The Churches of the East Lakes and North Pennines Area

Addingham – St Michael & All Angels Church

The Church of St Michael and All Angels at Addingham is situated about a mile south of the village of Glassonbury. Although Addingham is an Anglo-Saxon settlement, there hasn’t been a village here since the 14th Century, when the River Eden changed its course and washed the village away. Inside the Church are several stained glass windows, including a modern one by S.M.Scott, depicting St Michael and the dragon, inserted in 1973 as a memorial to Frederick and Thomas Westgarth, and their wives.

Near the entrance stands a well preserved Anglo-Saxon hammer-head cross, with four holes and carved scrolls. In the porch of the Church is a Viking hog-back tombstone, two parts of a 14th Century Viking cross, and two coffin lids decorated with early Christian emblems.

Alston – St Augustine’s Church

Location: Alston

St Augustine’s Church was built in 1869, but records show a church has existed here as long as 1145 AD. King Henry II appointed a Rector, the Church being already dedicated to St Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury. In the 18th Century, much of the Alston Parish was granted by the Crown to Greenwich Hospital. The Church became a ruin and was pulled down in 1769. A new one was built to a plan by Smeaton (of Eddystone Lighthouse fame), but this was pulled down in 1869, and the present Church built. Nothing of the original church remains, except a curious stone scoup, and a few decorated stones in the Church porch.

Inside the Church is an interesting clock, brought from Dilston Hall, the home of the Earl of Derwentwater as a gift of the Greenwich Hospital in 1767. The clock is of 16th Century origin and has only one hand. The bell, which was cast in 1714, also came from the Earl of Derwentwater. It was recast in 1845 and is now one of a peel of ten bells.

Armathwaite – The Church of Christ and St Mary

Location: Armathwaite

In the beautiful valley of the River Eden, on the edge of the village of Armathwaite, stands this small and simple sandstone church. The Chapel was originally a chapel-of-ease in the parish of Hesket-in-the-forest, but fell into a state of disrepair. In 1660 or thereabouts, the Chapel was rebuilt by Richard Skelton of Armathwaite Castle, and remains to this day almost as it was built.

The Church has some fine stained glass windows. The east windows have two panels made by the William Morris workshop. They show Christ displaying the nail marks, designed by JH Dearle, and Mary the mother of Jesus, designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

A booklet is available describing the history of the Church, and the windows.

Bleatarn – Chapel of Ease

Location: Bleatarn / Kirkby Stephen

Brough – St Michael’s Church

Location: Brough

St Michael’s Church at Brough was built of sandstone in 1150 as a daughter church to that at Kirkby Stephen. The earliest parts of the church include the 67 foot long south wall, a window in the westernmost bay of the south wall, and the main doorway, with its Norman beakheads and chevrons. Most of the church is 14th or 16th century.

As you stand in the nave, with its arcade of seven bays, there is a feeling of the great sense of space. There is an oak roof which is probably 16th century, while the roof of the north aisle may well be earlier. The aisle, with its eastern chapel was built in the 14th century. On the floor near the stone pulpit is a tombstone in memory of Gabriel Vincent, Steward to Lady Anne Clifford, who restored the nearby Brough Castle in the 17th century. He died in the Roman tower of the castle.

Cliburn – St Cuthbert’s Church

Location: Cliburn

St Cuthbert’s Church, Cliburn, has a 12th century nave and chancel in the Norman style. In the chancel is one preserved window, the rest are 1886-7, when a major restoration and extension took place. The porch contains Roman stones.

The church is approached by a short avenue of lime trees.

Crosby Garrett – St Andrew’s Church

Location: Kirkby Stephen

St Andrew’s Church at Crosby Garrett is splendidly placed on a steep hill, with views over the fells to the North, East and South. From here are excellent views of the Crosby Garrett Viaduct of the Settle-Carlisle Railway.

