Historic Architecture on Lound Side

 

The tower of the former Mount Pleasant Methodist Church

After walking from Grenoside to Charlton Brook, where the rock exposures in the streambed and stream banks were much more extensive than I had expected, having added a few more specimens to my growing rock collection, I turned my attention to the various historic buildings on Lound Side in Chapeltown that did not have a photograph on the British Listed Buildings website. 

 

A glimpse of the former Mount Pleasant Methodist Church

Following a path that runs alongside The Barrel public house, which soon turned into what would be described in South Yorkshire as a snicket, I soon came caught a glimpse of the tower of the former Mount Pleasant Methodist Church, which is now a private dwelling. 

 

The former Mount Pleasant Methodist Church

Built in 1866 with a Gothic Revival design by James Wilson of Bath, it is certainly a very impressive church building, with its geometric tracery and elaborate detailing to the tower – which includes an indented cornice, octagonal crown like corner turrets, an arcaded balustrade and large dragons on each corner. 

 

A dragon

I couldn’t get near enough to the blackened masonry to hazard a guess at its provenance, which looks quite similar to the sandstone used in a former school just to the north of it, which is marked on the 1855 Ordnance Survey map and is now converted into apartments.

 

An old school on Lound Side

Continuing my walk on Lound Side, I was interested to see the unlisted Lound Board School, built in 1901, which was one of seven board schools commissioned by the Ecclesfield School Board (1887-1902). These were all designed by George Archibald Wilson of Wilson and Masters, including those at Hillsborough and Low Wincobank, but the Ecclesfield, Burncross and Chapeltown Warren schools have been demolished and the one at Grenoside remains empty.

The Lound Board School

Next door is a former National School and school house, dated 1844, which later became the church hall to St. John’s church on the opposite side of the road, but now also seems to have been converted into a private house. I didn’t closely examine its stonework but, judging by its uniform yellowish colour, I think that this could be Grenoside Sandstone. 

 

The former National School and School House

Crossing the road to the Grade II Listed former St. John’s church, built in 1860 with a Gothic Revival style design by the Sheffield architectural practice Weightman and Hadfield, a sturdy fence erected by the current owners prevented me from getting anywhere near the building to look at the sandstone used here. 

 

Views of St. John's church

 

Having a quick wander around the publicly accessible graveyard, however, I was very interested to see the family tomb of various descendants of Thomas Newton, which is built in the best quality sandstone with Shap light granite panels and pink Peterhead granite colonnettes. 

Views of the Newton family tomb