Lastingham - St. Mary

The first church on the site was part of a monastery founded in 654 by Æthelwald of Deira for his own burial.

Bede described how in 654, monks established a wooden monastery at Lastingeau, they established their house in "a fold of the Yorkshire Moors". St Cedd ruled the monastery as the first abbot until his death, combining this position with that of missionary bishop to the East Saxons. In 664, shortly after the Synod of Whitby St Cedd died.

St Cedd was at first was buried in the open air, but the monks eventually built a church around him. His brother St Chad took his place as abbot. St Chadd then moved to Lichfield and the relics and remnants of St Cedd's were removed and kept with those of his brother in Lichfield. Some of their bones are now entombed in Birmingham's Catholic Cathedral though St Cedd is believed to be mostly buried at Lastingham.

It is thought that the church was destroyed during the various raids in the area over the next 400 years, particularly by Danish invaders.

William the Conqueror gave permission for a new church to be built on the site in 1078, when Benedictine monks from Whitby, set up the new church. However, they only stayed for ten years before moving on to York, it was reasoned later that the remoteness of the abbey and the outlaw nature of the area forced them to relocate. The revival and reconstruction of the church has therefore been confined to a decade.

During the 13th century, arcades, bays and aisle in the north and south parts of the church were added. In the following century, the tower was erected and it was left for five centuries with little further work until 1879, when it was renovated and the whole church being re-roofed.

The three-aisled crypt is the main attraction and oldest part of the church, which was built from 1078 using components from the Anglo-Saxon period. The crypt was originally accessed via its own entrance on the north side of the church.