St. Mary Magdalene Campsall I

 

Details of the masonry on the north side of the west door

Since alighting from the No. 51 bus outside Campsall Cemetery, it took me only 40 minutes to have a good look at the vernacular architecture of Campsall, while photographing several listed buildings as part of my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge. 

 

The belfry stage of the tower and parapet above

 

In this time, I had obtained a good insight into the physical characteristics of the limestone quarried from the underlying Brotherton Formation, as seen in boundary walls and several houses, and the use of brick and render to compensate for its limitations as a building stone; however, I had also noted use of massive limestone from the Cadeby Formation and my first view of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene confirmed that it has been used for the ashlar in the upper stages of the tower. 

 

The tower and attached aisles

 

Pevsner begins his entry in the Buildings of England West Riding volume with the words “A large, complex building with a fascinating history” and his lengthy description goes on to say “This is the most ambitious Norman W tower of any parish church in the Riding” and this is immediately evident when approaching the church. 

 

The Church of St. Mary Magdalene in the Buildings of England 

 

He also writes that the church, which the church guide says was founded by Ilbert de Laci of Pontefract and built between 1066 and 1160, started as a cruciform church “was enlarged very soon by extensive works in ashlar masonry: W tower, N aisle soon after” and based on his observations of the tower arches in the interior, further comments that “there must have been aisles built with this tower”. 

 

The church guide

 

At the time, I just took a few record photos and didn’t have time to look at the details of the masonry and, although I think that the lower parts of the aisles are probably of the same date as the tower, their upper parts - especially the 2 storied west end of the south aisle – suggest that these are part of the C15 extensions mentioned in the church guide. 

 

The west end of the north aisle

 

The limestone from the Cadeby Formation used is a distinctly yellow variety, which can also be seen in the ashlar of the Old Rectory (c.1400) on the opposite side of The Avenue. To my eye there are variations between the upper and lower parts of the aisles, with the lower part of the north aisle especially having been repaired with sand and cement in many places. 

 

The west door

 

The west door has been restored at time over the years, during the restoration of 1871 to 1877 by Sir George Gilbert Scott, which the Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture of Britain and Ireland (CRSBI) describes as ‘heavy restoration’. This drew severel criticism from James Fowler in his “Note on the restoration of the west doorway of Campsall church” in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London 8 (1879-81). 

 

The restored arch of the west door

 

The fourth order of the arch, together with its shafts and capitals, is the only one that contains any of its original stonework but this is very weathered in places. Much of the C19 restored masonry has also deteriorated considerably, with cavernous decay in places, and has developed a dark honey coloured patina that is further emphasised by the blackening of the stonework. 

 

A detail of the south side of the arch to the west door

 

The dolomitic limestone of the Cadeby Formation, particularly the typical cream coloured variety, tends to develop a greyish patina and when I have seen a honey coloured patina on churches in Doncaster it is actually where Jurassic oolitic limestone has been used to build the church, as at the Church of St. James just outside the town centre, and for the C19 restorations of the dressings of several mediaeval churches – the last time being at St. Helen’s church in Marr a week earlier. 

 

Restored masonry to the north side of the west door

 

Although I always carry a bottle of hydrochloric acid and a had lens with me, I didn’t even think of closely examining the stonework at the time but, looking at the most recent restoration which may be part of the work was being undertaken when the CRSBI undertook their survey of the church in 2005, it appears that dolomitic limestone has been used on the west door. 

 

Decayed limestone on a shaft of the west door

 

Looking up at the blank arcade above the west door, the limestone is quite weathered with some loss of detail, but it seems to have escaped the ‘over restoration’ that Scott and some of his contemporaries were considered to be guilty of and which prompted the formation of SPAB (The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings). 

 

The blind arcade on the tower

 

Repairs to the arcade seem to be confined to a skim coat of sand and cement to some of the shafts although the windows to the belfry stage, which is surmounted by a C15 parapet with pinnacles, has had some of the shafts, voussoirs and elongated imposts replaced in recent years. 

 

The belfry stage of the tower

 

An Exploration of Campsall II

 

A view west along High Street

Continuing my exploration of Campsall along High Street, next on my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge was the Grade II Listed late mediaeval cross base set in the garden of Hill House. I could only see it from the distance, but it is made from a large block of dolomitic limestone from the Cadeby Formation, which outcrops less than 1 km away to the east. 

 

The cross base in the garden of Hill House

 

Behind this is a gateway and surrounding walls, which is dated by Historic England as being probably early C19 and was formerly the pedestrian entrance to Campsmount, the C18 home of the Yarborough family and of George Cooke-Yarborough from 1802-1818, but the house was demolished in 1959 and only some of its farm buildings designed by John Carr remain. 

