St Mary Priory
Swine, Yorkshire
St Mary's is a fragment of a priory of Cistercian nuns built in the late 12th century.
St Augustine’s was built between 1401 and 1404 when the then Bishop of Durham not only commissioned it but paid for it to be built in Skirlaugh, the village where he was born, around 1330. Known as Walter de Skirlaw, he grew up in the village and later studied at Balliol College, Oxford, was ordained Priest and in 1362 became Archdeacon of the East Riding. In 1388 he was appointed Bishop of Durham where he remained until his death in 1406.
Using stone from a quarry near Tadcaster, St Augustine’s was built to Skirlaw’s own design and incorporated the latest concepts in layout and perpendicular form with the chancel and nave as one, without structural division, which then was a new Perpendicular ideal based on many college chapels. Nicholas Pevsner the architectural historian described St Augustine’s as 'a perfect piece of Perpendicular architecture because it was built, not only lavishly but also quickly and entirely to one plan'. It still remains one of the finest examples in the country and is very unchanged from when it was built over 600 years ago.
The tower, which houses two bells, and the porch were added soon after Skirlaw’s death. It was when he was Bishop of Durham that Skirlaw adopted a coat of arms of six willow wands interlaced to form a cross and he placed his shield in every strategic point on all of his buildings and there are 34 of them on St Augustine's!
In 1656 the windows were recorded as having been 'all curiously painted and set with coats of arms' but sometime later they were replaced with plain glass making the church remarkably light and airy. A few remaining medieval pieces of stained glass have been incorporated into the east window and there is only one stained glass window, this commemorates a 19th century matron of the Skirlaugh Workhouse.
On the walls are traces of wall paintings and there are many mason’s marks to be found, some being the same as those in York Minster.
St Augustine’s is well worth a visit, not only for its Perpendicular architecture but for its simplicity and beauty.
