Church of St Mary, Lastingham

The Church of St Mary, Lastingham, is the Church of England parish church for the village of Lastingham in North Yorkshire, England. The parish is 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Kirkbymoorside, 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Pickering and 30 miles (48 km) north east from York. The first church on the site was a Catholic monastery founded in 654, though the present church dates from the latter part of the 11th century and became an Anglican parish church during the English Reformation. Lastingham has been an important part of Christian heritage and culture in Northern England and as such, has been a place of pilgrimage, especially for its rare crypt, which is said to be unique architecturally for England, and possibly, the world.

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Lastingham

Lastingham is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the southern fringe of the North York Moors, 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Kirkbymoorside, and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the east of Hutton-le-Hole. It was home to the early missionaries to the Angles, the saints Cedd and his brother, Chad. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 96, increasing to 233 (including Spaunton) at the 2011 Census. It is in the historic North Riding of Yorkshire. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Ryedale, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.

Spaunton

Spaunton is a hamlet and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. At the 2011 the civil parish had a population of less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Lastingham. It is situated near Lastingham and about 5 miles (8 km) north west of Pickering. The name Spaunton derives from Old Norse and means a farmstead or settlement which had shingle roofs. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Ryedale, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council. Spaunton is still the setting for a Court Leet. Every year in October, the court convenes to hear cases involving encroachment on village common land and to impose penalties on violators. The full title of the court is the Manor of Spaunton Court Leet and Court Baron with View of Frankpledge. Just after 9:00 pm on the 7 October 1943, a Lancaster bomber of No. 408 Squadron RCAF from RAF Linton-on-Ouse crashed into the village with a full load of ordnance. One of the bombs exploded and killed a civilian from the village, George Strickland, as he went to see what the noise was about. He is buried in Lastingham graveyard.

Hutton-le-Hole

Hutton-le-Hole is a small village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, about 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Pickering. It is a popular scenic village within the North York Moors National Park.

Christ Church, Appleton-le-Moors

Christ Church is the parish church of Appleton-le-Moors, a village in North Yorkshire, in England. Appleton-le-Moors was historically in the parish of Lastingham. In the 1860s, Mrs J. Shepherd commissioned a church as a memorial to her husband. It was constructed from 1863 to 1866, to a design by John Loughborough Pearson. It is in the early French Gothic style, and was Grade I listed in 1985. The church is built in limestone with slate roofs, and some of its interior details are in Rosedale ironstone. It consists of a nave with a narthex, north and south aisles, a chancel with an apse and a north chapel, and a southeast steeple. The steeple has a tower with two-light bell openings, shafts and lucarnes, and a pyramidal spire. At the west end, the narthex projects between buttresses, and the entrance arch has three orders, shafts and foliate capitals. Above it, in the gable, is a large rose window, with a botanical theme, filled with stained glass by Clayton and Bell which depicts Christian virtues. The windows elsewhere are lancets. A west porch shelters two doors into the church, between which sits the font. Inside, there is a hammerbeam roof, and pink sgraffito decoration in a Classical style, by Clayton & Bell, who also designed the stained glass.