Old Edlington Revisited

 

Carved corbels on St. Peter's church

Following on from my day out to Leeds on the 11th of October 2024, where another British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge provided me with an insight into the late C19 and early C20 architects that used brick and terracotta, instead of sandstone, I returned to St. Peter’s church in Old Edlington – the first to be vested with the Churches Conservation Trust back in 1971, when it was then called the Redundant Churches Fund. 

 

St. Peter's church

 

When I first visited in July 2023, I had a good at its interior but it was a rainy day and, while standing under an umbrella, I was only able to take quick snaps of the exterior before catching the hourly bus to New Edlington, where I photographed its war memorial. 

 

Reddened sandstone at the base of the tower

 

Taking advantage of a sunny autumn day, I was keen to get out of the house and have another look the red/brown sandstone blocks in the original fabric of this C12 church, which had aroused my curiosity when I first saw it. 

 

A detail of the reddened sandstone

Back in 2016, I discovered that an outcrop of a dull red/brown sandstone on Holmes Lane in Hooton Roberts was mapped by the British Geological Survey as an unnamed sandstone from the Pennine Upper Coal Measures Formation (PUCMF), which I assumed was the Rotherham Red variety of the Mexborough Rock – especially since very many historic buildings in the village are constructed of this stone. 

 

The geological map of the area around Hooton Roberts

My more recent explorations of Wickersley, Thurcroft, Brampton-en-le-Morthen and Morthen had shown me that the soil in these places are reddened, where I found the occasional lump of bright red sandstone. Earlier in the year, I had also discovered that red sandstone has been used for St. Helen’s church in Burghwallis, which is set on the Permian Brotherton Formation. 

 

The geological map of the area around Old Edlington

In a few places, I have seen PUCMF sandstone immediately beneath the Permian Cadeby Formation that has some patchy red colouration, but none of these have the uniform reddening seen in the Rotherham Red sandstone. 

 

Quarries marked on the 1854 Ordnance Survey map

The geological map shows that an unnamed PUCMF sandstone outcrops to the north of the church but, except for a sand pit on Clifton Common, the 1854 Ordnance Survey map shows only  limestone quarries in the vicinity.

 

Reddened sandstone at the base of the tower

Looking for a discreet place at the base of the tower, where the sandstone had deteriorated to the extent that I might be able to dislodge a small piece, I obtained a couple of small samples with my stainless steel knife, which had disintegrated considerably by the time I got home. 

 

A sample of sandstone from St. Peter's church

Using my Wentworth scale, I concluded that the sandstone is medium grained and, when viewing it with a hand lens, it appears less well cemented and finer grained than various specimens of Rotherham Red sandstone in my rock collection. 

 

Comparison of the sample with my Whitworth scale

  

Furthermore, its colour and texture was more like the samples of sandstone that I removed from St. Helen’s church in Burghwallis and obtained from the outcrops in Hooton Roberts, which seems to suggest that it is more likely to be an PUCMF sandstone and not Rotherham Red from the Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation. 

 

The corbel table on the south side of the nave of St. Peter's church

Having obtained a sample of red sandstone, I then had another look at the corbel table along the south side of the nave and chancel, which are carved with a variety of human heads and beasts – as I had seen in 2023 at St. Lawrence’s church in Whitwell and All Saints chapel in Steetley. 

 

The corbel table on the south side of the chancel of St. Peter's church

 

With 20 minutes before my bus back to Rotherham arrived, I wandered down Rectory Gardens where I hoped that there might be access to Edlington Plantation, where a LIDAR map shows the position of old quarries. 

 

Old quarries in Edlington Plantation as seen on a LIDAR map

Seeing that there was no public access to the plantation, I just took a couple of photographs of the Magnesian Limestone escarpment above the River Don at Cadeby Rattles in the distance, before returning to Edlington Lane. 

 

A view of Cadeby Rattles in the distance

 

On my way I stopped to take a few photographs of the boundary walls along Rectory Gardens, which I would expect to have been built with stone from the most easily accessible rock exposure or quarry. Apart from a couple of slightly reddened blocks, which are dissimilar to the sandstone seen in the church, these are built with cream to yellowish limestone from the Cadeby Formation.

