There are many more things of interest to see while you are here if you have the time. Here’s a selection.
Stone effigy of a knight
The knight is shown wearing his chain-mail armour, probably carved in York before 1150. It was rediscovered under the floor of the old church when it was demolished. The design on the shield identifies him as belonging to the Manstan family.
You can find it in near the Leeds Cross and next to the Hardwick monument
The Lady Chapel contains some outstanding early nineteenth-century monuments. Especially notable is the monument to Captains Walker and Becket, killed in 1809 in the Peninsular War, carved by John Flaxman, 1811, the most famous sculptor in Britain at that time.
Also notable is the monument to Lawrence Oates who, on Captain Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1912, ended his life by walking out into a blizzard, never to be seen again, to relieve his companions of the need to support him as he suffered from gangrene and frostbite, saying ‘I am just going outside and may be some time’.
You can find the Lady Chapel on your left as your enter the building through the main door.
Through the Georgian period , the mayor, alderman and magistrates would attend the church each week, dressed in their civic regalia. Their arrival would be accompanied with much ceremony and they would be seated in these elaborate pews.
The present church didn’t exist in the Georgian period. Were these pews taken from the previous church??
You can find these pews facing across the aisle to the pulpit.
This octagonal font was carved in the fifteenth century and has a later, very richly carved, ogee-shaped, crocketed wooden cover. It ceased to be used when the new marble font, against the west wall, was erected in 1883, designed by the eminent architect William Butterfield.
You can find the old font at the back of the church on the left as you face the back.
