HISTORY will be made at 6.30pm next Wednesday, May 23, when a Catholic Mass will be celebrated in the ancient church of Holy Trinity at Stonegrave near Hovingham.

This is thought to be the first such occasion at Stonegrave since the Reformation about 450 years ago.

The congregation of Our Lady and St Benedict’s Catholic Church in Ampleforth has been invited by the Vicar of Ampleforth, the Rev Sue Bond, in whose benefice Stonegrave lies. She will deliver the homily and Mass will be celebrated by Father Bonaventure Knollys, a Benedictine monk of Ampleforth Abbey who is parish priest at Our Lady and St Benedict’s.

The tiny church at Stonegrave, capable of seating a congregation of 70 or so, is one of the oldest in this region, dating prior to 757. It has a long and tumultuous Catholic history, and in the past (and even today), it is widely known as Stonegrave Minster.

This title has little to do with age or size, but is more concerned with its earlier functions – not far away is Kirkdale Minster, near Kirkbymoorside, another small but very old village church.

The term minster is thought to date to the 7th century when it derived from the Latin monasterium which meant a monastery, nunnery, mother church or cathedral.

It signified religious people who were living a communal life, while being endowed by charter to maintain prayer through daily Masses along with teaching the gospel.

Minsters of the 7th century were created through royal charters and were of considerable importance.

They appeared in England shortly after the Pope appointed St Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, and in the north it is recorded that King Oswy, of Northumbria, endowed 12 small minsters during 654-5.

A burst of new monasteries followed when regional kings made grants of land while naming individuals to found minsters to house religious communities.

Stonegrave Minster was probably one of those early ones for it was well established by AD 757.

We know that because Pope Paul I previously wrote to the King of Northumbria to object about lay abbots in three monasteries, one of which was Stonegrave.

So where exactly where was Stonegrave’s monastery? There is little doubt that one functioned near the present church and there are reports of old building foundations nearby, although no formal excavation has been attempted. It is also suggested that at one stage Stonegrave Minster had an upper floor which housed monks.

The age and survival of this lovely old church has attracted researchers down the centuries but nonetheless, much of its early history remains obscure.

It seems the oldest part of the tower dates to Anglo-Saxon times and the church does contain a remarkable Saxon Cross. Such crosses were known as wheel crosses due to their circular design on the top of elaborately carved pillars.

It is thought they formerly stood outside the church building to mark Christian burials at sites where no church had been built. I believe that these wheel crosses were peculiar to the north of England with the one at Stonegrave being unique.

Many old churches, monasteries and nunneries suffered drastically during raids by Danes and other Norsemen, and again when William the Conqueror plundered the north of England, including nearby Nunnington.

Somewhat inexplicably, the tiny church at Stonegrave survived. The conqueror gave land at Stonegrave to Ralph Pagnel but as he did not live there, Pagnel appointed the de Stonegrave family to be tenants of the moated manor house south of the church. That house has disappeared but the de Stonegraves set about repairing the damaged church with locally quarried stone.

Although indications of Anglo- Saxon stonework remain in the tower and elsewhere, much of the construction of the present church was due to the Normans.

After 1066, the chancel was extended, the north aisle was opened, internal pillars were built and the elderly tower was probably reinforced.

There is no doubt that the Reformation, with the destruction of small monasteries, led to the decline of Stonegrave Minster.

It seems the Catholic Mass continued a few years after Henry VIII’s break from the Pope, but actions by Henry’s nine-year-old son and successor, Edward VI, led to wholesale destruction and vandalism of any church that retained Catholic artefacts or was used for the celebration of Mass. But that is another story.

Like so many parish churches, Stonegrave’s historic little minster was virtually rebuilt in the latter half of the 19th century and reopened in 1863.

It contains a beautiful Jacobean screen and pulpit which survived the Edwardine Visitations and there is no doubt it is one of the jewels of North Yorkshire and Ryedale, in particular.