Grasmere: St Oswald

Name:
Grasmere: St Oswald
Record Type:
Church
Church code:
607250
Diocese:
Carlisle
Archdeaconry:
Westmorland & Furness
Parish:
Grasmere

Statutory Designation Information

Listed Building?
This is a Grade I Listed Building
View more information about this Listed Building on the National Heritage List for England web site
Scheduled Monument?
There is no Scheduled Monument within the curtilage or precinct

National Park

The church is in the following National Park: Lake District National Park

Conservation Area

The church is in the following Conservation Area: Grasmere Village

Heritage At Risk Status

On Heritage At Risk Register?
This church is not on the Heritage at Risk Register
 

Approximate Date

Approximate Date:
Medieval

Exterior Image

Work in progress - can you help?

Summary Description

The Church is named after St Oswald, a 7th Century Christian King of Northumberland, who is said to have preached on this site. It is the parish church of Grasmere, Rydal and Langdale, and each township has its own separate gate into the churchyard. The tower, porch and south wall are all that remain of the medieval church. Until 1841 the church floor was of earth with the parishioners simply buried beneath it. The church is roughcast but Pevsner says that in 1891 this was removed from the tower and the un-hewn ‘beck cobbles’ pointed up. However after only twenty years the roughcast had to be reapplied to resist water penetration. The interior is one of the most striking things about the building as in around 1500 the church was enlarged with a single storey arcade created from the original north wall separating a new northern nave. The resulting roof valley was a poor detail and in 1562 John Benson bequeathed money “so that the Roofe be taken down and maide oop again” and this created the startling two tiered arcade. The box pew opposite the quire stalls is of 1633 and was for the Le Fleming family who have strong associations with the building. The bells are said to contain metal of Pre-Reformation examples but William Wordsworth would have heard the present ones. He and his family are buried in the churchyard as is Hartley Coleridge, eldest son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. There are two south windows by the famous designer Henry Holiday; British Pre-Raphaelite Painter and Stained Glass Artist, 1839-1927.

Visiting and Facilities

The church is open for worship.
Work in progress - can you help?
 

Church Website

Church Website:
https://stoswaldsgrasmere.uk/

Sources and Further Information

Antiquarian Horological Society (2015) AHS Turret Clock database Unique Number ID: 1324 [Digital Archive/Data]
01/04/2016
John Salmon (of geograph.org.uk) (2008, August 13) Interior image of 607250 St Oswald, Grasmere [Digital Archive/Graphic material]
Interior image of 607250 St Oswald, Grasmere
Church of England (2021) A Church Near You https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/12407/ [Digital Archive/Index]
View information on worship and access at this church
Church Buildings Council (2019) Church Bells 3 Bells [Archive/Index]
3 Bells