Holy Trinity Church, Little Ouseburn

Holy Trinity Church stands northeast of Little Ouseburn in North Yorkshire. Built of stone rubble and dressed sandstone, it has a two-bay nave, north and south aisles, a south porch, a north organ chamber, a chancel with a north vestry, and a west tower. The tower rises in three stages with an embattled parapet and pinnacles topped by a cockerel weathervane. Round-headed windows appear on the south and west sides, while louvred bell openings sit in pairs. Inside, the tower arch is round-headed and the chancel arch is pointed, carried on octagonal piers.

The church’s fabric spans several centuries. The tower and chancel date from the 11th century, the south aisle, arcades and chancel arch from the 14th, and the battlements and pinnacles from the 15th. In 1874–75 Lancaster architects Paley and Austin rebuilt the north aisle for an organ chamber and vestry and altered the east window. The south porch was added during the 19th century. A carved grave slab forms the lintel of the east window in the south aisle, and fragments of an early sculpture remain at the west end of the aisle.

Beside the church stands the Thompson Mausoleum, built in the mid-18th century for Henry Thompson of Kirby Hall. Constructed in sandstone ashlar with a lead roof, it is a rotunda surrounded by a Greek Doric colonnade beneath a domed drum. The interior holds pointed arches and octagonal piers, while the nave pews carry poppyhead carvings. One pew features a poppyhead and a parrot, and the two-manual organ was built in 1872 by Brindley and Foster.