St Mary, Lastingham
St Mary, Lastingham
St Mary’s is a Grade I parish church off Anserdale Lane in Lastingham, North Yorkshire, in the Diocese of York. It is known for its late eleventh-century crypt, a complete aisled church below the present building.
- Location
- Lastingham, Yorkshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Yorkshire
- City / town
- Lastingham
- Address
- Lastingham, Yorkshire, YO62 6TN
- Postcode
- YO62 6TN
- Built
- Crypt, chancel and apse 1078–85; parish church from c.1228; tower 14th century; restored 1879
- Architect
- J L Pearson (clerestory and vault, 1879); John Jackson (restoration, 1828)
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Mary
- Diocese
- York
- Parish
- Lastingham St Mary
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Norman; Early English
- Materials
- Coursed squared sandstone with sandstone ashlar dressings; lead roofs; stone-flagged tower roof
- Grid reference
- SE 728 904
- Opening hours
- Sorry, there are no regular opening times for this church.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
Overview
Historic England records that the church was founded in 1078 as a Benedictine monastery by Stephen of Whitby, on the site of a monastery founded by St Cedd in 654 and later destroyed. The crypt, chancel and apse date from 1078–85. The unfinished fabric stood until about 1228, when it was adopted as the parish church. The listing describes coursed squared sandstone with ashlar dressings, lead roofs and a stone-flagged tower roof: a two-stage embattled west tower, aisled nave with clerestory, south porch, chancel and apse.
The crypt is a three-bay aisled nave, chancel and apse with groin vaults on four squat cylindrical columns and varied capitals. It holds early sculpture including eighth- and ninth-century cross heads, a tenth-century hogback, and the medieval moorland Ain Howe Cross. Above, John Jackson restored the church in 1828; J. L. Pearson added the clerestory and vault in 1879, and the porch is largely of that year. The nave incorporates crossing piers from the originally planned cruciform church. A painting after Correggio by John Jackson RA, born in Lastingham, hangs in the north aisle; a Calvary captured from the Spanish warship Salvador del Mundo stands behind the south-east pier.