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Church of St Oswald, Thornton Steward

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Church of St Oswald
Map
LocationThornton Steward
CountryEngland
DenominationAnglican

The Church of St Oswald, Thornton Steward is an Anglican church to the west of the village of Thornton Steward in North Yorkshire, England. The church has Norman origins, being mentioned in the Domesday Book, and is located in a burial plot dating back as far as the 7th century. The building is now grade II* listed.

History

The Church of St Oswald stands on ground slightly lower than the village of Thornton Steward, and a little over 0.25-mile (0.40 km) to the west.[1] Hartley and Pontefract state in their book "The Charm of Yorkshire Churches", that the church's remoteness from the village is common in the district.[2] The church has walls that are Norman in origin, with the nave and chancel having Saxon origins, but the north vestry, and the west end porch being added later.[3][4] The blocked nave windows, and a notable south doorway with a zigzag arch have been identified as Norman in construction.[5] The entry for Thornton Steward in the Domesday Book mentions the settlement having a church.[6] Thornton Steward was so named as it belonged to the stewards of the Earl of Richmond. In 1146, the church and certain lands surrounding it were given to the Priory of St Martin, near Richmond.[7]

Between April and September 1908, the church was extensively renovated with soil removed from the floor (being replaced with concrete), new roofs installed, and the external walls re-rendered with the pebble-dashing removed. The cost of the renovations was £750.[8]

The church is surrounded by an ancient burial site; a new pipeline system built in 1996 revealed up to 30 bodies from a time period from between the 7th and 10th centuries.[9] The bodies had all been buried facing towards where the sun would rise (bar one, thought to be a priest). This is a belief that on the Day of Judgement, people would rise up to face the judgement coming from the east.

Parish and benefice

Thornton Steward church is part of the parish of Middleham with Coverdale, East Witton & Thornton Steward.[10]

References

  1. ^ Page 1968, p. 265.
  2. ^ Hartley, Marie; Pontefract, Ella (1936). The charm of Yorkshire churches. Leeds: Yorkshire Weekly Post. p. 139. OCLC 32818476.
  3. ^ Ryder, Peter F. (1982). Medieval buildings of Yorkshire. Ashbourne: Moorland. p. 77. ISBN 0-86190-035-9.
  4. ^ Page 1968, p. 267.
  5. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002) [1966]. Yorkshire, the North Riding. London: Yale University Press. p. 372. ISBN 0-300-09665-8.
  6. ^ "Thornton [Steward] | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  7. ^ "St Oswald's Church Thornton Steward". The Yorkshire Herald and the York Herald. No. 3780. 8 March 1845. p. 5. OCLC 1325754826.
  8. ^ "Thornton Steward Church Restoration". The North Star. No. 8, 605. 30 September 1908. p. 5. OCLC 751720286.
  9. ^ Sheldon, Alexandra Aversa. "Community and Belief: the Development of Anglo-Saxon Christian Burial Practice, AD 700-1066". ora.ox.ac.uk. University of Oxford. p. 177. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  10. ^ "The Yorkshire Dales Parish of Middleham with Coverdale, East Witton and Thornton Steward". jervaulxchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2024.

Sources

  • Page, William, ed. (1968). The Victoria History of the Counties of England Yorkshire the North Riding. London: University of London. ISBN 0712903097.
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