
Lectern
c.1871
The lectern is a reading desk of pine with two arches pierced in the front and brass candle branches on the upright ends.
Font (object)
15th Century
The font is octagonal, fifteenth-century with mouldings round the bowl and set on an impossibly small stem which spoils its proportions; the cover is of oak, octagonal with a ring handle.
Screen
The screen is of oak, Perpendicular, with a plainly panelled dado below the mid-point and five ogee-headed lights to the left of the central opening, seven to the right. The door contains three ogee lights and opens towards the chancel. There are some traces of colouring.
Screen
17th Century
The screen to the north chapel is late, seventeenth-century in date and has turned balusters above the panelled lower part. It retains an old latch with a double-loop handle and curved H hinges.
Rail
c.1871
The communion rails are of iron and oak.
Bells
Nominal: 1710 Hz Diameter: 20.06" Bell 2 of 3
Founded by Samuel I Smith 1694
Dove Bell ID: 45553 Tower ID: 15049 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: quarter Cracked: No
Nominal: 1400 Hz Diameter: 21.88" Bell 3 of 3
Founded by John Warner & Sons 1913
Dove Bell ID: 45554 Tower ID: 15049 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Churchyard
Grid reference: SE 630 698
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether 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
Sources
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