St Thomas a Becket, Hampsthwaite
St Thomas a Becket, Hampsthwaite
St Thomas a Becket is a Grade II parish church on Church Street, Hampsthwaite, North Yorkshire, in the Diocese of Leeds and the parish of Hampsthwaite and Killinghall.
- Location
- Hampsthwaite, Yorkshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Yorkshire
- City / town
- Hampsthwaite
- Address
- Church Lane, Hampsthwaite, Yorkshire, HG3 2HB
- Postcode
- HG3 2HB
- Built
- C15 west tower; remainder rebuilt 1902
- Architect
- C Hodgson Fowler
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Thomas
- Diocese
- Leeds
- Parish
- Hampsthwaite and Killinghall
- Grade
- II
- Style
- Perpendicular Gothic Revival
- Materials
- Coursed squared gritstone and ashlar with grey slate roof
- Grid reference
- SE 259 590
- Opening hours
- The church is open daily, during British Summertime, usually between 9am to 5pm.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
Overview
Historic England records a fifteenth-century west tower, the remainder rebuilt in 1902 by C. Hodgson Fowler in Perpendicular style, of coursed squared gritstone and ashlar under a grey slate roof. The plan is a three-stage west tower, four-bay nave with south aisle and porch, and two-bay chancel with south vestry. The tower has full-height stepped diagonal buttresses, a west door in a hollow-moulded Gothic arch, a restored three-light Perpendicular window above, a three-light window with reticulated tracery on the south face, and three-light Perpendicular belfry windows, all with hoodmoulds. The eaves string course carries a battlemented parapet with a weather-vane. The south porch has a chamfered arch of possibly reused masonry; its side walls include medieval and later inscriptions and tomb slabs.
Inside, a large bowl-shaped font near the door stands on an octagonal base. Late seventeenth-century panelling lines the south aisle. A large white marble monument of 1919 commemorates Amy Woodforde-Finden; the sculptor was George Wade. A small brass of about 1360 depicts a merchant. Wikipedia notes an earlier church of about 1180, a fourteenth-century rebuild after Scottish wars, and a previous rebuild of 1820, all replaced except the tower in 1902.