From City Square to Briggate in Leeds

 

Old Father Time on the Time Ball Buildings

Just under 4 weeks after I had spent a long day out to Batley and Birstall, having briefly revisited various churches in South Yorkshire during the intervening period, I returned to West Yorkshire again – this time to undertake another British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge in Leeds, comprising 39 buildings in the eastern part of the Leeds City Centre Central Conservation Area. 

 

The Leeds City Centre Central Conservation Area

Having set off from Treeton at 9:30, I arrived in Leeds at 11:15 and, leaving the railway station, I stopped to take a couple of photos of the former General Post Office (1894) by Sir Henry Tanner, the chief architect at H.M. Office of Works in London, who appears to have been best known for designing large post office buildings, but I had not heard of him before. 

 

The former General Post Office

I have never looked closely at the fabric, partly because the front has usually been obscured by the tables and chairs from the various bars that have occupied the building over the years and also because I have been mainly interested in the various statues in City Square. 

 

The statue of James Watts on City Square

 

According to the Building Stones Heritage of Leeds (BSHL), Haworth Stone from the Brandon Grit in the Millstone Grit Group was obtained from a quarry on Penistone Hill, to the south of Haworth, which was facilitated by the well established railway network in the region. 

 

The quarries on Penistone Hill

Heading along Boar Lane, I stopped very briefly to photograph the Grade I listed Holy Trinity Church (1721-1727), built with very coarse grained and often pebbly Rough Rock, which BSHL states was quarried from the Meanwood Quarries in north Leeds.  

 

Holy Trinity Church

On the opposite side of the road, the first building on my Photo Challenge was Nos. 1-13 Boar Lane - a large former Temperance hotel, shops, offices and warehouse (1869-72) - which are designed in both the Italianate and Gothic Revival styles by Thomas Ambler for Alderman John Barran and built in brick with yellowish sandstone dressings, which looks like the Elland Flags. 

 

Views of Nos. 1-16 Boar Lane

Although the prominent civic and public buildings, by George Corson and Cuthbert Broderick in particular, are built in stone - as I had discovered during my last trip to Leeds - very many of its finest buildings are built with brick, terracotta or faience tiles made from the mudstones from the local Coal Measures strata. 

 

A detail of Nos. 1-16 Boar Lane

 

This Language of Stone Blog is mainly about geology, stone built architecture, memorials, monuments and sculpture but, given that my time spent in the building restoration industry in London has provided me with a great appreciation of historic architecture that is built with a wide variety of materials, I will diverge from this strict subject. 

 

Time Ball Buildings

Turning down Briggate, the stuccoed early C19 Grade II* Time Ball Buildings, which was further elaborated by the watchmaker John Dyson c.1872 and c.1900, is one of the most interesting buildings that I have seen in Leeds. 

 

A detail of Time Ball Buildings

 

The gilded time ball mechanism was linked to Greenwich and dropped at exactly 1pm each day and the large clock, which is cantilevered from the front of a bay in a frame, is surmounted by a sculpture of Old Father Time. This is the work of the renowned Leeds sculptor, John Wormald Appleyard, whose fine stone carving in Caen stone is seen in Leeds Central Library. 

 

An information panel on Briggate

When I explored Granary Wharf, Holbeck Urban Village and Wellington Street in July, I learned a lot about the post Industrial Revolution industries in Leeds. An information panel informed me that Briggate used to be a very wide market place that extended from Leeds Bridge to the modern Headrow and was once the world’s largest woollen cloth market. 

 

The 1852 OS map of Briggate and the adjacent yards

 

Briggate was created in 1207 and it was flanked by long thin burgage plots, which were occupied by craftsmen and traders, and by the C17 it was lined with houses, workshops and inns. These subsequently developed as yards in the C18, with a variety of industrial and commercial ventures sharing space with living accommodation, and this street pattern is clearly recorded on the 1852 Ordnance Survey (OS) map. 

 

The Queen's Court bar

 

In respect of the early C18 Nos. 165A and 166-169 Briggate, a former merchant’s house and workshops, now occupied by the Queen’s Court and Fibre bars, Historic England (HE) state that the rooms on the upper floors and to the right of the entrance passage were probably used as workrooms, warehousing and showrooms/shops, together with the north ranges of Queen's Court. 

