St Mary's Church Ruins

Originally built somewhere in the late 13th century, the first official record of the chapel was written in 1320 whilst Edward II was on the throne. The church is mainly in ruins now, but the walls and 17th century tower are still in fairly good shape. The church was left to decay in the 1800s when the congregation grew too big and was replaced with St Cuthbert's Church in 1827, which was in a more suitable location for everyone. As happened with many old buildings during this time, the church was dismantled and the stonework, lead and timber were used to build its replacement in the town.

A few interesting features still remain amongst the ruins, and the 'devil's door' quickly caught my attention. The door was a medieval architectural and folklore tradition which is found in older British churches, and was traditionally built into the north side of the church. In medieval times the door was used during baptism, to allow evil spirits to flee from the church. In those days it was believed an unbaptised child harboured original sin, so the door was intentionally opened during the ceremony and the evil spirits left the building. Following the reformation in the 16th century many of these doors were blocked up so that the spirits could not return, or more probably they were bricked up to keep the draft out. The Devil's Door at St Mary's church was likely still used as an entrance to the church, and was not bricked up like many others were.

The tower is one of the best preserved parts of the church and this was built in 1691 during the curacy of The Revd Thomas Furniss. His intials and those of the churchwardens of the time can still be seen above the doorway of the tower. It seems in the past the tower has opened to the public in September during Heritage Open Days, but I can't find any information to say this will happen in 2026. Let us know if you have climbed the tower!

Another gravestone that piqued my interest was one that had been consumed by a yew tree. The person had died in 1760 and in the meantime the yew tree had moulded itself over the stone - an interesting way for nature to reclaim the land.

I really enjoyed our visit to St Mary's despite the weather and there is plenty to look at here. The grounds and path up to the ruins were pretty slippy in the dodgy weather, so it's a good idea to get your hiking boots on for the trip and watch your footing.