St Mary the Virgin, North Stainley

St Mary’s is the parish church of North Stainley, near Ripon in North Yorkshire, in the Diocese of Leeds and the Yoredale (Masham) benefice. It was built by the Staveley family of Old Sleningford Hall and later enlarged as their memorial church.

Overview

Parish and National Churches Trust accounts state that the Staveleys built the church in 1840 as a simple parallelogram about 36 by 24 feet. In 1890–91 Robert Jewell Withers of London added a Decorated Gothic chancel (about 24 by 18 feet), a north vestry with organ chamber and a south porch, converting the original building into the nave. The Guardian reported that Miss Staveley of Old Sleningford laid the foundation stone; contractors were Kay and Son of Rainton and John Metcalfe of North Stainley. New work used stone from Miss Staveley’s quarry with Rainton dressings. The former chancel was reseated as nave; plaster ceilings were replaced with boarded pitch-pine panels. The chancel was furnished with oak stalls and a tiled floor as a memorial to the late Mrs Staveley, paid for by Miss Staveley and Miss Lee.

Banns and weddings were authorised here from 1868, when the village became a parish in its own right rather than a chapelry of Ripon. The church holds stained glass with links to Tanfield and Ripon Cathedral. No Historic England list entry for the church has been found.

Further Information

• Yoredale Benefice: history of North Stainley
• St Mary's, North Stainley
• Architects of Greater Manchester: North Stainley chancel