Details
NORTH YORKSHIRE
RICHMONDSHIRE
5339
SE 2293-2393 HORNBY HORNBY
9/32 Church of St Mary the
Virgin
13.2.67
GV I
Church. c1080, C12, c1330, c1410, late C15, C16, 1877. Work of c1410 by
Richard Mason of Newton for John Conyers of Hornby; 1877 work by J L Pearson
for Fanny Georgiana, Duchess of Leeds. Rubble with ashlar dressings, lead
roofs. West tower, nave with north and south aisles and south porch,
chancel with north vestry and organ chamber and south chapel. West tower: 4
stages, the lower 3 of c1080, the upper one late C15. Round-arched windows
to first and second stages, with clock on second stage; original belfry
opening on third stage of 2 lights, divided by a recessed baluster with
cushion capital, with round-arched lintels; double-chamfered 2-light belfry
opening on fourth stage with mullion and transom, trefoiled segmental-
pointed heads to lights and round-headed tracery above; C19 crenellated
parapets supported on corbels; corner pinnacles recently removed. West side
of tower has plinth, corner pilaster buttresses and doorway with slab lintel
below round arch; north side of tower has round-arched light vent on first
stage. Gabled porch, C19. South aisle: c1410; doorway with double-
chamfered pointed arch with hoodmould; two 2-light pointed-arched windows
with tall Perpendicular tracery, flanking a shallow stepped buttress;
blocked C19 three-light window flanked by deep stepped buttresses to south
chapel; parapet with triangular corner finials; triple-chamfered, flat-
headed, trefoiled single-light west window. East end of south chapel: late
C15. 3-light pointed-arched window with tall Perpendicular tracery, and
deep stepped buttress to left. Nave clerestory: late C15. 3 flat-headed
windows with trefoil-headed lights; 2 of 2 lights, 1 of 3 lights; parapet
with eastern gable cross. North aisle, c1330, with, from left: angle
buttress; 3 double-chamfered 2-light trefoiled windows with tomb projection
between first and second, and with blocked double-chamfered doorway between
second and third; angle buttress. Double-chamfered trefoiled 3-light east
window with intersecting tracery; C19 three-light west window. Chancel:
ashlar. C12. Moulded and rolled plinth. C16 double-chamfered, triangular-
headed priest's door; two C12 windows with sill band and continuous
hoodmould, both taken round central and right pilaster buttresses; corbel
table; coping with gable cross to right. At the east end of the chancel,
three C19 Romanesque-style windows, with wheel window above. C19 gabled
north vestry has weathered cinquefoiled doorway and window of 3 cinquefoiled
lights, both with hoodmoulds, and heating chamber below with 3-light mullion
window. C19 gabled organ chamber with 3-light window with plate tracery and
hoodmould. Interior: 3-bay north arcade of c1180: quatrefoil columns with
delicate waterleaf capitals; arches of 2 orders, but each one different
including chevron, zigzag and beading motifs. 3-bay south arcade of c1410:
octagonal piers on hollow-chamfered bases, chamfered capitals; double-
chamfered arches of 2 orders, the inner one hollow-chamfered. C19 chancel
arch in Romanesque style. Tower arch: c1180, tall, narrow, semicircular
arch with imposts. North wall of chancel: C12 round-arched doorway with
continuous roll and mason's marks of an arrow. East wall of chancel: cavity
perhaps for relics. South wall of chancel: C12 windows have continuous
roll. East wall of north aisle: trefoiled piscina; 3 small panels of
contemporary stained glass, of c1330, in east window. North wall of north
aisle, from east: aumbry, trefoiled ogee-headed niche for statue, probably
of St Cuthbert, the dedication of a chantry founded here in 1332; double-
chamfered, pointed-arched recess containing two C14 effigies, of a knight
and his lady, the knight in a crocketed canopy, probably members of the
Mountford family; wall monument to Robert D'Arcy, Earl of Holderness, d1778,
by John Bacon of 1780, with a weeping cherub in bas-relief in circular
panel, with an urn above. South aisle, east end: trefoiled piscina and C12
oval font on circular stem. South chapel: separated by C15 parclose screen
with paired lights, Perpendicular tracery, and 5 original painted lower
panels. The chapel contains a remarkably fine collection of monuments: on
the east wall, Lady Frances D'Arcy d1670, the inscription surrounded by
swags, with the coat of arms above; on the south wall a large Renaissance
monument to Elizabeth D'Arcy d1578, with a small sarcophagus framed by Doric
columns and frieze with an eagle on a large ovolo cornice, and an upper tier
with the coat of arms framed by Atlantes carrying a pediment. On the floor:
C13 grave cover with foliate cross and sword; C13 grave cover with pattie
cross, stepped base, chalice and sword; parts of C13 grave cover with a
fleury cross; C14 effigy of a lady; late C14 - early C15 alabaster effigies
of a knight and his lady, possibly the builder of the south aisle, Sir John
Conyers and his wife Margaret St Quintin. Set in the floor: a black marble
ledger stone with brasses of figures of Thomas Mountford d1489 and Agnes his
wife, eight sons and seven daughters; a black marble ledger stone with
matrices for brasses and inscription commemorating Christopher Conyers and
Ellen his wife, d1443. Lead-lined octagonal font with crocketed canopies on
each side, hollow-chamfered stem and base with inscription that it was the
gift of Mary, Countess of Holderness, 1783. The contract survives for the
building of the south aisle, dated 1409, between John Conyers of Hornby, and
Richard Mason of Newton (le Willows). Edward C Holman, Descriptive Notes on
The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Hornby, North Yorkshire (1978); VCH, pp
317-319.
Listing NGR: SE2224393752
