All Hallows Church - Sandstone

A general view of All Hallows Church

When I very briefly looked at the exterior of All Hallows church in Harthill a few years ago, as part of a quick exploration of the village, I was surprised by the very yellow colour of the “Rotherham Red” sandstone that can be found here.

The Tower

Having worked in the building restoration industry in London, where the underlying geology essentially comprises Quaternary sands and the London Clay – with some Chalk, Flint and Greensand on its outskirts – I had to learn all about the various stones that have been imported from all over the British Islands, in an effort to meet the architect’s specification to restore an old building with a material that “shall match the existing”.

As an introduction to stone identification and stone matching, it was certainly a steep learning curve. Since developing the Triton Stone Library and further exploring a good part of the East Midlands and Yorkshire, I now possess a very good eye a subject that is extremely relevant to archaeologists, architects and surveyors.

In my most recent visit to All Hallows church, having thoroughly surveyed St. Helen’s church and the Conservation Area in Treeton, I wasn’t surprised to see that the oldest parts of the church were largely built from yellow/red mottled varieties of “Rotherham Red” sandstone; however, the texture of the stone used to construct the tower, the clerestory and various other 15th century additions to the church really struck me.

Variations in colour and texture on the south elevation

Compared to typical "Rotherham Red" sandstone, which is relatively soft and easily weathered away – with cavernous decay - its distinctive cross-bedding stands out proud and, when rubbing your fingers along this stone, it feels very gritty. Although there is little evidence of quarries on the ground or in documents, the village was once famous for the production of whetstones – an industry that was once common throughout much of South Yorkshire.

The Porch

I also noticed that the Carboniferous sandstone used for the dressings to the Victorian porch are quite unusual and very like the one that I had previously seen at the old Wesleyan chapel in Maltby; it is fine grained, susceptible to delamination and weathers with a very distinctive patina. The doorway to the church itself is constructed of yet another sandstone of unknown provenance and which possesses some very 'wild' variations in colour.

The South Door

Looking at the restoration of the sandstone elements of All Hallows church, I was very impressed by the choice of stone used in the recent structural repairs to the north aisle, which Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described as having "horrible neo-Norman windows".

Various restoration work to the North Aisle