ROMALDKIRK

St. Romald's Church

Hector C. Parr

The fine old Church of St. Romald has been known for centuries as the "Cathedral of the Dales". Much of the building is Norman, but parts of a pre-conquest church can be seen at the base of the Chancel Arch.
Copies of a descriptive booklet are avail ble in the church. It was written by the late Canon John E. Lee, with photographs by John Knights.

The Nave Arcade was built about 1155.

The Chancel was rebuilt in the fourteenth century, and was restored again in the 1890s.

The font might date from the Norman period, but it seems more likely to be a 13th century copy.

Under the West window are the remains of a three-decker pulpit which was made in 1728 and dismantled in 1927. The present pulpit constituted the upper tier of this structure.

The original organ was built by Robert Postill of York in about 1870, and for sixty years it stood in the North Transept. It was enlarged by Nelson & Co. of Durham in the 1930s, and moved into the newly constructed organ chamber.
Copies of a booklet on the organ by Hector C. Parr are available in the church.

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