Churches of the British Isles

Work to build a new church began in 1355 and the present building is the product of that work. It was damaged by shots fired by vessels on the Humber when Hull was being besieged in 1643 during the English Civil War. It was repaired in 1663 and 1699, with a Victorian refurbishment taking place in 1877-1979 under J T Webster of Hedon, and a major modern refurbishment in 2009-2011. There is a single bell marked 'James Harrison', founder, Barrow, 1788.

Thorngumbald Independent Chapel stood on the southern side of Main Road, about thirty-five metres west of the Beech Avenue turning, and behind the centre-two red brick houses in the photo. It is shown on the OS 25-inch map of 1890 as Independent, but by 1910 it had become Thorngumbald Primitive Methodist Chapel, possibly due to evolving beliefs or a failure of the earlier mission. It survived at least until 1951 before closure and demolition.

Thorngumbald Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is on the north side of Main Road, twenty metres to the east of the Forge Court turning. It was built in 1904, maybe by former members of the long-established Independent chapel further to the west (see above). That chapel was undergoing its own process of change to become Primitive Methodist, in opposition to the Wesleyans until union in 1932. Today it is Thorngumbald Methodist Church & Community Institute.

St Mary the Virgin's Church, Thorngumbald, is on the south-east corner of the Main Road and Church Lane junction, with the graveyard between the building and Main Road. This twelfth century edifice originally served as a chapel-of-ease to St Andrew's Church in Paull (see above). Upper sections of the walls were rebuilt by the 1600s, while the tower was rebuilt in 1758. Only the nave survives of the former chapel, with an added bellcote where the tower once stood.

Ryhill Wesleyan Methodist Chapel stood on the western side of Marsh Lane, with the entrance to Ryecroft Farm on its southern flank. The chapel was erected in 1847. It was still in use post-war but later closed and was demolished to be replaced by the present private residence (shown at the far end of the street here). Kelly's also mentions a Primitive Methodist chapel built in 1898, but no sign of this can be found on any OS map, so perhaps it was a meeting that failed.

Four photos on this page kindly contributed by Colin Hinson, and two copyright © Ian S and Peter Church, and reused under a cc licence. Additional information from Kelly's Directory of the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire (1913).