'Melmerby - St John the Baptist's Church'

Location : Melmerby
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 611375

Melberby is on the road leading from Penrith over Hartside Pass to Alston, and is best known for the Village Bakery. Nearby is the Church of St John, a 13th Century building of red sandstone. Some of the windows, all of which are plain, may be as old as 600 years. Through the East window one can see Melmerby Fell on the North Pennines. On top of the tower, with its stepped turret, sits a weather vane in the shape of a cockerel.

Little is known of the Church's history before the 18th Century. The tower was built in 1848, and major restorations took place in 1895 and 1928.