Headstones at St. Bartholomew's Church

 

The regimental crest of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

As I am by now accustomed to doing when preparing a British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge, which includes a visit to a church, I had looked on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) website to see if their were any of their headstones in St. Bartholomew’s churchyard and found that 16 were located there.

 

The CWGC headstones in st. Bartholomew's churchyard

Of these, there were only two regimental crests that I was not yet familiar with – the Air Training Corps and the Seaforth Highlanders – and having found a map of the graveyard on the Whittington History website, I was surprised to discover that the grave references on the Excel spreadsheet downloaded from the CWGC website don’t seem to match up with the areas marked on this map. 

 

A map of St. Bartholomew's graveyard

 

Before looking round the interior of St. Bartholomew’s church, I had a quick look around the part of the churchyard to the south of the church and was curious about the provenance of the stone used for the very large grave slab used to commemorate various members of the Whittam family, where the dates of death recorded range from 1827 to 1879. 

 

A grave slab for members of the Whittam family

An expert might be able to assign an approximate date to the making of this headstone – and others near the lychgate that are delaminating - particularly in relation to the arrival of the railway in the area, which enabled better quality stones to be brought in from further afield. 

 

Delaminating headstones

The geological memoir refers to the Wingfield Flags as having once supplied paving stones and gravestones from its flaggy beds and the church guide records that it was used for the walling of the 1863 church and, when briefly looking at the building stones used for the exterior church, I concluded that the same stone has been used for the original tower and the walling used for the church that was built in 1896. 

 

The headstone of Driver E. Burgin

When wandering around the churchyard to the south of the church, I came across the headstone of Driver E. Burgin of the Royal Army Service Corps, which is made from Portland stone. I had hoped to use its CWGC grave reference to help me to find the other headstones, but there isn’t one and I resigned myself that I would have to randomly criss-cross the extension to the churchyard in search of the others. 

 

The regimental crest of the Royal Army Service Corps

 

When talking to the local historian Philip Morris, while drinking a cup of tea, he told me that he had undertaken considerable research on the CWGC headstones and that he had produced a booklet that highlights the lives of the men and woman who are commemorated here. 

 

A booklet by Philip Morris

He then kindly offered to show me the location of the 15 headstones still on my list, but firstly pointed out the large fir trees, which mark the position of the Norman church that was demolished to make way for the church built a few metres to the north in 1863

 

Yew trees marking the position of the Norman church

 

In Staveley and Brimington cemeteries, which I had visited a couple of years earlier, I discovered that nearly half of the CWGC headstones were made with Hopton Wood limestone, which was quarried from the Lower Carboniferous Bee Low Limestone Formation near Wirksworth. 

 

Headstones made with Stancliffe Darley Dale gritstone

The next 10 headstones that I found are made of Stancliffe Darley Dale medium grained gritstone, which I had seen many times before in Derbyshire and  South Yorkshire. Approaching the headstone of Cadet G. Hughes of the Air Training Corps, the texture of the stone suggested that it might be a Botticino marble replacement of the original headstone, but it is in fact Portland stone, which is quite weathered with a loss of some fine detail. 

 

The regimental crest of the Air Training Corps

The headstone of Private C.E. Buxton of the Seaforth Highlanders, with its fine stag’s head crest, is also made of Portland stone, as are those of Signalman A. Matchett of the Royal Signals, Private J. Wright of the Pioneer Corps and Lance Corporal J. Elliott of the Auxiliary Territorial Service. 

 

The regimental crest of the Seaforth Highlanders

While finding the CWGC headstones, Philip talked about his work to record all of the graves in the churchyard, which he has researched in depth, and he told me that he had just started to lead walks and that a stonemason had told him about some of the stones in the graveyard.

 

Headstones of A. Matchett, J. Wright and J, Elliott

 

I explained that, as a geologist, I also lead walks and give talks about the various stones used for monuments and headstones and pointed out Carrara marble and various granites that are in the graveyard, including the pink Peterhead granite from the Aberdeenshire coast. 

