An Exploration of Barnburgh - Part 1

Fox Lane Cottage

August 2019 was a very productive month for my investigation of mediaeval churches and historic buildings, which are accessible by public transport from Treeton, and I finished it by visiting the church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Barnby Dun. 

Treeton and Barnburgh

In England, the first week in September is associated with the kids going back to school and starting preparations for autumn, so I wanted to make the most of the forthcoming Heritage Open Days event – especially since St. Helen’s church had decided not to open their doors this year. 

The geology around Barnburgh

Having become used to travelling far and wide from Treeton, for this year's event I decided to visit three churches in remote locations that were not usually open to the general public – starting at St. Peter’s church in Barnburgh. 

The approach to Barnburgh from Goldthorpe

Arriving in Barnburgh from Goldthorpe on foot, due to the hourly Stagecoach No. 219 bus not arriving, the 2 mile walk not only provided some good exercise in the late morning sunshine but also provided a good insight into the topography formed by the Upper Coal Measures rocks in the area – especially the Newstead Rock upon which the village is located. 

An old boundary wall on Barnburgh Lane

The church tower can be seen from quite a distance and, when getting close enough to distinguish its features, it is noticeably yellow in colour, and the first boundary wall that I saw is built in Permian dolomitic limestone from the Cadeby Formation, which is also very yellow. 

A modern boundary wall on Barnburgh Lane

This merges into a boundary wall that comprises buff/grey sandstone that doesn’t weather as well as the limestone and, a little further along Barnburgh Lane, a modern garden wall is built with randomly shaped and sized blocks of yellow limestone and a distinctly red sandstone, which I thought must be one of the Triassic sandstones that are on the market. 

A house on High Street

Viewing the church from a distance, which is built entirely of very yellow limestone, I then went to quickly explore the old part of the village around Fox Lane, High Street and Hall Lane, where I noted that virtually all of the historic buildings are built in this distinctive yellow limestone. 

A boundary wall on Fox Lane

Although generally quite uniformly massive in nature, the stone is thinly bedded in places, with weathered clay bands that give a stone a similar texture to the dolomitic sandstones in Mansfield. 

Mottled yellow/red limestone

Also, the hardness seems to be quite variable, with distinct scouring in places and there are occasional distinctly reddened blocks, which can be seen in various cottages and particularly the old garden wall to Barnburgh Hall. 

Reddened limestone in the garden wall to the former Barnburgh Hall