The first recorded building on this site dates to 1175, when William de Stuteville established a church on the site dedicated to Thomas a Beckett. A brief history of the church,available to visitors, suggests that by making this dedication he was, being a brother in law to Hugh de Moreville (one of Beckett's murderers in 1170), seeking to protect himself during the backlash that followed the murder. Beckett himself was canonised in 1173.
The church has been substantially demolished, excluding the tower, and rebuilt in both 1820 and 1901.
Evidence for an earlier church on the site exists in the form of a number of coffin covers, presently to be found in the wall of the porch and in the church, dating back to the early Norman period, with one incised in the Saxon style.
 |
 |
The following tablet is found inside the porch, which was errected in 1901. William Makeapeace Thackeray, 1811 to 1863, the author of Vanity Fair, is a descendant of the family.
The following tablet is found inside the church, by the South door.
The tablet reads as follows:
Feb . 18 A . D . 1653 THE . EARTH . MY . MOTH ER . WAS . MY . MOTHER IS . AND . THINE . SHALL . BE O . THINKE . IT . NOT . AMISE HER . TO . OBEY . I . WAS . A . MAN LIKE . THE . REPENT . FEARE GOD . LOVE . ALL . &FOLLOW ME . FRANCIS JEFFRAY |
The striking marble monument is a memorial to Amy Woodforde-Finden, who features on the Woodforde Family History website.
The following curious memorial is on the north wall of the church.
In the churchyard, can be found the grave of Joshua Tetley, the brewer, who died in 1859 at the age of 81. Tetley's was created in 1822, when Joshua bought his own brewery in Leeds for £400. On his father's death in 1834, Johsua inherited the family's malting business and Tetley and Son was established in 1839, when he made his son Francis a partner in the business.
