War Graves in Staveley and Brimington

 

The emblem of the Granadier Guards regiment

Towards the end of my recce for a geology field trip on the High Peak Trail, I encountered a memorial in the form of a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) headstone, which records the transport of more than 120,000 headstones along the Cromford and High Peak Railway, on the way to various cemeteries, after the Great War. 

 

A memorial on the High Peak Trail

The Hopton Wood limestone used for these was quarried from the Lower Carboniferous Bee Low Limestone Formation in several places in the vicinity, as well described by Ian Thomas – the former Director of the National Stone Centre – in England’s Heritage in Stone, the proceedings of a conference organised by the English Stone Forum. 

 

Quarries in the Bee Low Limestone Formation

When planning my trip to Staveley and Brimington, to explore their historic architecture and building stones and to provide photographs for the British Listed Buildings website, I had also researched the CWGC headstones at their cemeteries – to continue with a very informal project to photograph the regimental crests. 

 

A plan of Staveley Cemetery

Having found good layout plans of the cemeteries produced by Chesterfield Borough Council, it didn’t take me long to find the 23 headstones in Staveley Cemetery. Of these, I only wanted to especially photograph the headstone of Private W.G. Whitall of the Welsh Regiment, whose regimental crest I had not seen before, so I just took very quick snaps of the rest of them without taking much notice of the stone from which they are made. 

 

The headstone of Private W.G. Whitall

With many of the inscriptions facing north and often quite low levels of light, I just assumed that they were further examples of Jurassic Portland stone, which I had previously encountered in many churchyards and cemeteries in South Yorkshire. 

 

The crest on the headstone of Private W.G. Whitall

It is only while writing this Language of Stone Blog post that I looked at my photos more closely and could see that the texture was quite different. Portland stone is an oolite containing a small proportion of oyster shells, whereas Hopton Wood limestone has a much coarser texture, with fragments of crinoids, corals and brachiopods cemented with crystalline calcite. 

 

The crest on the headstone of Private F. Hibbert

 

Although I would want to have another close look at the headstones in situ again to confirm my observations, it seems that Hopton Wood limestone has been used for the WWI casualties - for Private F. Hibbert of the Leicestershire Regiment for example - but the WWII headstones have been made from Portland stone. 

 

A plan of Brimington Cemetery

At Brimington Cemetery, there were 6 more regimental crests on the CWGC headstones to find, which was also made easy by another good layout plan to refer to, with the first being Lance Corporal W.W. Cropper of the Grenadier Guards, where the emblem depicts a flaming grenade. 

 

The headstone of Lance Corporal W.W. Cropper

 

This headstone is made from Hopton Wood limestone, as I presume is also used for that of Lance Corporal J. Baumber of the Lincolnshire Regiment, whose crest I remember during a brief visit to Sobraon Barracks when living in Lincoln. 

 

The crest on the headstone of Lance Corporal J. Baumber

This is evidently a replacement for the original headstone, with the fine lines produced by a CNC milling machine quite visible in the area around the crest. Although this method of production is much cheaper than traditional cutting by hand, I think that the latter is much more aesthetically pleasing – as seen in the headstone of Private H.F. Stott. 

 

The crest on the headstone of Private H.F. Stott

 

I have seen polished light and dark varieties of Hopton Wood limestone in the interiors of Sheffield Town Hall and Sheffield City Hall, where the fossil fragments are easy to discern and, when the stone is weathered, these tend to be more resistant than the cement. 

 

The crest on the headstone of Private C. E. Clayton

 

This differential weathering can be seen quite clearly in the headstone of Private C.E. Clayton of the Gloucestershire Regiment, which like the Lincolnshire Regiment has a depiction of a Sphinx lying on a pedestal inscribed with 'Egypt’. 

 

The headstone of Private R.H. Elliott

 

After finding the headstone of Private R.H. Elliott of the Labour Corps, whose regimental crest I had not encountered before but inexplicably failed to photograph in detail, I came across three headstones of casualties of WWII, where the headstones are made of Portland stone and not Hopton Wood limestone. 

 

The crest on the headstone of Private J. Rowe

 

The headstone of Private. J. Rowe of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), a casualty of WWI, is in Hopton Wood limestone, as is that of Private G.H. Godfrey of the Royal Veterinary Corps - both of which I had not previously encountered.  

The crest on the headstone of Private G.H. Godfrey

Historic Architecture in Brimington

 

The front elevation of Grove Farm

My brief exploration of the historic architecture in Staveley, which included attending a community event at the old school for refreshments, only took a couple of hours and I next visited Staveley Cemetery to visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones – to be briefly described later - and then caught the bus to Brimington, where I planned to photograph 12 buildings for the British Listed Buildings website.

