St Mary's Church, Walton

Not to be confused with St Mary's Church, Walton-on-the-Hill.

St Mary's Church, Walton
St Mary's Church, Walton, from the west
St Mary's Church, Walton Location Cumbria
54°58′22″N2°44′53″W / 54.9727°N 2.7480°W / 54.9727; -2.7480
OS grid reference	NY 522,645
Location	Walton, Cumbria
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St Mary, Walton
History
Status	Parish church
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	16 January 1984
Architect(s)	Paley and Austin
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Completed	1870
Specifications
Materials	Sandstone, slate roofs
Administration
Province	York
Diocese	Carlisle
Archdeaconry	Carlisle
Deanery	Brampton
Parish	Lanercost with Kirkambeck and Walton
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Roderick David Allon-Smith

St Mary's Church is in the village of Walton, Cumbria, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Brampton, the archdeaconry of Carlisle, and the diocese of Carlisle. Its benefice is united with those of four nearby parishes. ^[1] The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. ^[2]

History

The present church was built in 1869–70 on the site of a previous medieval church, which had itself been rebuilt in 1811 and extended in 1843. ^[2] The architects were the Lancaster partnership of Paley and Austin. ^[3] The church cost about £2,000 (equivalent to £230,000 as of 2023). ^{[4] [5]}

Architecture

Exterior

St Mary's is constructed in red sandstone on an ashlar chamfered plinth. It has quoins, a string course, and slate roofs with coped gables, a cross finial, and decorative ridge tiles. The plan consists of a four-bay nave, a north aisle, a three-bay chancel, and a tower incorporating a porch at the northwest. On the west wall of the tower is a stair turret. The entrance to the porch is through a pointed doorway on the north side. ^[2] The bell openings are also pointed, they contain louvres, and are Early English in style. ^{[2] [6]} On top of the tower is a pyramidal roof with small louvres. The sides of the church differ. The south side contains tall lancet windows and one quatrefoil. The north side has a catslide roof extending from the ridge to the edge of the aisle. ^[6] It contains smaller lancet windows. ^[2] At the west end are a pair of lancet windows and a rose window. At the east end are three equal-sized lancet windows with a quatrefoil above. ^{[2] [6]}

Interior

The pews and all the furnishings date from the 19th or early 20th century. At the base of the font is a fragment of a cross from the 10th or 11th century. On the walls are marble memorial plaques moved from the earlier church. ^[2] The reredos dates from 1899 and consists of a mosaic framed in alabaster. The stained glass in the east window is by William Wailes and is dated 1869. In the north aisle is a window by Heaton, Butler and Bayne from about 1912. ^[6] The age of the single-manual organ is not known, but it thought to have been built by Samuel Renn of Manchester. ^[7]

External features

In the churchyard is a hearse house dating from the early 19th century. It is constructed in calciferous sandstone and has a slate roof. It has been listed at Grade II. ^[8] It is probable that its round-arched window comes from the 1813 church. ^[6]

See also

• Cumbria portal

• Grade II* listed buildings in the City of Carlisle
• Listed buildings in Walton, Cumbria
• List of ecclesiastical works by Paley and Austin

References

1. St Mary, Walton, Church of England , retrieved 9 June 2011
2. Historic England, "Church of St Mary, Walton (1157868)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 19 May 2014
3. Price, James (1998), Sharpe, Paley and Austin: A Lancaster Architectural Practice 1836–1942, Lancaster: Centre for North-West Regional Studies, p. 88, ISBN   1-86220-054-8
4. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)", MeasuringWorth , retrieved 7 May 2024
5. Brandwood, Geoff; Austin, Tim; Hughes, John; Price, James (2012), The Architecture of Sharpe, Paley and Austin, Swindon: English Heritage, pp. 223–224, ISBN   978-1-84802-049-8
6. Hyde, Matthew; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2010) [1967], Cumbria, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 656, ISBN   978-0-300-12663-1
7. "NPOR [D00949]", National Pipe Organ Register , British Institute of Organ Studies , retrieved 1 July 2020
8. Historic England, "Hearse House northeast of Church of St Mary, Walton (1087605)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 19 May 2014