St Mary's Church, Kirkby Lonsdale

The oldest parts of the church are Norman. Three doorways and the inner north arcades date from the early 12th century, and the base of the tower and the south arcade are from the later part of that century. In the 14th century (or possibly about 1400) the north and south walls of the church were demolished and were rebuilt further outwards, the new south wall incorporating the earlier south doorway. A chantry chapel was added to the northeast of the church in 1486. In the 16th century a new clerestory, pinnacles and battlements were added, and in 1574 an additional aisle was built further north of the existing north aisle. The top of the tower was rebuilt in 1705, and the chantry chapel…

The west part of the arcade between the nave and the inner north aisle is early Norman with round arches; some of its piers have incised decoration similar to that on the piers in Durham Cathedral. It was extensively rebuilt in 1972 by Laycock and Bannister. There is a ring of six bells, all cast in 1825 by Thomas Mears II of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.