St Oswald's Church is in the village of

Ravenstonedale Ravenstonedale is a village and large civil parish in Cumbria, on the watershed between the River Lune and River Eden. The village lies south west of Kirkby Stephen. The parish includes the village of Newbiggin-on-Lune and several smaller sett ...

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 Appleby, the archdeaconry of Carlisle, 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 ...

. Its benefice is united with those of All Saints, Orton, and St James, Tebay. 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 ...

History

The tower of the church was built in 1738, and the rest in 1744, incorporating fabric from an earlier church on the site. From a 17th-century description, it is probable that the earlier church was

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 ...

in style.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

stone with rusticated

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...

, and has slate roofs. Its plan consists of an eight- 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 ...

with north and south porches, a short

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 ...

, and a west tower. The tower is in three stages with a west doorway. There are bell openings on the north and south sides. The

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

is embattled. Along the sides of the church are eight windows with semicircular heads and projecting keystones. At the east end are two windows.

Interior

The authors of the ''

Buildings of England The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of Great Britain and Ireland. Begun in the 1940s by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the original Buildings of England series were publish ...

'' series describe the interior of the church as being "atmospheric". There is a west gallery beneath which is a narrow cross-passage. The seating is arranged as that of a college chapel, each side facing the middle, and consists of six ranks of

box pew A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in ch ...

s. In the middle of the north side of the church is a three-decker pulpit with a sounding board. The chancel arch incorporates

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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

fabric. On each side of the chancel arch is a painted text board, and there is a panel painted with the royal arms of

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...

opposite the pulpit. There is another painted panel, formerly a clock face, dated 1719. The font consists of an 18th-century bowl on an earlier stem. The east window contains stained glass to the memory of Mrs Gaunt who, according to the inscription, was "the last female martyr burnt at

Tyburn Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern O ...

for the cause of the Protestant religion" in 1685. This window was made by

Shrigley and Hunt Shrigley and Hunt was an English firm which produced stained-glass windows and art tiles. History The business began in the 1750s when Shrigley's was a painting, carving and gilding firm in Lancaster, Lancashire. In 1868, control of Shrigley' ...

in 1889. The other stained glass includes a window of 1925 designed by J. E. Nuttgens for Powell's depicting Saint Margaret of Scotland, and one by D. Cottier dated 1890 depicting Saint Cecilia. Also in the church is an 18th-century monument to members of the Fothergill family. The two- manual pipe organ was made in 1891 by

Harrison and Harrison Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company that makes and restores pipe organs, based in Durham and established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and the ...

. In the tower are three bells, but these are no longer ringable; they date respectively from about 1530, from 1694, and from 1743.

External features

In the churchyard to the south of the church is the stump of a cross-shaft and base which possibly date from before the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

. Fastened to the top of the cross-shaft is a brass sundial plate dated 1700. The whole structure has been listed at Grade II. To the north of the church are the ruined foundations of the east range of the former

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

of the

Gilbertine The Gilbertine Order of Canons Regular was founded around 1130 by Saint Gilbert in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, where Gilbert was the parish priest. It was the only completely English religious order and came to an end in the 16th century at the ...

Ravenstonedale Priory dating from the 13th or 14th century. This is designated as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

References

External links

Photographs from Visit CumbriaRavenstonedale Priory & St Oswald's Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravenstonedale, St Oswald's Church Church of England church buildings in Cumbria Grade I listed churches in Cumbria Diocese of Carlisle Scheduled monuments in Cumbria 1744 establishments in England St Oswald's Church Neoclassical church buildings in England