St Edmund, Kellington

Kellington Church is dedicated to St. Edmund, King and Martyr, who was martyred by Danish invaders in 870.
The first indication of a church at Kellington is in 1185 when John de Kellington was appointed rector by the Knights Templar. The patronage of St. Edmund’s was in the hands of the Templars until they were disbanded in 1312 and the Kellington property passed to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John. It remained so until Henry VIII gave the advowson to the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, but it is now in the hands of the Diocesan Board of Patronage. Advowsons were valuable assets for a number of reasons, principally as a means for the patron to exert moral influence on the parishioners, who were his manorial tenants, through the teaching and sermons of the parish priest.

One of the theories for the isolated site of the church is that it was built in the centre of the parish, another theory was to preserve it from the flooding which was quite prevalent in earlier times. The building is on ground that is higher than the original village and is a quarter of a mile from the first vicarage and would have been accessed by a footpath which crosses two fields. There are several footpaths from the other villages and they are shown quite clearly on the 1848 survey map. Until 1926, Kellington parish was in the diocese of York, but was then transferred to Wakefield and is in the deanery of Pontefract.

St. Edmund's East Window The main shell of the Chu

Timings & Tours

Saturday 14 September:

10am - 2pm

Location & directions

St Edmund Church, Kellington, North Yorkshire, DN14 0SB

Contact on day:

Mrs S. Parker

Telephone number:

+441977662855

Booking information

Pre-booking requirement:

Pre-booking not required

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