St Edward the Confessor's Church, Dringhouses

St Edward the Confessor's Church is an Anglican church in Dringhouses, a suburb of York in England.

During the Mediaeval period, Dringhouses fell within the parish of Holy Trinity Church, Micklegate, but the local parishioners preferred to worship at St Stephen's Church, Acomb, which was closer. In about 1472, a chapel was constructed in the village, dedicated to Saint Helen, on the site later occupied by the library. It was demolished in 1725, and a new chapel was built on the opposite side of the main road, of which only the foundations survive. Between 1847 and 1849, the current church was built, immediately south-west of its predecessor. It was designed by Vickers and Hugall, and was intended to resemble the Church of St Mary and St Nicholas, Littlemore, as it was funded by Mrs Trafford Leigh, who supported the Oxford Movement. An organ was installed in 1868, and a chancel screen designed by C. Hodgson Fowler in 1892. The vestry was enlarged in 1902, and the spire was taken down and replaced by a fibreglass replica in 1970.^[1] The building was grade II listed in 1983.^[2]

The church is built of limestone, with green slate roofs. It consists of a four-bay nave, a lower chancel, and a north porch. The west wall has diagonal buttresses, and a further central buttress, flanked by two-light Geometrical windows. Atop the gable is a four-sided bell turret, set diagonally, with a clock facing north-west, and pointed bell openings above. The porch has a statue of Edward the Confessor. The interior is painted and gilded, with a floor of Minton tiles.^[2]

Inside, the octagonal stone pulpit and font survive, along with wooden pews and choir stalls. The stained glass is by William Wailes. In the vestry there is a white and grey marble monument to Samuel Francis Barlow, dating from 1800, which was moved from the previous chapel.^[2]

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