St. Bartholomew's Church - The Interior

 

Stone carvings by John Holden of Sheffield

Entering St. Bartholomew’s church by the original south door to the door, having briefly looked a the various stones used in its exterior, there is a large community space with a kitchen area and I was immediately offered a hot drink and I sat down with this to talk to a local historian, Philip Morris, who was in attendance.

 

A view east along the nave

 

When I finished my tea, I had a very quick look around the church, which is plastered, and I didn’t look closely at the buff coloured stone used for the arcades and chancel arch, which I presume is a medium grained gritstone from the Derwent Valley in the area around Darley Dale.

 

A figure representing Music

 

The imposts to the chancel arch are carved with figures, described in the church guide as representing Music and Praise, with these playing a harp and cymbals respectively. On either side of the chancel arch there are two heads - Queen Victoria and Bishop Selwyn of Lichfield – but I did not take photographs of these.

 

A figure representing Praise

 

The church website also mentions representation of Moses and Melchizedek as priest and king, one hand bearing a scroll and the other uplifted in blessing. Also, at the west end of the nave on the south side is Aaron as High Priest holding the budding rod and on the north side a representation of Purity, with a lily.

 

A carving depicting Melchizedek

 

All of these heads and other floral details to the arcade were carved by John Holden of Sheffield and it is assumed that he was also responsible for the many head-stops seen on the exterior of the church, which appear to be have been carved out of Ketton stone – a Jurassic limestone that is composed almost entirely of evenly sized ooliths.

 

The gravestone of John Holden

 

I had never heard of John Holden before, but it is very likely that I have seen his work when photographing many Victorian churches in Sheffield. The only reference that I have found relates to a gravestone in Walkley cemetery, which was made by him for his very young son and on which he was later commemorated. 

 

Encaustic tiles next to the altar

Behind and next to the altar are some fine encaustic tiles by Maw & Co, one of the principal makers of tiles where the colours – here red, blue and buff in a diamond pattern – are the result of blending colours of clay and not applied glazing.

 

The memorial to Maurice Deacon

A few simple wall monuments and inscribed plaques are scattered around the church, which aren’t of great interest but provide examples of white Carrara marble and Welsh slate, with Hopton Wood stone used for the memorial to Maurice Deacon (d.1941). 

 

The altar step

Quite often, I have encountered various marbles in Victorian churches, with Leeds Minster providing a spectacular example, but the only decorative stone that I noted is used for the altar step. This looks like a polished red/grey Carboniferous Limestone from Wallonia in Belgium, which formed as coral reefs and the  Rouge Royal variety is probably the best known of these.

A detail of the step to the altar

 

The inscribed font, with its round bowl and stem, was made by Robert Bridgeman of Lichfield and the Historic England description seems to indicate that this is one of the original fixtures that dates to the opening of the church in 1896. I didn’t inspect it closely and, when enlarging my photograph, I cannot identify and features that give an indication of what stone has been used.

 

The font