 

A boundary wall on Rectory Gardens

 

I then walked down Edlington Lane to investigate the RAF Memorial, which is marked on Google Map, only to find a plaque to say that a Lancaster bomber did not actually crash at Cockhill in Old Edlington and that the memorial was moved to Moor Monckton near York.

 

The war memorial on Edlington Lane

A small war memorial is located at this site, but it just comprises a slab of dolomitic limestone with an attached plaque that replaces the RAF Memorial plaque, which commemorates four victims of WWI. After photographing this, I walked back to the bus stop, from where I photographed the rendered Manor Farm House (c.1800) for the British Listed Buildings website.

 

Manor Farm House

Albion Street to The Headrow in Leeds

 

A Portland stone lion at Leeds Town Hall

Leaving Pack Horse Yard, I headed up Lands Lane and turned left into Albion Place and continued my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge for Leeds at No. 1A, the former east wing of a red brick house that was built in 1795.

 

No. 1A Albion Place

Moving on to Albion Street and walking down to Commercial Street, although not part of my Photo Challenge. I stopped to take a couple of photos of Moorlands House (1852-55), by W.B. Gingell, which is one of less than a dozen buildings that I saw on my exploration of Leeds city centre that is built entirely in stone.

 

Moorlands House

I didn’t look at it closely but, according to the Building Stones Heritage of Leeds (BSHL), it is built with three types of sandstone. The vermiculated plinth is built with the very coarse grained and pebbly Bramley Fall stone from the Rough Rock, the ground floor rusticated blocks and the Venetian windows use sandstone from the Caley Crags Grit, with Rawden Hill stone from the Lower Follifoot Grit used for the two upper storeys and columns.

 

Moorlands House

The adjoining mid C19 Nos. 21-22 Commercial Street is built with sandstone ashlar that appears quite grey in colour compared to the varieties of Millstone Grit used for Moorlands House. It reminds me of the sandstone that I had seen at Morley Town Hall, which is built with Woodkirk Brown sandstone from the Britannia Quarries, where the Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation Thornhill Rock is still worked.

 

Nos. 21-22 Commercial Street

 
The next building on my list on Commercial Street was the Grade II* listed Leeds Library (1808), by Thomas Johnson in the Greek Revival style, with alterations by R.D. Chantrell (1821-1836) and Thomas Ambler (1879-81), with further work c.1900.

 

Leeds Library

With no stonework to interest this Language of Stone Blog, I just took a few general record photos and continued to No. 14 (1868), designed by George Corson in the Gothic Revival style. Its triple gables, voussoirs - which are probably Red Mansfield sandstone - and pink Peterhead granite are also seen at Corson’s 17A East Parade, where Elland Flags sandstone is used for the ashlar. 

 

No. 14 Commercial Street

The early C20 Nos 1-3 Lands Lane (1901) by Thomas Winn, which includes Nos. 12 and 13 Commercial Street, is a fine example of the use of alternating buff and red/brown terracotta – a material used extensively in the area when Albion Place was extended to Briggate in 1903.

 

Nos. 1-3 Lands Lane

Turning up Lands Lane, I continued to No. 5 Albion Place (1866-68), which was designed in the Gothic Revival style of c.1300 by Richards Adams and John Kelly as the Church Institute and Sunday School Association. Although also not part of my Photo Challenge, its fine polychrome brickwork and sandstone dressings stand out amongst the surrounding terracotta architecture.

 

No. 5 Albion Place

I continued up Lands Lane until I reached The Headrow, which is dominated on its north side by several large Portland stone and red brick buildings - including Permanent House and Headrow House - by Sir Reginald Blomfield and G.W. Atkinson which were designed 1930-31, with additions in the 1950’s.

 

The Henry Moore Institute

On the corner of the west side of Cookridge Street and The Headrow is the Henry Moore Institute, which the BSHL describes as having cladding of a very dark green granodiorite from Quebec in Canada, which is called Verde Prairi.

 

Athenaeum House

Athenaeum House (c.1890) on the south side of The Headrow, was designed in a Gothic Revival style by William Bakewell, and was scaffolded when I wanted to photograph it during one of my previous Photo Challenges in Leeds. I did not zoom in to photograph them or closely look at the sandstone ashlar, but large robed figures representing the Arts occupy niches between the windows on the second floor.

 

Pearl Chambers

Adjoining Athenaeum House on the corner with East Parade is Pearl Chambers (1911), another building by William Bakewell, which the BSHL describes as using blue/grey Rubislaw granite for the ground floor, with Portland stone used for the upper storeys – one of the very fist uses of this material in Leeds.

