Churches of the British Isles

The old Norman chapel was demolished in 1890 to make way for the present, two cell church of All Saints, which retained a few thirteenth century fragments. The new church was designed by Charles Hodgson Fowler of Durham. It consists of coursed dressed stone with ashlar dressings and plain tile roofs, and a small, square west tower. During 1959-1972 the building underwent alterations by G G Pace. The wooden pews from the original Victorian build survive.

Upper Poppleton Methodist Church stands behind a small green on the western side of Hodgson Lane, opposite Station Road in Upper Poppleton. The first building on this site was put up in 1817. Apparently this was very quickly found to be unsuitable (for reasons unknown) and was replaced in 1819. This too was replaced, by the present building, and although the date is unknown, it was probably towards the end of the nineteenth century or the start of the twentieth.

St Everilda's Church, Nether Poppleton, is located at the far eastern end of Church Lane, about a hundred and fifty metres west of the railway line. The name of the village is derived from the gravel bed upon which the village was built, and is formed from the Old English words 'popel' (pebble) and 'tun' (hamlet, or farm). The church is one of only two dedicated to the seventh century Saxon saint, which suggests that it was founded about that time or soon afterwards.

The Saxon church was probably wooden, and nothing of it has survived. The present stone church dates from the eleventh century, while the stained glass in the eastern window is of the late thirteenth century and early fourteenth century. There are some monumental effigies in the church to members of Archbishop Hutton's family, some of whom resided in Poppleton. Until 1996 the parish was part of the Harrogate district of the North Riding of Yorkshire.

The Church of St Giles, Skelton, sits on the north-east corner of Church Lane and The Green at the heart of this small village. The church was founded as All Saints in 1247, and was also known as Little St Peter's, thanks to a local legend (probably correct) which stated that it was built from leftover stone from the construction of York Minster. The church was restored between 1810-1818 by Henry Graham, and underwent further work in 1863 by Ewan Christian.

All photos on this page kindly contributed by Colin Hinson.