---
title: "St Mary the Virgin, High Hesket"
description: "Located in High Hesket, Cumbria. Built Early C18, incorporating medieval fabric. Diocese of Carlisle. Grade II*. Georgian with medieval core style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of England","Cumbria","High Hesket","Grade II*"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/high-hesket-st-mary-virgin"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:49:45.616Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-08T16:00:36.094Z"
location: "High Hesket, Cumbria"
country: "England"
county: "Cumbria"
town: "High Hesket"
address: "High Hesket, Cumbria, CA4 0HS"
postcode: "CA4 0HS"
built: "Early C18, incorporating medieval fabric"
denomination: "Church of England"
dedications: ["Mary"]
diocese: "Carlisle"
grade: "II*"
style: "Georgian with medieval core"
materials: "Roughcast over red and calciferous sandstone rubble; graduated greenslate roof"
openingHours: "The church is open to visitors 10am to 4pm daily and has access to a toilet or make yourself a cuppa."
parish: "Hesket in the Forest"
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1326696"
gridReference: "NY 476 444"
accessNotes: "Accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas"
---

# St Mary the Virgin, High Hesket

St Mary’s is a Grade II* parish church at High Hesket, Cumbria, in the Diocese of Carlisle, the church of Hesket-in-the-Forest, rebuilt in the early eighteenth century on a medieval site.

## Overview

Historic England records an early eighteenth-century parish church incorporating parts of the medieval church. The fabric is roughcast over red and calciferous sandstone rubble, under a graduated greenslate roof with coped gables and kneelers. The plan is a six-bay nave with a west twin bellcote, north aisle and two-storey west porch, and a single-bay chancel with north vestry. The porch has double doors in a round-headed quoined surround under a round-headed window, and external dog-leg stone steps to an upper north door. Nave and aisle have eighteenth-century round-headed leaded casements with hinge brackets for shutters. The chancel has blank walls and a three-light east window.

Inside are a twentieth-century three-bay north aisle, a late medieval open timber roof and a late medieval chancel arch. Wall plaques include Bernard Kirkbride, 1677, and John Brown, 1765. Early twentieth-century stained glass is by Shrigley and Hunt of Lancaster. The chancel has the Royal Arms of Queen Victoria, 1856, and memorials to the James family of Barrock Park. Co-Curate dates the rebuild to about 1720. The Parker family vault (1828) in the churchyard is separately listed.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1326696](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1326696)
- [British Listed Buildings: Church of St Mary](https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101326696-church-of-st-mary-hesket)