St. Michael and All Angels - Hathersage

A general view of St. Michael and All Angels' church

Having briefly explored St. Edmunds church in Castleton, I caught the next hourly No. 272 bus back to Sheffield and, after a 25 minute journey, I got off in Hathersage – a village that is popular with the walkers and climbers that like to explore the Millstone Grit Edges, which run down the eastern side of the Peak District National Park - and spent the next hour having a quick look at its mediaeval church, famous for the reputed grave of Little John.

A general view of the south aisle and clerestory

The church of St. Michael and All Angels lies on higher ground formed by the Shale Grit, in the oldest part of the village, and a walk around its exterior quickly reveals that the coarse sandstone used to build the church is not capable of being carved into finely moulded details and the overall impression – enhanced by the embattled parapets – is that it is a very solid structure, which has needed very little repair.

Carved escutcheons to the parapet of the porch

Although there is some evidence of an earlier Early English style church, the current structure dates back to 1381 and the lower sections of the tower, the nave and the north aisle are of this date and of the Perpendicular Gothic style. From 1442 onwards, the south aisle, porch and clerestory were added and after 1459, the Lady Chapel was added to the north aisle, the chancel extended and the tower raised with a parapet and a crocketed spire.

A general view of the tower

All around the church, there are a wide variety of crudely carved gargoyles and grotesques and various styles of windows can be seen, many of which were renewed as part of an extensive restoration of the church in 1851 and can be clearly distinguished from the original mediaeval windows, whose mouldings and tracery are much more heavily weathered and no longer possess sharp profiles. 

A gargoyle