St. Peter's Church in Barnburgh - Part 2

A general view from the north-east

Continuing with my investigation of the exterior of St. Peter’s church in Barnburgh, the distinct reddening of the dolomitic limestone, which I had seen on the south elevation of the tower, also appears on its west elevation. 

The tower

My initial thoughts that the red colouration was perhaps due to a severe fire was confirmed by a response to my previous post, in which I was informed by a local resident that such an event did take place c.1150. 

A detail of the west elevation of the tower

Although there is no structural reinforcement, a much greater proportion of the stones have been replaced with Jurassic oolitic limestone, in near vertical sections, and there is evidence of masonry whose joints have opened up and in places cracked - a consequence of subsidence due to the former coal mining industry here. 

Masonry to the base of the north elevation of the tower

The north elevation of the tower also has reddened limestone, but it only appears above a large section of yellow limestone walling, which is composed of large precisely squared blocks that look most like the C15 masonry used elsewhere in the church. 

The west window of the north aisle

Turning to look at the west end of the north aisle, the four centred Perpendicular Gothic style arch mirrors the one previously seen in the south aisle, with the general masonry of these later additions butting against an earlier structure; however, what most caught my eye was the masonry beneath the window. 

A detail of the masonry beneath the east window of the north aisle

Compared to the ashlar previously described on the south elevation, the stonework is composed of irregularly sized and shaped pieces of limestone and some sandstone, in the walling and buttresses, being used here. 

A detail of the buttresses at the west end of the north aisle

Carrying on along the north aisle, the walling again reverts to dolomitic limestone ashlar with four centre arched windows like those seen before, with this pattern continuing in the north chapel. 

The north aisle

The ubiquitous castellated parapets, added in the C15 along with the clerestory, give the church much of its character and the most interesting features, from an archaeological point of view, are the blocked doorways to the north aisle and north chapel. 

The north chapel

As with the south elevation, a lot of the masonry has been scoured and eroded, with new stone similar to that seen in the tower used for the windows and replacement pinnacles; however, several areas of ashlar walling have been repaired in situ with an inappropriate mortar, which looks very unsightly.

A blocked door in the north chapel