St Mary’s, Hornby

Upcoming Services and Events

About Us

Everyone is warmly welcome at St Mary’s.  Many people help our church flourish in their own way by giving of their gifts and time. Together with the PCC, the team plays an important role at St Mary’s.
Lay members lead intercessions and share the readings on a rota basis.  Enthusiastic members of our congregation work in teams to provide flower-displays, clean the church and brasses and make refreshments whenever needed.  We love putting on a ‘bit of a do’.  Special Celebrations are a feature of St. Mary’s church, including;  Remembrance Service, Service at the end of the School year, Harvest Festival, Mothering Sunday Communion, Christmas Eve Carol Service with Hunton Ladies’ Choir, Palm Sunday procession from the Castle, Christingle Celebration.

We enjoy and are proud of our links too with the wider community.  We have parishioners as Governors at our school. Others sit on the Village Hall Committee.  The Lower Wensleydale Parishes’ Newsletter is compiled by another member of our congregation.

Recent successful events which have attracted a wider community have included: Harvest in the Barn, Lest We Forget – Concert and Remembrance Exhibition weekend, Christmas Tree Festival, Snowdrop walk around the Castle grounds with tea and cake in church.

Our Church Building

The ancient and beautiful church of St Mary’s is set in the centre of Hornby down the hill from Hornby Castle whose estate is surrounded by various types of farm.

It is a Grade 1 Listed building dating from before 1080 and is in very good repair.  St Mary’s seats over 200 and has a well-maintained graveyard.
Our recent improvements include accessible toilet facilities and we hope to move forward our plans for a kitchen and servery.

Our parish consists of two small villages, Hornby and Hackforth, and the hamlet of Arrathorne.  We have a C of E Primary School in Hackforth, a Village Hall and The Greyhound public house.