St Mary's Church, North Cockerington facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Mary's Church, North Cockerington |
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St Mary's Church, North Cockerington, from the southeast
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| OS grid reference | TF 367 914 |
| Location | Alvingham, Lincolnshire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | Churches Conservation Trust |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 9 March 1967 |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic, Gothic Revival |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Greenstone, ironstone and limestone Lead and slate roofs |
St Mary's Church is an old Anglican church in Alvingham, a village in Lincolnshire, England. It is very close to the village of North Cockerington. This church is no longer used for regular services, which is why it is called a "redundant church." It is a very important building, listed as a Grade I listed building. This means it has special historical or architectural value. The Churches Conservation Trust now looks after it.
Contents
History of St Mary's Church
This church stands about a mile away from its own village, North Cockerington. It shares its churchyard with the main church of the nearby village, Alvingham. Sharing a churchyard is quite unusual for churches in England.
The reason for this shared churchyard is that a monastery used to be here. St Mary's was once a chapel for the Gilbertine Alvingham Priory. A priory is like a monastery, a place where monks or nuns live and pray. This priory was right next to Alvingham's parish church.
From Priory Chapel to Village Church
After the "Dissolution of the Monasteries" in the 1500s, many monasteries were closed down. St Mary's chapel was then given to the people of North Cockerington. Their own village church was in bad shape, so St Mary's became their new parish church.
Building Through the Centuries
The oldest parts of St Mary's Church date back to the 11th century (the 1000s). This is even older than the priory, which was built in the 12th century. Over the years, the church was changed and added to. This happened in the late 1100s, around 1300, and again in the 1300s. The tower you see today was added much later, in the 1800s. The church stopped being used for regular services in March 1981.
Church Design and Features
Outside the Church
St Mary's is built from different kinds of stone, including greenstone, ironstone, and limestone. These stones are laid in rough blocks. Some parts of the walls are also covered in a smooth plaster. The roofs are made of lead and slate.
The church has a main part called a nave, and a smaller section on the south side called a south aisle. Both are under one roof. There's also a smaller area at the east end called the chancel. The tower is on the southwest side.
Tower Details
The tower is covered in plaster. It has tall, narrow windows called lancet windows on its west and south sides. The openings for the bells have special Y-shaped stone patterns. The top of the tower is flat, and there's a pointed decoration called a pinnacle at each corner.
Windows and Doors
On the west wall of the nave, next to the tower, there's a window with three sections. Another three-section window is on the north wall of the nave. In the north wall of the chancel, you can see a small, old window from the 11th century that is now blocked up. The window at the very east end has three sections and a rounded top. On the south side of the chancel and the south aisle, there are more three-section windows with curved, S-shaped tops. The main door on the south side of the south aisle has a pointed arch.
Inside the Church
When you go inside, the doorway leading to the tower also has a pointed top. The row of arches on the south side, called the south arcade, is from the 12th century. It has two sections with round pillars and pointed arches. Above these arches, you can see some old painted writing.
Chancel and Font
The arch that separates the main part of the church from the chancel is from the 14th century. It also has painted writing above it. The font, which is a basin used for baptisms, is from the 13th century. It has an eight-sided bowl on an eight-sided base.
Seating and Memorials
Inside, you'll find some old box pews from the 1700s. These are like individual wooden boxes for families to sit in. Other pews, the pulpit (where sermons are given), and the choir stalls (where the choir sits) are from the 1900s. In the south aisle, there are pieces of a stone coffin. On it, you can see the carved image of a knight from the 1300s, with a lion at his feet.
Church Bells
The church has three bells. Two of them were made around 1499, and the third in 1634. However, they can no longer be rung.
See also
