Historic Architecture in Gleadless

 

Gleadless War Memorial

A couple of days after my trip to Wentworth in Rotherham, where I was able to get a good look at the east front of Wentworth Woodhouse, I took advantage of the fine Sunday weather to continue my investigation of the Sheffield Board Schools at Gleadless and Beighton. 

 

An outcrop of the Parkgate Rock

Taking the No.73 bus to Manor Top from Treeton, I set off down Ridgeway Road and almost immediately noticed small rock outcrops of the Parkgate Rock to the rear of a small block of flats that have been built in an old quarry; however, not having my Estwing hammer with me, I just took a couple of photos and went in search of Commonside Farmhouse, which was on my list to photograph for the British Listed Buildings website. 

 

Commonside Farmhouse

 

At a distance, I could see that the walling used to build the farmhouse (c1800) has similar colour variation to the various historic agricultural buildings and boundary walls that I seen in Mosborough the previous months, with dark rusty brown blocks being common and grey silty sandstone used for both walling and the lintels, which use large blocks of face bedded stone. 

 

The New Inn

These very variable sandstones of lesser quality are normally associated with the strata that are found between the thicker named sandstone formations, with the latter being selectively used for the better building stone – as seen at the late Victorian New Inn and the old Bethel Chapel (1825), which are located on opposite corners of the junction of Gleadless Common/Hollinsend Road. 

 

The old Bethel Chapel

The stonework of these, although having a variable iron content, is generally a much more uniform light brown in colour and this is also seen at the old Gleadless Church of England Endowed School (1807) next to the chapel, which is now the Gleadless and District Conservative Club. 

 

The old school

Making my way back down to Ridgeway Road, I stopped to photograph Gleadless War Memorial, which is carved in sandstone that is probably Darley Dale stone rather than the more usual bronze, Portland limestone or Italian white Carrara marble. 

 

Gleadless War Memorial

I then had a quick walk around Christ Church (1839) and its listed boundary wall and gates, built with a Gothic Revival design by the Sheffield born architect John Dodsley Webster, who was responsible for several churches around the city – including St. Augustine’s on Brocco Bank – as well as several other prominent buildings. 

 

The south elevation of Christ Church

The chancel was added in 1884, yet its sandstone masonry is as equally blackened as the original church building, showing just how polluted the atmosphere of Sheffield had become during a rapid period of industrial growth during the late C19 and which continued well into the C20 – especially since Gleadless is located 6 km south of the centre of the steel making industry Lower Don Valley, where it should have avoided most of the soot transported by the prevailing south-west winds. 

 

The north elevation of Christ Church

Having taken a few general record photographs, without having a close look at the very plain stonework, the very crudely carved headstops to the west door of the tower caught my eye. Taking a close look at the dressings without resorting to my hand lens, I could clearly see flattened clay ironstone nodules, which is a characteristic of the sample of Parkgate Rock that I collected from Halfway a few weeks earlier. 

 

Details of the west door of Christ Church

 

Continuing along Hollinsend Road, the rather plain Gleadless Board School (1898) is another building by John Dodsley Webster and, after Woodhouse East Board School, the second school commissioned to him by the Handsworth School Board, with the third Woodhouse West Board School (1900) now demolished.

 

Gleadless Board School

 

Much of the front elevation of the school, which is set back from the road, has been obscured by modern brick extensions and the masonry is blackened, with the sandstone being therefore difficult to identify. As at the Woodhouse East Board School, it doesn’t look like the Crawshaw Sandstone that I had seen in the vast majority of the schools to date, with a greater bed height to the courses and no obvious sign of the horizontal planar bedding, which is one of its distinctive characteristics. 

 

A boundary wall at Gleadless Board School

Making my way back to Hollinsend tram stop via Hollinsend Park, I stopped to have a good look at the sandstone used for the west boundary wall of the school. As with Commonside Farmhouse, it reminded me of the agricultural buildings and boundary walls in Mosborough, with the very high iron contents being evident as clay ironstone nodules and dense bands and concentrations. 

 

Details of ironstone in the boundary wall