Outside

 Blackburn Hall is alongside the Church. The Church was owned by Bridlington Priory from about 1113 until the abolition of the monasteries in the 1530s. The canons appointed to 'run' Grinton Church lived in the South wing of the Hall.

 The main gateway into the Church. It is often decorated with flowers for weddings.

 The Church porch. It is described in more detail in the South aisle section.

 The East end of the Church. Blackburn Hall is seen on the right.

 The ancient tombstone alongside the porch.

 This set of slides shows different parts of the graveyard surrounding the Church. For centuries Grinton Church was the only one in Swaledale, and anyone dying in the dale was carried in a wicker coffin along the Corpse Way to be buried in the hallowed ground here. This could be a 2 day walk for the mourners. A plan of the tombstones and a record of their inscriptions, where legible, is available for consultation in the Church and online on this site. The graveyard has now been closed for future burials as it is full - it had become impossible to dig without disturbing ancient burials. The visitor will notice that the present church floor is much lower than outside, and during the 1896 restoration the earlier floor was found to be much lower again. Presumably 900 years of burials will partly account for this!

Western graveyard

Western graveyard

Western graveyard

 The South side of the Church.

 The sun dial near the porch.

 The Church tower, originally 12th century, was re-built in the 16th century. It has a peel of 6 bells. 2015 - an appeal has been launched to increase this to 8.

 The Church from the hillside to the South.

 The Church from the South-West. There was a corn mill set back from the road alongside the cottage seen in the bottom right. The mill was demolished in the 1950s. An old photograph of the mill may be seen on the Grinton village Corn mill page.

 This shows almost the whole village with the Church centre-left. The large white building in the top right was the vicarage built in Victorian times. The vicar now lives in a modern house at the bottom of Reeth half a mile away.

 View of Grinton village taken from Fremington Edge which is to the North.

 Another view of Grinton village.

 A winter-time view of Grinton with Fremington Edge to the North behind. The small cluster of houses seen on the hillside in the centre-left is Upper Fremington.