St Mary, Staindrop
St Mary, Staindrop
St Mary’s is a Grade I parish church on Front Street, Staindrop, County Durham, in the Diocese of Durham, historically the church of the Nevilles of Raby Castle.
- Location
- Staindrop, County Durham
- Country
- England
- County
- County Durham
- City / town
- Staindrop
- Address
- Front Street, Staindrop, County Durham, DL2 3NJ
- Postcode
- DL2 3NJ
- Built
- Pre-Conquest nave fabric; 12th–15th centuries; restored c.1849 by Cory
- Architect
- Cory (c.1849 restoration)
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Mary
- Diocese
- Durham
- Parish
- Staindrop
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Anglo-Saxon to Perpendicular, with Norman arcades
- Materials
- Sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings; south aisle in dressed blocks; stone-flagged porch roof
- Grid reference
- NZ 131 206
- Opening hours
- Open all year, 9am to 5pm (4pm in winter).
- Access
- Level access to the main areas
Overview
Historic England lists a church originally dedicated to St Gregory, collegiate from the early fifteenth century to about 1544. Pre-Conquest fabric survives in the nave; early-twelfth-century arcades were followed by aisles, tower and chancel, thirteenth-century transepts and a lengthened nave, fourteenth-century aisle alterations (Ralph Neville’s 1343 licence for three chantries) and a porch, and an early-fifteenth-century clerestory and tower top stage. Cory restored the church about 1849 and renewed many windows. The fabric is mostly sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings; the south aisle is dressed blocks. The plan is a four-bay nave with west tower clasped by the aisles, south porch, north transept and a three-bay chancel with north vestry. The church holds the Neville tombs, including the alabaster chest of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland (d. 1425), and earlier effigies in the south aisle. A college of secular priests, licensed in 1408, was dissolved in 1548. The church is open from 9am to 5pm (4pm in winter).