 

Nos. 23-25 Great George Street

From here, I crossed over to Leeds Town Hall to look at one of the Portland stone lions, before finishing my Photo Challenge by taking a quick diversion to Nos. 23-25 Great George Street and then ended my day by taking a photo of the front of St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Cathedral.

 

St. Anne's Roman Catholic Cathedral

Briggate to Pack Horse Yard in Leeds

 

Nos.112-114 Briggate

Leaving Angel Inn Yard and continuing south down Briggate, the next building on my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge was Nos. 115-120 (1898-1904) on the corner with King Edward Street, which is part of the development by Frank Matcham for the Leeds Estate Company.

Nos. 115-120 Briggate

 

As with the other façades fronting Vicar Lane, it is built with red brick and Burmantofts terracotta, but here it has a strong variation in colour that I don’t recall seeing before in this building material, which I have seen in the historic architecture of several cities.

 

Nos. 49-51 Vicar Lane

 

The next building on my Photo Challenge was Nos.18-26 King Edward Street and Nos. 49-51 Vicar Lane, which was originally a block of shops, offices and a restaurant that formed part of Matcham’s development of the Shambles meat market.

 

Nos. 2-16 King Edward Street

The use of red pressed brick and Burmantofts terracotta is a feature of all the buildings that form part of the development, as is the Baroque style with Dutch gables, which is seen at Nos. 115-120 Briggate, Nos. 2-16 King Edward Street and Nos.104-108 and Nos.110-114 Briggate.

 

Ns. 110-114 Briggate

Occupying a corner site, the early C20 No. 60 Briggate and Nos. 17-18 Albion Place are described by Historic England (HE) as shops and offices that are built with brick and terracotta – although from my photo it appears that sandstone ashlar is actually used for the dressings.

 

No. 60 Briggate and Nos-18 Albion Place

On the opposite side of Albion Place, Nos. 13-14 (1903), which includes No. 64 Briggate, are described by HE as a shop with offices above and built with stone and brown and green terracotta. I just took a single photo from a distance, from which I can see the green terracotta used for the columns that separate the windows, but I cannot distinguish the other materials.

 

Nos. 1-4 Albion Place and  No. 64 Briggate

Referring to my copy of Leeds Architects and Architecture, this Baroque style building was designed by Percy Robinson for Eveleigh Bishop – a printer, fancy goods importer, jeweller and silversmith – and built in a mixture of stone, red brick and buff, white and green faience. Furthermore, the Pevsner Architectural Guide for Leeds by Susan Wrathmell refers to Burmantofts faience used for cladding.

 

Nos. 19-23 Albion Place

The next building on my Photo Challenge was Nos. 19-23 Albion Place (1904), a row of shops with offices above that HE describe as being built with red brick and terracotta, when again the dressings appear to me to be made of sandstone.

 

Nos. 19-23 Albion Place

My background as a geologist and building stone specialist, with extensive experience in the building restoration industry in London, has provided me with a very good appreciation of the colours and textures of a wide variety of building materials – including brick, terracotta and faience.

 

No. 26 Albion Place

A little further down the road, the early C20 No. 26 is again described by HE as being built with terracotta but, enlarging the photos that I took, although terracotta is obviously used for the dressings, red brick with a very similar colour is used for the walling. It is thought that this building may have been the former entrance to the adjoining No. 6 Lands Lane (c.1900), which was built for Joseph Longley, a manufacturer of beds and a flock and feathers merchant.

 

No. 6 Lands Lane

Although the HE officers who write the listed building descriptions would not be expected to have my specialist experience, I have very often found them to have very basic errors, some of which Susan Wrathmell and Ruth Harman/John Minnis have reproduced in their Pevsner Architectural Guides, and perhaps HE should undertake further research on the buildings that they describe.

Nos. 8-9 Commercial Street

Nos. 8-9 Commercial Street, although not part of my Photo Challenge, is another very early C20 shop and offices built in red/brown terracotta, which formed part of the redevelopment of this part of Leeds, when Albion Place was extended to Briggate in 1903.

