Church of St Mary and All Saints, Whalley facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Mary and All Saints, Whalley |
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From the south west
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| OS grid reference | SD 7325436180 |
| Location | Whalley, Lancashire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | www.whalleypc.org.uk |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 13 February 1967 |
| Administration | |
| Deanery | Whalley |
| Archdeaconry | Blackburn |
| Diocese | Blackburn |
| Province | York |
The Church of St Mary and All Saints is an Anglican church located in the village of Whalley, England. An Anglican church is a type of Christian church. This church is still actively used today. It is a very old building, with parts of it dating back to the 13th century. The church is considered so important that it is listed as a Grade I building, which means it has special historical value.
Contents
History of the Church
A church likely stood on this spot even before the current building. This was during the Anglo-Saxon period, a very long time ago. You can still see three old Anglo-Saxon crosses in the churchyard. There are also pieces of Anglo-Saxon stone in the church's outer walls. These crosses are protected as important historical sites.
The church in Whalley was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. This book was a huge survey of England ordered by William the Conqueror. It showed that the church in Whalley was quite wealthy, owning a lot of land. Most of the church you see today was built in the 1200s. It replaced an older, simpler building. The tall tower was added later, in the late 1400s.
Over the years, more parts were added. A porch was built on the south side in 1844, and another on the north side in 1909. The church also had some big repair and update projects in 1866 and 1868.
Church Design and Features
Outside the Church
The church is made from sandstone rocks and has a roof made of slate. It has a main area called a nave, with side sections called aisles. There's also a chancel, which is the part of the church near the altar, and a vestry, which is a room for clergy. You'll also see porches and a tall tower.
The large window at the east end of the church has a style called "Perpendicular Gothic." It has five tall, narrow windows with curved tops. The windows higher up on the nave, called clerestory windows, each have two smaller windows. The north and south aisles have square-shaped windows.
The tower is about 70 feet (21 meters) tall. It has strong supports called buttresses and a top edge that looks like a castle wall, called a crenellated parapet. The openings where the bells are, called belfry louvres, have decorative stone patterns. There is also a clock on the east side of the tower.
Inside the Church
The south porch was added in 1844. However, the entrance into the church still has parts of the original pillars from the Norman church, which was built in the 11th century. The font, which is a basin used for baptisms, is made of yellow stone and is from the 1400s. Its wooden cover is from the 1600s.
The main part of the church, the nave, is about 72 feet (22 meters) long and 24 feet (7 meters) wide. It has four sections, or bays. The columns on the north side are round, while those on the south side are eight-sided. All the columns have decorative tops and bottoms. The arches connecting the columns are pointed.
The church has many interesting pieces of furniture. One expert, Simon Jenkins, even said it could be a "museum of church seating." In the north aisle, you can see an old pew from 1690 that could seat eight people. There are also benches from 1638 and a special pew from 1702.
At the east end of the north aisle is a special chapel called the St Nicholas Chapel. It was also known as the Soldiers' Chapel. This chapel has signs of a staircase that once led to a rood loft, which was a platform above the main part of the church. It also has an old stone altar. A screen from the 1400s surrounds this chapel.
Another chapel, dedicated to St Mary, is at the east end of the south aisle. It also has a 15th-century screen and a basin for washing sacred vessels, likely from the 1300s. This chapel has square, wooden pews. The north door of the north aisle is made of oak and has glass circles.
The chancel, the area near the altar, is about 51 feet (15.7 meters) long and 24 feet (7.5 meters) wide. The wooden seats for the choir were carved around 1430. They originally came from the church at Whalley Abbey. It's rare to know the name of a medieval craftsman, but the person who carved these was named Mr. Eatough.
The carvings on the underside of the choir seats, called misericords, are very detailed and interesting. They show many different things:
- Religious scenes: Angels, devils, the Holy Trinity, two eagles carrying Alexander to Heaven, and St George fighting the dragon.
- Mystical scenes: A girl with a sad satyr (a mythical creature) and griffins (mythical beasts).
- Everyday life: A blacksmith shoeing a horse, a goose, plants like vines and pomegranates, and even a wife playfully hitting her husband with a pan.
These carvings are considered very well-made and famous.
St. Anton's Cage is a large pew next to the Lady Chapel. It was originally made in 1534 for the Nowell family. It was made bigger twice in the 1600s. Above the doors, you can see the initials of the Fort and Taylor families. These families argued over who owned the pew in the early 1800s. In 1830, a court ordered the pew to be divided to solve the problem. However, neither family liked the compromise, so they stopped using it. They built their own private seating areas elsewhere in the church, but those are now gone. Inside the pew, there is an old book from 1684 called Foxe's Book of Martyrs and an early copy of Whittaker's History of Whalley.
The church's organ is very old, dating back to 1727. It was first built for Lancaster Priory. The church bought it in 1813 for 300 guineas, which was a lot of money back then.
Churchyard Features
The churchyard has three stone Anglo-Saxon crosses. These crosses are very old, probably from the 900s or 1000s. There is also a sundial east of the church, which was made in 1757. It is also a protected historical item.
Church Leadership
In September 2015, Reverend Jonathan Carmyllie became the Vicar for the West Pendleside parishes. He was officially welcomed into his role at St Nicholas' church in Sabden on September 30, 2015.
More to Explore
- Grade I listed churches in Lancashire
- Grade I listed buildings in Lancashire
- Scheduled monuments in Lancashire
- Listed buildings in Whalley, Lancashire
