All Saints Church in Silkstone

The south elevation of All Saints church

Alighting from the No. 20 bus from Barnsley, at the north-east corner of its churchyard, the approach to the east end of the church of All Saints and St. James the Greater is up a hill that is a product partly of a fault with a downthrow to the east-south-east and by a valley formed within the Silkstone Rock by Silkstone Beck.

A general view from the south-east

Getting nearer to the church, my first impression was that the sandstone used to build the entire mediaeval structure is very uniform in both its colour and texture. Even on an overcast day, the walling stone appears quite yellow and the cross-bedding is differentially weathered to give a very distinctive character.

The east elevation of the chancel

The stone for the chancel, rebuilt 1857/58, is similar to that used in the mediaeval work and I assume that it has all been quarried from the same source. Looking very closely at the masonry, especially at the very large blocks used in the plinth, much of the sandstone has a coarse grained character that is typical of sandstone from the Millstone Grit but not the Coal Measures.

A detail of the yellow colouration and cross-bedding

When later looking at buildings in the village, I came to the conclusion that the bulk of the material used in the church was not quarried locally. Although I don’t know its source, during previous investigations of historic buildings in West Yorkshire, I have encountered sandstones with a similar texture that I thought might have been Woolley Edge Rock, but this needs further investigation.

The porch

Walking quickly around the church to take some general photos, the description by Pevsner as "appearing all Perpendicular" is reflected in the style of the windows on both sides of the church – in the aisles and clerestory.

A general view from the north-west

The aisles, and the St. James and Brampton chapels, have four centred arches with simple foils, which are considered to be typical of the late mediaeval period – up to c.1500 – and the flat headed windows to the clerestory are in the same style.

The chapel of St. James on the north elevation

The official guide to the church states that the last phase of mediaeval building ended with the completion of the tower in 1495, with which the Historic England listing agrees, and the castellated parapets and crocketted finials provide further indication of the late mediaeval date.

A general view from the north-east