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