St Mary's Church, Dalton-in-Furness

St Mary’s Church stands on an elevated site near Dalton Castle in the small town of Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria. It is an active Anglican parish church built in 1884–85 to designs by the Lancaster firm Paley and Austin. The church replaced an earlier building from 1825–30 by George Webster, whose east window was reused in the new north aisle. Benefactors including the Duke of Devonshire and the Duke of Buccleuch helped fund the £11,550 cost. George Romney, the portrait painter, was buried here in 1802. A parish centre was added in 1979–80, linked to the church by the south porch. The exterior is of snecked red sandstone with ashlar dressings and green slate roofs in Decorated style. The west tower has three stages, buttresses, and an embattled parapet with chequerwork decoration. The nave has six bays, north and south aisles with buttresses, and two porches—hexagonal on the south and three-sided on the north. The chancel features a six-light east window topped by a slit window and a cross. The south chapel has a semi-octagonal projection between paired two-light windows. Inside, octagonal piers support the arcades, and most fittings were designed by the architects. Visitors find an octagonal medieval font with carved quatrefoils and shields, fragments of 16th-century stained glass in the north porch, and a 19th-century window by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. The organ dates from 1905 and was restored in 1973. Ten bells cast in 1927 hang in a cast-iron frame, rung on Tuesday evenings. Outside, a slate graveslab on a limestone plinth marks the grave of George Romney. The churchyard and surrounding elevated position offer views toward Dalton Castle.