Holy Rood, Ossington

Holy Rood is a Grade I estate church on Church Lane, Ossington, Nottinghamshire, in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, a neoclassical work by John Carr of York.

Overview

Historic England records an estate church of 1782–83 by John Carr, probably for Robert Denison, in classical style, of ashlar with a hipped and gabled slate roof. The plan is a west tower, nave and chancel under a continuous roof, with vestry and porch to the south. The three-stage square tower rises to a drum and a stone dome with ball finial and wind vane. The south porch has Tuscan columns, antae and a dentillated pediment, with a moulded round-headed doorcase and Gothick fanlight.

Southwell Churches records that Carr built the church in 1782–85 as a memorial to William Denison of Leeds, who bought the Ossington estate in 1768. A domed east mausoleum was demolished in 1838 when it threatened the church. Archbishop Markham’s 1784 consecration licence named it the Parish Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the dedication became Holy Rood in the earlier nineteenth century. The listing describes an important series of monuments, including standing figures by Nollekens to William Denison (1782) and Robert Denison (1785), and earlier Cartwright tombs reused from the medieval church.

Further Information

• Historic England list entry 1045958
• Southwell Churches: Ossington
• Beck Trent Benefice