Originally, the Church of the Holy Trinity in Richmond town square was said to be the mother church of the parish as it was within the castle walls, but as the town and population increased, so Trinity became the daughter church of St Mary's. It is said that the distance between the two was only . The Church of the Holy Trinity was deconsecrated in 1960s and disposed of. Since the early 1970s, it has housed the
Green Howards Regimental Museum, whereas the Church of St Mary, is host to their Regimental Chapel. Some historians have stated that the church of Holy Trinity was never the parish church, despite being within the town walls, as it had no evidence of a burial ground. Clarkson states in his
History of Richmond, that Holy Trinity was too small to accommodate the growing population and so a "Low Church, situated on the declivity of the hill" was built. This was in the original burial ground for Trinity church, outside the town walls. However, until
The Reformation, both churches were lesser in terms of religious importance in comparison to
Easby Abbey (St Agatha). At this time, the parish only contained the town and borough with some outlying smaller houses. The church was constructed on a slope which leads down towards a sharp bend in the River Swale known as
Clink Pool, (named after the wooded bank on the north side of the river), and across the river over Mercury Bridge, which was built in 1846 to afford an easy route into the town from the
railway station. Parts of the nave and aisles date back to the middle of the 12th century, but the varied renovations have left a much altered church from what is believed to be a cruciform building originally. Some of the columns used in the church are believed to predate this structure and were incorporated into the 12th century church. The tower, which extends to , was built by the
Earl of Westmorland and the font dates from around the same time period. The tower is supported on each of its four corners by buttresses and internally used to have the arms of the Nevill family; The Earl of Westmorland (
Ralph Neville), was granted the
Honour of Richmond in 1399 by
Henry IV, and he set about improving the church among other things. The font is carved from
Teesdale Marble, which was quarried in the
Egglestone area of
County Durham. The stone is a form of limestone which has many fossil remnants within it and was popular as a building stone for abbeys and churches around the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Before The Reformation, the windows in the church displayed images from the scriptures, but these were later viewed as "superstitious" post-Reformation and so fell to decay or were replaced with ordinary glass. Various additions to the church during the 15th century have led to the whole church being labelled as
Perpendicular in its architectural style, Religious carvings and artefacts were often moved from abbeys and priories after the Dissolution. The misericords are dated to at least 1515, as one of them is indented with the shield of Abbot Bampton, who was elected to Easby Abbey in 1515. Other items taken from the abbey and installed in the church include the choir stalls and some of the bells. In 1890, the verger removed a stone item from the churchyard and placed it at the bottom of the pulpit. This is believed to be the Norman era font of the worship house that existed in Richmond before either church was in regular use. In 1892, the chancel was altered by the addition of new level flooring and a window in the south wall to allow more light in. Previous sketches of the church show that there used to be a window in the south wall, but at some point, this was walled up. More renovations took place in 1897 under
C. Hodgson Fowler, the most notable of which was the installation of a steep pitched roof covered in slates. Previously, the roof was flat. In March 2017, the bells were replaced with modern castings and housed at the same height to make the bellringing easier and to safeguard the tower. The three previous bells, cast and 1697, were replaced by eight new bells cast at the foundry of
John Taylor & Co in
Loughborough. One of the old bells has been preserved in the belfry. The Society of Bellringers of St Mary's Parish Church ring the bells in the church and are recognised as a teaching hub for the local area. The bells are rung in the town for special occasions; either local or national events. The organ was installed in the north chapel in 1811, and was replaced in 1912 with one built by
Harrison & Harrison. This second organ was completely refurbished in 2003.
Regimental chapel The church hosts the regimental chapel of the Green Howards, which has a service each spring for former members of the regiment. The chapel was dedicated after an appeal for funds in 1931. St Mary's had been the official church of the garrison and regiment since the early 19th century, and the chapel has colours hanging from the rafters, mementoes from the
First World War and an altar rail dedicated to two lieutenants killed in 1915 and 1917. As the Green Howards have been subsumed into the modern day
Yorkshire Regiment, the
Royal Lancers have adopted the chapel for their services. The chapel and the interior of the church are adorned with memorials to members of the armed forces who either died in action or represented the Green Howards in some way (IE senior officers). A stone tablet, set into one of the walls, commemorates the dead from 1916 to 1919 and is listed as the
Yorkshire Regiment, which was how the Green Howards were sometimes known. ==Churchyard==