All Saints’ Church, Pocklington is the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

for the town of

Pocklington Pocklington is a market town and civil parish situated at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded its population as 8,337. It is east of York and northwest of Hull. The town's sk ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

, England. It is also known locally as the Cathedral of the Wolds, it is an important

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building, dating mainly from the 12th to the 15th century. It is a constituent parish of the

Diocese of York The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The diocese is headed by the A ...

History

It is likely that the missionary St. Paulinus established the first Christian church in Pocklington on his way from

Goodmanham Goodmanham (historically Godmundingaham, the home of the people of Godmund mentioned in the year 627 in Bede's ''Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum'' ) is a small village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situa ...

to found

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbis ...

. Certainly, the Sotheby Cross, now in the churchyard, has the inscription "Paulinus here preached and celebrated AD627". The building's foundations go back to the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

era, and some fragments remain of the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

church. However most of the building dates from the late 12th to early 15th centuries. The church clock, dating from 1841, has an unusual mechanism in that it uses only one train to strike the hours and chime the quarter hours. It was restored in 2004. Only one other church clock with a similar mechanism is known, that of St. John's Church in

Keswick, Cumbria Keswick ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Allerdale Borough in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically, until 1974, it was part of Cumberland. It lies within the Lake District National ...

. Extensive repairs and alterations were made to the church in the late 19th century. Most of the stained glass dates from that time, as does the pulpit, with its two carved scenes showing the

parable of the Good Samaritan The parable of the Good Samaritan is told by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. It is about a traveler (implicitly understood to be Jewish) who is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the road. First, a Jewish priest and then a ...

and

St. Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

healing the man at the Beautiful Gate. The All Saints Heritage Appeal Fund (called also ‘Reveal and Restore’) was launched on 29 September 2004 by the Appeal Patron,

Lord Halifax Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 19 ...

, to raise £250,000. This money was needed for a complete re-ordering of the West end of the church to provide additional facilities, for extra space to accommodate larger numbers of people, and to display some significant historical features of the building more appropriately; this first phase of the work has been completed. The funds were also needed to repair crumbling areas of the church's exterior stonework. During the 1890 renovation, a message detailing the work was sealed in a glass bottle, along with a newspaper of the time, and buried underneath the plinth of the medieval Sotheby Cross. Unearthed accidentally during repairs in 2005, the sealed message and a copy of the 1890 newspaper were re-buried in the same spot, along with a contemporary copy of the ''Pocklington Post''.

Stories from the past

In 1733, the celebrated Flying Man of Pocklington, Thomas Pelling, attempted to travel along a rope between the church and the Star Inn in the Market Square. He crashed to his death fracturing his skull against the wall of the church following a misunderstanding with men working the windlass. He is buried where he fell at the east end of the church where a plaque celebrates his memory.

The Sotheby Cross

In the churchyard stands the Sotheby Cross. John Soteby was born in Pocklington in 1390, and the Sotheby Cross was made for him, or in his memory, in the 15th century. It was rediscovered buried in the churchyard in 1835, since when it had stood inside the church. In 2006 it was reinstated in the churchyard, its location determined by reference to a drawing in an architectural journal from the 1880s. Matthias Garn, from Bugthorpe, was the stonemason who created the replica of the cross head out of Tadcaster limestone. The Sothebys can be traced back to Roger of Lincoln, born in 1302. They came to Pocklington in about 1380. One of John's descendants, James Sotheby, was both vicar of Pocklington and headmaster of the

School A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

in the 1620s. The most famous branch of the Sotheby family moved to

Bishop Wilton Bishop Wilton is a small village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north of Pocklington and east of Stamford Bridge. The civil parish is formed by the village of Bishop Wilton and the ham ...

and then to Hackney, London, and

Sewardstone Sewardstone is a hamlet and district of southern Waltham Abbey, in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England, lying between Epping Forest and the built-up areas of Waltham Abbey, Chingford and Enfield. It is 11.6 miles north-northeast of Centr ...

in Essex. They gave their name to

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

, the famous international auctioneers of fine art.

All Saints’ Church today

The church continues its lively history of fellowship and local activities, and has links with Pocklington Church of England Infants School. The Benefice of Pocklington Wold also includes the churches at

Burnby Burnby is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Hayton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately south-east of the market town of Pocklington and north-west of the market town of Market Weighto ...

Great Givendale Great Givendale is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north of Pocklington. Great Givendale forms part of the civil parish of Millington. The church, dedicated to Saint Ethelburgh, was designated ...

, Hayton,

Huggate Huggate is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north-west of Beverley town centre and west of Driffield town centre. The village of North Dalton lies to the south-east. Accordi ...

, Millington, and

Nunburnholme Nunburnholme is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is approximately east of the market town of Pocklington. The civil parish is formed by the village of Nunburnholme and the hamlet of Kilnwick Percy. Accor ...

. The current vicar, the Reverend Dr Jacob Belder, was appointed on 22 September 2020.

References

Sources

*
News item on the Sotheby Cross

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Church Of All Saints, Pocklington

Pocklington, Church of All Saints Pocklington