Illustrated Talks
Informative and Historical Talks for both Visitors and Residents
of the Yorkshire Dales
every Monday during the Summer months. See our list of speakers for details.
Grinton church is well worth a visit and support. In my personal view it is of equal standing to great cathedrals such as Durham, York or even Westminster despite its "mini" size in comparison. I find once inside, even on my own and quiet, it has a very homely and warm feeling. Here are a few snippets of history about St Andrews with photographs to help you envisage such a beautiful church which one day you may actually want to visit for yourself.
The present church dates from 14th Century with restoration in the late 19th Century and stems from the days when England was Catholic, not Church of England as we are now. It has been a site of worship since pre-conquest (William the Conqueror - 1066) but the first stone church was built in Norman times. The church was founded by William de Ghent from Belgium, a kinsman of William the Conqueror, who gave Bridlington Priory the Manor of East Grinton.
The Norman font, small window in the west wall and Chancel arch are all that remain of the original Norman church. The Norman window is blocked by the tower which was not added until the 16th Century. Until then St Andrew's, Grinton had no tower. This window is apparently the oldest window in the Swaledale! The original Norman church was only the nave to the Chancel steps of the current church with the aisles being added in the 16th Century.
The wood screen in the Chancel was carved in the 14th Century. For those who do not know Chancel is Latin for enclosure. St Andrew's Grinton was the biggest parish in the County of North Yorkshire until Muker Parish was created in 1580. It stretched to the old Westmorland border! The Lepers squint is of unusual interest its purpose simply to allow those who suffered from Leprosy and were not allowed in to the church, to view the service.
The church floor is 3 to 4 feet lower than the churchyard level. It is the original level of the church. The height difference is apparently due to all the burials over the last 900 years!
Arrow marks can be seen on the outside of the inner porch door. These are accepted to have been made by men waiting for the Lords who attended a hunt service. The porch was used as an office where matters like wills etc were dealt with. The two stone seats in the porch were for that purpose. This use of church porches was not unusual in times past.
St Andrew's has several interesting stone
slabs forming part of the inside floor covering with carvings of names and dates
on. One has a simple inscription but with a date of 1688 with 7 above. This is
due to the calendar change by Pope Gregory 13th (1502 - 1585) He was Pope from
1572 to1585 who introduced the Gregorian Calendar, which apparently took the
local residents up to 150 years to adjust. 1668 was the official date, 1677 was
the date for the locals.
The 1718 inscription over the pulpit is the date when the pews were
installed. Until then there were no seats, the parishioners sat or knelt on the
floor. Pews in churches stem from the Reformation period.
Part of the East window of the South aisle indicates part of the early days of St Andrew's. The inscription of St. Mary of Bridlington Priory stems from Bridlington Priory controlling Grinton church for the first 200 years of its life until the first priest was appointed in the late 13th Century. The other window has the face of Mary. This dates from the Medieval days of Catholic England.
St Andrew's has 6 bells. The tenor bell is of Medieval origin and from Catholic England. Henry VIII removed bells from churches to prevent the calling for mass. He eventually gave one of the original bells back to each church. The other five bells date from the 17th Century onwards as do the other church bells around the country.
Copyright © 2010 Jeremy Hutchinson