Wath-upon-Dearne & West Melton II

 

Wath-upon-Dearne war memorial

After half an hour spent briefly exploring High Street and Sandygate, where I noted the light brown/yellow/orange colour variations in the Oaks Rock, I walked past the market cross and the former Cross House (1810) and onto Church Street. 

 

The former Cross House

 

The Spedding Whitworth fountain commemorates the maltster and brewer Spedding Whitworth, who formed Whitworth, Son and Nephew Ltd and became a prominent figure in Wath-upon-Dearne. The fountain, which is sadly neglected and needs cleaning, is built in dark grey granite that may be from Rubislaw Quarry, with pink Peterhead granite used for the shafts and bowls. 

 

The Spelling Whitworth fountain

 

Further up Church Street, I stopped at the Montgomery Hall Theatre, where there is a modern relief sculpture that depicts the Scottish poet and hymn writer James Montgomery. I have seen this many times, but have not managed to find out any information about the artwork or the sculptor, except that the latter seems to have added the initials JB to the work. 

 

A relief sculpture at the Mongomery Hall Theatre

 

After photographing the rendered Town Hall (1770), I just took a couple of photos of details at All Saints church, but I had already had a good look at its stonework during previous visits and didn’t spend any more time here. 

 

Details of All Saints church

On the opposite side of the church, a converted farm building provides another example of yellow/orange sandstone, which was very notable on Sandygate, as does the early C19 lock-up on Thornhill Place, which has now been converted into a residence. 

 

The lock-up on Thornhill Place

 

Retracing my steps to the churchyard, I then my way down the public footpath to West Street to firstly look at the late C18 or early C19 Brook Farmhouse, where local sandstone from the Oaks Rock has been used, although it has been partially rendered. Built with three storeys and three bays, it has a simple well proportioned main elevation, which has a triangular pediment to the doorway and a segmental pediment with a festooned frieze to the central first floor window. 

 

Views of Brook Farmhouse

To the left side and rear of Brook Farmhouse, there is a range of early C19 agricultural buildings, now converted into dwellings, which is built in iron stained yellow sandstone. It is the dovecote and cowhouse that are Grade II listed here and, after finding various viewpoints from which to photograph them, I carried on with my walk. 

 

Farm buildings with a dovecote and cowhouse

 

Despite having a print out of a 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey map with me, which has the cross country public footpath clearly marked, I couldn’t find this on the ground and I had to follow the Barnsley Road to get to Wet Moor Bridge (c.1800), which crosses the now infilled Dearne and Dove Canal.

 

The south elevation of Wet Moor Bridge