Church provided sanctuary for weary forest travellers (From Gazette & Herald)

Church provided sanctuary for weary forest travellers

EASINGWOLD is a pleasant little market town on the south-eastern side of the Howardian Hills, and on the verge of the ancient Forest of Galtres.

Since time immemorial, it has been the resting place for travellers journeying along ancient trackways through the forest, hence its former wealth of inns and taverns, which numbered 18 in 1823.

In view of this importance, it is surprising that there is so little evidence of an earlier church on the site.

Part of a Romanesque capital, found among the rubble when the organ chamber was being rebuilt in 1912, points to the fact that there was probably a church here in the mid-12th century, but most of the present building dates from the 13th and 14th centuries.

Behind the main street, the parish church of St John the Baptist and All Saints' is a well-proportioned Gothic structure, whose first recorded vicar was Thomas de Warbouleye, in 1293.

The clerestorial nave has arcades without capitals leading into the north and south aisles.

The chancel is spacious, for the wide chancel arch springs from the walls giving an impression of size.

The churchyard was extended in 1858 and again in 1886.

In 1981, the lych gate was put in place - it arrived from Huntington parish church in York. Restoration of the church interior has also recently taken place.

The earliest feature of the building is the north doorway, which belongs to the Early English period, while the main body of the building appears to have been built in the early part of the 14th century.

The church possesses a chained Bible, and an old chest. There is a curious large coffin, which appears to have been a parish coffin - used in the days before the introduction of individual coffins - for carrying the dead to the grave.

The altar rails were erected in memory of Charles Everard Dale, who died on active service in 1915. Among several other memorial tablets is one in memory of Thomas Walter Dale, Queen's 9th Royal Lancers, killed by a dynamite explosion in South Africa.

A visitors' book has been placed in St Leonard and St Mary's Church, Malton, as part of a scheme to persuade more people to visit historic churches in North Yorkshire.

The move comes about as part of the North Yorkshire Church Tourism Initiative which is being backed by Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency.

The aim of the project is to make historic churches in the county more accessible.

Church communities which take part can then apply for funding for various projects from Yorkshire Forward, provided they can show they are attracting visitors.

A united service is to take place at St Peter's Church, Norton, on Sunday, January 18, at 10.45am as part of the week of prayer for Christian unity.

Updated: 11:22 Wednesday, January 14, 2004