St Mary's Church, Abbeytown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Mary's Church |
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West front of St Mary's Church
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| OS grid reference | NY 177 508 |
| Location | Abbeytown, Cumbria |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | St Mary, Abbeytown |
| History | |
| Status | Parish Church |
| Founded | 1150 |
| Founder(s) | |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 11 April 1967 |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Norman, Gothic |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Sandstone, slate roofs |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Holme Cultram |
| Deanery | Solway |
| Archdeaconry | West Cumberland |
| Diocese | Carlisle |
| Province | York |
St Mary's Church is a special old church located in Abbeytown, a village in Cumbria, England. It's an active church where people still go to worship today. It's part of a group of seven local churches that work together. This church is very important because it's listed as a Grade I building, meaning it has a lot of historical and architectural value.
Contents
History of St Mary's Church
St Mary's Church was once part of a much larger building. It used to be the church of Holmcultram Abbey. This abbey was a Cistercian monastery, which is a place where monks lived and prayed. It was founded in 1150 by King David of Scotland and his son Henry.
In 1507, the head of the abbey, Abbot Robert Chambers, added a porch to the west side of the church. When monasteries were closed down in 1538, local people were already using the main part of the church, called the nave, for their worship. They were allowed to keep using it.
Changes and Challenges Over Time
On New Year's Day in 1600, the church's tower fell down. This destroyed the choir (the area where the monks sang) and the north transept (a part of the church that sticks out like an arm). At this time, the money for the church was owned by the University of Oxford. They started repairs, but a fire in 1604 made things even harder.
More repairs and changes happened during the 1700s. Between 1727 and 1739, the nave was made shorter. The archways that separated the main part of the church from the side aisles were filled in. The upper windows, called the clerestory, were removed. Galleries (like balconies) and a flat ceiling were added.
In 1883, these galleries were taken out. A vestry (a room for the clergy) was added in 1884–85. The church was restored again in 1913, and the flat ceiling was removed. In 1973, a walkway called an ambulatory was added to the south side.
The 2006 Fire and Restoration
On June 9, 2006, a fire started in the church because of a thief. This fire badly damaged the church. It destroyed the wooden roof and harmed the stone walls and stained glass. A new roof, made of oak, was put in place in 2008. This shows how important it was to fix and save this historic building.
Architecture of St Mary's Church
St Mary's Church is built from large blocks of red sandstone that came from Scotland. Most of its roof is made of green slate, with some grey slate from Wales.
Exterior Features
The church has a main area that combines the nave and the chancel (the part of the church near the altar). It also has a porch at the west end, an ambulatory, and a vestry with an organ room on the north side. On the west gable (the triangular part of the wall at the end of the roof) there is a double bellcote, which holds two bells.
The west porch has two floors. Its doorway is round-arched and has the name of Robert Chambers, his family's coat of arms, and the date 1507 carved into it. The upper floor of the porch is now a vestry and has two windows with two narrow, pointed lights each, called lancet windows. The side walls of the nave have round-headed windows.
The large east window was moved in 1730. It is in the Perpendicular Gothic style, which was popular around 1630. Inside the porch and ambulatory, you can find old grave slabs belonging to members of the Chambers family. The inner doorway of the porch is in the Norman style, with four rows of columns. Another Norman doorway leads from the church into the ambulatory. This doorway originally led into the south aisle.
Interior Features
Inside the church, you can see blocked-up archways that used to connect to the aisles. These arches have pointed tops and are supported by groups of piers (strong columns). Above the west door, there is a gallery where singers used to stand.
The church also has two very old wooden chests and pieces of carved stones. The stained glass in the east window was made by William Wailes. There are other stained glass windows by Wailes, as well as by Powells and by E. and C. O'Neill. Parts of the tomb of Richard Chambers, who died in 1518, are in the ambulatory. The church used to have a two-manual pipe organ made by Nicholson and Lord, but it was destroyed in the 2006 fire.
External Features of the Churchyard
The wall around the churchyard on the south side of the church is also a listed building, at Grade II. It is made of sandstone blocks and sits on a medieval plinth (a heavy base). This wall is actually where the south aisle wall of the old abbey church used to be. The plinth includes the excavated foundations of the entrance to the abbey's cloister (a covered walkway in a monastery). The entire abbey site is a scheduled monument, meaning it's a nationally important archaeological site.
See also
- Grade I listed churches in Cumbria
- Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria
- Listed buildings in Holme Abbey
- List of English abbeys, priories and friaries serving as parish churches
