St. Cuthbert's Church Fishlake - Part 2

The south elevation of St. Cuthbert's church

Continuing with my investigation of the exterior of St. Cuthbert’s church in Fishlake, the south wall of the chancel and the south chapel are built in dolomitic limestone ashlar, with the chapel having wide 5-light windows that have four centred arches and Decorated Gothic tracery. 

The south window of the south chapel

The south wall of the chancel, however, contains a small remnant of the original Norman church, which is thought to have been built during the reign of Henry II c.1175. A very plain round headed priest’s door is preserved at the angle of the chancel and the south chapel, with walling comprising angular rubble and cobbles – as also seen in Kirk Sandal, Hatfield and Thorne. 

The priest's door in the south wall of the chancel

Although I didn’t investigate closely, using a hand lens, steel knife and hydrochloric acid, the cobbles appear to be mainly sandstone with a few that look like flint, but these were out of reach.

A flint cobble in C12 masonry to the chancel

If flint, then this would suggest that its source would be a glaciofluvial deposit such as those found at Thorne and Lindholme, which are believed to provide strong evidence of the southern limit of the Vale of York glacier. 

Windows in the south wall of the chancel

Looking at the south windows of the chancel, the arched upper windows are late Perpendicular Gothic in style and are identical to those of the north wall, throughout the clerestory and to the east end of the south aisle; however, the flat headed 5-light window below appears very incongruous in its size, position and proportions. 

A gargoyle on the south chapel

After taking a good look at the weathered gargoyle on the corner of the south chapel, which reminds me of The Scream by Edvard Munch in the way that the figure is clutching its head, I moved on to the south aisle. 

Various stone repairs

My first impression of St. Cuthbert’s church, like St. Lawrence in Hatfield, was that it was predominantly a late C15 structure built in limestone that seems consistent in colour, texture and the degree of weathering, apart from obviously recent essential restoration work. 

Windows in the south aisle

The south aisle contains three windows with different designs, one of which at least would be interpreted as being Decorated Gothic, and these all appear to blend in perfectly with the surrounding ashlar masonry. Now having experience of seeing very many medieval churches, I would have said the walling was of a later Perpendicular Gothic style and it made me wonder if the mediaeval church builders practised sympathetic restoration or undertook work that today would be described as retro. 

Sculptures on the south elevation of the tower

Apart from the gargoyle on the south chapel, most of the sculptures are seen in the clerestory, with headstops to the windows and two gargoyles draining the roof, and on the tower there is a weathered falcon and fetterlock and a crown surmounting a rose on the south elevation, with a statue of St. Cuthbert holding the head of King Oswald on the west elevation.

The statue of St. Cuthbert