---
title: "St Mary, Nun Monkton"
description: "Located in Nun Monkton, Yorkshire. Built Late 12th–early 13th century; east end rebuilt 1873. Diocese of York. Grade I. Transitional / Early English style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of England","Yorkshire","Nun Monkton","Grade I","Early English","Benedictine","Priory"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/st-mary-nun-monkton"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T02:25:44.277Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-07T14:53:51.333Z"
location: "Nun Monkton, Yorkshire"
country: "England"
county: "Yorkshire"
town: "Nun Monkton"
address: "Nun Monkton, Yorkshire, YO26 8ES"
postcode: "YO26 8ES"
built: "Late 12th–early 13th century; east end rebuilt 1873"
architect: "John Wilson Walton (1873 east end)"
denomination: "Church of England"
dedications: ["Mary"]
diocese: "York"
grade: "I"
style: "Transitional / Early English"
materials: "Limestone ashlar, plain tile roof"
website: "http://www.niddside.org.uk/#nun-monkton"
openingHours: "Open all day, every day."
parish: "Nun Monkton St Mary"
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1190942"
gridReference: "SE 511 579"
accessNotes: "Accessible toilets nearby. Level access to the main areas"
---

# St Mary, Nun Monkton

St Mary’s is the Grade I former priory church of Nun Monkton, North Yorkshire, famous for its late-twelfth-century west front, in the Diocese of York.

## Overview

Historic England dates the church to the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, with restoration and rebuilding of the east end in 1873. It is a seven-bay continuous nave and chancel in limestone ashlar under a plain tile roof, with a north vestry to the two eastern bays. The west front has an integral central tower and a round-headed portal of five orders on shafts with zigzag enrichment and stiff-leaf capitals — the celebrated west front approached along the village avenue. The listing describes an extremely fine triforium arcade inside.

The church was the priory church of Benedictine nuns founded about 1153 by William de Arches. The priory was dissolved in 1536; the nave survived as the parish church. Isaac Crawhall rebuilt the east end in 1873 to designs by John Wilson Walton, in memory of his wife Anne. The east window glass is probably from designs by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, which Pevsner considered the finest in the West Riding. The parish is Nun Monkton, in the Diocese of York.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1190942](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1190942)
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary%27s_Church,_Nun_Monkton)