The chancel is the oldest part of the Church, and the chancel arch is probably Anglo-Saxon. The Church which belonged to it was widened and provided with a North aisle about 1175. The North arcade has three bays with round piers carrying flat, square capitals. The bell tower is 13th Century, the main walls 14th Century, and the arch is 15th Century.

The windows are interesting in that they contain stained glass shields commemorating people who had connections with the Church. The East window was put in about 1865, but the outline of the previous window can still be seen. The North chapel, originally 12th Century, but rebuilt in 1866, still contains a small medieval piscina and also a ‘squint’ or hagioscope, so that the congregation could see the altar.

Crosby Ravensworth – St Lawrence’s Church

Location: Crosby Ravensworth

Long before the first church was established, early believers congregated around wooded or stone crosses for worship. In the Churchyard of Crosby Ravensworth is a 7th Century cross shaft. St Lawrence’s Church has been called a Cathedral in miniature, and has a lovely peaceful setting beside the Dalebanks Beck.

The present building contains work of various architectural periods, the oldest dating from about 1120. This is a very large Church for a small village. The lower part of the tower is 15th Century, while the top is a 19th Century addition. In 1809-11 restoration work was done by Sir Robert Smirke who was working on nearby Lowther Castle. He rebuilt parts of the Church, including the South porch front, and the south priests doorway, both fancy gothic. There is a font dated 1662, many stained glass windows worth studying a North and South transept, with interesting stone carving, and a carved reredos with at its centre ‘The Last Supper’ in the style of Leonardo da Vinci.

Edenhall – St Cuthbert’s Church

Location: Edenhall

Edenhall Church, dedicated to St. Cuthbert, stands in parkland to the south of the village of Edenhall. Parts of the building are pre-norman, the porch 13th century and the tower about 1450. Inside the building, the sandstone font is Norman, and the windows in the south of the nave have heraldic glass showing the arms of Musgrave, Stapleton, Veteripont and Hilton.

The chancel windows commemorate the marriages of Stapleton to Musgrave – Lords of the Manor. In the east window is some 11th century glass. In the chancel is a memorial bracss to Sir William Stapleton and his wife Margaret, and memorials to the Musgraves. The balcony was restored in 2000.

Great Asby – St Peter’s Church

Location : Great Asby / Appleby

Great Asby lies either side of Asby Gill which rises to the West of the village where can be found the entrance to Pate Hole, a cave that extends for about 1000yds. The gill itself is nearly always dry and only fills following very heavy rain.

The church of St. Peter which dominates the village was built in 1863 on the site of a previous church recorded in 1160.

Below the church is St. Helen’s well, which is actually a spring of fresh water that flows vigorously all year even during drought conditions.

Great Musgrave – St Theobald’s Church

Location: Brough

The present St Theobald’s Church in Great Musgrave was constructed in 1845 to a design by G.R. Appleby, on a site that has had two previous churches. It is in a quiet spot on the edge of the village beside the River Eden and is approached through an impressive avenue of horse chestnut trees.

The interior is light and airy and simply furnished. Above the windows are heads by the corbels to the roof beams. There is a monk with a scroll and a woman with flowing hair holding a string of beads. There is only one small stained glass window of a Coat-of-Arms.

Over the West door hang the crosses and crowns from the previous year’s rushbearing festival. Annually on the first Saturday in July, a procession of girls wearing floral crowns, boys carrying rush crosses, and adults, goes through the village to the Church, for a service of praise and thanksgiving.

Great Ormside – St James’ Church

Location: Great Ormside

The narrow road through Great Ormside village leads to Ormside Hall, with its 14th Century pele tower, and to St James’s Church. Nearby is the Ormside Viaduct carrying the Settle to Carlisle Railway across the River Eden.

St James’ Church is one of the oldest in Cumbria, with parts dating from about 1140. A viking burial of a warrior with his sword (now in Tullie House Museum in Carlisle) was found in the churchyard in 1898. The Danes may have settled here and established a pagan burial ground. ‘The Ormside Bowl’ (now in York Museum) was found here, and is the subject of a small exhibition in the Hilton Chapel within the Church.

