St. John & St. Mary Magdalene

A general view of the church of St. John & St. Mary Magdalene in Goldthorpe

When writing this Language of Stone Blog, every post has in some way described my various professional interests in stone, with my latest project being the investigation of the construction history and building stones of the mediaeval churches in and around South Yorkshire.

A general view of the west front

During my brief investigation of Thurnscoe and Goldthorpe, apart from St. Helen's church and a few late Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses that are built out of what I assume to be the underlying Ackworth Rock, these villages possess very few examples of buildings of architectural merit and I wouldn't advocate them as places for tourists to visit; however, I thought that the church of St. John and St. Mary Magdalene was quite extraordinary and, as a Grade II Listed 20th century church that is entirely built in reinforced concrete, it is worth a brief description.

A detail of the west front

Completed in 1916 to the design of the architect A. Y. Nutt, this very large church in a simplified Italianate style forms a very prominent local landmark and I have never seen a building like it before and, although I wasn't aware of it at the time of my visit, the church was comprehensively restored back in 2002. It therefore provides a very interesting case study of the structural problems that can occur in buildings that are constructed in reinforced concrete and the church website provides a thorough description of these.

An inscription in Carboniferous sandstone

Being mindful of catching my train back to Rotherham on the hourly rail service from Goldthorpe, I quickly walked around the publicly accessible parts of its exterior to take a few general photographs of the fabric – noting its exposed aggregate finish – and was interested to see that the adjoining rectory and other buildings are also built in this material.

A general view of the rectory and adjoining buildings

As I was about to leave, I came across the churchwarden who invited me to take a short tour with him around its interior – an opportunity that I couldn't miss – and so I decided  to defer my return to Treeton for another hour and take a few photographs.

A view along the nave to the east

Once inside, the Stations of the Cross, various monuments and the brightly painted statues to the arcades are an indication of its High Church status, as previously seen in the mediaeval church of St. Mary and All Saints in Chesterfield, and I was particularly interested to learn that all of these statues – together with their accompanying details and most of the principal internal furnishings - are also formed of finely finished concrete that has been cast in-situ.

A statue on the north arcade

Like most other parish churches, it is only usually open for formal services and I was fortunate to unexpectedly gain access to this very interesting building and, although I didn't add to my knowledge of mediaeval churches in the region, I think that it was well worth making the effort to go and see it - for its rarity value.

A stained glass window commemorating the local coal mining industry