St Gregory's Minster is an Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon architecture

Anglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England, and parts of Wales, from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were generally simple, constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing...

 church with a rare sundial

Kirkdale sundial

thumb|right|Kirkdale sundialThe Saxon sundial at St Gregory's Minster, Kirkdale, near Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, England dates to the mid 11th century. The panel containing the actual sundial above the church doors is flanked by two panels, bearing an inscription in Old English:*Richard...

, in Kirkdale

Kirkdale, North Yorkshire

Kirkdale is a valley in North Yorkshire, England, which along with Sleightholmedale makes up the larger Bransdale and carries the Hodge Beck from its moorland source near Cockayne to the River Dove and onto the River Rye in the Vale of Pickering....

 near Kirkbymoorside

Kirkbymoorside

Kirkbymoorside is a small market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England which lies approximately 25 miles north of York midway between Pickering and Helmsley, and has a population of approximately 3,000.-History:...

, Vale of Pickering

Vale of Pickering

The Vale of Pickering is a low-lying flat area of land in North Yorkshire, England. It is drained by the River Derwent. The landscape is rural with scattered villages and small market towns. It has been inhabited continuously from the Mesolithic period...

, North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is a Grade I listed building.

The minster was built c. 1060 on the site of an earlier church, and is dedicated to St Gregory

Pope Gregory I

Pope Gregory I , better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death...

, who was Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

 590–604.

The nearby Kirkdale Cave

Kirkdale Cave

Kirkdale Cave is a cave located in Kirkdale near Kirkbymoorside in the Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire, England. The cave was discovered by workmen in 1821, and was found to contain fossilized bones of a variety of mammals not currently found in Great Britain, including hippopotamus, the...

 was found in 1821 to contain a collection of ancient animal bones including the most northerly hippopotamus

Hippopotamus

The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...

 remains in the world.

External links

• Detailed description of the Minster reproduced from guides published by Parochial Council
• The Ancient Parish of Kirkdale at GENUKI
  GENUKI
  GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. Its aim is "to serve as a "virtual reference library" of genealogical information that is of particular relevance to the UK & Ireland"...
  
  : information about the parish, including transcriptions of 1820s descriptions