Sandal Magna Revisited

A general view of Sandal Castle

Having spent a full day exploring St. James' church in Anston, St. John's church in Throapham and the historic architecture of Laughton-en-le-Morthen - on what must have been the hottest day in August - it was another 2 weeks before I set off again on the train, to have another look at the village of Sandal Magna.

Terraced housing at Sandal & Agbrigg railway station

During my last trip to see Sandal Castle, I passed St. Helen's church when walking back to the railway station and I noticed that, like the remaining facing stones of the castle, its east end was built in a sandstone that weathers with a distinctive striped appearance.

A block of iron rich gritty sandstone in a retaining wall

I had noticed that certain building stones used in Wakefield and Pontefract possessed very similar physical characteristics – often with a distinct brown/purple colouration - and so I decided to go and take another look at these historic buildings. According to the British Geological Survey map, it is the Woolley Edge Rock and the Oaks Rock that underlie most of the village, with an outcrop of Crigglestone Rock forming the rocky foundations of the barbican at Sandal Castle.

Distinctive cross-bedded gritty sandstone used in the barbican

The Woolley Edge Rock was once highly valued for its good quality building stone and the others were undoubtedly widely exploited to build various historic buildings in the towns and villages of West Yorkshire where they outcrop but, as far as I know, there aren't any active quarries that now produce any of these stones.

The gritty facing stones have mostly been removed from the ruins

In many respects, my continuing investigation of the building stones and construction history of the mediaeval churches in and around Treeton could be easily considered as just an academic exercise that is of archaeological value only; however, for an architect who works with such buildings, it is necessary to find a suitable alternative that is a good match for restoration work - especially if large areas of masonry need to be replaced, as at All Saints church in Pontefract.

Modern sculpture at St. Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School