Church of St Patrick, Patrick Brompton


The Church of St Patrick, is the parish church for the village and parish of Patrick Brompton in North Yorkshire, England. The church is one of six in the Benefice of Lower Wensleydale and its oldest parts of the building date back to the 11th century. It is south east of Richmond and north of Bedale situated on the A684 road.
It is only one of two churches in Yorkshire to be dedicated to St Patrick.

History

Reference to a church at Patric Brumpton was first made in the 12th century, though it is believed that a place of worship had existed on the site for some time before that. The present church structure is largely from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, though there have been some modifications, alterations and additions over the years. The church, which is now a grade I listed structure, underwent a restoration in 1864. It is only one of two Anglican churches in Yorkshire which are dedicated to St Patrick,. However, the dedication is first referred to in 1230, and may be in honour of Ghile Patraic, who was a landowner at the time of the conquest. One source states that a carved niche in the chancel used to hold a statue of St Patrick.
The church consists of two aisles either side of the nave, an east facing chancel, with a vestry to the north, and a porch to the south near the tower, which is at the west. Most of the internal fabric of the building is 12th century, whilst the walls are 14th century, though both the porch and the tower are modern additions. Most of the architecture is Early English, part from the chancel which is in the Decorated style. The church is largely built of sandstone with Westmorland slates on the roof. It is said that its design and use of stone was due to it being in the patronage of St Mary's Abbey in York, as its appearance was quite lavish for a remote parish church. The tower was erected in the 19th century to replace an older tower dating back to 1577. This tower also replaced an even earlier steeple that was blown down during a storm. Dates regarding the destruction of the tower are varied with some stating 1577 and others 1672. The Victorian renovation of the tower gave it a pyramid style roof which was seen as a bad decision architecturally in comparison to the church; one geographical diarist described it as "a deformity".
The tower houses three bells, dated 1400, 1686 and 1703. The bell from 1686 contains an inscription Pervvla per magnam prebabat cima rviam i place, which loosely translates as a very little crack, occasioned great ruin and is thought to refer to the destruction of the steeple during the storm of 1577.
The north-east end of the church building still shows marks where archers sharpened their arrows between 1100 and 1500. Many decrees by kings stated that the men of the parish should practise their archery skills on holy days should they be needed in times of war.

Churchyard

The churchyard contains several gravestones which are listed structures. There is also a memorial to the dead of the parish from the First World War and two Commonwealth war graves. Outside the porch door is an octagonal column with a sundial placed upon it which is inscribed with Geoge Smythes, Bedal. The sundial mentions Newfoundland and Maryland and is thought to commemorate those from the parish who went to be settlers in the New World.

Parish details

The church is in the Benefice of Lower Wenseydale and is one of six in that benefice, the other five are St Andrews Finghall, St Gregory's Crakehall, St Michael Spennithorne, St Oswald's Hauxwell and St Mary's church in Hornby. The Parish of Patrick Brompton includes the villages of Hunton and Newton-le-Willows.
Attendance at the church was an average of 25 people per week in 2017. This was down from 35 per week on average in 2008.

Clergy

Vicars incumbent at St Mary's are recorded as far back as 1300. Listings are taken from H.B. McCall's Richmondshire Churches and church records.
YearIncumbentYearIncumbentYearIncumbent
1300Thomas1490John Wrangwych1792John Baines
1324Hugh de Bargh1525William Farrer1802Thomas Hattersley
1352John de Heslerton1575George Askwith1803Edward Hardy
1358Thomas Nevil‡1592John Leadbeater1811Hugh Rigg
1359William de Strode1600Peter Baines1866John Thompson
1369John de Waltham‡1606Thomas Beane1889Christopher Norton Wright
1370Adam le Thornton1619George Slater1894Reginald Edward Pownell
1389William Lane1625Laurence Newton1919John Fotherley Dale Chapman
1390John Belnerge1654William Sagg1936Henry Crick♦
1390John de Popilton1673John Place1971Benjamin William Crawford
1420William Clynt‡1696Matthew Wood1975William Frederick Greetham
1423Guy de Wesham1721Richard Thistlethwaite1982Raymond Joseph Pearson
1429Alan Humbreston†1724George Scott†1995David James Christie
1440William Hambold1741Gregory Elsley2010Bryan Dixon
1441Nicholas Mallom1766Thomas Harrison2017Chris Lawton
1490Robert Coppyng1774John Patrickson