St. Peter's Church in Felkirk - Part 2

 

The capital on the north side of the tower arch

My brief walk around the relatively plain exterior of St. Peter’s church in Felkirk didn’t produce any great surprises, except for the north-east vestry, which is described as having a roof that has similar ribbing to the south porch.

 

The south door and ribbed roof of the porch

Once inside the church, the first thing that I noted was the sandstone octagonal font, which is only briefly described by Historic England. The church guide states that it had been discarded and used as an animal trough until 1933, when it was reinstated in the church. Based on carvings found in the stonework, which I didn’t see, a possible Anglo-Saxon date is suggested for this. 

 

The font

 

Looking around me in the tower, I couldn’t help but notice that many blocks of stone with C12 nail-head, star and chevron decoration have been reset into the north and south walls of the tower, which have been presumed to have formed part of the original chancel arch. 

 

Reset C12 masonry in the north wall of the tower

Sir Nikolaus Pevsner started his description of the church with the words “The most curious feature of the church is the tower arch. This is Norman”, before going on to raise the possibility that this could have been a chancel arch and that the church was moved, with the present nave in the position of the original chancel. 

 

An extract from The Pevsner Guide - Yorkshire West Riding

 

Peter Ryder, in Medieval Churches of West Yorkshire, refers to the C15 tower arch as incorporating the reset jambs and capitals of a fine arch of c.1100 and relates them to the herringbone masonry at the east end of the south arcade, which seems quite sensible to me but perhaps Pevsner simply overlooked this small section of masonry. 

 

The north reset respond and capital to the tower arch

 

The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture of Britain and Ireland (CRSBI) just refers to the responds as being part of the reused C12 masonry and is quite non-committal, preferring to describe at length the details of the capitals. 

 

Details of the capitals to the tower arch

 

At the time of my visit, the church warden was busy cleaning the church, a floral display for a wedding was being prepared and the area beyond the altar rail was alarmed, as at St. John’s church in Royston, so my usual systematic method of photographing the various architectural elements - aisles, arcades, tower, nave, chancel and chapels – was somewhat disrupted. 

 

Herringbone masonry in the south arcade

 

Looking east down the nave to the chancel, I noted that the arcades with octagonal columns are of a different height, with Pevsner mentioning that although both were built during the late C13, the north arcade was rebuilt in a Perpendicular Gothic style in the later part of the C15. 

 

A view east along the nave

Moving down the nave and looking up at the clerestory, this phase of building is recorded in the change in style of masonry for the later work. The lower masonry of the south arcade is irregular and quite thinly bedded, whereas the masonry above is composed of larger, much more precisely squared blocks – as is all of the masonry to the north arcade and the clerestory above. 

 

A view west along the nave

 

With the alarm eventually being switched off, I had a very quick look at the chancel and the masonry surrounding the north door to the vestry, which the church guide says was part of the work undertaken during the 1875 restoration. It also describes the arch above as being part of the tunnel vault of the vestry, but I did not try to obtain access to this. 

 

The north wall of the chancel

 

Being conscious that I still had to walk to Shafton, where I would catch the next convenient bus back to Barnsley from the A628 road, I just took a few general record photographs of the arcades to the chancel, without exploring the south chapel. 

 

A corbel

 

I just took a couple photos of the carved corbels on the south side of the south arcade, which the church guide describes as being typical of the Anglo-Saxon period, but the CRSBI states that the quadrant section profile is usually associated with late C12 or early C13 corbels – further mentioning that the carvings are reminiscent of Romanesque forms.

 

A corbel

 

The reset round headed window on the south aisle wall is again dated by the church guide to the Anglo-Saxon period, Pevsner only says “Can it be Norman?” and the CRSBI is again non-committal and refers to Ryder’s comments that, in isolation, it could easily be considered as Anglo-Saxon, but it may belong in the context of the other reused material including the reset arch responds and the herringbone masonry. 

 

The round headed window in the south aisle

St. Peter's Church in Felkirk - Part 1

 

A general view of St. Peter's church from the south-west

My first glimpse of St. Peter’s church in Felkirk was from Slack Lane during my walk from Royston via Rabbit Ings and, from a distance, I could clearly see that it is completely different in character to St. John’s church in Royston.

 

A distant view from Slack Lane

 

Although the tower has crocketted pinnacles and gargoyles, the architectural details to the east of this – the clerestory, south aisle, south chapel and chancel – are all very plain, with no castellated parapets and all of the stone slate roofs being clearly visible. 

 

The south elevation

 

Looking at the south elevation, it is Peter Ryder’s description, in Medieval Churches of West Yorkshire, that provides the most useful information – stating that the tower is Perpendicular Gothic dating to the C15, the south aisle is C13, the porch late C14/early C15, with everything else being from c.1500. 