 

A headstone made of pink Peterhead granite

 

St. Bartholomew's Church - The Interior

 

Stone carvings by John Holden of Sheffield

Entering St. Bartholomew’s church by the original south door to the door, having briefly looked a the various stones used in its exterior, there is a large community space with a kitchen area and I was immediately offered a hot drink and I sat down with this to talk to a local historian, Philip Morris, who was in attendance.

 

A view east along the nave

 

When I finished my tea, I had a very quick look around the church, which is plastered, and I didn’t look closely at the buff coloured stone used for the arcades and chancel arch, which I presume is a medium grained gritstone from the Derwent Valley in the area around Darley Dale.

 

A figure representing Music

 

The imposts to the chancel arch are carved with figures, described in the church guide as representing Music and Praise, with these playing a harp and cymbals respectively. On either side of the chancel arch there are two heads - Queen Victoria and Bishop Selwyn of Lichfield – but I did not take photographs of these.

 

A figure representing Praise

 

The church website also mentions representation of Moses and Melchizedek as priest and king, one hand bearing a scroll and the other uplifted in blessing. Also, at the west end of the nave on the south side is Aaron as High Priest holding the budding rod and on the north side a representation of Purity, with a lily.

 

A carving depicting Melchizedek

 

All of these heads and other floral details to the arcade were carved by John Holden of Sheffield and it is assumed that he was also responsible for the many head-stops seen on the exterior of the church, which appear to be have been carved out of Ketton stone – a Jurassic limestone that is composed almost entirely of evenly sized ooliths.

 

The gravestone of John Holden

 

I had never heard of John Holden before, but it is very likely that I have seen his work when photographing many Victorian churches in Sheffield. The only reference that I have found relates to a gravestone in Walkley cemetery, which was made by him for his very young son and on which he was later commemorated. 

 

Encaustic tiles next to the altar

Behind and next to the altar are some fine encaustic tiles by Maw & Co, one of the principal makers of tiles where the colours – here red, blue and buff in a diamond pattern – are the result of blending colours of clay and not applied glazing.

 

The memorial to Maurice Deacon

A few simple wall monuments and inscribed plaques are scattered around the church, which aren’t of great interest but provide examples of white Carrara marble and Welsh slate, with Hopton Wood stone used for the memorial to Maurice Deacon (d.1941). 

 

The altar step

Quite often, I have encountered various marbles in Victorian churches, with Leeds Minster providing a spectacular example, but the only decorative stone that I noted is used for the altar step. This looks like a polished red/grey Carboniferous Limestone from Wallonia in Belgium, which formed as coral reefs and the  Rouge Royal variety is probably the best known of these.

A detail of the step to the altar

 

The inscribed font, with its round bowl and stem, was made by Robert Bridgeman of Lichfield and the Historic England description seems to indicate that this is one of the original fixtures that dates to the opening of the church in 1896. I didn’t inspect it closely and, when enlarging my photograph, I cannot identify and features that give an indication of what stone has been used.

 

The font

St. Bartholomew's Church - The Exterior

 

A general view from the south-east

When preparing my day out to Old Whittington, I was interested to discover that the Grade II listed St. Bartholomew’s church was opened for the general public and that a local historian would be in attendance, with access to various books and other information about its history. 

 

A view of the tower

 

Pevsner describes it as “1896 by E.R. Rollinson. Stone with a spire”, with Historic England stating the materials used as “Coursed rock-faced gritstone with freestone dressings, slate roof”, with it being in the Decorated style and that it was built on the site of an earlier church. The rest of its description is in the usual very dry style, with a lack of paragraphs, which is not very easy for a layman to understand. 

 

A drawing of the church in 1785 by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm

 

The church website, however, is very comprehensive and from this I learned that the tower dates to 1863 and it was all that remained after a fire had burned the church down in 1895. The earlier church had itself replaced the Norman church (c.1140), which was sited several metres to the south of the current building and its position is marked by two yew trees. 

