St Michael's Church, Cowthorpe

The church was built in 1456–58 for Sir Bryan Roucliffe (or Brian Rouclyff), who was a lawyer and Baron of the Exchequer. He inherited the manor of Cowthorpe from his uncle, John Burgh. In 1456 Sir Bryan was granted permission by the Archbishop of York to build a new church to replace an old chapel near the River Nidd. It is thought that some of the sandstone blocks in this church came from the old chapel. The church was restored in the 19th century; this was a limited restoration and consisted of renewing some window tracery, and restoring the roof.

Inside the church are original fittings. The font is a square bowl carved with tracery and family shields, standing on a cruciform stem and an octagonal base. The Easter Sepulchre is a rare example of its type and consists of a carved wooden chest with a canopy. In the windows are fragments of medieval heraldic stained glass. On the north wall of the chancel are the remains of a brass memorial to the memory of Sir Bryan and his wife. They were stolen from the church in about 1850, and following their recovery they were remounted in the church in 1886. There are three bells, one of which commemorates Sir Bryan, and which bears an inscription in English. It is one of the earliest bells with…