St. Mary Magdalene Campsall V

 

The arch from the north transept to the north aisle

I spent just over 30 minutes having a look at the external fabric of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Doncaster, but it was enough time to appreciate Sir Nicholas Pevsner’s view that it is a “complex building with a fascinating history” and it would be interesting to see what a photogrammetric survey would make of it. 

 

The Diocese of Sheffield directory

 

Along with St. Helen’s church in Burghwallis, I had been hoping to visit this church for a few years since discovering in the Diocese of Sheffield directory that Revd. Richard Walton, the husband of Revd. Ann Walton who had opened St. Laurence’s church in Adwick-le-Street for me at very short notice, was the incumbent. 

 

A Church Explorers Week noticeboard

 

These are located in a part of Doncaster that is not easy to get to by public transport from Treeton and, when I finally made the decision to go and see them, I discovered that he had retired and the new vicar made no effort to facilitate a visit – making an excuse that nobody was available to open the church for me – and I was therefore very pleased to discover that Chris Ellis had included this on the itinerary for Church Explorers Week 2024. 

 

A view east along the nave 

 

Entering by the priest’s door in the chancel, after introducing myself and purchasing a church guide, which is one of the standard publications produced by the now defunct Heritage Inspired initiative, I proceeded to undertake a systematic photographic record of the principal architectural elements of the church – starting with a view east along the nave. 

 

The south arcade and clerestory

 

Pevsner describes the arcades as Perpendicular Gothic (c.1350-1520), which Historic England (HE) further elaborates as being of the early part of this period, with thin piers with four straight sides and big wave-mouldings to the diagonals. Looking up at the clerestory of the south side, there is a distinct change from rubble masonry to larger well squared blocks and this dates to the addition of the clerestory in the C15. 

 

The north arcade and clerestory

 

On the north side of the nave, this change in the pattern of masonry is not so obvious, with much of the stonework to the arcade – especially the central section – comprising blocks that are more regularly squared and coursed than in the south arcade. 

 

A view of the north aisle

When looking at the exterior, I couldn’t see any obviously differences in the ashlar between the phases of the building that took place in the C12, C13, C14 and C15. Much of the west end of the nave was occupied with displays by the local history group BarnSCAN and tables for visitors to sit down for food and drink and, instead of taking a good look at the masonry of the nave, I just took a few general record photos. 

 

The east end of the south arcade and the south transept arch

 

Going down to the east end of the south arcade, I was very interested to see that there is a very abrupt change in the masonry from rubble to ashlar and the pointed arch to the south transept is taller, has chevrons and the capital to the west respond is C12, which the Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture for Britain and Ireland (CRSBI) describes in detail. 

 

The arch from the nave to the south transept

 

Quite strangely, when describing the arcades, Pevsner states that the arcades are “followed by half-arches to the E to link up with the transepts. Something must have gone wrong with the calculations”, when the arches to both transepts are quite clearly complete. 

 

The arch from the nave to the north transept

 

HE record that the arches to the transepts differ, with the south arch having an a semi-circular west respond and re-carved capital, a keeled east respond with a moulded capital and a pointed arch with roll-moulding and zig-zag. The description goes on to say that the north arch has 2 semi-circular responds and dog-tooth to the soffit of a similar arch, but does not mention that the second order of the arch has a mixture of chevrons that are ‘lateral’ and ‘normal’ to the face – variations that are described in the CRSBI chevron guide. 

 

The arch from the north transept to the north aisle

Entering the north transept, where the exposed masonry on the north wall displays a lot of thinly bedded limestone from the Brotherton Formation, a window in the west wall of the transept of the early Norman cruciform church has been blocked up and cut through by an arch to the north aisle, which was added along with the chancel and the tower in the later C12. 

 

The arch from the north aisle to the north transept

St. Mary Magdalene Campsall IV

 

The east end of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene

Continuing my investigation of the external fabric of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, I stopped briefly at the east end of the C13 chancel, where its corners are supported by sturdy angle buttresses and the large 5-light window is part of the C19 restoration. 

 

The east end of the chancel

 

Looking up at the east end, there is a clear change in the pattern of masonry between the gable and the masonry below it. The lower section has well squared ashlar masonry that has varying course heights, with a grey patina, but the upper gable section appears to be relatively yellow in colour and the average depth of course is noticeably thinner. 

 

The gable of the chancel

 

On the north elevation of the chancel, yellow dolomitic limestone from the Cadeby Formation, is used for ashlar that is similar to the south side of the chancel, the south aisle and the tower. It contrasts with the greyish stonework to the C15 castellated east end of the nave and the clerestory above it and the rubble masonry to the lower part of the south elevation of the north transept, which has had a C15 Perpendicular Gothic style window inserted into it. 

 

The north elevation of the chancel and the north transept

Standing back to take general photographs of the elevation, although there is no obvious variation in the masonry, the east end has a window with Y-tracery identical to those on the south elevation and a tall narrow door but the west end has a C12 window. 