 

The Fibre bar

Purchases of cloth were made in the market and the merchant employed workmen in the finishing processes but, in the early C19 factory production resulted in the change of use of such buildings, including those of the mid C18 brick built Queen’s Court. 

 

Views of the north range of Queen's Court

Records suggest that the north and east ranges were occupied by a hatter, wool-stapler and insurance agent by 1817, with it being the premises of Sidney and Stables - a tea coffee and spice dealer, latterly tea dealer and grocery warehouse. HE also mention that the south range possibly included the premises of a cornflour and bacon dealer in the later C18 and early C19 and that a stationer, ironmonger, linen merchant, silk mercer and hosier were also occupiers in this period. 

 

Views of the south range of Queen's Court

 

Continuing down Briggate and under the railway bridge, Nos. 3-5 Blayds Yard (c.1800) comprise another row of houses with workshops, now a  bar, which are built in red/brown brick and HE describe as “An important surviving example of the type of housing built for textile workers within the historic centre of Leeds in the late C18/early C19, in the rear yard of an C18 town house”. 

 

Nos. 3-5 Blayds Yard

Various Churches in South Yorkshire

 

The chancel in Rotherham Minster

To conclude a great day out on the buses and trains to Batley and Birstall, I had a very quick look at the exterior of All Saints church, and with the Heritage Open Days festival for 2024 coming to an end, the next time I went out was to lead a walk as part of the Nether Edge Festival – a recce for which I had undertaken in the first week of September. 

 

A walk around Nether Edge

Following on from this event, which was attended by 35 people, I next went to the Church of St. John the Baptist in Hooton Roberts to meet Liza Nash, who had contacted me on Facebook the year before to ask if she could use a photo that I had taken of the church, when walking along Hooton Cliff in the summer of 2021. 

 

The south at the Church of St. John the Baptist

 

Although not a member of the Parochial Church Council, she had undertaken a lot of work to ensure that the church did not become redundant, due to the diminishing numbers of parishioners who attended the church, and she wanted to produce a calendar to raise funds. 

 

The Church of St. John the Baptist

 

Having not heard about this for some time, a message on Facebook again was followed by a long conversation instigated by Liza, during which I highlighted my experiences of visiting many mediaeval churches that faced similar problems - including St. Helen’s church in Treeton - and my experience of the very successful Church Explorers Week event that Chris Ellis at the Diocese of Sheffield had organised earlier in the year. 

 

An outcrop of sandstone on Holmes Lane

I had briefly seen the interior the year before, but I had been intrigued about the red sandstone that outcrops on Holmes Lane and in a farm track to the east of the village, which according to the British Geological Survey map is not the Rotherham Red variety of the Mexborough Rock - and I have further investigated this after visiting St. Helen's church in Burghwallis.

 

Variation in the sandstone in the responds of the arch to the south aisle

According to the geological memoir, between Rotherham and Hooton Roberts, the Mexborough Rock changes from the locally distinctive dull red/brown Rotherham Red sandstone - which is characteristic of Rotherham and the villages to the south - to a mottled red/yellow variety. I noted this variation in the masonry of the arch to the south aisle and dressings at St. John’s church, but I have not seen any exposures of this and am still curious to know where this was quarried. 

 

Sandstone used for dressings

 

This was seen in several quarries that are no longer visible or have been infilled and redeveloped and the owners of the Hooton Roberts quarry off Kilnhurst Road have refused access to both the South Yorkshire RIGS (Regionally Important Geological Sites) Group and the Sheffield Area Geology Trust (SAGT); however, from glimpses of this and another quarry on Denaby Lane, the Mexborough Rock appears to have the typical light brown colour that I have seen in old quarries in Mexborough and Darfield. 

 

A detail of the sandstone used for dressings

 

Having met with the churchwarden and subsequently had a long conversation with Liza back in her house, I have been glad to know that the church is still functioning for services and that they have participated in subsequent Church Explorers Week events. 

 

Poppyheads in Rotherham Minster

On the following Saturday, I popped into Rotherham and took advantage of Rotherham Minster being open to take some photographs of the wonderful poppyheads that adorn the choir stalls and which are dated to c.1480. 

 

A view of the crossing in Rotherham Minster

 

I had been inside Rotherham Minster several times over the years and, except for the stained glass, I had photographed all of the features that interested me and, on this occasion, I just spent 10 minutes inside the church. 

