The parish church of St. Mary, originally a convent for the Cistercians, is a vicarage, in the patronage of Lord Hotham, of which the Rev. John Kirk, is the incumbent.
This church was formerly a spacious and magnificent structure, as the ruins at the eastern part of it sufficiently indicate, and in the time of Henry VIII. It was adorned with three ancient towers; but during the siege of the castle, a lodgment was made in it by Sir John Meldrum, and the present edifice is only a fragment of that which the Carmelites enjoyed.
This was the only church in Scarborough, though the town could once boast its three houses of "friars -grey, black, and white.