 

The gateway in the garden of Hill House

From my photos, I can see that the walling is limestone rubble that was most likely obtained from one of the local quarries on the Brotherton Formation, but the jambs, lintel and coping stones are made from massive limestone that again is undoubtedly from the Cadeby Formation. 

 

The former Old Bells public house

 

Hill House is the first of many buildings on High Street and No Road that have had their limestone walls rendered, but still retain their red pantile roofs, which are marked on the 1854 Ordnance Survey (OS) map. Of these, the Grade II Listed former Old Bells public house and associated buildings and Rose Cottage have probable dates of the early C19 and C17 repectively and that the render is the original finish. 

 

Rose Cottage

 

When visiting Warmsworth and Sprotbrough, where their core of older buildings are sited on the Brotherton Formation, based on my general observation of the colours and textures of the wide variety of buildings that I have seen, I have presumed that most of their listed buildings and contemporary vernacular architecture are built with limestone from the Cadeby Formation.

 

Rendered houses on High Street and No Road

 

These villages also have many historic buildings that have been rendered, which is a material that I do not consider to be a feature of the very many places that I have visited, which are set on the Cadeby Formation; however, it is one of the characteristic materials of the vernacular architecture on the Brotherton Formation, where it provides an aesthetically pleasing finish and stability to an inferior quality building stone that is at best suited for use as rubble walling. 

 

Quarries on the Cadeby Formation to the west of Campsall

 

The function and architectural quality of a building and the social status of its owner will often determine the choice of materials and the old Freestone Quarry on Woodfield Road, now a plantation, is less than 2 km away to the west. Other quarries on the Cadeby Formation within a distance of less than 3.5 km – at Barnsdale and Park Nook for example – would also have been able to supply massive limestone for quoins, dressings, gateposts etc. and the costs of transport would probably not exclude its use for general walling in the more substantial houses. 

 

Quarries shown on the Building Stones of England map explorer

Moving further along High Street, the old boundary walls that I had first encountered at the top of The Avenue are still an important part of the Conservation Area. Mill Court and the building at the entrance to Yew Tree Court have replaced earlier buildings on this site, but to my eye it looks like limestone from the Cadeby Formation has been used for these. 

 

Buildings at Mill Court and Yew Tree Court

 

When undertaking surveys of the RIGS (Regionally Important Geological Sites) in South Yorkshire, including the resurvey of sites for the Doncaster Geodiversity Assessment, I visited only 4 sites on the Brotherton Formation. On my subsequent travels in Doncaster, to visit its mediaeval churches, I have seen only a handful of small roadside exposures and encountered just a few historic buildings that are built with this limestone. 

 

Red sandstone at the entrance to Granville

 

Before continuing along High Street, I immediately stopped outside the drive to the bungalow called Granville, which has been built on a plot of land that was formerly occupied by a Ebenezer chapel. I was particularly interested to see a red sandstone wall, with a pedestrian and presumably vehicular access – for which I can’t offer an explanation for its purpose or use of this particular stone in a limestone built village.  

 

A view of Sunny Side Farm from the east

Just beyond the entrance to Yew Tree Court, the front elevation and gable ends of Sunny Side Farm have exposed stonework, whereas the rear wing set at a right angle is rendered. I don’t know if the stonework has had render removed, but the windows have jambs and heads constructed in red brick, with relieving arches above the windows. 

 

A view of Sunny Side Farm from the west

 

At each end, there are a few quoins made of long stones with quite a limited depth of course, but those above are only slightly bigger than the largest stones in the adjacent rubble walling that consists mainly of thinly bedded stones. 

 

The Forge

 

Passing a few more cottages that are both rendered and have exposed stonework, The Forge, which was once attached to the village smithy, provides another example of windows with brick jambs and flat brick arches, but this time it has quoins that are much larger than the general walling stones and are well squared. 

 

The Manor House and attached outbuilding

 

On No Road, at the Grade II Listed Manor House, which dates to the C18 with C19 remodelling, the pattern of exposed rubble limestone with brick relieving arches is repeated in the large farmhouse and its attached outbuilding, although the west windows on the ground and first floor appear to have been enlarged with a massive stone sill, jambs and head that has a square hood mould with label stops. 

 

The barn attached to the outbuilding of the Manor House

Although not itself listed, a large two storied barn is attached to the east end at right angles, with a brick arch to the gable end window, and a little further along on the opposite side of No Road is another large agricultural building, which has been converted to residential use. 

 

A converted agricultural building on No Road

Retracing my steps back down No Road, I passed another cottage named Woodleigh that is built with limestone rubble with brick arched windows and a door to its north elevation, before turning onto Sutton Road and heading back towards the Church of St. Mary Magdalene via Back Lane. 

 

Views of Woodleigh on No Road

 

On previous days out to Hooton Pagnell and Palterton, I encountered linear streets that are also called Back Lane, which relate to the mediaeval street pattern that goes back to the C12 – with many farms occupying the space between this and the Main Street/High Street – and I took a couple of photos of a complex of farm buildings at its west end. 

