St Michael's Church, Cowesby

St Michael' Church is the parish church of Cowesby, a village in North Yorkshire, in England.

A church in Cowesby was first mentioned in 1227, and by the early 19th century, it was considered the second oldest in the district, after St Mary's Church, Leake. Despite this, it was demolished and a new church completed in 1846.^[1]^[2]^[3] It is in the Norman style, and was designed by Anthony Salvin. The building was Grade II listed in 1990.^[4]

The church is built of stone, with a stone slate roof. It consists of a three-bay nave, a south porch, a single-bay chancel, and a central tower. The tower has two stages, and contains two-light bell openings on the north and south sides, and single-light windows on the other sides. It is surmounted by a corbelled pyramidal roof with lucarnes and a weathervane. The windows in the body of the church and the doorways have round-arched heads. Inside, there is a 17th-century altar rail, and there are round-arched commandment tablets either side of the east window.^[4]^[5]

References

^ Whellan, T. (1859). History and topography of the city of York; and the North riding of Yorkshire. Vol. 2.
^ A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2. London: Victoria County History. 1923. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
^ Lewis, S. (1848). A Topographical Dictionary of England. London. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
^ ^a ^b Historic England. "Church of St Michael and All Angels (1190796)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
^ Grenville, Jane; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2023) [1966]. Yorkshire: The North Riding. The Buildings of England. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-25903-2.