 

The south aisle and clerestory

He goes on to say that the interior may have been remodelled to accommodate a gallery during the C17 or C18 and also mentions that many of the windows seem to be of this period as well, without providing any details. The church guide refers to mullioned windows being added at this time but, although I am familiar with their use in secular architecture, I have seen very few churches of this date and am not familiar with their style of windows. 

 

The south chapel

The south clerestory windows have flat four centred arches and certainly look like the Perpendicular Gothic style that developed in the Tudor period, the windows to the south chapel have square headed windows with arched lights and the south aisle has one of these and two simple square headed mullioned windows. 

 

The west end of the south aisle

At the west end of the south aisle, the lancet window is typically C13 and the masonry has a mixture of course heights and an old roofline and the use of larger more evenly squared blocks shows that part of this wall was extended or rebuilt when the porch was added. 

 

The west door

 

Moving round to the west end, I stopped briefly to photograph the west end of the tower, where the window above the door is offset to accommodate the spiral staircase to the tower. The west door has very crude headstops to its arch, which are now very weathered. 

 

The tower

 

From the churchyard extension, where there is a good view of the church setting, I couldn’t see anything in the stonework – the pattern of the weathering and patina, the uniformity of the blackening or changes in the style of masonry – that made me think that the tower has not been built in a single phase, except for the castellated parapet and pinnacles; however, the leaflet Looking at St. Peter’s states that there is a slight change in width, which took place after the tower was heightened – a point that none of my other reference sources mention. 

 

The north aisle and clerestory

 

Continuing to the north elevation, the north aisle and clerestory above have the same style of four centred windows, with spandrels, as seen in the south clerestory and the blocked door to the north aisle has a Tudor arch with further weathered headstops to the hood mould above. 

 

The north door

 

Being very conscious that I still had to have a look inside the church, I didn’t spend as much time as I would have liked looking at the fabric and just took a few general record photographs – including the interesting unusual gabled vestry, which is dated by Ryder to the late C14. 

 

The vestry

 

I finished my quick walk around its exterior at the east wall of the chancel, where Historic England comments that the Perpendicular Gothic style window has been restored. So far, standing back to take photographs for the British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge, I had not given much thought to the sandstone from which the church has been built, but I could see that it is very unlike the course sandstone used at St. John’s church in Royston. 

 

The east window of the chancel

Looking at the British Geological Survey online map viewer and various old Ordnance Survey maps, which show old quarries in the area, I think that it is very likely that the sandstone used to build St. Peter’s church is from the Mexborough Rock.

 

The geology around Kelkirk

 

St. Peter's Churchyard in Felkirk

 

The lychgate

Finally arriving at St. Peter’s church in Felkirk, having walked from Royston via Rabbit Ings, my first task was to take photographs of the Old Schoolroom, which the Historic England description records as having been endowed in the mid C17 and is mentioned in 1660 as a free school for the manor of Havercroft, but probably dates back to the C16. 

 

The Old Schoolroom

 

Also on my list for the British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge for South Hiendley were a mediaeval cross shaft, seven grave slabs and two tomb chests. Although with no noteworthy features, as with many others that I had previously encountered in churchyards, the stump of the cross shaft was easy to find.

 

The cross shaft

 

Before going to find the various Grade II Listed memorials which, based on previous experience of trying to locate them from the Historic England descriptions – at Darton and Wragby for example – is not so easy, I went to have a look around the extension of the churchyard. 

 

The headstone of Corporal H. Hopkinson

 

Sited to the west of the church and very surprisingly bisected by a stream, although this part of the churchyard is not well maintained and the going is quite difficult underfoot, I quickly spotted the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Portland stone headstone of Corporal H. Hopkinson of the 1st Royal Gloucestershire Hussars. 

 

A detail of the headstone of Corporal H. Hopkinson

 

Returning to the old churchyard, the sandstone tomb chest of Ann Watson of Hodroyd (d.1735) was also quite easy to find, as there are very few memorials of this type, but I just took a couple of record photos for my Photo Challenge. 

 

The tomb chest of Ann Watson

 

Against the south aisle wall, there is a stone coffin, with its broken cover lying next to it. I didn’t notice this at the time, due to the covering of lichen, but having referred to the two church guides that I obtained once inside the church, it is decorated with a cross and is dated to 1150-1200. 

 

The stone coffin and lid

The other tomb chest on my list to photograph was of Richard Methley, merchant of Quebec (d.1837). I didn’t stop to try and make out the various inscriptions, but Historic England records the principal inscription as "Merchant of Quebec North America the Sixth Son of the late Willoughby Methley of Shafton" and adds: "In the discharge of his secular duties he crossed the Atlantic Ocean 34 times". 

