St Mary's Church is on a site overlooking the villages of Penny Bridge and Greenodd, in the parish of Egton with Newland, Cumbria, England. It is an active

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

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

diocese of Carlisle In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. Its

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

is united with those of St Andrew, Coniston, St Luke, Torver, St Luke, Lowick, and Holy Trinity, Colton.

History

The first church on the site was built before 1786. It was a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

to Ulverston parish church. The church was built in

roughcast Roughcast and pebbledash are durable coarse plaster surfaces used on outside walls. They 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 throw ...

stone; it was a long low building with a large west tower. This church had round-headed windows. A new, larger church was built in 1831. The

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

was added in 1855–56, designed by Miles Thompson. In 1864–65 the

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 ...

was rebuilt by the

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

architect E. G. Paley, and the south

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

was added. This work cost £1,000 (), and was paid for by Countess Blücher von Wahlstadt. A

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

was added in about 1890. The tower was demolished in 1893, and a replacement designed by Frearson was erected in 1969.

Architecture

The church is constructed in

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

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 ...

, with red stone dressings. The west front is rendered. Its plan consists of a nave, a south aisle, a chancel, a south transept, with a tower at the northwest corner, and a west porch. The tower has a

saddleback roof A saddleback roof is usually on a tower, with a ridge and two sloping sides, producing a gable at each end. See also * List of roof shapes Roof shapes encompass a broad range of designs, including flat (or shed roof, shed), gabled, hip roof, h ...

. Inside the church, the arches of the

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

are in brick. The carved wooden

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

dates from 1908. Also in the church is a painting of the ''Descent from the Cross''. The stained glass is by

William Wailes William Wailes (1808–1881) was the proprietor of one of England's largest and most prolific stained glass workshops. Life and career Wailes was born and grew up in Newcastle on Tyne, England's centre of domestic glass and bottle manufacturing. ...

. The two manual organ was built in 1866 by Wilkinson, and was moved from the west end to the chancel in 1890. The

lychgate A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the ...

is a First World War memorial.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penny Bridge, St Mary's Church Church of England church buildings in Cumbria Diocese of Carlisle Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Cumbria 19th-century Church of England church buildings E. G. Paley buildings