The doorway is 11th Century, and leads in beside the tower which was probably used for defence, as it has no outside door, and very small windows. It has a basement, and two internal floors, one containing three bells. There is a Norman font, a fine oak roof, and an oak pulpit. In the North wall of the Chancel is a 14th Century hagioscope, or Leper’s Squint, which enabled those afflicted by the disease to be kept separate from the healthy members of the congregation, but allowed them to see the alter.

Kirkland – St Lawrence’s Church

Location : Culgaith

Langwathby – St Peter’s Church

Location: Langwathby

Beside the green in the village of Langwathby is St Peter’s Church, built in 1718, but with some parts inside dating from medieval times.

Kirkoswald – St Oswald’s Church

Location: Kirkoswald

St Oswald’s Church in Kirkoswald has a unique feature – a 19th Century bell tower perched on a hill top about 200 yards from the Church itself. It is possible that there has been a bell tower here as long as the Church has been at the foot of the hill, so villagers could hear the bell. The bell was probably used to warn villagers of the approach of Scots raiders, as well as summoning them to Church.

Parts of the Church date from the 12th Century, with the chancel being built in 1523, when the ‘College’ was founded.

Within the Porch are massive wooden beams still surviving from when it was built in 1523. The nave is narrow, with two arcades of arches separating it from the wider aisles. Some arches are Norman, the others dating from the 13th Century. The West window is Tudor, and has part of an old cross head bedded into the window sill. The chancel is approached up sandstone steps, and under an unusually high and narrow arch. Here the windows have beautiful, brightly coloured stained glass.

Lazonby – St Nicholas’s Church

Location : Lazonby

The foundation stone of St Nicholas’s Church at Lazonby was laid in August 1864 and the completed building consecrated in April 1866. The previous church on the site was demolished, and very little is known about it. The MacLean Family of Lazonby Hall met the cost of the new building, which was designed by Anthony Salvin. Colonel MacLean had previously built Lazonby Hall (1848) and Lazonby School (1863). His grave and that of his wife are to the north of the Church.

There is a stained glass window of the Crucufixion in the chancel, dedicated simply ‘To My Mother’, placed there about 1898, and made by Mayer of Munich. It is a memorial to Eleanor MacLean. The East window is geometrical and floral, and is by John Scott.

At the top of the graveyard is a large Celtic Cross, erected in 1902 by Canon Wilson to mark his 25 years as rector. It is over six foot high, and is a late work of W.G. Collingwood.

Mallerstang – St Mary’s Church

Location: Outhgill / Kirkby Stephen / Mallerstang

Mallerstang valley is remote, lying between Mallerstang Edge/High Seat on the Eastern side and Wild Boar Fell on its western side. The River Eden, which has its source on Black Fell Moss above Hell Gill Beck, flows through the valley.

St Mary’s Church has probably been here since the 14th century, though the earliest records are from the 16th century. It is simple Dales church, nestling comfortably in its surroundings. The small low building has a bell turret containing a 13th century bell. Above the porch is a stone recording the restoration of the church by Lady Anne Clifford, who owned the nearby Pendragon Castle.

Many of the workmen who built the Mallerstang section of the Settle-Carlisle railway (and their families who accompanied them), did not survive the hostile climate and insanitary work camps at Aisgill Huts and Birkett Huts. Twenty five men women and children are buried in unmarked graves in the churchyard. On the left as you go through the gate, there a memorial to them, dedicated in May 1998.

Milburn – St Cuthbert’s Church

Location: Milburn

Milburn - St Cuthbert's Church.

Set in fields on the outskirts of the hardy fellside village of Milburn, St Cuthbert’s church stands in an idyllic pastoral setting, under the mighty Cross Fell.

Built on a Celtic site, the small sandstone church – beautiful in its simplicity – dates back to 1100 AD, and this long tradition of Christian worship creates an atmosphere of peace an tranquillity.