 

Listed buildings in Brimington

Alighting from the bus on Hall Road, I made my way to Manor Road where my first point of call was the Brimington Memorial Gates, where the various gatepiers look like they are made from one of the medium grained sandstones from the Millstone Grit Group, which have been extensively quarried along the Derwent valley. 

 

Brimington Memorial Gates

 

Further down Manor Road, the C17 Manor House and its gatepiers and boundary wall were next on my list. As is often the case with private houses that are set back from the road, I could only get glimpses of it behind a tree and a large hedge. 

 

The Manor House and gatepiers

 

Although I could not inspect the masonry closely, Brimington is set on a ridge of an unnamed Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation (PLCMF) sandstone and I could see enough grey to orange colour variation, due to a high iron content. Also, I was able to see that the sandstone is not particularly durable and is quite deeply weathered in places and, together, these characteristics are quite typical of these sandstones. 

 

The geology around Brimington

Retracing my steps, I had a look at some of the boundary walls that will no doubt have been quarried locally. They display the same characteristics, with considerable colour variation and the development of Liesegang rings and concentrations of iron oxides/hydroxides on the joint planes. 

 

A boundary wall on Manor Road

Making my way back to High Street in the centre of Brimington, most of the buildings are late Victorian and brick built, but the early C18 No. 15 is built in massive sandstone that looks similar to that seen at the Manor House, with a flaggy sandstone used for its northern garden wall. 

 

No. 15 High Street and its garden wall

The Grade II Listed Church of St. Michael and All Angels was next on my agenda, but I only took a few quick record photographs of its exterior. The tower (1796) was added to the original mediaeval church, which was rebuilt in 1808 with the tower being retained. This was itself replaced by a new church in 1847, to a design by the Sheffield architect Joseph Mitchell. 

 

Views of the Church of St. Michael and All Angels

 

The later church is built with sandstone ashlar that has a pink/yellow hue, which contrasts with the sandstone used in the tower. Again, I didn’t closely inspect it, but the sandstone in the tower has the same physical characteristics as the one seen at the Manor House, which suggests that it has been quarried locally from the PLCMF.

 

C18 headstones at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels

After having a quick look at some very large C18 headstones, I continued along Church Street and down to Grove Farm Close, where the early C19 front elevation of Grove Farm is built with grey/orange cross-bedded sandstone walling, with a more massive yellow/pink sandstone used for the quoins and various dressings. 

 

Grove Farm

I finished my brief exploration of Brimington by photographing the brick built Brimington County Junior Mixed School (1878), before heading along Station Road to get a glimpse of No. 64 and then continuing to Brimington Cemetery on Chesterfield Road.

 

No. 64 Station Road

  

St. John the Baptist's Church in Staveley

 

A general view of the Church of St. John the Baptist

When setting out to photograph the historic architecture of Staveley for the British Listed Buildings website, knowing that this town is best known for its former coal mining and iron and chemical industries, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it had an attractive Conservation Area – at the heart of which is the Grade II* Listed Church of St. John the Baptist.

The north elevation

Viewing the church from the rear of Staveley Hall, the north elevation is dominated by the 7 bay north aisle and the extended chancel, which were built by Sir George Gilbert Scott (1865-69) and completely overshadow the four stage mediaeval tower.

 

The north elevation of the tower

 

Historic England describe the lowest two stages as C13, with C15 Perpendicular Gothic style upper stages and also, very surprisingly, the official listing stated that the upper stages were built out of light grey York stone, when it is so obviously dolomitic limestone from the Permian Cadeby Formation – still probably best known as Magnesian Limestone. 

 

A view of the upper stages of the tower from the south

I duly commented on the official list entry to this effect but, much to my dismay, despite mentioning my expertise in identifying building stone and considerable experience of historic buildings in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, built in both Carboniferous sandstone and Permian limestone, the entry was merely altered to "pale grey stone" and the church website continues to describe it as “light York stone”. 

 

A buttress on the north aisle

Making a reasonable assumption that the sandstone used for the lower sections of the tower is locally quarried from the Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation, I didn’t inspect this closely but did have a better look at the masonry added during Scott’s ‘restoration’, where the walling is a uniformly yellowish coloured plane bedded, medium grained sandstone laid in thin courses, with buff medium/coarse grained sandstone used for the dressings. 

 

A detail of the masonry on the north asle

 

The dressings look like they could have have come from the Ashover Grit in the Derwent valley, which would have been accessible by train via the Midland Railway and the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway, which connected at Ambergate; however, the walling stone for the north aisle is not familiar to me but it looks like a Coal Measures sandstone, which could have been moved along the Chesterfield Canal. 