 

The Pack Horse public house

 

I then went to photograph the Pack House public house, which has nothing of interest to this Language of Stone Blog; however, it provides another example of a yard that developed from one of the burgage plots off Briggate and it was where Joseph Aspdin, who patented Portland cement, once lived and first sol this product in Angel Inn Yard.

 

A plaque in Pack House Yard

 

Vicar Lane to Angel Inn Yard in Leeds

 

A detail to the entrance of County Arcade on Vicar Lane

 

Having finished my lunch at Khao Gaeng Thai, after walking from York Street to Kirkgate Market, I continued with my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge at Nos. 60-62 Vicar Lane which, together with No. 58 (currently occupied by Subway) forms part of a non matching pair of shops, offices and a Temperance Hotel. This was designed by W.H. Thorp and built in 1900, whose work I had previously seen at Oxford Place Methodist Church, Oxford Chambers and the City Art Gallery.

 

Nos. 60-62 Vicar Lane

 

Historic England (HE) describe it as being built with with brick, with stone lintels and terracotta panels beneath the third floor windows, which Susan Wrathmell repeats in her Pevsner Architectural Guide to Leeds. To my eye, all of the dressings are clearly made with the same sandstone, which is probably from the Elland Flags.

 

Views of Wrays Buildings

 

The adjoining Wrays Buildings (c.1900) and Nos. 50-56 are built with red brick, with terracotta dressings that are very obviously different in colour to the sandstone dressings at Nos. 58-62, although the terracotta on Wrays Buildings looks like it has been badly cleaned by hydrofluoric acid - as seen on the former Prudential Assurance Company building (1891) on Park Row. 

 

Coronation Buildings

 

On the opposite side of Sidney Street, Coronation Buildings (1902), is another red brick and terracotta building by Daniel Dodgson, who was an assistant to Thomas Ambler - the architect responsible for Nos. 1-13 Boar Lane (1872) and Westminster Buildings and St. James’s Hall (1877) on New York Street. 

 

The area around Vicar Lane on the 1893 OS map

 

As seen on the 1893 and 1908 editions of the Ordnance Survey (OS) map of Leeds, the area around Vicar Lane and Briggate was substantial redeveloped in the very late C19 and early C20, with the notorious area of slums around the old Shambles meat market being swept away.

 

The area around Vicar Lane on the 1908 OS map

 

In its place is the County Arcade and Cross Arcade (1898-1904) designed by Frank Matcham for the Leeds Estates Company, which involved the creation of King Edward Street and Queen Victoria Street and included two hundred shops, cafes, tearooms and a theatre. Now forming part of the Victoria Quarter, it is occupied by many prime retailers and is one of the reasons why Leeds is considered to be the premium shopping area in northern England.

 

The entrance to County Arcade on Vicar Lane

 

I took photos of the entrance to the arcade and the surrounding façade, including the premises of The Ivy restaurant, which is built with red brick and Burmantofts faience tiles, but I didn’t have time to look at the arcades in the Victoria Quarter, where marble and mosaic are used lavishly.

 

The Ivy restaurant

 

The next building on my Photo Challenge was No. 7 The Headrow which, apart from its stone slate roof, has no interest to this Language of Stone Blog (LSB) and I carried on until I arrived at Thorntons Buildings (1873. This is another red brick building with sandstone dressings, which HE suggest may be by the architect/builder George Smith for Charles Thornton, the owner of the Old White Swan Inn in Swan Street and the proprietor of the Varieties Music Hall.

 

Views of Thornton Buildings

 

Turning down Lands Lane, I stopped briefly to photograph the Grade II listed bollard at the west end of Swan Street and the old gas lamp post in Ship Yard – neither of which are of any interest to this LSB – before continuing to No. 26 Lands Lane (c.1900). 

 

No. 26 Lands Lane

 

This brick building, which HE states is probably steel framed, is most notable for its very large showroom windows, which take up most of the upper two floors, and is by Percy Robinson. The HE description of 22-24 New Market Street (c.1900) casts some doubt on Smith and Tweedale being the architects and refers to the style of the tall arches at Nos. 2-4 Duncan Lane (c.1904) and also its similarity to No. 27 Lands Lane.

 

A view along Angel Inn Yard

 

I then turned down Angel Inn Yard, where the late C18 Angel Inn was the next building on my Photo Challenge, although its interest is mainly for being another example of the development of the mediaeval burgage plots, rather than its architectural qualities or building materials.

 

The Angel Inn