St. Mary's Handsworth - The Interior

A view of the nave showing the different heights of the arcades

Having explored the exterior of St. Mary's church in Handsworth in early April, it was another 5 months before I got access to its interior, when a flower festival had been arranged to coincide with the Heritage Open Days event.

A floral display in the south aisle

Once inside the church, its Victorian restoration is very evident, with all of the walls in the nave and aisles being plastered and painted, with only the arcades, window dressings and the arches to the tower and chancel revealing the stonework.

A view inside the chancel

The oldest part is the north arcade, with its alternating octagonal and circular columns being transitional in style between the Norman and Early English Gothic periods, but this was raised in 1833 to accommodate a new gallery in the nave.

A general view of the north arcade

The south arcade is much lower and was added in 1904, along with the south aisle, and the sandstone masonry is uniform throughout. Although I didn't examine any of the stones closely, this contrasts strongly with the north arcade, where the masonry in the columns is very patchy and reflects a phase of rebuilding.

A general view of the south arcade

The chancel arch was inserted in 1870, to match the height of the tower arch and it is notable for being constructed in alternating buff and red sandstones for the responds and voussoirs. Although quite dirty, and a close examination is needed on a fresh surface, my first impression was that this was another use of Rotherham Red sandstone.

A detail of the chancel arch

In the chancel, the arch to St. Katherine's chapel, a squint with a piscina, a sedilia and various other details reflect the style of the early English Gothic period - and there is also a blocked Norman door, whose view from the exterior is obscured by a large bush.

A view through the squint

The various memorials scattered around the walls of the church of St. Mary the Virgin date back to 1791 - and alabaster, Italian white marble and green breccia are just a few of the decorative stones that can be found here.

A detail of a war memorial

St. Mary's Handsworth - The Exterior

A general view of the church of St. Mary the Virgin in Handsworth

 

The church of St. Mary the Virgin in Handsworth is set on the brow of an escarpment of Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation sandstone, which forms a high point above the surrounding landscape and can easily be seen from St. Helen's church in Treeton.

The Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation around Handsworth & Treeton

Although I had to wait for the Heritage Open Days event before I could take a good look at its interior, I had briefly surveyed its exterior several months previously, and when approaching the church from the main entrance on its north side, I was struck by the very strange Victorian north aisle, which completely obscures its mediaeval origins.

A general view of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Handsworth

The tower and its steeple have been rebuilt several times since the 12th century - with it once been destroyed by lightning in 1698 and struck again in 1978 - and when looking very closely at the stonework, a wide variety of repairs can be seen and, like St. Andrew's church in Bolton upon Dearne, parts of it appear to have been coated with an indeterminate material.

The south elevation of the tower

The castellated vestry and the simple porch, together with the south aisle, were added in 1904 by John Dodsley Webster and these additions further obscure the mediaeval origins of this church. Although the nave rises to the height of a clerestory, as is usual in mediaeval churches that were expanded in the late C15, there are no windows to be seen here.

A general view of the south aisle

Moving on to the chancel, which is Early English Gothic in style, the steep slope of the roof and the narrow lancet windows are very characteristic of this period in architectural design and, on its north side, the small St. Katherine's Chapel is of similar date.

The chancel

Heritage Open Days

A view from the tower at All Saints church in Aston

Having surveyed more than 25 mediaeval churches in and around South Yorkshire over a period of 6 months, summer was now coming to an end and I had still not gained access to the interior of all of the mediaeval churches that are set on the Rotherham Red sandstone - with those in Aston and Whiston still outstanding.

Heritage Open Days

Unexpectedly, taking advantage of the national Heritage Open Days event, I finally got the chance to visit All Saints church in Aston. Along with St. Mary's church in Handsworth, which I had already tried to visit – and ended up in Worksop on a Thursday afternoon - I was not going to miss the opportunity to fully explore both of these very interesting churches.

