St. Mary

Introduction

Saint Mary's Church in Carlton, within the Diocese of Leeds, was built in 1842 to a design by Hadfield of Weightman & Hadfield, Sheffield. The church, presbytery and a school opened on 31 August 1842. The church is built in the Gothic style, with white brick and stone dressings.

History

Before the church was built, the local community attended Mass in the private chapel in Carlton Hall. In 1876 a small convent behind the church was established for the nuns of the Order of the Sisters of Mercy. In February 1953, the Parishes of St Mary’s Selby and St Mary’s Carlton were united; they separated again by 1967. In September 2008, the Parishes of St Mary’s Carlton and St Mary’s Selby merged once more, to become St Mary’s Carlton and Selby.

Fittings include original pews, altar, reredos, and rood cross, with later brass altar rail and elaborate side altars flanking the chancel arch. In 1952, the parish priest found 12 Consecration Crosses and Brasses in the sacristy, discovered the church had not been consecrated, and it was consecrated on 24 July 1952.

Architecture and furnishings

The church was built by Mr Wm Bradley of Selby (stone and brickwork) and Mr Bairstow of Selby (woodwork). The church has a nave and south porch with chancel and north vestry, in white brick with ashlar dressings. The interior has a single hammer beam roof to the nave, and a cross braced roof to the chancel. The west gallery has a Gothic balustrade, supported on a single iron column.

The building has slate roofs and coped ashlar gables with moulded kneelers and cross finials. The north nave has three two-light pointed arch windows with panel tracery, and the south has three similar windows plus a projecting gabled porch with a pointed arch doorway and a trefoil window above. The chancel has a single three-light pointed arch window with panel tracery to the south, a larger similar window to the east, and a canopied niche above the east window. The north chancel has a projecting vestry with a tall gable stack and a flat headed two-light window. The stained glass window above the altar is in three sections, with the Blessed Virgin Mary in the centre, flanked by St Augustine and St Gregory.

Sacraments and pastoral care

The parish is forming a singing group to enhance singing at the Sunday morning Mass in St Mary's, Carlton, with a parishioner volunteering his services.