The Church of St Edith, Bishop Wilton, East Riding: A Sympathetic Nineteenth Century Restoration Allows an Interpretation of the Romanesque Sculpture

Abstract

The church at Bishop Wilton is a ‘Sykes church’, rebuilt and restored in 1858–59 in Gothic style: only the south doorway and chancel arch have sculpture of twelfth-century date, though some chancel windows probably contain original stonework. Despite the amount of new carving evident in the doorway and chancel arch, there are reasons for believing that the restoration was a cautious one, and that what is now seen reproduces, unusually faithfully, the original state of these archways. This being so, an interpretation of the sculptural programmes of both doorway and chancel arch has been attempted. The manor and church belonged to the archbishop of York, and the plentiful patterns and motifs suggest an eclectic ‘Yorkshire School’ context that echoes his wide contacts in the region; there are parallels at Healaugh, Barton-le-Street, Riccall, Stillingfleet and elsewhere. It is suggested that the theme of the doorway, with its combination of moral teaching and a vision of ‘the appearing of Jesus Christ’, was taken from the First Epistle of Peter.

Keywords:

• J. L. Pearson
• Yorkshire School
• Bishop Wilton
• church
• restoration
• Romanesque sculpture
• Saint Peter
• twelfth century

I am grateful for help with historical sources from Barbara English and David Neave. Kate and Mike Pratt offered practical encouragement. The anonymous reader and the editor gave food for thought.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rita Wood

Rita Wood works chiefly on English Romanesque sculpture: she has recently published an article on the Everingham font in this journal; a YAS Occasional Paper on Romanesque Yorkshire is in progress, and a paper on sculpture at Adel church is expected to appear in the next volume of the YAJ. The recording of sculpture in the West Riding for the project www.crsbi.ac.uk, is nearing its end thanks to the co-operation of many friends and parishioners. Email: [email protected]