A detail of a memorial at St. Mary's church in Handsworth

Although I have demonstrated on this Language of Stone Blog that, with some good planning, it is possible to travel far and wide from Treeton using public transport – to see a wide variety of spectacular scenery and ancient monuments – I only had 4 days to explore a wide range of historic buildings that I had not seen before in this region.

A view through the squint at All Saints church in Aston

With Heritage Open Days normally coinciding with the Rotherham Show, an event that I don't usually miss, I had to make the most of my time and I therefore decided to finish off a very long weekend by exploring Sheffield Town Hall – where there are very many polished stones.

A bust of Queen Victoria in Sheffield Town Hall

St. Helen Sandal Magna - The Interior

A view along the nave to the west end of St. Helen's church

Entering St. Helen's church by the south door, I found that a community space, which occupies much of the east end, was being used for a meeting and - following a suggestion to take a good look at the Tree of Life Memorial Garden while waiting for this meeting to finish - I only had time to take a rapid tour of the interior before catching the hourly train back to Rotherham.

Details of carved Kilkenny limestone in the Tree of Life Memorial Garden

The oldest visible masonry can be seen in the bases of the massive crossing piers, dated to c.1150, when the church was founded by the Earl of Warenne, whose estates included the manor of Conisbrough and which contained the villages of Harthill, Wales, Anston and Thorne – all of which have churches that date back to at least the 12th century.

A detail of the base of a crossing pier

The stone used here is the same gritty cross-bedded sandstone that has been used in Sandal Castle and the Chantry Chapel of St. Mary in Wakefield and, being clean, the brown/purple stripes can be clearly seen.

A detail of the sandstone used in the crossing piers

According to Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the north arcade includes a single capital and sections of masonry that are also from the 12th century but the arcades are early 14th century Decorated Gothic style - as are the arches above the crossing piers.

A general view of the north arcade

The columns to the arcade and their capitals alternate between circular and octagonal shape in plan and, except the one that was presumably noted by Pevsner – which is elaborately carved – the details are all simple and the arcades added during the Victorian restoration of 1872 faithfully reproduce these profiles.

A detail of the carved capital in the north arcade

Looking at the stone used for the arcades, the artificial lighting in the nave gives it a yellowish hue but there are darker bands within it that are consistent in pattern with that seen in the crossing piers and it is probably the same sandstone; however the sandstone in the Victorian extension appears to be paler in colour and without the obvious banding seen in the mediaeval masonry. 

A general view of the south arcade

A wide range of monuments and memorials are scattered around the walls of both of the aisles, which are all late Victorian or younger in date, and a variety or marbles and other stones have been used for these but, as with the arcades, I wasn't able to closely examine them in the time available to me.

Memorials in the Pilkington Chapel

St. Helen Sandal Magna - The Exterior

A general view of the south elevation

When revisiting Sandal Magna, I was surprised to discover that the public access to the motte at Sandal Castle was denied – due to structural problems with the bridge – and that the information centre had also been closed, with the inner moat also looking much more overgrown than when I had seen it less than two years previously. Stopping only to look at the exposure of Crigglestone Rock and the remaining facing stones to the barbican of the castle, I made my way down to St. Helen's church - which is less than 1 km away as the crow flies.

A view of the Victorian west end

Set back from the main road and lying tight against the northern boundary of the churchyard, which contains numerous mature trees, it isn't easy to get all round views of the church; however, there is a clear view of the west and south elevations and the principal features of its cruciform plan can be appreciated from here.

A detail of the Victorian extension and the porch

Approaching from the road, the west end of the church, although Decorated Gothic in style, is actually a Victorian addition of 1872, when the nave was extended with 3 bays and a new porch added – in addition to restoration of the interior, which entailed the removal of most of historic fittings and furniture.

The 14th century tower

To the east of the porch, the walling is roughly squared and varies considerably in the course height and the size of the individual blocks, with Pevsner commenting that the Perpendicular Gothic windows were “strange”, with shouldered lintels forming their heads.

A general view of the east end

Looking up, the tower is considered to be 14th century – in late Decorated Gothic style, with simple tracery to the windows but no gargoyles - and the south transept below forms part of the crossing of the church, of similar age.

