St. Oswald's Church - The Interior

The chancel arch

It didn’t take long to walk around the exterior of St. Oswald’s church to photograph and make observations on the principal points of interest and, having identified various phases of construction, I was keen to have a look around the interior for further evidence of this. 

A view when entering the south door

After walking through the south door, I soon discovered that just about every bit of space in the nave and aisles, which I wanted to examine in detail, was occupied by display boards, maps and miscellaneous information that had been laid out by the Friends of St. Oswald’s. In addition, a surprisingly large number of volunteers and general visitors were gathered around them – and I knew that I would I would have to come back another time to take a good look at these. 

Views of the south aisle

Making the most of the time that I spent inside St. Oswald’s church, I quickly spotted the Norman font and I also noted the thickness of the walls in the south aisle, exposed by the splayed slit windows that occupy the west and east end. At the east end, a sharp diagonal line can be seen where the height and pitch of the aisle roof has been altered, which is also seen on the exterior. 

Masonry in the nave

Although I didn’t have the time to study the construction details, I was interested to see the large concrete beams that support the tower that was rebuilt in 1935, to replace the earlier Victorian structure. Looking at the masonry along the nave and the south arcade I could also see the variation in the style of masonry that has accompanied the raising of the roof here, which is also quite noticeable in the chancel. 

Views of the north and south arcades

The arcades, which are considered to be late C12 to early C13, are quite unusual in that the central octagonal columns and the semi-circular responds support much thicker unmoulded arches, with walls of rubble masonry above. 

Gothic arches in the Rokeby Chapel

The Gothic arches to the Rokeby Chapel, entering from the chancel and the north aisle, have elaborate mouldings and capitals and contrast strongly with those in the arcades and also with the flat Tudor arches seen in the windows. 

Monuments in the Rokeby Chapel

The limestone ashlar lined Rokeby Chapel has a couple of substantial monuments to William and Thomas Rokeby, with the white and veined marble of the latter being complimented by a black marble back panel and a carving of a raven, which was the family emblem.

A detail of the raven on the tomb of Thomas Rokeby

When planning my visit, which takes nearly 2 hours with a bus, 2 trains and a walk, I had hoped that the June weather would improve and that I could explore the church at leisure, before exploring the riverside; however, it didn’t improve and, with a need to do some shopping, I decided to just take essential photos and get back to Doncaster market, to buy some fish.

A display at a fish stall at Doncaster market