Church of St Thomas

About

St Thomas' Church is the parish church in Osbaldwick, a suburban village to the east of York, in England. The church was built of limestone in the 12th century. The nave, chancel, and several round-headed windows date from this period.

The bowl of a 12th-century font also survives, although it is broken and no longer in use. A window on the south side of the chancel dates was added in about 1300. Around the nave, the lower part of the wall is panelled with some panelling dating from the 16th century, while the communion table and pulpit are Jacobean.

The church was heavily restored by John Oldrid Scott in 1877. In 1967, A. Michael Mennim added a south transept, a new south porch, a vestry and an organ chamber, giving the church an L-shaped plan.

He moved the Perpendicular east window to the south end of the transept and made the east end a blank wall. He also relocated the 12th-century south door to the east side of the transept. In 2005, the church was reordered, with the addition of a kitchen and the replacement of the pews with chairs.

It used to have a chapel-of-ease in St James' Church, Murton. Mary Ward, founder of the Congregation of Jesus, is buried in the churchyard. Her...