Kildale church

I enjoy exploring our many parish churches, and so it was interesting to spend a little time in St Cuthbert's Church in Kildale, which lies south east of Easby Moor and Captain Cook's Monument. It is hidden away down a lane and to access it you have to cross a footbridge over the Esk Valley railway line, which runs from Middlesbrough to Whitby. The footbridge leads into the churchyard through a row of yew trees. The current church is Victorian, built in 1878, but there were earlier churches on the same site. 

There didn't seem to be anything particularly remarkable about it - some stained glass windows, which I always like to study:  

and a memorial statue depicting Mary with Jesus. Statues like this are not all that common in smaller Anglican churches so it was nice to see. 

Propped up in the porch are four carved medieval gravestones, two of which have the Percy family coat of arms: 

The church is attractively tucked away, a peaceful little place - apart from the occasional train passing along the line. Kildale railway station is still used but the building on the church side of the tracks is obviously no longer functional!