 

The north elevation of the chancel

 

I didn’t notice it at the time but, beneath the window with Y-tracery, the report of the Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture for Britain and Ireland (CRSBI) identifies a slim engaged column, with a plain square plinth and collared base, which marks the end of the original early C12 presbytery.

 

The C12 window in the south wall of the chancel

 

Enlarging my photos of the C12 round headed window, which has had the shafts and parts of the ornamental details restored, I can see that the weathered label is decorated with anthemion motifs that are identical to the sections that have been reused in the priest’s door in the south elevation. 

 

The north elevation of the north transept

 

Moving round to the north elevation of the north transept, the lowest section of the walling comprises mainly roughly squared and coursed blocks of massive limestone from the Cadeby Formation, a central section of thinly bedded rubble limestone from the local Brotherton Formation, with the upper section again composed of massive blocks. 

 

The C15 square headed window in the north transept

 

Noting also the abundance of randomly placed blocks of massive limestone in the main body of the thinly bedded walling, it is quite possible that this was just used to repair and consolidate the walling when the early church was extended during the later C12. 

 

The arch of the C12 window in the north transept

 

The square headed window is an another C15 Perpendicular Gothic style alteration but, interestingly, it still retains the round headed arch of the original early C12 window. The CRSBI asserts that it still has the remains of a double scalloped capital on the right hand side but I can’t make out this detail on my photo, which might be the result of subsequent weathering since they undertook their survey in 2005. 

 

The buttress to the north transept and the north aisle

 

The diagonal stepped buttresses to the north transept are built with very well squared ashlar blocks, with the moulding and chamfer to the plinth being similar to those of the south transept, which suggests that these might be of the same date. 

 

The north aisle

 

The north aisle, which Pevsner attributes to the later C12 extension to the earlier cruciform church, is again built with yellowish ashlar and has stepped buttresses and the wide arched window is similar to the windows previously seen in the south wall of the north transept and the south aisle. 

 

The north elevation of the tower

 

I just took a single photograph of the north elevation of the tower, where the double arches to the belfry stage are identical to those on the west elevation, but the first stage only has a single round headed window with shafts and capitals. I then quickly left the churchyard to get a distant view of the whole north elevation, before coming back to enter the interior by the priest's door.

 

A view of the north elevation

St. Mary Magdalene Campsall III

 

A detail of the lancet window in the chancel wall

Finding the south door of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Campsall locked, I continued my anti-clockwise walk around its exterior and immediately stopped to take a few photos of what is described by the church guide as the base and part of the shaft of the ancient churchyard cross. 

 

The supposed cross base and shaft outside the porch

 

I have seen various structures like this in churchyards, most of which are Grade II Listed and some are Scheduled Monuments, but the column does not like any of these – especially with its trefoils and its moulded top – and, although the stepped base may be from a cross, it could be part of a sundial and the copper stain on one face may be from a now missing bronze or brass gnomon. 

 

The late mediaeval cross base described by Historic England

 

A little bit further to the east, to the south of the chancel, there is another stone structure that Historic England (HE) describes as a late mediaeval cross base and is in the form of a square rising into an octagon with rounded chamfer stops, which has similarities to the cross base that I had seen earlier in the garden of Hill House. 

 

The south wall of the south transept and adjoining chancel

My view of the south aisle and the clerestory was obscured by a tree and, standing back to photograph the east end of the church, I could see a difference in the colour of the stonework of the south transept, which HE describes as “chamfered plinth, moulded band and offset beneath tall 3-light window with C19 reticulated tracery; shallow gable with cross”, and the chancel. 

 

A view of the south transept

 

Pevsner, having commented on the Decorated Gothic style C14 south door and its fleurons, describes as “equally typical the S transept S window, a replacement, with reticulated tracery” and presumably considers its walling to be also from the C14, although in my experience he tends not to say much about the fabric of the churches that he has visited. 

 

Another view of the south transept

 

From the two storied west end of the south aisle, details of the plinth and its mouldings seem to have continuity and, except perhaps for the masonry of the above the level of the tracery on the south window - which to my eye seems to be much better squared and has a slightly greater depth of the courses, there aren’t any obvious breaks in the masonry that I can see. 

 

The south elevation of the chancel

 

When describing the enlargement of the early Norman cruciform church with ashlar masonry, Pevsner includes the chancel along with the tower and north aisle and, in respect of the chancel, goes on to say “In the chancel lancet windows of one light and of two (with Y-tracery) were inserted”, with a footnote stating “The E window is of course C19”. 

 

The west window in the south elevation of the chancel

 

The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture for Britain and Ireland (CRSBI), however, considers that the south wall of the chancel has actually been rebuilt. Looking at the surrounds of the windows, which are Early English Gothic in style, they blend in with the adjoining masonry of the walling and do not look like they have been inserted into C12 masonry walling. 

 

The lancet window in the south elevation of the chancel

I have seen dolomitic limestone from the Cadeby Formation used for ashlar at Selby Abbey and Worksop Priory, which are ecclesiastical buildings of great importance, but not in a C12 parish church and this makes me think that it must have possessed a high status. 