 

The Norman font in Rotherham Minster

 

Moving into October, when I was still making plans to travel further afar while the weather was still reasonably good, I spent a couple of hours at St. John’s church at Ranmoor in Sheffield. I had visited this church a few times earlier in the year, to prepare for a talk that I gave on 7th September – entitled The Stones of St. John’s – A Geological Assessment. 

 

The entrance to St. John's churchyard

On this occasion, I was attending another talk as part of the Scissors Paper Stone project, on the subject of Frank Tory by the late Sylvia Dunkley. Treeton History Group had previously invited Sylvia to give a talk on the same subject, but it had to be cancelled during the COVID-19 Pandemic and was never rearranged due to the subsequent demise of this group. 

 

A view along the nave of St. John's church in Ranmoor

I had already taken very many photos of the exterior and interior, but with the lighting being switched on and the font being well illuminated, I could not resist taking another photo that show the Caen stone and serpentinite from the area around Genoa in Italy.

The font at St. John's church

All Saints Church in Batley

 

All Saints church in Batley

To conclude my day out to Batley and Birstall, which included an exploration of the warehouses on Station Road, the public buildings in the Market Place Conservation Area, St. Peter’s church and Batley Cemetery, I had a quick look at the exterior of All Saints church in Batley. 

 

The south-west entrance to the churchyard

 

The architect Walter Hanstock, in partnership with both Michael Sheard and his son Arthur Walter Hanstock, designed very many of these buildings and it is therefore quite fitting that he was responsible for the restoration (1872-3) of this Grade I listed mediaeval church, which Historic England (HE) dates to the C13, but most of the fabric was built c.1485. 

 

My first view of All saints church

Entering the churchyard at the south-west corner, I was immediately struck by the large numbers of the trees growing in the immediate vicinity of the church, which threw much of the fabric into the shade and made it difficult to obtain photographs of the entire structure. 

 

A view of the west end of the church

 

Once inside the churchyard, I obtained a much better view of the west end, especially the tower, with its corbelled, machiolated and castellated parapet with tall square pinnacles – and it reminded me very much of the tower at St. Peter’s church in Birstall. Pevsner describes it as being a “corbelled-out parapet of the Leeds region”, but provides no other examples. 

A view of the west elevation of the tower

When travelling around Barnsley to look at their mediaeval churches, I discovered that All Saints church in Darton was one of five sister churches that had ties with the Cluniac Monk Bretton Priory and were built with a very similar design. 

 

A view of the north elevation of the tower

 

In Medieval Churches of West Yorkshire, Peter Ryder also draws attention to several churches that have virtually identical towers, which suggests that the same master mason may have been responsible for the design of these. 

 

The north aisle

 

Continuing along the north aisle, Ryder describes the rebuilding in the Perpendicular Gothic style as having taken place in the half century either side of 1500 - adding that the church “escaped the Victorian era very lightly; most of the windows still have their 16th or 17th century plain square-headed or round-arched lights”. Pevsner just describes them as “All windows Perp, and most of them straight-headed”. 

 

Pevsner's description of All Saints church

 

I noted that large blocks of a yellowish cross-bedded sandstone with orange variation has been used for the walling and the infill of the north door, which is very probably Birstall Rock, but the C20 vestry is built with a different sandstone that I didn't look at closely. 

 

The C20 vestry

Moving round the east end of the church, the canopies of the mature trees again made it difficult to obtain a good photograph and I didn’t get close enough to have a good look at the stonework or photograph the details. 

 

A view along the south elevation

 

The south aisle has the same style of windows as the north aisle, which are all square headed but with some of these having round arched lights, but I just took a few general photos without examining the details. 

 

A view of the porch and south elevation

 

All around the church, large slabs are used for paving, which includes many inscribed grave slabs, and to the east of the porch there are a few raised slabs and a Grade II listed recumbent effigy, which HE describes as a robed figure with hands together on the chest and probably C13. 

The effigy to the east of the porch

Having note that a car was parked outside the church, I was hoping that I might have an opportunity to look in the interior, but I couldn’t see any lights on and, after photographing some of the inscribed grave slabs, I made my way to the entrance on Branch Road and headed back to the railway station - stopping at the Union Rooms on the way to have a well earned pint.

