Church of St Mary the Virgin

St Mary the Virgin in Hemingbrough stands near Selby in North Yorkshire as a Grade I listed building. The church began in the late 12th century and grew through the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. William the Conqueror once gave the church to the prior and convent of Durham. Henry VI granted a licence in 1426 to turn it into a collegiate church with resident canons and a provost. The college had three prebendaries, six vicars and six clerks before it closed in 1545. The church shows fine Decorated and later English styles, with Perpendicular windows in the north transept and nave. Its square tower carries battlements and an octagonal spire added in the 13th century. The spire, finished between 1416 and 1446, rises to 58 metres. Inside, the nave has four bays with aisles, and the chapter house has three bays. The vestry lies on the north side, while both transepts have two bays each. Visitors find one of the UK’s oldest surviving misericords from the early 13th century. The cruciform plan guides them through aisled naves, transepts and a chapter house. The tower and spire dominate the skyline, marking the church as a landmark in the area.