Church of All Saints, Aughton

Church of All Saints
A stone built church in a grassed churchyard with floodwater on the left just beyond the church
Church of All Saints
53°50′22″N 0°56′06″W / 53.8395°N 0.9350°W / 53.8395; -0.9350
SE701386
LocationAughton, East Riding of Yorkshire
AddressPasture Lane, Aughton, York
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
History
StatusParish church
DedicationAll Saints
Earlier dedication
Allhallows
Architecture
Functional status
Active
Administration
DioceseYork
ArchdeaconryYork
DeaneryDerwent
BeneficeSkipwith, Bubwith and Aughton
ParishBubwith with Ellerton and Aughton
Clergy
VicarNick Garside
Listed Building – Grade I
Designated16 December 1966
Reference no.1346742

The Church of All Saints, Aughton, is an Anglican church in the village of Aughton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The church is noted for its Norman arch which divides the nave from the chancel, and is adorned with beak-heads, which are only present in a small number of churches. All Saints was grade I listed in December 1966.

History

The church is located along a muddy track (which is elevated above the old moats for the fortification in the area) off Pasture Lane in the village of Aughton.[1][2] The western edge of the churchyard borders the Derwent Ings, part of the floodplain of the River Derwent,[3] and a local field drain system known as the Aughton Cut is on the edge of the churchyard.[4] Mee describes the site as "..where the Derwent floods the meadows and washes the walls of the churchyard.[5] The position of churchyard overlooking the floodplain is recognised as a good vantage point for birdwatching, particularly starling murmurations.[6]

The church is said to date back to the late 12th/early 13th-century, but the tower is said to be an addition of 1536, and tied to Robert Aske.[7][i][9] A document from 1231 details how the vicarage was installed there for the incumbent priest and in 1402, the church along others in the area were confirmed as gifts to the Priory of Ellerton by the Hays (or De la Hays) family.[10] On the south-west buttress of the tower is a carving of a newt; this is thought to have been added after the execution of Robert Aske, leader of the pilgrimage of Grace, and owner of Aske Hall which adjoined the churchyard; Aske is an Old English word for a newt.[11] The church has a nave, north aisle, chancel, low embattled tower and a south-facing porch.[12] The nave is Early English and the tower is Perpendicular; large parts of the church were renovated between 1891 and 1893 by Demaine & Brierley, though the chancel was rebuilt in 1839 and then shortened in 1963.[13] On the external wall of the south tower are seven shields, five of which have always been plain without design or mottoes, and an inscription underneath which reads "Cristofer le second Fitz de Robert Ask oblierne doy Ao. Di. 1536". This translates as Christoper, second son of Sir Robert Aske, ought not to forget the year 1536, and is taken as a reference to the Pilgrimage of Grace.[13][14] The Christopher in question is thought to refer to an uncle of Robert Aske.[15] One of the decorated shields bears the coast of arms of the Ask[e] family, and the other shield is dedicated to the Clifford family.[16]

On the floor of the chancel within the altar rails are two brass figures thought to be Robert Ask (who died in 1460) and his wife Margaret dated to 1466. The brass of Robert is complete, but the lower half of Margaret is missing. The whole slab into which they are inlaid is 72 inches (1,800 mm) by 36 inches (910 mm).[17] The chancel arch is noted for as it is adorned with beakheads and chevrons; it is often cited as being the finest example of Anglo-Norman architecture in the East Riding save for the arch at Kirkburn church.[18]

Henry Jessey was the vicar at Aughton from 1623 until 1624; he "was ejected for removing a crucifix and refusing to practice ceremonies demanded by the prayer book."[19] The incumbent vicar is Nick Garside who holds the Benefice of Skipwith, Bubwith and Aughton in plurality with the Benefice of Riccall, Barlby, Hemingbrough and Cliffe.[20] Historically, the church was in the Deanery of Harthill, now it is in the Deanery of Derwent, and in the Archdeaconry and Diocese of York.[21][22]

Besides the church building, which is Grade I listed, an 18th-century gravestone south of the tower is also listed at grade II.[7][23] The motte from an old fortification is to the north and east of the church, which is thought to be the remains of the Aske family residence.[24][25] The churchyard has a "paucity of gravestones" that pre-date the 1740s, which Pevsner attributed to the lack of good stone in the area, however, there is a gravestone that dates to the 13th-century which has stone from Dorset region, some 270 miles (430 km) away.[2][26]

