St Martin's Church, Lowthorpe
St Martin's Church is an Anglican church in Lowthorpe, a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in England.
History
There was a church in Lowthorpe before the Norman Conquest, which was made collegiate in 1333. In 1548, with the Dissolution of the Chantries, it was converted into a parish church. The oldest surviving parts of the church are 13th century, while the chancel dates from around 1333, and the tower is 15th century. In the 17th century the chancel was walled off, leaving just the nave in use. The tower was heightened in the 18th century, and in 1859 the nave was largely rebuilt and a porch was added. The church was grade II* listed in 1966, and in the late 1980s the chancel was consolidated as a ruin. Together with a standing cross, it is also a scheduled monument.[1][2][3]
Architecture
The church is built of sandstone and chalk, the upper part of the tower is in brick, and the roof is slate. It consists of a west tower and a nave with a south porch, and the chancel is in ruins. The tower has two stages, a double-chamfered plinth, buttresses, a two-light mullioned west window, pointed bell openings with Y-tracery, a stepped cornice, and an embattled parapet with corner obelisks. Inside there are several memorials and the head of a Saxon cross.[2][4]
Cross
In the churchyard is a cross, said to have been carved as the market cross of Kilham, East Riding of Yorkshire and to have been relocated to discourage people congregating at it during an outbreak of plague. It is 2 metres tall, and the head is 48 cm across. It consists of a sandstone pillar, tapering at the top, on which is a Maltese cross, with a fluted arris and a central rosette. It is also grade II* listed.[1][3][5]
See also
References
- 1 2 "St Martin, Lowthorpe, Yorkshire, East Riding". The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain & Ireland. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
- 1 2 Historic England. "Church of Saint Martin, Harpham (1346656)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
- 1 2 Historic England. "St Martin's collegiate church and medieval standing cross, Lowthorpe (1018404)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Neave, David (1995) [1972]. Yorkshire: York and the East Riding. The Buildings of England (2 ed.). New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09593-7.
- ↑ Historic England. "Cross approximately one metre east of east wall of Church of Saint Martin, Harpham (1083347)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 July 2026.