There are several stained glass windows, by James Powell of Whitefriars, and Marjorie Kemp

Morland – St Lawrence’s Church

Location: Morland

The greatest of Morland’s treasures is the Saxon Church of St Laurence. It is one of the loveliest churches in Cumbria, and parts of the fabric may well be the oldest masonry in any. The unbuttressed tower of mellow red sandstone, a joy to behold, has stood since the 11th century, before Norman builders brought their own styles of architecture; the nave and chancel are 13th. This is a church of which Morland’s parishioners may rightly feel very proud.

The gardens and path alongside the beck are open to public access with prior permission.

Newbiggin – St Edmund’s Church

Location Culgaith / Kirkby Thore

St Edmund’s Church, at Newbiggin in the Eden Valley, was largely rebuilt in the 14th Century, but some parts date from the 12th Century. The Church consists of a chancel and nave, with a bell-cote on the West gable. The North chapel was added in the 16th Century.

The de Newbiggin family of Newbiggin Hall, next door to the Church, were patrons of the Church until about 1332, when the patronage passed to the Crackenthorpe family. In the North chapel is a memorial chapel to members of the Crackenthorpe family since about 1900.

There are some very colourful stained glass windows. The East window contains some stained glass that dates probably from the 14th or 15th Century. The ceiling is painted with gold and silver mullets, the armorial device from the Crackenthorpe arms, and has Bible texts around the frieze. Psalm 121, ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills’ is painted on the West wall. There is a stone font with an ornately carved cover.

Orton – All Saints Church

Location: Orton

All Saints Church in Orton is dominated by the 16th Century perpendicular tower, which has a fine peel of eight bells. It looks out over views of Orton Scar and the Howgills. The building dates from the 13th Century, but has had several restorations since, both inside and outside. In the baptistry is an ancient parish chest bound with iron bands and having three locks. The red sandstone font has the date 1662. In 1877 the Church was restored and enlarged by Paley and Austin.

The baptistry window is the work of Beatrice Whistler, wife of the American painter James McNeill Whistler. It shows a young girl with Angels in a flower-studded meadow. There are several other stained glass windows worth studying. There is a display of the 17th Century bells in a frame, with informative notes about their history. In 2007 the tower has been treated with a coat of lime to help prevent damage from damp.

Ravenstonedale – St Oswald’s Church

Location: Ravenstonedale

St Oswald’s Church, Ravenstonedale, erected on the site of a previous church, dates mainly from the 18th century, with a few fragments of the older church built in to the fabric. It is approached through a long straight path through the large peaceful churchyard, with its imposing trees. Saxon relics indicate that Christian worship here goes back many centuries. Near the porch is the base of a Saxon cross, the oldest relic of Christian worship in Ravenstonedale. Unusually for a church in Cumbria, St Oswald’s follows the ‘collegiate’ plan, where rows of pews face into the central aisle.

One of the East windows, by Shrigley and Hunt, is dedicated to Elizabeth Gaunt, the last female burnt at Tyburn for the protestant cause, who came from nearby Brownber. The church was a sanctury to assure a fair trial, if the accused could toll the bell once.

On the north side of the building are the foundations of the Gilbertine Abbey built about AD 1200, and excavated in 1920. Church leaflets give detailed information about St Gilbert and the Gilbertine Order, and how they came here from the Priory of Watton in Yorkshire. The site looks out on Scandel Beck.

Warcop – St Columba’s Church

Location: Appleby

The Church of St Columba at Warcop is a Norman Church, with the North side of the nave being the oldest part of the Church. Various restorations and additions have taken place since, the most recent being in 1937 when the roof beams were exposed. The Church consists of a nave, a South aisle, a South transept, a North transept and a chancel. It is built on the outskirts of the village, on the site of a Roman camp.

All the stained glass windows are worth studying, and are by a variety of artists. The East window is of the Crucifixion, and is by Powell of Whitefriars. Others by by William Wailes, Heaton Shrigley and Bayne, Ninian Comper, Clayton and Bell, and Shrigley and Hunt.

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