St.Cuthbert's church, Kirkby Ireleth, Cumbria England.
N 54° 13.780 W 003° 10.620
30U E 488461 N 6009089
There is no record of when the first church was built on the site,but it is possible that it was built by the monks from Lindisfarn,who were fleeing from the Danes in 875 AD.The earliest part of the present church is the Norman arched doorway of 1150
Waymark Code: WM3E58
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/22/2008
Views: 23
The name of the village "Kirkby Ireleth" is of norse origin and means "The village church by the west meeting", Kirkby is mentioned in the Doomday Book of 1086.
The earliest parts of the church are Norman in origin,the doorway where we enter the building is a very well preserved semi circular Norman arch consisting of 3 arches recessed.
Near the pulpit is an early 13th century tombstone of red sandstone, it is thought to be Alexander de Kirkby who in 1217 confirmed to the Abbot of Furness the grant of Kirkby church and 40 acres of land.
By 1200 the church would have consisted of a nave and a chancel with a bell turret at the west end.The original chancel would have only reached to just beyond the 2 Norman windows.
The churched remained unchanged for many years until the time of Henry VIII. The church was furnished with "horse box"type pews of medieval construction which were known to be in existence in1828 and were removed in 1884.
It is not known when the original tower was built but it fell down in 1657 when the bells were being rung for morning service,there were only 3 bells at this time and 2 were broken in the fall,nothing is recorded of what happened to the ringers ,the tower was rebuilt in 1829.
In the church are 2 oak chests which have been carved from solid blocks of oak,rings on the wood have been dated to Saxon times and the trees could have been growing in the area at the time of Christ.
Sources of information from the booklet "A history of St.Cuthbert's church Kirkby in Furness" by Maureen Murfet
Website.http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/144299
Building Materials: Stone
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Visit Instructions:
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