Parish church, formerly Cistercian house

Swine

St Mary, Swine, Yorkshire, East Riding

Swine is a hamlet and not on a major road; it is seven miles ESE of Beverley, five miles NE of the centre of Hull, and less than four miles SE of the site of Meaux abbey. Much of Swine priory, a Cistercian nunnery, including the nave and crossing of the priory church is lost, mostly under farm buildings to the W of what is now the parish church of Swine. The 12thc church was cruciform, and only the nun's choir remains as the parish church, with many later medieval modifications such as expanded 14thc aisles and a giant Perpendicular E window. The central tower survived the Reformation but was replaced by another, at the present W end, c. 1787 when it became unstable. The interior comprises a structurally-undivided nave of four bays and chancel of one bay, with N and S aisles off the arcades, and a N chapel (Hilton chapel) off the chancel. This chapel has an arch into the chancel that is in line with the N arcade but of later date. There is a modern vestry, etc, on the opposite side of the chancel. There is no chancel arch. Eight surviving stalls from the nuns' choir are in the first bay of the arcades (Pevsner and Neave 1995, 719). The 12thc arcades are of four bays, and form the western part of the church. To confuse the unwary, the pulpit and lectern, marking the liturgical division between nave and chancel, are currently placed at Pier 1 N and S; this report disregards the current division and deals with each arcade in its entirety, and describes them as Nave Arcades. There is Romanesque sculpture in the two arcades, and outside in aisle walls are three reset voussoirs and a window-head.