Grenoside - Part 2

A memorial at Grenoside Methodist Church

When investigating the village of Grenoside to look at its building stone, although the stonework to the variety of vernacular buildings that I saw was generally weathered and the yellow colouration that I had observed in the Grenoside Sandstone at the church of St. James the Great in Norton was obvious, with this being particularly noticeable at Grenoside Methodist Church, built in 1855.

A general view of Grenoside Methodist Church

Beneath the deeply blackened surface of his simple rock faced masonry, the sandstone is distinctly yellow – especially where it has been weathered where affected by rising damp. Also, to the rear of its west elevation, several memorial slabs have been inserted into the wall and the stone used for these is strongly coloured.

Memorials set into the west elevation of Grenoside Methodist Church

The architecture style of this church is very plain and simple and these later additions adds some interesting detail although, as a memorial quality stone, it is very inferior to the Brincliffe Edge/Greenmoor Rock, whose fine grain and durability was highly valued by monumental masons all over England.

Details of memorials at Grenoside Methodist Chapel

Walking back up the hill to Main Street, the partially blackened masonry to the equally austere St. Mark’s church also reveals the same yellow colouration, which is again seen in the neighbouring church hall. The latter is particularly striking for its very unusual random rubble walling that is made of angular blocks, which is similar to the masonry seen in Whiston Methodist Church.

St. Mark's church on Main Street

I had by now spent less than half an hour in Grenoside, yet I had already found numerous interesting features - which would provide good stop off points on a geology field trip – and this continued on the rest of my short tour of this historic village.

A detail of the masonry at St. Mark's church hall