Selby Abbey
Selby Abbey
Selby Abbey, dedicated to St Mary and St Germain, is a Grade I former Benedictine abbey church on The Crescent, Selby, in the Diocese of York: one of the few surviving great abbey churches of medieval England, now the parish church of Selby.
- Location
- Selby, Yorkshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Yorkshire
- City / town
- Selby
- Address
- The Crescent, Selby, Yorkshire, YO8 4PU
- Postcode
- YO8 4PU
- Built
- Founded 1069; stone church begun under Abbot Hugh de Lacy (1097–1123); later medieval chancel; restorations 1871–1935
- Architect
- Sir George Gilbert Scott (1871–73); J Oldrid Scott (1889–90 and after the 1906 fire)
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Mary and Germain
- Diocese
- York
- Parish
- Selby
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Romanesque, Decorated Gothic and Gothic Revival
- Grid reference
- SE 615 323
- Opening hours
- Open 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday and 12noon to 4pm on Sunday. Plus services and events at other times.
- Access
- Accessible toilets in church. Level access throughout
Overview
Historic England records that the abbey was founded about 1070 on the site of a hermitage of Benedict of Auxerre, who was living here in 1069 with a relic of St Germanus. The present stone church was begun by Abbot Hugh de Lacy (1097–1123). Further work followed in the late twelfth, mid-thirteenth and late fourteenth centuries. The monastic buildings were demolished after the Dissolution in 1539, but the church became the parish church. A tower collapse of 1690 was repaired about 1701–02. Sir George Gilbert Scott restored the church in 1871–73, and J. Oldrid Scott in 1889–90. A serious fire in 1906 prompted the most drastic restoration, also by J. Oldrid Scott: a new crossing tower (1908), south transept (about 1912) and west towers (1935). The listing highlights medieval tombs, including the D’Arcy tomb, abbot slabs, and later monuments.
The cruciform church has a twelfth-century aisled nave of eight bays and a later medieval aisled chancel. It is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 4pm and Sunday from noon, with level access throughout.