St Mary's Church

St Mary’s Church stands in the quiet village of Wreay in Cumbria. It was designed by Sara Losh between 1835 and 1842 as a revival of Lombard architecture, the earliest known example in Britain. The church replaced an older parish building and was built with Losh’s own funds. She chose the Lombard style after seeing early Christian basilicas on the Continent. The churchyard holds a mausoleum for her sister Katharine and a copy of the Bewcastle Cross. Losh broke new ground both architecturally and liturgically. She placed the altar in the centre of the chancel so the priest could face the congregation, a radical change in the 19th century. The interior is rich in carved details of plants and animals, carved by local stonemason William Hindson. Dante Gabriel Rossetti praised the church as original and full of imaginative detail despite its simplicity. Inside, the rectangular nave leads to a semicircular apsidal chancel. The walls and fittings carry repeated motifs of pine cones, birds and foliage. The churchyard’s mausoleum holds a life-size marble statue of Katharine Losh, sculpted by David Dunbar. The whole place feels spare yet full of quiet invention, a rare early example of Arts and Crafts ideas.