 

Farm buildings on Back Lane

 

Continuing along Back Lane, where modern houses have been built, the rear extension to the former Old Bell public house provides another example of limestone from the Brotherton Formation and I presume that the rendered front section has similar masonry beneath it.

 

The rear extension to the former Old Bells public house

 

An Exploration of Campsall I

 

The retaining wall to the Old Rectory

 

During Church Explorers Week in 2024, having already visited St. James’ church in High Melton and the Church of St. Michael and All Angels in Brodsworth, which had both involved 2 bus journeys and a train journey from Treeton and back, the last event that I attended was at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Campsall. 

 

The Doncaster public transport map

As usual when planning a day out, I looked at the Doncaster public transport map on the Travel South Yorkshire website and was very surprised to discover that Campsall is not even marked on this and that the timetable for the No. 51 bus was yet another one published by the SYMCA that is extremely confusing and without a map. 

 

An extract from the 2024 vesion of the No. 51 bus timetable

 

Using Google Map I had established the location of the various bus stops in Campsall and, on the day, after passing through the run down old coal mining villages of Bentley, Carcroft and Skellow since leaving Doncaster, I arrived at the edge of Burghwallis. 

 

Areas of Doncaster traversed during Church Explorers Week

 

By this time I had traversed a landscape that is underlain by the Permian Edlington Formation, Brotherton Formation and the Roxby Formation, which are overlain by the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group - of which only the Brotherton Formation has produced building stone. 

 

The geology between Skellow and Campsall

 

I noted a few old buildings in Skellow, constructed with thinly bedded dolomitic limestone from the Brotherton Formation for the walling with red pantiles used for the roofs, and the same traditional pattern of vernacular materials can also be seen in Sutton. I was then dismayed to discover that the bus then took the most excruciatingly slow route around the houses of Askern, where there isn’t a single listed building. 

 

A few memorials in Campsall Cemetery

Alighting at the Ryecroft Road/The Avenue bus stop, after an hour long journey to cover a distance of 11 km as the crow flies – compared to the 15 minute journey to Brodsworth and the 12 minute journey to Marr over similar direct distances of 7.5 km and 6 km respectively – I had a quick look at the memorials in Campsall Cemetery. 

 

The former boundary wall to the Stony Hills Plantation

Finding only a sandstone war memorial cross, a Portland stone Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone and the memorial to Alfred Stubbs (d.1934), which is made of pink Peterhead and dark grey Rubislaw granites, I just took a few photos and continued down The Avenue, where the wall on the west side once formed the boundary of Stony Hills Plantation. 

 

A detail of the former boundary wall to the Stony Hills Plantation

Along with woodland on the east side of the road, this was cleared in the second half of the C19 and redeveloped for housing. I didn’t have my Estwing hammer with me, but I managed to obtain a specimen of dolomitic limestone. 

 

A specimen of dolomitic limestone

 

This is from a section of thinly bedded walling and is pale cream in colour and extremely fine grained, with no sign of a granular texture or ooliths that are common in the Cadeby Formation, but it does contain very fine grains of black manganese oxide and is quite similar to specimens that I had previously collected from Wadworth and Loversall. 

 

Active and disused quarries marked on the 1854 Ordnance Survey map

Looking at the 1854 Ordnance Survey map of Campsall, several active and disused quarries are marked around the village and limestone for the boundary walls in the village would have no doubt have been obtained from these. 

 

Listed buildings in Campsall

 

Entering the Conservation Area, the first structure on my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge that I had prepared was the Grade II Listed retaining wall to the Old Rectory, which Historic England thinks is probably of an early C19 date. This is listed for its group value only and passes into a long boundary wall that continues down to High Street. 

 

Views of the retaining wall to the Old Rectory

 

The Grade I Listed Old Rectory itself, which dates back to c.1400 and has c.1800 additions, is partly obscured by its high retaining wall and also by trees and shrubs in its garden, but I managed to take a few record photographs. 

 

Views of the Old Rectory

Much of the east elevation that was added c.1800 is rendered, but the north-east gable end, which Pevsner refers to as being the preserved chapel with its church like tracery, and the rest of the T-shaped house is built with limestone ashlar that is quite yellow and was undoubtedly quarried from the Cadeby Formation. 

 

Limestone from the Brotherton Formation in vernacular architecture

 

I have seen outcrops of the Brotherton Formation in a few roadside exposures and in old quarries, where it is predominantly very thinly bedded, but it does have more massive beds up to 200 mm or more thick; however, these are vertically and laterally inconsistent and aren't suitable for ashlar and, as seen in the substantial house to the north of the Old Rectory, it is at best used for roughly coursed and squared walling.

Limestone from the Brotherton Formation in vernacular architecture