St Peter's Church, Osmotherley
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St Peter's Church, Osmotherley
St Peter's Church, Osmotherley, Coast to Coast
St Peter's Church is located in School Lane in Osmotherley village centre, accessed via a narrow passage at the side of a fish and chip shop. The church has a Grade II Listing with Historic England. Parts of the Church date to 1190 AD. In the porch are 10th and 12th century carved stones and there are many ancient relics in and around the church. Osmotherley is 1 mile south of Arncliffe Wood and Mount Grace Priory, and 1/2 south of the Lady Chapel.
St Peter's Church Osmotherley
St Peter's church was built circa 1190. A chancel was added in the 13th century. The tower dates to the 15th century. The south aisle and its arcade were added during the 1892 restoration.
Tower and Belfry
St Peter's tower and belfry were added to the church in the 15th century. Under the tower is an old bell which bears the arms of the Fishmongers Company, one of the oldest and most ancient companies of the City of London. It is suspected that the bell was brought to the Church from Mount Grace Priory. There are currently 3 surviving bells, the oldest dating to 1794.
St Peter's Porch
The porch, as the Tower, dates to the 15th century. Inside the porch there are fragments of Saxon crosses and part of a Viking hogback gravestone. The doorway is Norman and has an arch with zigzags and beak heads. The oldest carved stones are 2 pieces of cross-shafts decorated with Scandinavian chain plait designs.
Ancient Cross Shaft St Peter's
Amongst other ancient relics on display in St Peter's south porch is a 10th century Cross Shaft. This has been decorated with a Scandinavian chain plait design.
Romanesque Arch
The Romanesque Arch is carved into St Peter's south doorway. Romanesqe architecture is typically semi-circular for openings such as doors and windows, and for vaults and arcades. Romanesque architecture was at its height in this country between 1075 and 1125.
Close up of a Beakhead
The inner semi-circle of the Romanesque Arch has engraved beakheads, albeit badly worn. It is a bizarre form of sculpture, of nightmarish bird heads designed to scare visitors.
Saxon Font
The font is very old and is thought to be Saxon, not later than 12th century. The break in the font's rim was caused when an earlier cover had been fitted with an iron lock. Locking it was an attempt to preserve the purity of the baptismal water and to protect if from profanation.
Scalloped Capital
A capital in a church refers to the top of a column, mediating between the column itself and the weight it is supporting, which spreads the load by widening the supporting surface. A scalloped capital is a medieval block atop a column that has been etched so that the shields and cones are multiplied to form scallops.
Viking Hogback Gravestone
The porch houses a segment of a 12th century Viking Hogback Gravestone, which is thought to have been sculpted by a troupe of wayfaring Danish masons who visited Yorkshire via Ireland.
Stained Glass Windows
There are many stained glass windows at St Peter's Church. The windows shown depict St Oswald, St George and St Gregory.
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.