A detail of the east end

Moving on to the east end of the elevation, the south chapel was added in the early 16th century and, walking further around the church, there are further late 19th century additions and extensions to the church, but these are of little architectural interest.

A view of the north aisle

As for the geology, St. Helen's church is set on the Woolley Edge Rock and, although blackened in places, a distinctly striped texture can be seen in much of the visible masonry, which is similar to that seen in Sandal Castle, Wakefield Cathedral and St. Mary's Chantry Chapel - suggesting that this is the principal building stone used in and around Wakefield.

The geology of the area between Sandal Magna and Wakefield

Sandal Magna Revisited

A general view of Sandal Castle

Having spent a full day exploring St. James' church in Anston, St. John's church in Throapham and the historic architecture of Laughton-en-le-Morthen - on what must have been the hottest day in August - it was another 2 weeks before I set off again on the train, to have another look at the village of Sandal Magna.

Terraced housing at Sandal & Agbrigg railway station

During my last trip to see Sandal Castle, I passed St. Helen's church when walking back to the railway station and I noticed that, like the remaining facing stones of the castle, its east end was built in a sandstone that weathers with a distinctive striped appearance.

A block of iron rich gritty sandstone in a retaining wall

I had noticed that certain building stones used in Wakefield and Pontefract possessed very similar physical characteristics – often with a distinct brown/purple colouration - and so I decided to go and take another look at these historic buildings. According to the British Geological Survey map, it is the Woolley Edge Rock and the Oaks Rock that underlie most of the village, with an outcrop of Crigglestone Rock forming the rocky foundations of the barbican at Sandal Castle.

Distinctive cross-bedded gritty sandstone used in the barbican

The Woolley Edge Rock was once highly valued for its good quality building stone and the others were undoubtedly widely exploited to build various historic buildings in the towns and villages of West Yorkshire where they outcrop but, as far as I know, there aren't any active quarries that now produce any of these stones.

The gritty facing stones have mostly been removed from the ruins

In many respects, my continuing investigation of the building stones and construction history of the mediaeval churches in and around Treeton could be easily considered as just an academic exercise that is of archaeological value only; however, for an architect who works with such buildings, it is necessary to find a suitable alternative that is a good match for restoration work - especially if large areas of masonry need to be replaced, as at All Saints church in Pontefract.

Modern sculpture at St. Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School

St. John's Church in Throapham

A detail of a gargoyle on the tower

The church of St. John in Throapham is set in a tiny hamlet on the edge of the Magnesian Limestone outlier, which is largely occupied by the village of Laughton-en-le-Morthen, but it is now disused and in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

A general view of St. John's church

With its isolated position and the need to obtain a key to obtain access to its interior, this church was low down on my list of mediaeval churches to explore in Rotherham; however, taking advantage of a sunny day when visiting the church of St. James in Anston, I got off the bus to take a very quick walk around its exterior - when on the way to Laughton-en-le-Morthen to have another look at its church and historic buildings.

A general view of the south aisle and clerestory

Approaching the east end from the main road, St John's church is dominated by its castellated 15th century tower and, apart from the north aisle and windowless clerestory, it has the typical appearance of a Perpendicular Gothic style church; however, undertaking further desktop research, I have since discovered that it was originally an aisleless church that has a pre-Conquest or Overlap date and that the chancel and porch were built in 1709.

A relocated Norman doorway inside the porch

Looking at the stonework in general, which is all Permian dolomitic limestone, it has developed a uniformly grey patina and – although the ashlar masonry to the tower appears slightly paler in colour than the rest of the fabric – the stone is generally free of yellow colouration, which is often found in the historic buildings in and around South Yorkshire.

A view of the tower

At the time of my visit, I didn't have the time to take much notice of variations in the size and shape of blocks and bed heights or other details that help to unravel its construction history but, when examining my photographs, there are differences in various parts of the structure - which I would certainly investigate further during any future visit to see the interior of this church.

A general view of the west and north elevations