All Saints Cawthorne Revisited

A view east along the nave to the chancel

In the middle of April in 2019, I had a long day out to Cawthorne, near Barnsley, when I had a good look around Cannon Hall and the vernacular architecture of the village, and briefly looked inside the Victoria Jubilee Museum; however, All Saints church was occupied by a choir that was undertaking a rehearsal and I was only able to look at its exterior. 

A view west along the nave to the tower

3 months later, a week after my day out to Bolton Abbey and Skipton, I took another shorter trip to this interesting village and, although I had made enquiries about the accessibility to the church, I arrived to discover that there was yet another rehearsal taking place. With two bus journeys and a train journey, each way, I wasn’t going to be deterred this time and I had a quick look around the interior of the church whilst the orchestra was setting up. 

The south arcade

In the C19, the south aisle and chancel had been rebuilt and, once inside, I was disappointed to see that this Victorian restoration work had included the plastering of the aisle and arcade walls, which obscured masonry that could provide clues to its construction history. 

Iron banding in sandstone voussoirs

Pevsner dates the south arcade, with its round columns and simply moulded capitals, at c.1200 and the north arcade appeared identical to my eye. The most interesting feature for me was the very distinctive dark brown iron banding in the sandstone, which is very evident in the exterior beneath the patina. 

War memorials on the wall of the north aisle

On the walls of the north aisle, there are a few monuments serpentinite and Swedish green marble used for the frames and there are two fonts in the south aisle. The one currently used is octagonal and in the Perpendicular Gothic style, with the other being square and dating to the C11. 

The fonts at All Saints church

The north chapel, which has an interesting exterior, is disappointing inside due to the fact that it is plastered, although the reveals to the lancet windows highlight its very thick walls and there is a C13 recess with a depressed arch. 

The north chapel

Also, there are various large ornate memorials on the walls, decorated with cherubs, which are dedicated to various members of the Spencer-Stanhope family of Cannon Hall. Although not to my particular taste, they are of great interest to the local historian.

Large wall memorials to members of the Spencer-Stanhope family