 

Grave slabs in the churchyard

An Exploration of Batley Cemetery

 

A detail of the headstone of corporal J.W. Gay

Ever since encountering a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) headstone in St. John the Baptist’s churchyard in Dronfield back in February 2019, where I was interested in the design of the regimental crest of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment – albeit a replica of the original made by a CNC milling machine - I have made a point of visiting churchyards and cemeteries to find these, when on my travels. 

 

CWGC headstones with regimental crests that I had not seen

On my day out to Batley and Birstall, when I had planned to look at the historic architecture on Station Road and in the Market Place Conservation Area and St. Peter’s church in Birstall, my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge included buildings and structures in Batley Cemetery and I therefore prepared a short list of headstones with regimental crests that I had not seen before. 

 

The gatepiers, gates and railings

Before entering the cemetery, I firstly photographed the Grade II listed gatepiers and boundary wall, which are built in massive sandstone, along with the gates and railings, and also the Grade II listed cemetery lodge (1866) - where the same sandstone is used for the walling and dressings. 

 

The gatepiers and lodge

The architect responsible was Walter Hanstock, whose work I had seen in the warehouses/showrooms on Station Road, the Zion Methodist Chapel, the town hall and Batley baths in Market Place Conservation Area and at the Sunday School on Blakeridge Lane. 

 

The cemetery lodge

 

The sandstone used for the gatepiers and the lodge – for the walling and dressings – is uniformly light brown in colour and is very probably Thornhill Rock, which Hanstock seems to have favoured and was widely quarried near Morley and easily transported by rail to Batley. 

 

The Cross of Sacrifice

 

The Cross of Sacrifice is made out of a uniformly coloured and medium grained sandstone, which I didn’t look at closely; however, Bolton Woods stone from the Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation to the north of Bradford has often been used for war memorials in the north of England. 

 

Views of the memorials in Batley Cemetery

Walking up to the cemetery chapels, the area between these and the entrance is the oldest part of the cemetery and there is a mixture of traditional slabs made out of sandstone that is very likely to be from the Elland Flags, with larger obelisks and other large more ornate memorials being made of massive sandstone and a variety of granites. 

 

The cemetery chapels

Quite unusually, Historic England describe the Anglican and Nonconformist chapels (1865), also by Walter Hanstock, as being decorated with carved details that include grotesques, beasts, birds, figure heads, flora and foliage, but I did not get near enough to see these. 

 

A view to Blakeridge Mills

Continuing up the hillside to an elevation of approximately 110 m, on which the newer parts of the cemetery are set, I stopped to take in the view of Blakeridge Mills and the Church of St. Thomas (1868) in the distance – another building designed by Walter Hanstock. 

 

The plan for Batley Cemetery

 

I then set about trying to locate the CWGC headstones, using a cemetery plan that I had downloaded, with the first of these being Private A.A. Smithson of the Cameron Highlanders, which looks like it is made with Stancliffe Darley Dale gritstone. 

A detail of the headstone of Private A.A. Smithson 

The next headstone, made with Portland stone, was that of Private B. Stenchion of the Parachute Regiment in the Army Air Corps, which wasn’t included in my list but I had not seen the regimental crest depicting a parachute before. 

 

A detail of the headstone of Private B. Stenchion

The headstone of Bombardier T. Brannan of the 145th (Berkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment is also made of Portland stone and the regimental crest interestingly depicts the Uffington White Horse – a prehistoric hill figure cut into the chalk downs in Berkshire – although in reverse. 

 

A detail of the headstone of Bombardier T. Brennan

Private W. Bromley of the New Zealand Otago Regiment has a headstone made of Portland stone, which has weathered to an extent that fragments of shells can clearly be seen and looks original, but the worksheet states that the stone used is Woodkirk Blue.

 

A detail of the headstone of Private W. Bromley

 

In Moorgate Cemetery in Rotherham, I came across several CWGC headstones that I originally thought were probably made with Stancliffe Darley Dale stone, but subsequently learned from their worksheets that these were in fact Woodkirk Blue stone. Returning to the cemetery at a later date, I had another look at these and it was evident that this sandstone is finer grained and weathers differently – an observation also confirmed when visiting other churchyards at Royston and Wadsley and Burngreave Cemetery. 

 

The headstone of Private C. Bruce

 

Private Bromley’s worksheet also includes the headstone of Private C. Bruce of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) but, from my photograph of the regimental crest, the stone looks more like a medium grained gritstone from the Millstone Grit Group than a Coal Measures sandstone.

 

A detail of the headstone of Private C. Bruce