St Anthony's Church, is in the village of Cartmel Fell,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

, England. It is an active Anglican

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, ...

in the deanery of Kendal, the archdeaconry of Westmorland and Furness, and the

diocese of Carlisle The Diocese of Carlisle was created in 11 April 1132 by Henry I out of part of the Diocese of Durham, although many people of Cumbric descent in the area looked to Glasgow for spiritual leadership. The first bishop was Æthelwold, who was the k ...

. The church 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, a ...

as a designated Grade I

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 ...

. Just to the southeast is Ravensbarrow Lodge.

History

St Anthony's was built in about 1504 as a chapel of ease to

Cartmel Priory Cartmel Priory church serves as the parish church of Cartmel, Cumbria, England (formerly in Lancashire). Priory The priory was founded in 1190 by William Marshal, created 1st Earl of Pembroke, intended for a community of the Augustinian Canon ...

. Lateral extensions were added to the north and south at the east end of the church in about 1520. The south porch was added in the 16th century, and the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

probably in the 18th century. The church was restored in 1911 by John Curwen.

Architecture

Exterior

It is a long and low church standing on a hillside. Constructed in

roughcast Roughcast or pebbledash is a coarse plaster surface used on outside walls that consists of lime and sometimes cement mixed with sand, small gravel and often pebbles or shells. The materials are mixed into a slurry and are then thrown at the ...

stone with ashlar dressings, it has slate roofs. Its plan consists of a three- bay

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

in a single range, a south porch, north and south extensions at the east end, and a west tower with a northeast vestry. The tower has a

saddleback roof A saddleback roof is usually on a tower, with a ridge and two sloping sides, producing a gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed ...

, a blocked west doorway with an inserted window, and louvred bell openings. Along the south wall of the church are three-light straight-headed windows, and a priest's door with a two-light window above it. The east window in the chancel has five lights, and there are two small square windows, one above the other, to its side. There are east and west entrances to the extension on the north side.

Interior

Under the tower is a baptistry containing a plain round font dated 1712. Three elaborate pews have been constructed for the church. The Cowmire Pew in the northeast of the church was probably created from a reredos and chancel screen in 1521. It was restored in 1911. It has possibly been used as a schoolroom, as there are inscribed calculation aids on a bench. To the east of this is a smaller pew dated 1696. In the southeast of the church is the Burblethwaite Pew, made in the 17th century, and reconstructed in 1810. Opposite is a three-decker pulpit dated 1698 with a tester. Also in the nave are Royal arms of 1781. In the chancel is an 18th-century three-sided communion rail. On the walls of the chancel are boards painted with the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

, the Creed, and the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...

. The east window contains stained glass dating from about 1520; this was restored in 1911. It contains depictions of St Anthony, St Leonard, the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

, and the Seven Sacraments. There are also fragments of 16th-century glass in a north window.

External features

In the churchyard is a rectangular stone block with a rounded end and three steps. This is thought to have been the base of a sundial, or possibly a

mounting block A mounting block, horse block, carriage stone, or in Scots a loupin'-on stane is an assistance for mounting and dismounting a horse or cart. Usage and locations Mounting blocks were especially useful for women riding sidesaddle or pillion, that ...

, and is listed at Grade II.

References

External links

Photographs from Visit Cumbria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartmel Fell, St Anthony's Church Church of England church buildings in Cumbria Diocese of Carlisle Grade I listed churches in Cumbria