St.Mary the Virgin's Church, off High Street, Shincliffe, Durham. DH1 2NJ.
Posted by: 
greysman
N 54° 45.648 W 001° 32.954
30U E 593351 N 6069139
There is a light ring of six in this Victorian church in the centre of this expanding village.
Waymark Code: WMN7HC
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/12/2015
Views: 1
The Church of St Mary in Shincliffe is a Grade II listed Victorian Parish church built in 1851 by George Pickering. The broach spire was added in 1871 by Walter and Robson. It is built of squared sandstone with ashlar dressings and has a Welsh slate roof. It consists of the west tower with spire, nave with north aisle and south porch, chancel with organ chamber and vestry on the north side. The style is Early English.
The three-stage, angle-buttressed tower has a shouldered north doorway, trefoil-headed lancets, pointed two-light bell openings and a Lombard frieze below the spire. The tall octagonal broach spire has large lucarnes at the base and smaller lucarnes set higher up. There is a single clock face on the south side in the second stage.
The buttressed 4-bay nave has a pointed north door in a porch, lancets under hoodmoulds, carved gutter brackets and a steep roof with coped gables. The similar north aisle has a sill string and pent roof. The lower and narrower, buttressed two-bay chancel has a sill string and two lancets in each bay, the east end has clasping buttresses and three stepped lancets, the steep roof has a coped east gable. The gabled porch has a moulded, pointed doorway with outer order on colonnettes and the organ chamber is under a pent roof. The slightly lower vestry has a shouldered north door, pointed 2-light east window and pent roof with truncated stack for the fire flue. Internally there is good early C20th woodwork which includes the chancel screen, stalls and pulpit. The C19th octagonal stone font has foliage carving.
The ringing chamber is above the choir robing room, reached by a ladder along the north wall of the tower. The bells, all cast in 1969 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry Ltd. are light in weight with a tenor of 209.56kg sounding in D major. The treble and second are very nearly the same weight at 95.25kg and 99.79kg and sounding B and A, the fifth and sixth noted of D major. They are an easy going ring although a little flighty due to their light weight and are rung for Divine Services and weddings. Practice night is Tuesday and visiting ringers are welcome.
The church is reached from the High Street going up a private drive alongside the church rooms.