Christ Church, Over Wyresdale

Christ Church stands alone on the western edge of Abbeystead village in Lancashire’s quiet countryside. The building is a Grade II listed Anglican church, part of the diocese of Blackburn and the archdeaconry of Lancaster. Its benefice is shared with two nearby parishes, St Mark in Dolphinholme and St Peter in Quernmore. The present church replaced a 15th-century chapel and dates from 1733. The church was restored in 1894 by John Douglas, a Chester architect who added a spire, buttresses, a new south porch, a vestry, and a sanctuary. Built of sandstone rubble with slate roofs, it has a west tower, a nave with a chancel, a south porch, and a north vestry. Inside, the pulpit carries the date 1684. Visitors find a simple, sturdy building set among fields and lanes. The tower rises above the nave, its new spire catching the light. The south porch leads into the body of the church, where the restored chancel and sanctuary open ahead. The 1684 pulpit stands near the nave’s centre, its carved panels still clear after centuries. The air inside is cool and quiet, the only sounds the wind outside and the occasional footstep on stone flags.