Scrayingham church, on the east side of the Derwent valley between York and Malton, has been dismissed by architectural historians as a largely Victorian building. It has not been previously recognised that the north wall of the nave, and lower part of its west end, are of pre-Conquest date and perhaps as early as the 8th or 9th century; there are striking parallels with early Northumbrian churches elsewhere in the North East. Part of a carved figure built into the vestry wall has been provisionally identified as of this period, and has affinities to high-quality Mercian sculpture (notably the Lichfield Angel). It seems possible that Scrayingham will prove to be an early monastic site, of considerable significance in the early Christian history of the area.
P. Ryder (Sat,) studied this question.