 

Quarries at Wingerworth

Also, the 1863 church is described as being built with stone from Wingerworth, where the Building Stones Database for England map explorer shows Birdholme Quarry and Sutcliffe Quarry on the Deep Hard Rock and the Bolehill Quarry on the Wingfield Flags. 

 

Wingfield Flags used for walling in the tower

The sandstone used for most of the listed buildings and other historic architecture in Old Whittington is a massive medium grained sandstone, which is generally cross-bedded and has a very high iron content, which produces Liesegang rings and strong orange colouration. Although I did not see any exposures, the quarries in the area worked the Deep Hard Rock and I have assumed that this stone was used in the village. 

 

The upper part of the tower

I didn’t examine the stone closely, but I could immediately see that the walling stone of the tower has a very different character to the presumed Deep Hard Rock. It is plane bedded and is laid in thin courses and, to my eye, has a greenish colour, which I have seen in the Greenmoor Rock in Sheffield  and at the type locality of Green Moor. 

 

Rock-faced Wingfield Flags sandstone used for the walling

In The Building sandstones of the British Isles, published by the Building Research Establishment, the Delph sandstone from the now disused Bolehill Quarry is described as dark buff or dark green/grey in colour. Petrographic analyses of this stone, as published in the geological memoir, refer to a matrix that largely consists of chlorite and this also appears in the Greenmoor Rock which, together with the Grenoside Sandstone, are the northern equivalent of the Wingfield Flags. 

 

Pink sandstone used for the window dressings

I walked anticlockwise around the exterior and noted that the windows have dressings made of a pink medium grained sandstone, which was probably quarried from the Corbar Grit (Ashover Grit) alongside the Derwent Valley in Derbyshire. Where used in the Sheffield Board Schools at Ranmoor, Western Road and Pomona Street by the architects Holmes and Watson, this pink gritstone is described as Matlock stone.

 

Plane bedded Wingfield Flags used for walling

 

The rock-faced thinly coursed walling stone used for the rebuilt church is fine grained and has the same plane bedding and greenish colour, which suggests that this has again been obtained from the same quarry at Wingerworth. 

 

Massive sandstone used in the east elevation of the chancel

 

Moving around to the east end of the chancel, I was therefore very surprised to see that the lower courses are much larger and very irregular in size and shape and the sandstone used is medium/coarse grained, cross-bedded and rich in iron. 

 

A detail of the sandstone used for the lower courses of the chancel

 

I was more interested in the stone used for the very weathered head-stops and the hood mouldings, which I first thought was dolomitic limestone from the Cadeby Formation, as Old Whittington is less than 10 km away from the Magnesian Limestone escarpment. 

 

Head-stops on the north elevation

 

Using my hand lens and applying a drop of hydrochoric acid to the head-stops that I could reach on the west end, I realised that it is a Jurassic oolitic limestone and, when enlarging photographs of a couple of these, I could see that the limestone is predominantly composed of ooliths. 

 

A head-stop with the enlargement showing ooliths

 

I have seen many of these limestones over the years, including Bath stone, Portland stone, Ancaster stone and Clipsham stone and all of these contain fragments of fossil shells to a varying extent and the only limestone that is essentially composed of ooliths is Ketton stone from Rutland. 

 

A head-stop carved from predominantly oolitic limestone

Although I included this limestone in the Triton Stone Library, which is now housed in the Redmires Building at Sheffield Hallam University I have only seen it used in a building at St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Leeds and for the dressings at the Ketton Cement Store of Thos. W. Ward on Attercliffe Road in Sheffield. 

 

A winged lion

I only spent 20 minutes taking general record photographs of the exterior and I will take another look at the various stones used in its construction, and I finished my quick look at the exterior by taking a few photos of the stone carvings on the tower, which include a winged lion and an angel.

 

An angel

A Day Out to Old Whittington - Part 3

  

An old well on the green at Church Street North

Continuing my day out to Old Whittington, I made my further along Church Street North past Mary Swanwick Primary School, which dates back to 1848 with further additions as the numbers of pupils increased, but it still retains much of its Victorian School character.