 

The east end

 

Moving clockwise past the chancel, the east elevation of the C17 south chapel displays yet another sandstone, which has a pink tinge and is cross-bedded, with a buff coloured medium grained sandstone used to repair several blocks. 

 

The east end of the south aisle

On its south elevation, this sandstone has been used to reface large sections of the parapets, the plinth and window surrounds, with a pink, cross-bedded course grained sandstone used to replace large sections of the ashlar masonry - a stone that reminds me of the Dukes sandstone, which is quarried in Whatstandwell near Matlock. 

 

Renewed masonry on the south chapel

Continuing westward along the south elevation, the south aisle dates to the C14, but the outer face was apparently refaced in the C15, presumably with the windows replaced at this time, and between the two windows to the left side is a curious diagonal buttress. 

 

The south aisle

 

The porch is also the work of Scott, in the same yellow sandstone used for the north aisle and chancel, with buff medium/coarse grained for the dressings and to the west of this the south aisle has has either been or extended or rebuilt in the same walling stone. 

 

The south elevation

Looking up at the tower, the embattled parapet and small corner pinnacles are built in sandstone, which the listing description was added in 1681, but on the north side of the tower these are dolomitic limestone, which suggests that these replaced C15 details and were not an addition. 

 

The south elevation of the tower

 

I finished my walk around its exterior at the west side of the tower, where there is a C13 door with two orders of continuous roll moulding, above which is a restored lancet window and a narrower lancet on the second stage.

 

The west door

 

Historic Architecture in Staveley

 

The Frecheville family crest at Staveley Hall

Having ended June 2022 with a recce of the geology along the High Peak Trail, in the Peak District National Park, my next day out in the first week of July was to Staveley and Brimington in North-East Derbyshire - principally to photograph their listed buildings. 

 

Listed buildings in Staveley

I had driven past these very many times when I lived in Sheffield, on the way to work as a trainee general practice surveyor at the Chesterfield office of the District Valuer/Valuation Office but, except for the Church of St Michael and All Angels, I can’t recall seeing anything else that might be of interest to this Language of Stone Blog. 

 

The geology around Staveley

Staveley is set on an unnamed Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation (PMCMF) sandstone, above the River Rother. Although it has a Grade II* Listed church dating back to the C13, it is probably best known for its heavy industry, with quarrying of ironstone on the Duke of Devonshire’s land in the 1600s leading to the formation of an iron foundry and furnace, which in turn developed into coal mining and a substantial chemicals plant.

 

Staveley war memorial

 

I started my exploration at Staveley war memorial, built in 1920 using a slightly veined variety of Carrara marble from Italy, which is quite unusual in that the soldier is depicted standing against a tree stump - representing the great devastion of swathes of woodland during the conflict.

 

Staveley Hall stables and coach house

 

My next stop was the C17 coach house and stable block to Staveley Hall (1604), which are built with a PMCMF sandstone that possesses no obvious distinguishing features. Taking a few general photos of the publicly accessible elevations, I continued to Staveley Hall itself, which was much altered during a C19 restoration thought to be the work of Sir George Gilbert Scott, where the main feature of interest is the painted Frecheville family crest and date stone. 

 

Views of Staveley Hall

From Staveley Hall, I followed the path to St. John the Baptist’s church, which I shall describe later, and briefly stopped in the churchyard to photograph Nos. 7 and 8 Church Street, which are rendered, before arriving at the old school (1844). 

 

Views of the old school

 

The school was built by the 6th Duke of Devonshire and displays the family crest, in the form of a nowed serpent, with the Historic England description mentioning that this was probably the work of Joseph Paxton. It certainly has similarities to work of his that I have seen in Edensor and Rowsley, particularly the overhanging eaves details and the chimneys. 

 

The Chantry

 

After taking advantage of tea and cake that was being served at the old school, I continued to the much altered Grade II Listed Chantry on High Street, which according to the Historic England description "is said to have been a chantry founded by the Frecheville family or, alternatively, a chapel founded by the Musard family in the C13, but this has been disputed."

 

A plaque attached to the Chantry

The original building stone used here is very iron rich sandstone with orange staining and Liesegang rings, laid as large roughly squared and coursed walling, with better shaped stones used for later additions. As previously seen at Staveley Hall and its stables/coach house, it also has a stone tile roof, which is commonly seen in the vernacular architecture on both the Millstone Grit Group and the Pennine Coal Measures Group.

Nos. 42 and 44 High Street

On the opposite side of High Street, Nos. 34-44, which were all built c1845, form a group of three pairs of semi-detached houses that have similar characteristics – especially Nos. 34-36 and Nos. 38-40. Although there is no mention in the listing description, the latter houses have quite distinctive overhanging eaves that suggest that these might also be by Paxton.

 

Nos. 34-40 High Street