Names

Officially the Church of All Saints; the church is also known as the Church on the Ings due to its western churchyard wall being next to the floodplain of the River Derwent, and has also been called the Pilgrimage of Grace Church, as the leader of the Pilgrimage of Grace was Robert Aske, who was born in Aughton and attended the church there.[27][28] Historically, the church was referred to as Allhallows or All Souls;[16] many churches were renamed to All Saints from Allhallows in Yorkshire before the 19th century.[29] Only one other church in Yorkshire had a dedication to All Souls before becoming All Saints, and that is in Bingley, in West Yorkshire.[30]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The book Yorkshire returns of the 1851 census of religious worship states that the church was erected c. 1300.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Allison, Keith John (1976). The East-Riding of Yorkshire landscape. London: Hodder & Stoughton. 12. ISBN 0340158212.
  2. 1 2 Ratcliffe, Roger (11 April 2026). "Corner of Yorkshire - All Saints, Aughton". The Yorkshire Post. Yorkshire Post Magazine. p. 7. ISSN 0963-1496.
  3. ↑ "The landscape of the Lower Derwent valley". Aughton Church - Aske 500. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  4. ↑ "Restoring the Yorkshire Derwent" (PDF). www.therrc.co.uk. June 2010. p. 85. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  5. ↑ Mee, Arthur (1964) [1941]. Linnell, C. F. S. (ed.). The King's England Yorkshire-East Riding. London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 73. OCLC 18034406.
  6. ↑ "Where To See Starling Murmurations Near York - Yorkshire Coast Nature". www.yorkshirecoastnature.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  7. 1 2 Historic England. "Church of All Saints (Grade I) (1346742)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  8. ↑ Wolffe, John, ed. (2000). Introduction, City of York and East Riding. York: University of York, Borthwick Inst. of Historical Research. p. 37. ISBN 0903857952.
  9. ↑ Pevsner, Neave & Neave 2005, p. 42.
  10. ↑ "Parish records of Aughton with East Cottingwith". borthcat.york.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  11. ↑ Markham, Len (2004). Discovering Yorkshire's history: a guide to places and people. Barnsley: Wharncliffe. p. 169. ISBN 9781903425732.
  12. ↑ Whellan, T. (1857). History and topography of the city of York : the East Riding of Yorkshire and a portion of the West Riding. Beverley: John Green. p. 572. OCLC 931180191.
  13. 1 2 Pevsner, Neave & Neave 2005, p. 268.
  14. ↑ Morris, Joseph Ernest (1906). The East Riding of Yorkshire. London: Methuen. p. 56. OCLC 1042964887.
  15. ↑ Morris, Joseph Ernest (1906). The East Riding of Yorkshire. London: Methuen. p. 57. OCLC 1042964887.
  16. 1 2 Collier, C. V. (1922). "Ancient heraldry in the Deanery of Harthill". Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. 26. Leeds: Yorkshire Archaeological Society: 94. ISSN 0084-4276.
  17. ↑ Stephenson, Mill (1893). "Monumental brasses of the East Riding". Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. 12. Leeds: Yorkshire Archaeological Society: 196–197. ISSN 0084-4276.
  18. ↑ Whellan, T. (1857). History and topography of the city of York : the East Riding of Yorkshire and a portion of the West Riding. Beverley: John Green. p. 573. OCLC 931180191.
  19. ↑ Wright, Stephen (23 September 2004). "Jessey [Jacie], Henry". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14804. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  20. ↑ "News". Aughton Church - Aske 500. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  21. ↑ Robinson, David (1969). Beneficed Clergy In Cleveland And The East Riding 1306-1340. York: Borthwick Papers. p. 51. ISBN 0900701048.
  22. ↑ "All Saints". www.achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  23. ↑ Historic England. "Gravestone Approximately One Metre South of South Face of Tower of All Saints Church (Grade II) (1160191)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  24. ↑ Pevsner, Neave & Neave 2005, p. 47.
  25. ↑ Morris, Joseph Ernest (1906). The East Riding of Yorkshire. London: Methuen. p. 55. OCLC 1042964887.
  26. ↑ Pevsner, Neave & Neave 2005, p. 69.
  27. ↑ John, Thomson (28 September 2018). "Times are tough in rural areas". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  28. ↑ "Yorkshire Wolds AONB consultation: Appendix 3 - inland area response" (PDF). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. pp. 124–125. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  29. ↑ Raine, James (1873). "The dedications of the Yorkshire Churches". Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. 2. Leeds: Yorkshire Archaeological Society: 183–184. ISSN 0084-4276.
  30. ↑ Arnold-Foster, Frances (1899). Studies in church dedications : or, England's patron saints. London: Skeffington & Son. p. 505. OCLC 1157773694. Ancient churches dedicated to All Souls are exceedingly rare; in fact, our lists show only three parish churches so dedicated, one at Great Barford in Bedfordshire, and the other two both of them in Yorkshire, at Aughton in the East Riding, and at Bingley in the West. Curiously enough, in each case an alternative dedication to " All Saints " has at some time or other been superadded, and this leads us to suspect that in the very natural revulsion from all the superstitions connected with the name of All Souls a like change may have taken place in many instances where, from the close proximity of the two feast-days, it cannot possibly be traced.

Sources

  • Pevsner, Nikolaus; Neave, David; Neave, Susan (2005) [1972]. Yorkshire - York and the East Riding. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300095937.
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