---
title: "The Ascension, Whixley"
description: "Located in Whixley, Yorkshire. Built Mainly early C14; restored 1862. Diocese of Leeds. Grade II*. Decorated style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of England","Yorkshire","Whixley","Grade II*","Decorated","Sir George Gilbert Scott"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/the-ascension-whixley"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T03:06:07.908Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-08T15:59:46.197Z"
location: "Whixley, Yorkshire"
country: "England"
county: "Yorkshire"
town: "Whixley"
address: "Church Street, Whixley, Yorkshire, YO26 8AR"
postcode: "YO26 8AR"
built: "Mainly early C14; restored 1862"
architect: "Sir George Gilbert Scott (restoration 1862, possibly)"
denomination: "Church of England"
dedications: ["The Ascension"]
diocese: "Leeds"
grade: "II*"
style: "Decorated"
materials: "Ashlar with stone and lead roofs"
website: "http://www.theunitedbenefice.co.uk/wixley.html"
openingHours: "Open from 9am until dusk daily 24/7 seven days per week."
parish: "Whixley with Green Hammerton"
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1189906"
gridReference: "SE 442 582"
accessNotes: "Accessible toilets nearby"
---

# The Ascension, Whixley

The Church of the Ascension is a Grade II* parish church on Church Street, Whixley, North Yorkshire, in the Diocese of Leeds and the parish of Whixley with Green Hammerton. Pevsner noted how unusual it is for a village church to be so consistently Decorated in style.

## Overview

Historic England describes a church mainly of the early fourteenth century, with some restoration of 1862 possibly by Sir George Gilbert Scott, in ashlar with stone and lead roofs. The plan is a three-stage west tower, a three-bay nave with north and south aisles enclosing the tower, and a two-bay chancel. The tower has a Perpendicular belfry, an embattled parapet with crocketed finials and a pyramidal roof. Aisle and chancel windows have intersected tracery; the south porch arch has ballflower decoration. The five-light east window has cusping and a six-pointed roundel.

Interior quatrefoil columns carry the arcades under the tower. The south aisle has a piscina and, at the west end, the tomb of Christopher Tancred (d. 1754), moved from the chapel at Whixley Hall in 1905. Wikipedia records that Domesday mentions a church at Whixley, that the building was closed for sixteen months in 1861-62 for Scott's restoration, and that on reopening it was rededicated from St James (or St Mary) to the Ascension.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1189906](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1189906)
- [Wikipedia: Church of the Ascension, Whixley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Ascension,_Whixley)