Church of St Mary and All Saints, Whalley

The Church of St Mary and All Saints stands in the village of Whalley, Lancashire, beside the River Calder. Built mainly in the 13th century, it replaced an earlier church and later received a tower in the late 15th century. The building is made of local sandstone with a slate roof and has a clerestoried nave, north and south aisles, a chancel with vestry, and two porches. Its perpendicular-style east window has five cinquefoil lights, while the tower rises 21 metres with buttresses and a crenellated parapet. Inside, the church holds fragments from its Anglo-Saxon and Norman past, including parts of the original pillars in the south porch doorway. The octagonal font dates from the 15th century and the nave’s arcades show Early English detailing. Simon Jenkins describes the seating as a museum of ecclesiastical furniture, listing pews from 1638 to 1702 and St Anton’s Cage, a 1534 pew later divided by court order. Two chantry chapels, dedicated to St Nicholas and St Mary, contain 15th-century screens and medieval fittings. The churchyard preserves three Anglo-Saxon crosses and a Grade II-listed sundial from 1757. The north aisle’s north door is set within a wooden porch, and the chancel stalls came from Whalley Abbey. Medieval misericord carvings depict angels, saints, mythical creatures and everyday scenes such as a blacksmith at work. The organ, built in 1727 for Lancaster Priory, was installed in 1813.