Treasures from the Parish Chest: exploring North Yorkshire’s church history from archives to architecture

A rural church with the only surviving example of an historic rood loft and screen in North Yorkshire

Meaning ‘Hūnburg’s’ or ‘Hubba’s homestead’, Hubberholme is Anglo-Scandinavian in origin, and a church may have existed here since its pre-Conquest foundation. Originally a chapel of ease within the large parish of Arncliffe, the current church is architecturally puzzling. The oldest surviving fabric is probably 12^th century, but the church seems to have had a major redesign in the late-16^th and early-17^th centuries. This was unusual as very little church building generally happened in England during the immediate post-Reformation period.

The font is 15^th century and its octagonal shape is typical of the Perpendicular style of the time. The carvings on the font, including faces and a horse’s head, look almost Romanesque in design. They could be an example of how the use of historic folk art often lingered in rural places like this.

A rare example of the 16^th century rood loft and screen, but its construction is a bit of a riddle!

As part of the 16^th century reordering of the church, the old chancel arch was removed. In its place was erected an impressive rood loft and screen which is dated 1558 and signed by carpenter William Jake. Rood screens and lofts were a typical feature of late-Medieval churches. Their purpose was to divide the nave from the chancel and display the ‘great rood’, a sculpture of the Crucifixion.

The construction here is unusual; the two elements do not naturally fit together or cleanly fit into the available space. The rood loft appears to be back to front, with the most decorated section facing the east end. The screen also bears the crest of the Percy family, who had a long association with Hubberholme, but this had come to an end in the 1530s.  

One theory is that the screen was part of the parclose screen from the Percy family chantry chapel, and that the loft came from a different church; William Jake then installed these two separate elements together. Given the dates, this loft and screen could be a rare case of Marian ecclesiology – an example of counter-Reformation furnishings being reinstalled in a church during the short reign of the Catholic Mary I (1553-1558).

All photographs and text of Hubberholme, St Michael and All Angels © Sophie Cawthorne

Further information about Hubberholme, St Michael and All Angels

North Yorkshire County Record Office online catalogue listing of parish records for Hubberholme, St Michael and All Angels [PR/HBB]

The Churches of Upper Wharfedale and Littondale: Hubberholme

Hubberholme, St Michael and All Angels entry in A Church Near You

National Heritage List for England Hubberholme, St Michael and All Angels Grade II* listed building description

Church of England Church Heritage Record for Hubberholme, St Michael and All Angels

Hubberholme entry in the Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland

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