The main entrance to St Mary's Church is on the south side, raised high on the north riverbank of the Swale and overlooking Mercury Bridge and The Batts, a stretch of grass on the Swale's riverbank. It was once home to the Georgian Church Mill which was demolished in 1969, and is now used as a recreational area.

The Church also overlooks the deep Clink Pool located at the sharp bend of the Swale, where women contradicting their husbands were once tied to a ducking stool and plunged.

The north exit door has a 14th century porch. There is an alms box (a poor box) dated to the reign of King Edward VI on the inside near to the north door. Edward reigned from 1547-1553. A note beside it says it is for the safekeeping of peoples' benevolence towards the relief of their poor neighbours.

The east face of St Mary's is where the sanctuary terminates with the apse. It is the head of the crucifx design of most churches. The windows are stained glass.

The west face of St Mary's follows to the Belfry, and a clock with a blue face appears on the north Belfrey exterior, duplicated on the south wall.

On the south wall of the Chancel is a renowned 17th century monument, commemorating Timothy and Elizabeth Hutton of Marske, kneeling at prayer. Below them are the figures of 8 children and another 4 infants in swaddling clothes. Swaddling represented children who died in infancy. The Hutton family were a leading Yorkshire gentry family living in Marske Hall during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The partitioned room to the south of the Chancel was once the Lady Chapel. In 1930 it was offered to the Green Howards as a memorial chapel. The Green Howards, previously known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920's, were a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division.

Sixteen canopied choir stalls from Easby Abbey were moved in 1536 to St Mary's Church. Misericords are hinged seats that make a small tip-up bench upon which those praying for any length of time can rest. They are intricately carved on their undersides with such things as animals, faces and plants, the most well known being a pig playing bagpipes.

The 12th century octagonal Font is topped by an intricately crafted 15th century wooden cover. The font itself is carved from Teesdale Marble which is a type of limestone containing many fossils. The font was thrown out by puritans during the Commonwealth but brought back into the church when the monarchy was restored in 1660. To the left of the stained glass window in the north aisle, is a painting entitled "Christ before Pilate", which dates to the 16th century. The organ, made by Harrison and Harrison of Durham, is thought to be one of the grandest parish church organs in England.

The tower dates from 1399. At this time the rector of the church was John Harwood. Originally, there were 3 bells housed in the belfry but in 1697 they were replaced with 8 new bells which were replaced in 2017. One of the older bells has been preserved in the belfry. The local campanologists, the Society of Bellringers of St Mary's, are acknowledged as a teaching hub for Richmond bell ringers.

Richmond suffered badly during the Great Plague, losing 50% of its citizens. In the north section of the churchyard is an unmarked gravestone that marks the grave of 1,072 citizens of Richmond who died as a result of the Black Plague between 1597-1598.

A second Plague pit is located in a field separated from the churchyard by a narrow lane. The field lies between the churchyard and the Clink Pool in the River Swale. Interred within the pit are the corpses of another 700 citizens succumbing to a second wave of the Black Death between 1644 and 1645.

Coast to Coast Trail Guide

"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.