All Saints Church, Brompton
Welcome to our church. In this section, you can find out about the history of the church and some of its more famous connections. There are also some photographs showing the recasting of the Church Bells in 1990.
It is believed that a timber church, built here after the sacking of the area by the Vikings in 867, continued into the 12th century. The church and the priest are mentioned in the Domesday Book, 1086.
Evidence of a church having existed in the 12th century, is provided by the remains of two capitals of that period set into the east wall on the south aisle as brackets and by two figures built externally into the east wall of the north chapel, although these figures cannot be dated exactly.
There is better evidence of the rebuilding of the church in the 13th century, as a part of the north wall of that period, now the oldest work still standing, forms part of the north wall of the present church. The 13th century nave now forms the north aisle, and the south oak front door is believed to have come from this nave.
It is reputed that the church front door was thrown into the lake opposite the church in the days of the English Civil War by Cromwellian forces and retrieved by parishioners about 100 years later in 1793. You can see deep scores in the external stone doorway - it is said that these are where the Cromwellian soldiers sharpened their swords.
The tower was added in the 14th century although the octagonal broach spire has Norman mouldings built into its walls internally.
Much work was done in the 14th and 15th centuries to form the general plan of the present church. The square-headed two-light windows in the north wall and the pointed window in the west wall, were inserted in the 14th century. The nave, which is of unusual width, has three bays of 15th century arches and an arcade of arches of the same period separates the chancel from the north chapel. Both the chancel arch and the windows of the present south aisle are 15th century as was the rood screen, signs of which are visible west of the chancel arch. A vice or spiral staircase was added to the tower at this time.
In 1735 the chancel was shortened, the vestry was moved to its present position and the churchyard wall was entirely rebuilt.
The porch was added in 1895, in memory of Sir George Cayley, 6th Bt., who is universally recognised and honoured as the father of English aeronautics. He was the last Cayley family member to be interred in the family vault. The clock in the tower is in memory of Sir George Everard Arthur Cayley, 9th Bt., and his eldest son, Francis Digby Edward Cayley, who both died in World War 1 (1914-1918).
The wrought-iron gates at the entrance to the churchyard was designed and made by local craftsmen and given in memory of Sir Kenelm Cayley, by the villagers of Brompton. The unusual coloured glass window in the north wall, presented by his family, was dedicated by the Archbishop of York in July 1971.
The walls, until modern times, were covered with plaster and painted, but have now been stripped back to their natural state.
The moulded circular font is 13th century. Part of the south-west corner of the original wall is visible at the foot of the north-east side of the tower, inside the nave.
The stained-glass window inserted in the south wall of the chancel in 1885 is a precise rendering of Raphael’s 'Sermon of St. Paul at Athens' from the Sistine Cartoons.
On the north wall, there is a tablet dated 1580 which, in modern spelling, reads: ‘Here lies James Westrop who in wars to his great charges served one king and two queens with due obedience and died without recompense!'
The organ case was designed by Temple Moore and must have been one of the first organs in the country to be electrically blown. The rows of accumulators used to supply the power were kept in the gallery above the entrance to the tower where the organ itself was also at one time situated. Sir John Betjeman mentions the victorian brass chandelier given by Sir Tatton Sykes, Bt. of Sledmere, as a notable feature of the church. The candles are lit at the major festivals.
Within the tower, there is a ring of three bells in the key of A flat. The treble and tenor are clearly by the same founder, and bear the initials 'RB' which seem likely to stand for Richard Blakey, bell founder, who became a Freeman of York in 1501. The tenor bell is inscribed ‘IN HONOROREM DEI VOX MEA SONABIT’; the treble of the same date bears the inscription ‘DEUM COLE’. The other bell bears the date 1621 and the founder was probably William Oldfield of York. This bears the inscription ‘JESUS BE OUR SPEDE. 1621’. It is likely that this bell was installed by a member of the Cayley family, since by this date a Cayley was Lord of the Manor.
Church links with the Cayley family - the patronage was granted by King James I to the head of the Cayley family and remained in their possession until 1927 when Sir Kenelm Cayley, 10th Bt, transferred it to the Archbishop of York at the latter’s personal request. William Cayley was knighted in 1641 and created a Baronet in 1661 for his services to both King Charles I and King Charles II. There is a monument to Sir William in the chancel and memorials to many later members of the family are on the walls and in the windows. A slate flag stone lying on the south side of the sanctuary and inscribed with the arms of Edward Cayley who was buried in 1642 aged 72, marks the entrance of the family vault which was closed in 1890.
Some notable connections to the Church - Matthew Noble a famous sculptor, whose work includes many statues in London and other cities, was born in 1817 in the nearby village of Hackness, where he trained as a stonemason. An example of his early work is the marble memorial to Anne Harland on the wall of the south aisle.
The poet, William Wordsworth, was married by the Rev John Ellis to Mary Hutchinson in the Church on 4th October 1802. A framed copy of the banns and marriage certificate is kept in the vestry. Mary Hutchinson lived at Gallows Hill Farm, which is on the A170 between Brompton and Wykeham.
The classical scholar Francis Wrangham (1769– 1842) was the Archdeacon of the East Riding. He was a noted author, translator, book collector and abolitionist. He married, at Brompton, in 1801, Dorothy, second daughter and coheiress of Rev. Digby Cayley of Yorkshire, who brought him £700 a year.
Recasting of the Bells in 1990
