Pockley is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

Ryedale Ryedale is a non-metropolitan district in North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Vale of Pickering, a low-lying flat area of land drained by the River Derwent. The Vale's landscape is rural with scattered villages and towns. It has been inh ...

district of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. It is about 1 mile north-east of

Helmsley Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town is located at the point where Ryedale leaves the moorland and joins the flat Vale of ...

turning north from the

A170 road The A170 is an A road in North Yorkshire, England that links Thirsk with Scarborough through Hambleton, Helmsley, Kirkbysmoorside, Pickering. The road is ; a single carriageway for almost its totality. The route has been in existence since pr ...

. Its short, winding lane passes six thatched cottages in a quarter mile before turning back toward the A170 and its junction at Beadlam and Nawton. The Grade II-listed church of St John the Baptist was built in 1870 and designed by

Sir Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

or his son. The chancel screen and other furnishings were provided by Temple Moore in 1898-99 and rood beam figures by Lang of

Oberammergau Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The small town on the Ammer River is known for its woodcarvers and woodcarvings, for its NATO School, and around the world for its 380-year tradition of ...

. The church's very unusual heating system was based on the Roman

Hypocaust A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...

. Warm air came through underfloor ducts from a coke-fired stove beneath the church. Originally the fuel for the stove was carried through a 25-foot brick-lined tunnel on a miniature railway which is still in existence but rarely used. The hot air heating system was restored in 2012 and for the first time in over 60 years the Church is now warm for services.Church Times, 10 May 2013

References

External links

* http://www.docbrown.info/docspics/helmsley/hspage12.htm, accessed 22 May 2013. * https://pockley.org/ accessed 13 February 2021. Pockley family in Australia Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire {{ryedale-geo-stub