 

Views of the Methley tomb chest

 

The grave slabs all date to the C18 and, to varying degrees, have their inscriptions covered in lichen and algae and were not so easy to identify. As I have discovered, while helping to maintain St. Helen’s churchyard in Treeton, their maintenance is very time consuming and, if cuttings are not removed when the surrounding grass is mown, moss and grass takes over quickly. 

 

A detail of the grave of Thomas Dunhill (d.1747)

To the credit of the parishioners, the old graveyard of this very isolated church is very well maintained and all of the grave slabs, not just those that are Grade II Listed, appear to have their borders regularly trimmed, so that these fine examples of Georgian calligraphy and letter cutting are still clearly legible.

 

A detail of the grave of Jonathan Green

 

A Walk From Royston to Felkirk

 

Plant fossils in a piece of red shale from Rabbit Ings Nature Reserve

When drawing up a list of potential places to visit in 2023 by public transport - to continue my investigation of mediaeval churches, undertake British Listed Buildings Photo Challenges or see some new geology – I was acutely aware that it was becoming increasingly difficult to do this, due to the limited bus services to what were becoming increasingly remote destinations. 

 

Medieval Churches of West Yorkshire

 

Not long before I made plans to visit the Church of St. John the Baptist in Royston, I purchased the book - Medieval Churches of West Yorkshire by Peter Ryder - whose earlier work on the Anglo-Saxon churches has been very useful to me in the last few years. 

 

The Ordnance Survey map of the area between Royston and Felkirk

 

Looking through this, I discovered St. Peter’s church in the small hamlet of Felkirk, which is just over 2.5 km from St. John's church as the crow flies and, after exploring the latter, I planned to walk to Felkirk via the Rabbit Ings Nature Reserve – starting firstly by having a look at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones in Royston detached churchyard. 

 

A detail of the headstone of Driver F.D. Dearden

 

As usual, I was on the lookout for new regimental crests, which I think are excellent examples of fine relief sculpture and are part of an ongoing photographic project, but I didn’t see any that were new to me; however to make a record of the condition of the Portland stone, I photographed the headstone of Driver F. D. Dearden of the Royal Army Service Corps and a few others. 

 

The headstones of Private C.N. Hill (L) and Private H. Halstead (R)

 

I was very interested to see that the Portland stone headstone of Private H. Halstead of the King’s Own Light Infantry seems to be much shorter than the standard design and also that the headstone of Guardsman S. Bell of the Coldstream Guards is made of a sandstone that may be another example of Woodkirk Blue stone from near Morley. 

 

The headstone of Guardsman S. Bell

 

After taking a photograph of the elaborate Italian white marble headstone of Reuben Griffiths d.1923), where the weathering has left the lead lettering standing very proud, I set off along Church Hill on my way to Felkirk. 

 

The headstone of Reuben Griffiths

 

Passing late Victorian/Edwardian terraced and interwar semi-detached houses, I stopped only once to have a quick look at the disused Barnsley Canal. This was built in the 1790's to provide a transport link from Barnby Basin near Cawthorne, where foundries owned by the Spencer family had long been using the local iron ore - later developing into a very important industrial centre once they had began to fully exploit the thick coal seams in the area. 

 

A view of the Barnsley Canal on Church Hill

 

Continuing up Cross Lane to Lund Hill Lane, I eventually arrrived at the entrance to Rabbit Ings Nature Reserve, which has been landscaped from the former colliery yard and spoil heap of the Monckton Colliery and the Royston Drift Mine. To the east of the railway line, the British Geological Survey map shows that the land between here and Felkirk is mostly made of infilled ground, resulting from coal mining in the area that started in 1875 and ended in 1989. 

 

The geological map of the area between Royston and Felkirk

Making my way along the path to the north of the landscaped tip, I stopped to ask for directions to the area of exposed red shale that, according to the Sheffield Area Geology Trust (SAGT), is a good source of plant fossils. 

 

A wooden dragonfly seat

 

During a good conversation with a former councillor, who now volunteers to undertake such tasks as mowing the grass around the seating areas at the nature reserve, I learned that the waste products of the coking plant here, which is marked on the 1906 edition of the 1:25,000 map, have not been without their problems here.

 

An exposure of ceramacised red shale

 

The SAGT website had previously drawn my attention to the magnificent plant fossils that have been found in similar ceramicised red shale at the Waverley Estate near Treeton, which has been used for the footpaths. I was hoping to find some interesting specimens but, despite spending 20 minutes rummaging through the shale, I found just one fossil of an indeterminate plant that I wanted to add to my growing rock collection.

 

A piece of ceramicised red shale from Rabbit Ings Nature Reserve

 

I quickly made my way along Sandybridge Lane and Slack Lane to the tiny hamlet of Felkirk, where there is only St. Peter’s church and half a dozen houses, with the Grade II Listed Felkirk House being the most substantial of these. 

 

Felkirk House