Upcoming Services and Events
The Duke of Edinburgh 1921-2021
Our Churches are open for you this weekend for Private Prayer from 9-6 (Finghall 2-4) as we pay our respects and share in the Nations Morning. We have been asked…
Happy Easter
If you don’t intend to drive through Hornby or Crakehall this Easter, it is well worth a detour past St Mary’s Hornby and St Gregory’s Crakehall Church to see the…
Ash Wednesday
17 February 2021 Since early days Christians have observed with great devotion the time of our Lord’s passion and resurrection. It became the custom of the Church to prepare for…
Clypping & Pancakes
Come & Join us on Zoom as we offer a virtual Clypp (hug) our Church ask for God’s blessing on our communities and share pancakes! https://zoom.us/j/5273085317?pwd=Y3QzeUl0ay82dDV5T29lMCs4RFhhZz09 Clipping the church is an…
Christingle at Home
This year we are having Christingle at Home as we are unable to host the services in our Church buildings. Christingle kits are being distributed via our village schools and…
Covid-19 Information
Gathered Worship Suspended – PhoneChurch continues in strength With the agreement from each of our 6 PCC’s we are delighted that we will reopen for gathered public worship on Palm…
St Mary’s is ready for our Christmas Services!
Massive thank you to all who have once again helped to make St. Mary’s so festive.
Beer & Carols
Queen’s Head Finghall Mon. 17th Dec. 20:00 Bay Horse Crakehall Fri. 21st Dec. 20:00 Hackforth Village Hall Sat. 22th Dec. 19:00 Come and join us as we get the…
Ice – Snow – Wind – Flood!
Ice – Snow – Wind – Flood! If we have to cancel a service due to extreme weather a notice will be put up on the Church if possible. We…
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.