We start to get on to firmer ground sometime around 800-900AD. I don't want to get too deeply into the advent of the Cistercians in the mid 12th century but a lay-brother called Serlo gave valuable evidence to his abbot Hugh of Kirkstall some time around 1205. He said that when Alexander and his party arrived in Barlick in 1147 there already existed 'an ancient church'. Our problem is that we don't know what he meant by 'ancient'. It's doubtful whether Serlo knew exactly because the Cistercians had no interest in the church, one of the key facts we know about them is that they preferred desolate sites and were self-reliant. From subsequent events we can be sure that for some reason, the existing church was a thorn in their side. We'll come back to the Cistercian incursion later.
It looks reasonable to assume that 'ancient' means at least two hundred years old, if it had been within folk memory the foundation date would almost certainly have surfaced during the subsequent legal battle in the 12th century. This being the case I think we are safe in assuming that Barlick had a cleric, if not a church, before 900. This fits in well with what we know about the growth of Christianity in the region. By 682 the monastery at Jarrow had been founded and was very active. The Venerable Bede was born in 673 and by 731 had completed his Ecclesiastical History of the English People at Jarrow. Generally regarded as accurate, Bede describes the spread of the gospel across the region whilst also being honest about the occasional set-backs. In particular he mentions Wilfrid as being bishop at York and other sources suggest that he was a great builder and significantly, preferred stone for his projects. The Domesday Commissioner's evidence for Barlick says that in 1086 Earwine was the priest, this is a Germanic name, he was a monk and it's a good bet his ancestry was Saxon. In common with many other entries, there is no mention of a church but we know there was one because the Cistercians demolished it in about 1150.
Right! Let's fly a kite based on reasonable supposition and hard evidence. We know our old Barlickers were practical people and I find it difficult to believe that after over 500 years of worship they hadn't built a shelter from the weather. Let's call this the temple. The most likely site is somewhere near their sacred spring at Calf Hall. By around 700 monkish evangelists arrived and if there was a temple, almost certainly followed Gregory's instructions to cleanse it and destroy any idols remaining. There is another possibility of course, that our old Barlickers had already accepted the gospel publicly and converted the temple to Christian worship in which case it would only need consecrating. Worth bearing in mind that the mission would be small and demolishing a building would be a waste of effort and probably beyond them.
Timber buildings were sturdy, not easy to destroy.