Yorkshire Churches Day: In praise of churches throwing open the doors

"However you choose to engage with these wonderful buildings, remember, they are not merely places of heritage and history, but vibrant centres of worship and community serving Yorkshire today.”

Yorkshire Churches Day is a chance for every place of worship in the county to open up and showcase the amazing history and heritage found inside their buildings.

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The aim of the day is to encourage people to explore local churches and discover the history and heritage of their local surroundings.

Once again, the day is running in partnership with the Heritage Open Days festival, whose theme is ‘Routes – Networks – Connections’.

This year, as well as individual churches opening, in line with the the day’s theme, many are working together to put on trails, offering refreshments and entertainment to encourage visitors to spend a day exploring several different churches whether that be on foot, by bike or by car.

One such trail is the St Aelred Pilgrim’s Trail, organised by Upper Ryedale Parish council, who have organised a 12 mile ‘gathering’ walk, starting at All Saints in Hawnby, and gathering walkers along the way at churches in Old Byland, Scawton, and Cold Kirby, finishing with a service in Rievaulx Abbey and a celebration event in the Abbey Cafe with entertainment from the Bilsdale Silver Band.

Another trail being developed will start at St Helen’s at Amotherby, near Malton, with visitors taking in All Saints in Appleton-le-Street before heading to St Michael’s in Barton-le-Street where they can get lunch and listen to an organ recital, before heading towards All Saints at Slingsby and finishing with a fizz reception at All Saints at Hovingham.

Visitors can also visit the five churches in the Boroughbridge benefice – Aldborough, Boroughbridge, Lower Dunsforth, Minskip and Roecliffe.

The Trust provides grants to help churches of all Christian denominations with their repairs and maintenance costs and they rely on the support of donors and Friends to help keep places of worship open. They are encouraging as many people as possible to get involved with the day, both churches to take part and participants to visit.

More details can be found at yhct.org.uk/yorkshire-churches-day/