St James' Church, Melsonby facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St James' Church, Melsonby
St James' Church, Melsonby, from the northwest
Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
OS grid reference	NZ 201,084
Location	Melsonby, North Yorkshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Stanwick Group of Churches
History
Status	Parish church
Dedication	Saint James the Great
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	4 February 1969
Architect(s)	Paley and Austin (restoration)
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic, Gothic Revival
Specifications
Materials	Sandstone, tiled roofs
Administration
Parish	Melsonby
Deanery	Richmond
Archdeaconry	Richmond
Diocese	Leeds
Province	York

St James' Church is a special old church located in the village of Melsonby, in North Yorkshire, England. It's an Anglican church, which means it's part of the Church of England. This church is important because it's a parish church, serving the local community. It belongs to a group of five churches called the Stanwick Group of Churches. St James' Church is also recognized as a Grade II* listed building, which means it's a very important historical building that needs to be protected.

History of the Church

There was a church on this spot even before the Normans came to England in 1066. The famous Domesday Book, a survey from 1086, mentions that a priest was already living in Melsonby. The church building you see today started to be built in 1135. It was mostly finished by the 1200s.

Later, in 1871 and 1872, the church was carefully updated by architects named Paley and Austin from Lancaster. This update, sometimes called a Victorian restoration, involved rebuilding parts of the church like the main seating area (called the nave) and the area around the altar (called the chancel). They also added a small room for the priest (a vestry) and a covered entrance (a porch). During this time, the large window at the east end of the church was changed from one big window to three tall, narrow windows.

Church Architecture

St James' Church is built from rough sandstone blocks, with smoother stone used for details. It has a roof made of tiles. The church's layout includes a main hall (the nave) with four sections, walkways on the north and south sides (called aisles), and a porch on the south side. It also has a clerestory, which is a row of windows high up to let in light. There's a three-section chancel at the east end, a vestry on the north side, and a tall tower at the west end.

Outside the Church

The church tower has three levels and strong supports (called buttresses) at its corners and in the middle of each side. Each central buttress has a narrow window. On the west side, above the central buttress, there's a diamond-shaped clock face. The top level of the tower has openings with wooden slats (called louvred bell openings) for the bells. The very top of the tower has a decorative edge (a parapet) with stone supports (called corbels) and a battlement design, like a castle wall.

The south porch has a pointed arch for the doorway and two narrow windows on each side. Along the south aisle, there are three windows: one single narrow window and two sets of paired narrow windows. The north aisle has three sets of paired narrow windows. The high windows of the clerestory are round-headed, with four on each side. Both the west and east ends of the aisles also have single narrow windows.

On the south wall of the chancel, you'll find a pointed-arch window, a priest's door, three narrow windows, and three small spaces (called niches) where statues might have once stood. The main east window is made of three narrow windows of different heights, with a decorative stone arch above them. The north side of the chancel has three more narrow windows. The vestry has a pointed-arch window on its east side and paired narrow windows on its north side. The ends of the gables (the triangular parts of the roof) have decorative crosses on top.

Inside the Church

Inside, the main walkways (the arcades) are held up by large columns (called piers). Some of these columns are round, while others are eight-sided. On the north side of the chancel, there's a double aumbry, which is a cupboard for sacred items. On the south side, there's a single aumbry and a damaged piscina, a basin used for washing sacred vessels.

In the south aisle, there's a special carved space from the mid-1300s. It has a fancy carved top (a crocketed canopy) with a pointed decoration at the very top and smaller pointed towers (called pinnacles) on the sides. This might have been an Easter Sepulchre, a place used during Easter celebrations.

The church also has some interesting old monuments. There's a stone statue (an effigy) from the 1200s of a knight wearing chain mail armor, holding a sword and a shield. There's also a grave cover carved with a cross, a man's head, and hands praying. You can also see two very old stone cross shafts from around 800 AD, which are examples of Anglo-Saxon art.

The church organ has one keyboard (a manual) and was built by Bryceson and Company. The church has a set of four bells. The oldest bell was made around 1370. Another was cast in 1718 by Edward Seller I, and the two newest bells were made in 1875 by John Warner & Sons.

Around the Church

In the churchyard, there are three items that are also listed as Grade II historical items. To the east of the porch, you'll find two sandstone gravestones from the early and middle 1700s. South of the tower, there's a very worn sandstone chest tomb, which might be from the 1600s. On the south side of the path leading to the church, there's a group of three sandstone gravestones from the mid-1700s.

More to Explore

• Grade II* listed churches in North Yorkshire (district)
• Listed buildings in Melsonby
• List of ecclesiastical works by Paley and Austin