St Mary’s church vandalised

An Anglican chapel in a North Yorkshire village has been vandalised by a group that left an ‘apology’ note with a fake phone number.

The offenders left behind wristbands from an event they had attended and even scrawled rude messages in the visitors’ book.

The volunteer group that cares for the chapel, said on Facebook: “A sickening sight this morning…litter, smashed vases, glass everywhere, and worst of all the cross broken too. To add insult to injury, a note of apology with a fake phone number. There’s nothing to be done, everything is cleared and mended but I wanted to share what we have to deal with sometimes.”

The St Mary’s Church, a Grade II-listed building which stands in isolated fields near the village of Saxton, is no longer used for regular worship, but remains a consecrated building.

It was used as a filming location for the 2016 ITV period drama Dark Angel, which tells the story of a Victorian serial killer by the name of Mary Ann Cotton.

The chapel is always open as a place of refuge and is known as The Ramblers Church after it was saved by a group of walkers in the 1930s.

(Picture Courtesy:  Facebook/St Mary’s Church, Lead)