St Mary's Church, Lead, is a redundant

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 ...

chapel standing in an isolated position in fields some to the west of the village of Saxton,

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. Though technically a chapel, it is generally referred to as a church. It is managed by The Churches Conservation Trust, and is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

as a designated Grade II*

listed building 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 ...

. The chapel stands close to the site of the

battle of Towton The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between a ...

of 1461, which was part of the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

. In the 1930s it was saved from neglect by a local group of ramblers, and is known locally as the Ramblers' Church.

History

The chapel dates from the 14th century and was probably the chapel for a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

which no longer exists. It is thought that it was built for the Tyas family. Additions were made to the chapel in the 18th century. There is evidence that an earlier chapel existed on the site, because in 1934 excavations revealed a grave slab dating from the 9th or 10th century, and the foundations of a larger church or chapel some long that contained two stone coffins. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries repairs to the chapel were carried out, and in 1912 it was incorporated into the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Saxton; before this time it had been a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the communi ...

. However, by 1931 it had fallen into ruin, but it was saved by a group of local ramblers. Repairs were carried out, the 18th-century communion rails were removed, the three-decker

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

was moved into the northeast corner of the chapel, a stone altar was built, and the medieval altar slab was laid on its top. It is thought that the

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

was also moved at this time. On 6 November 1932 the chapel was re-dedicated. Further restoration work was carried out in 1934. Due to the decline of the local population later in the 20th century, the chapel was declared redundant, and it came under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust in 1980. It is now maintained privately.

Architecture

St Mary's is a small chapel, built in stone, some long, with a rectangular plan, and a

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

at the west end. Its interior is very simple, containing benches dating possibly from the medieval period. On the east wall of the chapel are boards containing sentences from the

Holy Communion The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instituted ...

service dating from the 18th century. Also in the chapel are a three-decker pulpit, a stone altar, and a font.

Friends of Lead Church

St Mary's is maintained by a group called the Friends of Lead Church and there is an annual service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lead, Saint Mary 14th-century church buildings in England Grade II* listed churches in North Yorkshire Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust Redundant churches

History

Architecture

Friends of Lead Church

See also

Further reading

References