Whorlton Old Church, Swainby
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Entrance gate to Whorlton Old Church
Whorlton Old Church, Swainby, Coast to Coast
Whorlton Old Church is a medieval church, now in ruins, but once the centre of a saxon village, which was mysteriously abandoned during medieval times, possibly following the outbreak of the Great Plague. The church is built on the site of an old Saxon church. The church is located on Whorlton Lane, 1/4 mile east of Swainby. The Coast to Coast path is only a mile to the south, as it passes through Clain Wood and Scugdale.
Whorlton Old Church is also known as the Church of the Holy Cross. Because it fell into such disrepair it was rebuilt in Church Lane, Swainby. The new church is known as the Church of the Holy Cross, and the older one as the Old Church Whorlton. Also part of the medieval village was Whorlton Castle, also ruinous.
Whorlton Old Church
The chancel is still intact, as is the tower, but all that remains of the rest of the church are the arches. The church has a Grade I Listing with Historic England. The earliest parts of the church date to the 12th century.
Rear View Chancel
The east window, seen in the image, was restored in the 14th century. The projection on the north wall harbours a perpendicular tomb recess inside, which houses a 14th century bog oak effgy of the Second Lord Nicholas de Meynell, whom it was that built Whorlton Castle, slightly to the west of the church. He died in 1322. The effigy is thought to be the only wooden, London-made military effigy in Yorkshire.
The Tower and Belfry
The tower was added during the 15th century. It is understood that an early 16th century bell still hangs in the belfry. The entrance porch was at the rear of the tower. There is a pointed arched inner door and ogee-headed bell openings
Old Whorlton Tower Roof
The tower is of plain blocking course and its roof is pyramidal and has a ball-on-spike final. The tiled pyramidal roof is surrounded by a quatrefoil-panelled parapet. Quatrefoil is an ornamental design having four lobes or leaves resembling a flower or clover leaf. It is a common architectural design.
Column Capitals in the Nave
A row of column capitals can be seen in the wall arches that remain standing in the nave. The function of a column capital is to mediate between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, widening the area of support. They are usually decoratively carved in an ancient church building.
Coast to Coast Trail Guide
Hiking the Coast to Coast
"Hiking the Coast to Coast" is a digitally enhanced eBook available from Apple Books for all people who have either a Mac, an iPhone or an iPad, and is designed to accompany you on your walk of the Coast to Coast path. The trail guide contains Ordnance Survey maps and other advanced mapping features, step by step directions, hundreds of colour photographs, details of the route, its conditions in different weather and research snippets relating to places of interest along the way.
