Details
SE 82 SW TWIN RIVERS MAIN STREET
(south side)
Whitgift
1/43 Church of St Mary
Magdalene
14.2.67 (formerly listed under
Whitgift Parish)
GV I
Parish church. C12 origins, largely demolished in mid C13, rebuilt in early
C14. Early C14 arcades, chancel arch; C14 lower section to tower, with C15-
C16 upper stages; aisles rebuilt 1582-3. Early C18 rebuilding, including
reroofing nave. Restorations of 1898 included reroofing, new chancel.
Limestone ashlar to nave and lower stage of tower; upper stages of tower of
brick faced in ashlar. Aisles of red brick in English bond, rendered and
incised in imitation of ashlar. Random rubble to chancel. Limestone and
sandstone ashlar dressings. Slate roofs to nave and aisles, lead roof to
chancel. West tower with 4-bay aisled nave and 2-bay chancel. 3-stage
tower (the bottom now below ground level): moulded plinth, full-height angle
buttresses with offsets, moulded string courses between stages. Tall first
stage has blocked C14 pointed west door with 2 wave-moulded orders, pointed
4-light transomed west window with round-arched lights, plain Perpendicular
tracery and hoodmould. Second stage has slit light to south, clock face to
north dated 1919. Top stage has 4-centred-arched 2-light belfry openings
with cinquefoiled lights and Perpendicular tracery. String course, coped
embattled parapet with crocketed angle pinnacles and plain replacement
pinnacles to centres of each side. Aisles: diagonal buttresses and
buttresses between bays with offsets; pointed double-chamfered north and
south doorways, that to north with hoodmould and studded oak door. C19
4-centred-arched 3-light north and south windows with
cinquefoiled lights and incised spandrels, hoodmoulds and headstops;
original Tudor-arched single-light east windows and narrower single-light
west windows with hoodmoulds. Coped embattled parapets, that to north of
rendered brick, that to south of ashlar, with central relief panel bearing
cross and worn date (illegible at time of resurvey). Chancel: chamfered
plinth, angle buttresses; 2 pointed traceried 2-light south windows, single
similar north window; pointed traceried 4-light east window with hoodmould
and headstops. Interior. Nave arcades of pointed double-chamfered arches
on octagonal piers and responds with plain moulded capitals, those to the
south aisle responds more elaborate, with the abaci mouldings continued as
string courses. Most piers with broach stops to square bases. Tall pointed
double-chamfered tower arch with moulded corbels to inner order and outer
order dying into jambs. Chamfered segmental-headed doorway to tower spiral
staircase with notched newel. Pointed double-chamfered chancel arch on
octagonal responds with moulded capitals and abaci continued as string
courses. Chancel has C19 pointed chamfered arch to north. Restored C18
5-bay nave roof with corbelled tie beams, king posts and queen struts with
trefoiled panels between, 3 of the tie beams with ovolo chamfers and
inscriptions (partly obscured by C19 brattished panels), including a
possible date of 1727. Ornate foliate ashlar corbels to C19 chancel roof.
Monuments. Wall tablets in south aisle: on north side, to James Stovin of
1777 with free standing urn and obelisk base; on south side, a group of
6 late C18 - early C19 tablets to the Stovin family in moulded ashlar
surrounds with shaped heads and aprons, carved urn, foliate corbels etc; a
large marble tablet to Elizabeth Stovin of 1768 in a moulded ashlar surround
with a cartouche above bearing faded painted arms in foliate surround; small
tablet to Cornelius Stovin of Whitgift Hall of 1779 with fluted base and
cornice; to Thomas Coulman and family of Whitgift Hall, of 1852, with
pilastered surround, by Skelton of York. Pedimented wall tablets in north
aisle: to John Bell of 1831 by W D Keyworth of Hull; to Robert Bell of 1859.
Shaped wall tablets at west end of nave: to Rev William Romley of 1771, with
urn above, and apron hung with guttae and floral drop; to Robert Romley of
1812, with urn and flaming lamps above, guttae and floral ornament below;
painted wooden board in architrave to Elizabeth Romley and children of 1746.
Large closely-inscribed pedimented tablet at east end of nave to Egremont
family of c1846 by John Earle of Hull. Graveslabs at east end of north
aisle: coffin-shaped slab with incised panel beneath cinquefoiled crocketed
ogee arch, probably C14-C15, with later inscription ALLICIA; rectangular
slab of c1500 with incised arms and worn Gothic border inscription, perhaps
the stone to Alexander and Elizabeth Aungier recorded here in the late C17;
C18 slabs to John Simpson of 1733, to Dorkas Margreve of 1739, to William
Thompson of 1743 with incised segmental arch. 12-sided font with roll-
moulded bowl on shaft with moulded base. Pine bench pews in nave, probably
C16 - C17, with ogee-mouldings, and arm rests with roll motifs bearing a
variety of carved floral ornament. C19 copies in choir. Carved oak
traceried reredos of 1901. Late C19 stained glass east and south windows.
Remains of former late C17 wooden frame turret clock at west end of nave.
The C12 church at Whitgift was pulled down before 1291, probably in the mid
C13 by the Rector of Adlingfleet, John le Franceys, to thwart its
appropriation by Selby Abbey. The cemetery and shell of the church were
granted to Selby in 1304 and the church subsequently rebuilt.
N Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Yorkshire, West Riding, 1959, p 543;
W Richardson, Some Useful Consumers of Waste: History in two Marshland
Parishes, Adlingfleet and Whitgift, 1981, pp 87-127.
Listing NGR: SE8086922701
