St Peter's Church, Barnburgh is a
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, ...
of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
situated at the centre of the village of
Barnburgh
Barnburgh is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. The village is adjacent to the village of Harlington - the parish contains both villages, and according to the 2001 census it had a ...
, near
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
in
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 ...
. Famous for the
legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
of the 'Cat and Man', the church serves the communities of Barnburgh and
Harlington.
Construction
St Peter's consists of a
tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
of four stages surmounted by a small, squat
spire
A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...
, a
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 ...
with north and south
aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...
s, a
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ove ...
with a north aisle or chapel, and a porch. The church is built of a mixture of sandstone and magnesium limestone.
Although there has been a church on this site since AD, nothing remains of the original church.
There is a private
chantry chapel
A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings:
# a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or
# a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...
north of the chancel for the Cresacre family, whose males were lords of Barnburgh from the 13th to the 16th century. Most of this chapel is taken up by the tomb of Sir Percival Cresacre (who died in 1477) and his wife, Alice (died 1450).
Cat and Man Legend
The Cat and Man Legend tells of events said to have occurred before the 15th century. There was formerly a hall at Barnburgh which was in the possession of the Cresacre family. According to the legend, a knight of the Cresacre family (reputedly Sir Percival Cresacre, but this is disputed)
Legend of Cat and Man
Given the likelihood that wildcats had become extinct in this area by the time of Sir Percival Cresacre, it has been suggested that the events happened much earlier. was returning home late on the heavily wooded track from Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
through Sprotborough
Sprotbrough and Cusworth is a civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, with most of its settlements on the western edge of the Doncaster built-up area. It lies between and to the west of Doncaster and is split by the ...
and High Melton
High Melton is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 339. reducing to 300 at the 2011 Census.
In August 2019, 13 men and women fell ill after accidentally ingest ...
.
As he was approaching Barnburgh, a wildcat
The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...
(or a lynx
A lynx is a type of wild cat.
Lynx may also refer to:
Astronomy
* Lynx (constellation)
* Lynx (Chinese astronomy)
* Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory
Places Canada
* Lynx, Ontar ...
) sprang out of the branches of a tree and landed on the back of his horse. The horse threw its rider to the ground and fled. The cat then turned on the knight and there followed a long and deadly struggle between the two which continued all the way from Ludwell Hill to Barnburgh.
After fighting the cat the mile's distance to the village of Barnburgh, the knight made for the porch of St Peter's Church, presumably to try to get inside the church and close the door on the animal. The fight had been so fierce, however, that Sir Percival fell dying in the church porch and, in his last, dying struggle, stretched out his feet and crushed the cat against the wall of the porch.
Thus, the legend goes, the cat killed the man and the man killed the cat. They were found sometime later by the search party that went out after the knight's horse had returned home riderless.
Stones in the floor of the porch of St Peter's are tainted with red. There is also a cat at the feet of the Cresacre effigy in the north aisle of the church.
See also
*Grade I listed buildings in South Yorkshire
There are 62 Grade I listed buildings in South Yorkshire, England. In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural signific ...
*Listed buildings in Barnburgh
Barnburgh is a civil parish in the metropolitan borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The parish contains 16 Listed building#England and Wales, listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, ...
References
External links
Barnburgh and Harlington WebsiteDiocese of Sheffield
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnburgh, Saint Peter's Church
Church of England church buildings in South Yorkshire
Grade I listed churches in South Yorkshire