St. Wilfrid’s Churchyard in Hickleton

 

A momento mori in the lychgate

The Church of St. Wilfrid in Hickleton, deserved much more time to really appreciate its monuments but, with the church being pened for me by Father Schaefer on a Saturday morning and feeling conscious of this, I just had a quick look around without dwelling on the details.

 

The south elevation of the lychgate

When first arriving at the church, I passed through the Grade II Listed late mediaeval lychgate without taking much notice of it, but it has set into a recess a momento mori – translated from Latin as 'remember you must die' - which is apparently the only one of its kind in England. 

 

The memento mori

It consists of three human skulls and the inscription 'Today for me/Tomorrow for thee’. Various legends surround the origin of the skulls but it is most likely that they were obtained by the 2nd Viscount Halifax from friends in the medical profession. It was vandalised in the mid 1990's and one of the skulls was stolen, but it was restored as part of the village’s Millennium Project, with a new skull being carved in stone. 

 

An information panel

 

Next to the lychgate is a very comprehensive information panel, which I spent some time reading. I was interested to discover that Hickleton once had a motte and bailey castle, although its former site to the north of the Doncaster Road has been obliterated by quarrying. 

 

A crucifix erected by the 2nd Viscount Halifax

The crucifix at the east end of the churchyard is one of eight erected in the village and surrounding area by the 2nd Viscount Halifax, who was a leader of the Anglo-Catholic movement. In 1900, a group of Protestants tried to cut it down, complaining about popery, which led to a minor riot and the crucifixes being put under guard. 

 

An entrance to the churchyard

 

Walking anti-clockwise around the churchyard, I came across a C18 arched entrance to the boundary wall at its south-west corner and, a little further to the east, there is another more decorative doorway, which is presumably the entrance used by the owner of Hickleton Hall (1748). 

 

The principal entrance to the churchyard

 

Leaving the churchyard and walking down to Hickleton Road, I stopped briefly at the entrance gateway, which includes a pigeon loft and is presumably of the same date as Hickleton Hall and also designed by James Paine. 

 

The entrance gateway to Hickleton Hall

Returning to the churchyard at the south-east corner, I encountered a column that has an ornate top and includes various weathered shields and a crucifix. There is no mention of this in any of the church guides or the Look at Hickleton booklet, but I presume it is one of the four crucifixes that the 2nd Viscount Halifax erected in the churchyard.

 

A crucifix in the churchyard

 

Walking through the churchyard to the south elevation of the church, I stopped to photograph another crucifix that is set outside the Halifax Memorial Chapel, which consists of a crucifix carved into a slim column that is set on a disproportionately large stepped plinth.

A crucifix outside the Halifax Memorial Chapel

I finished my brief exploration of the churchyard at the Grade II Listed base of a cross, which is quite weathered. It probably dates to the late C17 and consists of a column topped by a square shaft, which is adorned with two back to back eagles clutching their prey.

A detail of the eagles on the cross base