Historic Stone Architecture in Totley

A view of the interior of All Saints church in Totley

In December, the Sheffield U3A Geology Group have a social event held at one of the members’ houses, instead of a field trip, and this year this was held in Totley – a place that I driven through several times on my way to the Peak District National Park, but had never explored on foot. 

A geological map of Totley

Planning my journey so that I would arrive nearly an hour before the allotted meeting time, I had a quick walk around the Conservation Area in the village to look at the various Grade II listed buildings that can be found here, and which are mainly built out of the local sandstone – the Greenmoor Rock. 

Greenmoor Rock used as walling for terraced cottages along the A621

I had encountered this rock formation several times before in Sheffield - at Brincliffe Edge, the Upper Don Valley and during visits to Norton and Chancet Wood – and further afield at Green Moor, the type locality, and at Castle Hill near Huddersfield. It forms a distinct escarpment wherever it outcrops and, at Totley, this is found in the part of the village to the north side of the A621, where the land falls sharply to Totley Brook. 

Greenmoor Rock used as a walling stone for a cottage on Totley Hall Lane

On the main road, several cottages are built with roughly squared and coursed blocks of Greenmoor Rock that are generally thinly bedded. A large proportion are stained brown/red due to the high iron content – as I previously noted in former agricultural buildings near to Beauchief Abbey, which is overlooked by the Greenmoor Rock escarpment. 

A late Victorian commercial building on the corner of the A61 and Totley Hall Lane

For the quoins, Greenmoor Rock is also often used for the older vernacular housing, but with more massive sandstone of unknown provenance used for the lintels, cills and jambs and as a general building stone in late Victorian buildings that are found in the Conservation Area. 

A late Victorian house on Totley Hall Lane

On Norton Hall Lane, the Grade II listed old School House, dated 1827, and the Totley Hall Farmhouse and outbuildings – as well as the older cottages – are also built out of the Greenmoor Rock, but the whereabouts of the quarry source for the village is not known. 

The old School House

Carrying on down the hill, following the dip slope of the Greenmoor Rock, Totley Hall – dated 1623 - is set back from the Totley Hall Lane on higher ground, but it can be seen that the general walling here is also iron stained Greenmoor Rock, with more massive sandstone used for the quoins and large lintels, cills, transoms and mullions in the windows of a typical Jacobean style. 

A general view of Totley Hall

Having quickly seen the building of architectural merit in the southern part of the Conservation Area, I walked back up Totley Hall Lane and then went to have a look at All Saints church - dated 1923 and designed in a Neo-Norman style - which had caught my eye when looking on Google Earth before my trip. 

A view of  All Saints church from the north-west

Walking very quickly around its exterior, it is unusual for its modern style of rubble walling, with hand tooled ashlar dressings and, although I didn’t have the time to closely examine the stone, it is very different to that seen in the vernacular architecture of Totley – particularly the very distinct red colouration of very many of the stones. . 

A view of All Saints church from the north-east

Unexpectedly, the church was open and the abundance of round arches in its interior continues the Neo-Norman theme, although the piers and columns are square in profile and not round, as seen in the original Romanesque churches. 

A view of the nave in All Saints church

A very quick exploration of the Conversation Area to the north of the A621, revealed only the modest Grade II listed Bryn and Moor Cottages, which was originally a single house built in 1704 with an L shaped plan and again using the local Greenmoor Rock.

A general view of Bryn and Moor Cottages