St. Lawrence Hatfield - The Exterior III

A detail of the west elevation of St. Lawrence's church

The oldest part of St. Lawrence’s church in Hatfield is its west end, and this has been attributed to the de Warenne family, descendants of William de Warenne who was awarded the Manor of Conisbrough after the Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066. 

The west end of St. Lawrence's church

The use of cobbles, as seen in the lowest section of the walling in the south aisle, is continued in the west elevation, where it forms the walls of the nave and both of the aisles - with the west door and various slit windows being typical of the C12. 

Various views of the west end of the north aisle

The cobbles are predominantly Coal Measures sandstones, with some very siliceous varieties that look like ganister and others that are distinctly reddened, and there is also Permian dolomitic limestone. They display roundness to varying degrees, with many being very angular in nature. 

Possible sources of cobbles in the Hatfield area

As with those seen at St. Oswald’s church in Kirk Sandall, it would need further fieldwork and petrographic analysis to determine their provenance. Within a few hundred metres to the north and north-east, there are small patches of Quaternary river terrace gravels that could be the source of field stones. Also, 3 km to the east, there is a low ridge of glaciofluvial deposits similar to those at Thorne and Lindholme, which could also be a source. 

The west door

The quoins, the surrounds and columns to the west door and window dressings are all built in dolomitic limestone from the Cadeby Formation, as is the walling in the principal elevations of both aisles. Unlike the limestone used in the C15 – which includes the masonry above the west door – this would have been undoubtedly brought from the Don Gorge, which was under the control of the de Warenne family. 

A detail of the capitals to the north side of the west door

The extent of the alterations in 1872 by Thomas Jackson and the restoration by Edwin Dolby in 1882 are not known, but the arch of the west door, the columns and one of the capitals have been renewed. The unrestored masonry is very plain and is in much better condition than that seen in the late C15 masonry at the east end, where softer beds have been differentially weathered and in places have developed cavernous decay. 

A general view of the north aisle

Moving round to the north aisle, the north elevation is built out of limestone in courses of various thicknesses, with frequent large blocks and a few cobbles. Unlike the south aisle, where the lowest part is built of cobbles, the north aisle has a very sturdy looking chamfered plinth built out of large blocks of limestone. 

Pisolitic limestone used in the plinth

Where weathered, it is seen to be strongly cross-bedded and has the form of a pisolite, a limestone that contains ooliths that are the size of peas, which I had seen only once - at Hooton Pagnell - when re-surveying the RIGS (Regionally Important Geological Sites) in Doncaster.

Geometrical tracery in the north aisle

The easternmost window of the north aisle is arched, with Geometrical tracery typical of the early C14, but the four other windows are square headed with tracery in the Perpendicular Gothic style, which was used from c.1350 onward.

A Perpendicular Gothic style window in the north aisle