Churches of the British Isles

All Saints Church, Preston, is at the north-east corner of the Main Street and Kirk Road junction at the north end of the town. A church existed here for Domesday in 1086. The present stone structure dates mainly to the 1200s rebuild and expansion, which included a chancel with north aisle, nave, north and south aisles, and massive west tower with pinnacles and three bells. The chancel was rebuilt in 1870, and the rest of the church was thoroughly restored in 1882.

Preston Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is at the south-west corner of the Station Road and Staithes Road junction. The first chapel in town was built in 1814, on the western side of Main Street, about twenty-five metres south of the Abbey Lane junction. It no longer exists. The present chapel was built on this site between 1891-1914, complete with a Sunday school building (to the right here). Following the Methodist union in 1932 it became Preston Methodist Church.

Preston Primitive Methodist Chapel sits at the north-west corner of the School Road and Rectory Lane junction. The original chapel was built in 1822, but a rebuild in 1867 by architect J Wright (Hull) left it in its present condition. It closed around 1955, probably due to falling post-war attendances and the Methodist union of 1932. By 1990 the redundant chapel was hosting a business by the name of North's Fisheries, while today it is Grand Ruby, a Chinese take-away.

Holy Sepulchre Hospital, Hedon, once stood on the western side of Preston Road, in grounds that lay behind the row of detached houses seen here in what now seems to be a paddock that belongs to Livers Farm. The hospital was for lepers, founded in the reign of King John by Alan FitzOsbern. A seal found here had the legend 'The seal of Master Simon, of the House of the Blessed Virgin Mary' (see below). The hospital was dissolved during the Reformation.

St Mary Magdalen's Old Church, Hedon, stood on Magdalene Hill, with access perhaps by a now-lost footpath outside the bend in the B1362 Magdalen Lane (shown here), about a hundred metres east of Magdalen Park Care Home. This is probably the 'Blessed Virgin Mary' mentioned in a find at nearby Holy Sepulchre (above). The foundations were uncovered and removed about 1852 by the estate's owner. The burial ground was also cut through in making a new ditch.

Two photos on this page kindly contributed by Colin Hinson, and four copyright © Paul Glazzard, Bernard Sharp, Ian S, and J Thomas, and all reused under a cc licence.