Details

The monument includes the remains of St Margaret's Church and its
associated cemetery, in a walled enclosure on a hilltop approximately 150m
south of Chapel Farm. It is a Listed Building Grade II.

The church is a gabled rectangular structure of random rubble
construction, measuring approximately 13.9m by 4.6m. There is rough ashlar
facing externally, with traces of plastering to all internal faces.

The north elevation incorporates a two light mullioned window at either
end, between which there is a larger window with its eastern embrasure
missing. At the eastern end of the elevation is a blocked doorway, visible
only from the outside, with a depressed pointed head, plainly chamfered.

The east elevation has a centrally placed, six light mullioned and
transomed window, but the gable of this elevation is no longer extant.

The south elevation has a row of three, two light mullioned windows with
square heads. The mullion of the central window is no longer extant and
the western window is missing its mullion and western embrasure. At the
western end of the elevation are the remains of a porch with the remnants
of a doorway in its south elevation. The porch survives from 1m to 3m in
height. Butted against the southern side of the porch is a later set of
four stone steps approaching the doorway.

The west elevation retains its gable and remains of the bellcote.
Centrally, the elevation contains a two light mullioned window, with a
timber transom inserted across its internal recess at a later date. Above
this window are two round-headed bell arches. Below the mullioned window,
on the northern side, is a small rectangular squint piercing the
elevation.

The church was built by Sir Posthumus Hoby in 1634 in memory of his wife
Lady Margaret, who died the previous year. The site chosen was close to
Dale Hall, which stood on the site of Chapel Farm. The church was
abandoned in 1862 when a new church was built about a mile away. The roof
was in a poor state in 1914 and has since fallen, but the surviving
remains have been consolidated. The church stands within a rectangular
churchyard, measuring approximately 26.5m by 23m and enclosed by a
drystone wall, which is included in the scheduling. Within the churchyard
are a large number of burial monuments.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

A parish church is a building, usually of roughly rectangular outline and
containing a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate to its use for
Christian worship by a secular community, whose members gather in it on
Sundays and on the occasion of religious festivals. Children are initiated
into the Christian religion at the church's font and the dead are buried in
its churchyard. Parish churches were designed for congregational worship and
are generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provides
accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which is the main domain of the
priest and contains the principal altar. Either or both parts are sometimes
provided with aisles, giving additional accommodation or spaces for additional
altars. Most parish churches also possess towers, generally at the west
end, but central towers at the crossing of nave and chancel are not uncommon
and some churches have a free-standing or irregularly sited tower. Many parish
churches also possess transepts at the crossing of chancel and nave, and south
or north porches are also common. The main periods of parish church foundation
were in the 10th to 11th and 19th centuries. Most medieval churches were
rebuilt and modified on a number of occasions and hence the visible fabric of
the church will be of several different dates, with in some cases little
fabric of the first church being still easily visible.
Parish churches are found throughout England. Their distribution reflects the
density of population at the time they were founded. In regions of dispersed
settlement parishes were often large and churches less numerous. The densest
clusters of parish churches were found in thriving medieval towns. A survey of
1625 reported the existence of nearly 9000 parish churches in England. New
churches built in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries increased numbers to
around 18,000 of which 17,000 remain in ecclesiastical use. Parish churches
have always been major features of the landscape and a major focus of life for
their parishioners. They provide important insights into medieval and later
population levels or economic cycles, religious activity, artistic endeavour
and technical achievement. A significant number of surviving examples are
identified to be nationally important.

St Margaret's Church is an unusual example of new church construction in
the early-mid 17th century, when religious belief was rapidly changing and
contentious. Its architecture and fittings (for which evidence is visible
on the internal wall faces and will also survive in the deposits below
ground) form important evidence for Anglican belief and practice in a
rural area at this time.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
The Victoria History of the County of North Riding of Yorkshire, (1923), 531-2
The Victoria History of the County of North Riding of Yorkshire, (1923), 531-2

Source: Historic England