 

Mary Swanwick Primary School

 

Just beyond the school, Nos. 48-50 comprise a pair of semi-detached houses that date to the C18 and are built with sandstone ashlar, with a Welsh slate roof. I just took a couple of general record photographs of these and carried on along to the next building on my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge. 

 

Nos. 48-50 Church Street North

 

Holly House is a large C19 house built with coursed sandstone with a hipped Welsh slate roof, which is now used as the Holly Hill Special School. I just took a single photo from the roadside of the rear elevation before retracing my steps along Church Street North. 

 

Holly House

 

Next on my listed was the raised pavement, described by Historic England (HE) as either C18 or C19, which is an interesting feature that adds great character to the Conservation Area. It is set next to small green at the centre of a triangular junction with Church Lane North, where there is one of several old wells in the village - as seen on the 1:25,000 scale Ordnance Survey map. 

 

Views of the raised pavement

 

The next building on my Photo Challenge was Nos. 54-56 Church Street North, a pair of C18 cottages that are built with an iron rich Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation sandstone, possibly the Deep Hard Rock, with a stone slate roof. 

 

Nos. 54-56 Church Street North

 

From here, the road changes to Church Lane North and my next stop, a high boundary wall, is described by HE as “Boundary wall extending along eastern boundary of footpath between No. 65 and the churchyard of St Bartholomew’s Church”, but no information is provided about its date or the reason why it is Grade II listed. 

 

The Grade II listed boundary wall

Returning to Church Lane North, I could only get a glimpse of The Close, a house which the HE description dates as “C16/C17 origin with C18 and later additions and alterations”. It is another example of the use of PLCMF sandstone and, when enlarging my photo, the slates used for the roof look both grey/purple and green in colour. 

 

The Close

 

I then had a good look at St. Bartholomew’s church and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones, which I will describe in future posts, before following a public footpath to High Street through woodland, where I picked some wild garlic that was growing near the stream.

 

steps on the path to High Street from St. Bartholomew's church

Shortly before arriving on High Street, I stopped to take a photograph of the west elevation of the entrance lodge to Whittington Grange, described by HE as “C18/early C19 facade. Stone rubble. Slate roof with large off centre chimney. 2 storeys. Modern leaded casements. Stone porch”. 

 

The west elevation of the lodge to Whittington Grange

 

When passing the entrance to the lodge on High Street, I noted that building work was being undertaken and, although trying to be discreet when taking a photograph from the public highway – which in law I am perfectly entitled to do – one of the workmen had seen me doing this and came to challenge me. 

 

A general view of the lodge to Whittington Grange

Having explained that I was just participating in a British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge, we got talking about the damp proofing work that they were undertaking and my specialist interest in building stones, before I continued to Elmwood. 

 

A view of Elmwood from the entrance

The HE description of this Grade II listed house is again extremely sparse - “Early C19. Coursed stone. Modern hipped tiled roof. 2 storeys. 3 windows cambered headed sashes to upper floor, square headed casements to ground floor, all with Gothick glazing bars. Later solid porch”, but I had to be content with taking a few record photos that just get a glimpse of it. 

 

A partial view of Elmwood

Further along High Street, the lodge to Whittington Hall Hospital is also partially obscured by a tall hedge and the HE description for this property, which is only listed for group value, is also minimal so I just took a couple of general photos before continuing up Woodmere Drive. 

 

The lodge to Whittington Hall Hospital

The last building on my Photo Challenge was the former Whittington Hall Hospital, which incorporates Whittington Hall (c.1829). It was built by Henry Dixon, who inherited the estate of John Dixon – an industrialist who was the last member of the family who had originally founded a glassworks back in 1710. 

 

Views of the former Whittington hall Hospital

 

Yet again the HE description doesn’t provide very much information, especially relating to the buildings that were added to the original house in the later C19 and I just took a few photos of the south-west and south-east elevations before returning to High Street – passing a modern sculpture with crucibles that is dedicated to the metallurgist Harry Brearley, who lived in Old Whittington for a few years.

 

The modern sculpture with crucibles on Woodmere Drive