Holy Rood Church is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, England. It was opened in 1905. It is situated on the corner of Castlereagh Street and George Street, next to West Way in the town centre. It was designed by Edward Simpson and is a Grade II listed building.

History

Foundation

In 1800, forty Catholics led by William Rigby met Fr Vincent Louis Dennis, a French priest who was in the area to tutor to the children of John Payne, the owner of Newhill Hall in

Wath-upon-Dearne Wath upon Dearne (shortened to Wath or often hyphenated) is a town south of the River Dearne in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, north of Rotherham and almost midway between Barnsley and Doncaster. It had a pop ...

, who agreed to serve the local Catholic community. Fr Dennis died in 1819, but in 1822, the local congregation laid the foundations for a church which was completed in 1824. It was "a barn-like structure, utilitarian rather than beautiful" and was very soon outgrown by the increasing congregation. By the 1831 register, there had been 378 baptisms from the time Fr Dennis began his ministry, the first entry being in 1804. Through the efforts of the then Parish Priest, a second and larger church was opened in 1832, with schoolroom accommodation in the cellars beneath. This was eventually succeeded by a purpose built school opened in 1859.History
from CatholicBarnsley.co.uk, retrieved 22 December 2015

Construction

In 1903 the foundation stone was laid for the present church of Holy Rood and the parish priest invited the Sisters of Mercy to open a mother house in Barnsley in order to support the parish in its work in the community. The site of the church, which was opened in 1905, is in an elevated position and its spire visible across the skyline of Barnsley town centre. The church was consecrated on 14 May 1919. It was designed by Bradford architects Edward Simpson and his son Charles Simpson. The church is in the Late Victorian Gothic style, with a

Welsh slate The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the l ...

roof and a tower to the north-west of the building. The tower is square at its base and then becomes octagonal. The spire is stone and has gargoyles around it. The

baptistry In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...

is to the south-west of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and has five sides. Inside the church there are two marble sculptures of a

Pietà The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form o ...

and Saint Patrick, and two more stone sculptures of Saint Michael and Saint Anthony. Above these sculptures there is a

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

with the stations of cross inset into it. There is an organ gallery at back of the church and a lady chapel in the south part of the church.

Parishes in Barnsley

The parish of Holy Rood church is associated with the parish of Our Lady and St James Church in

Worsbrough Worsbrough is an area about two miles south of Barnsley in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. Before 1974, Worsbrough had its own urban district council in the West Riding of the historic county of Yorkshire and it ...

. They share the same newsletter and are served by the same priest. Our Lady and St James Church in Worsbrough was built in 1902 and designed by T. H. and F. Healey of Bradford who also designed St Luke's Church in

Broomfields Broomfields is a hamlet in Shropshire, England. It is located north of Montford Bridge and near to the hamlets of Forton Heath and Grafton. It is in the parish of Montford. It used to have its own 7 1/4 gauge garden railway at Broomfields Vill ...

and St Bartholomew's Church in

Ripley Ville Ripley Ville or Ripleyville was an estate of model houses for the working classes in Broomfields in the West Bowling ward of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Started in 1866 the development was built for the industrialist, ...

. It was initially an Anglican church and dedicated to just Saint James. After it became disused, it was sold to the local Catholics and they rededicated it to Our Lady and St James. It is a Grade II listed building. Holy Rood Church celebrates Sunday

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

at 9:30 and 11.00 am, and Our Lady and St James Church celebrates a vigil Mass at 6:00 pm on Saturday evening."Bulletin" fro
CatholicBarnsley.co.uk
retrieved 17 February 2017 File:Our Lady and St James Church, Worsbrough.jpg, Our Lady and St James Church, Worsbrough

References

External links

* *
Barnsley Catholic Parish site
{{Diocese of Hallam Grade II listed churches in South Yorkshire Roman Catholic churches in South Yorkshire

Holy Rood Holyrood may refer to: Religion *Holyrood (cross), a Christian relic alleged to be part of the True Cross on which Jesus died *Feast of the Cross, or Holy Rood day, in the Christian liturgical calendar Places United Kingdom * Holyrood, Edinburgh ...