 

Headstops on the lancet window

 

A photogrammetric survey of the stonework is probably needed to get a better understanding of the age of the various phases of construction with ashlar, which by all accounts range from the C12 to the C15, but the restoration of the windows is quite obvious – especially in the hood moulds and the attached headstops. 

 

The headstops on the west window of the chancel

The headstops have been sculpted in a style that I have seen on very many Victorian churches, but are never mentioned by Pevsner, HE or any other of the sources that I refer to when researching my Language of Stone Blog posts. 

 

The headstops on the central window of the chanccel

 

When looking at the west door, I had been quite surprised to see that it had accumulated such a large amount of dirt and this is even more evident on the headstops to the chancel windows. Although I might expect to see this on the buildings that are downwind of the industrial pollution that was once produced by the steelworks in the Lower Don Valley, Campsall is located in a remote rural area 25 km to the north-northeast of this. 

 

The priest's door

 

Another very interesting C13 feature of the chancel is the priest’s door, where HE describe its hood mould as containing anthemion motifs and the CRSBI go further to say that it “uses two short lengths with a Romanesque pattern at the bottom of its label, reproduced in the four large slabs of later work above”.

A detail of the label to the priest's door

St. Mary Magdalene Campsall II

 

A view up to the south-east corner of the tower

Walking anticlockwise around the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Campsall, having had a good look at its C12 tower and the ‘restoration’ work undertaken by Sir George Gilbert Scott, I had another look at the 2-storied west end of the south aisle. 

 

The west end of the south aisle

 

A tall narrow window with a shouldered arch seen on the west end of the north aisle is again seen on the upper storey of the west end of the south aisle, which has a tall narrow window with a trefoil arch on the ground floor and this pattern is repeated on the south elevation. 

 

A trefoil arch at the west end of the south aisle

 

Looking closely at the masonry surrounding the trefoil window to the west end of the south aisle, there are very subtle differences in the colours of the various blocks, with both yellow and pale cream coloured limestone from the Cadeby Formation used. I also noted that there are distinct ripples in the buff coloured limestone used for repaired upper sections of the window jambs and ashlar to the north side of the window. 

 

Windows at the west end of the south aisle

 

I had also noticed these in the sections of the west door arch that had developed a honey coloured patina beneath the dirt, which immediately made me think of Ancaster limestone – a stone that I have often seen used for C19 restorations of the dressings of mediaeval churches that are built with dolomitic limestone – but I did not examine the stones with my hand lens or test them with hydrochloric acid. 

 

C13 and C15 windows on the south aisle

 

Pevsner considers this west end of the south aisle to be the most interesting part of the work that he attributes to c.1300 or a little earlier. Tall narrow windows in their simple lancet form are generally associated with the Early English Gothic style (c.1180-1275), but it seems that these represent a transition from the Early English to the Decorated Gothic style (c.1275-1380). 

 

The C15 windows and porch

Looking at the castellated parapet, to my eye the blocks used to build it or more precisely squared than the masonry below and this continues to the clerestory, with all of the stonework at this level being in a much better condition and developing a grey patina. 

 

An oblique view of the porch

 

The parapets, along with the windows to the aisle, clerestory and the porch, are all of the Perpendicular Gothic style but for the ashlar walling, which seems to have a continuous pattern of mouldings to the plinth along its length, a photogrammetric survey would highlight slight variations in the patterns of the masonry that aren't easily observed with the naked eye. 

 

The west elevation of the porch

 

When undertaking a survey of the stonework at All Saints church in Pontefract, on behalf of Ed Dennison Associates, I was provided with photogrammetric drawings that highlighted the joints and beds of the stonework and, for buildings with a complex history like this church, these can be used to identify different phases of construction. 

 

Sections of masonry used for the south aisle

Entering the porch, I was interested to see that the C14 door has a shouldered lintel, which I had not seen before on the main doorway to a church and this is set under an arch that is decorated with fleurons – another decorative feature that I hadn’t encountered before. 

 

The south door

 

Much of the stonework is covered with efflorescent salts, which suggests a severe problem with rising groundwater. Except for a section of masonry to the top left of the door, which is distinctly orange and has probably been restored, the fleurons have been severely damaged by the recrystallisation of the salts and much of their detail has been lost. 

 

Fleurons covered with efflorescent salts

 

Although I had noted the generally yellow colour of the stonework when looking at the tower and south aisle, I was immediately struck by how yellow the limestone actually is when it has not developed a patina, and this colour is due to the presence of sand from dunes that existed in a desert basin below sea level, which were reworked when inundated by the Zechstein Sea - in which the limestone of the Cadeby Formation was originally deposited. 

 

A detail of the masonry above the south door

 

I have visited very many mediaeval churches in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, which are built with dolomitic limestone from the Cadeby Formation and, although I have encountered some yellow limestone in the mediaeval churches at Brodsworth, High Melton and Hooton Pagnell, I have only seen very yellow limestone at Barnburgh and Hickleton and this makes me wonder if they share the same quarry source as the stone used here.

 

Churches in Doncaster built with yellow dolomitic limestone