St Martin's Church is the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Bulmer, North Yorkshire Bulmer is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 174, increasing to 202 at the census 2011. The village is about south-west of Malton. History Bulmer was the seat of the ...

, a village in England. The oldest part of the church is the nave, which dates from the 11th century, and may be before or after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. The chancel dates from the early 12th century, while the south nave door was added in the second half of the century. Around 1400, a north chapel was added, the tower and quire were rebuilt, and the nave walls were heightened. The upper part of the tower was rebuilt in 1637, and

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es were added. In the 18th century, the chapel was demolished, and new windows were inserted in the walls of the nave. A porch was added around 1800. In 1893,

James Demaine James Demaine (1842–6 May 1911) was an English architect, mainly active in the Gothic Revival style. Life Born at Bolton Abbey to Emma and James Demaine senior, a gardener and farmer, he was an architect's pupil by 1861 and joined the York-ba ...

and

Walter Brierley Walter Henry Brierley (1862–1926) was a York architect who practised in the city for 40 years. He is known as "the Yorkshire Lutyens" or the "Lutyens of the North". He is also credited with being a leading exponent of the " Wrenaissanc ...

restored the church, during which process they rebuilt the chancel. The church was

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 1954. The church is built of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, with a roof of

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

to the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and corrugated iron to the chancel. The church consists of a nave, a south porch, a two-bay chancel, and a west tower. The tower has three stages, a

string course A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the ...

, diagonal

es, a small

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

, double lancet bell openings, and an

embattled A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

with corner

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...

s and a datestone. The porch has a late 12th-century doorway with two orders on moulded

capitals Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

. Two round-headed 11th-century windows survive on the south side of the nave, while the 15th- and 18th-century windows have square heads. In the porch is a memorial to Christopher Thompson, blacksmith at

Castle Howard Castle Howard is an English country house in Henderskelfe, North Yorkshire, north of York. A private residence, it has been the home of the Earl of Carlisle, Carlisle branch of the House of Howard, Howard family for more than 300 years. Castle ...

, who died in 1773. Inside the church is the head of a Saxon wheel-cross. There is an effigy of John de Bulmer, who died in the 1270s, and a slab commemorating Ralph Bulmer, who died in 1461. The 18th-century pulpit is octagonal, while there is a 13th-century

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

, with a circular bowl, and an octagonal stem and base. The

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

is 15th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulmer, St Martin 11th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in North Yorkshire Grade I listed churches in North Yorkshire

See also

References