Northern Misericords

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The Misericords of Northern English Churches.

This page list the churches with misericords on this website in the counties of Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, Northumbria and Yorkshire.

The Northern English counties have a rich and diverse set of misericords. This may well be due to William the Conqueror's “Harrowing of the North” where he seeded much of the arable land with salt. The Harrowing resulted in much land being gifted by the nobility to monastic houses especially within Yorkshire. County Durham had and areas within the ancient diocese of Durham had its own route to misericords, and that was the Prince Bishops., who were not just powerful, but rich with it.

In future centuries, the Harrowing resulted in the land being used heavily for sheep farming, and as has been mentioned in the introduction to East Anglia, Wool was the backbone of medieval England’s wealth.. The Dying trade was also a way to great wealth - dyed cloth was vastly more expensive than undyed, but dye tends not to bond to the fibres. The Yorkshire and Northumberland coast is fortunate to have the minerals, which in combination with stale urine give you alum, which makes a great mordant, this in combination with the wool trade made the North East incredibly wealthy.

Lancashire and Cumberland had many other minerals such as lead, copper and iron, and also the wool trade, which made these counties wealthy in their own right.

Beverley Minster Photos Descriptions	Sixty eight, early 16th century misericords
Beverley (St Mary) Photos Descriptions	Twenty one, 15th and seven, 19th century misericords
Bishop Auckland (St Andrew) Photos Descriptions	Twenty eight, 15th century misericords
Blackburn Cathedral Photos Descriptions	Eight, 15th century misericords
Bolton-le-Moors (St Peter) Photos and Descriptions	Three, 15th century misericords
Carlisle Cathedral Photos Descriptions	Forty six, 15th century misericords
Cartmel Priory Photos Descriptions	Twenty five, 15th century misericords
Durham Cathedral Photos Descriptions	Thirty seven, late 17th century misericords
Greystoke (St Andrew) Photos Descriptions	Twenty misericords ranging in date from the 14th to 17th centuries
Holme-in-Cliviger Photos andDescriptions	Two, 15th century misericords in an 18th century chapel!
Lancaster Priory Photos Descriptions	Fourteen, 15th century misericords
Manchester Cathedral Photos Descriptions	Thirty, early 16th century misericords Amongst the finest misericords in Europe!
Middleton-by-Pickering (St Andrew) Photos and Descriptions	One, 15th century misericord
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Cathedral Photos Descriptions	Twenty six, 19th century misericords
Old Malton (St Mary’s Priory church) Photos Descriptions	Seven, 15th and twenty eight 19th century misericords
Richmond (St Mary the Virgin) Photos Descriptions	Sixteen, early 16th century misericords
Rotherham Minster Photos and Descriptions	Two late 15th century misericords
Scarisbrick Hall Photos and Descriptions	Five, mid 15th century misericords
Sprotborough (St Mary) Photos and Descriptions	Three, 14th or 15th century misericords
Swine-in-Holderness Photos Descriptions	Eight, late 14th century misericords
Whalley (St Mary) Photos Descriptions	Eighteen, 15th and four modern misericords
York (All Saints) Photos and Descriptions	One, 15th century misericord
York Minster Photos and Descriptions	Two 15th and one 19th century misericords