St James' Church, High Melton 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 ...

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 ...

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.

Background

The Church of St James dominates the village of

, 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

. The church has

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

origins but the main part of the existing building was established about 1100 AD and handed over to Avice de Tania in 1153 AD to be put under the care of the

Cistercian nuns Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order belonging to the Roman Catholic branch of the Catholic Church. History The first Cistercian monastery for women, Le Tart Abbey, was established at Tart-l'Abbaye in t ...

Hampole Hampole is a small village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster (part of South Yorkshire, England), on the border with West Yorkshire. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the eastern boundary of the parish is ...

. It was originally intended as a

Chapel of Ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

to the

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

at Hampole, which had been founded a few years earlier by Avice de Tania with her husband, William (de) Clairfait, whose gift and that of the churches of Adwick and Melton were later confirmed by Archbishop Roger of York. Until at least the reign of

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

(1377–1400), the church was known as the "Church of All Hallows" and served by nuns from the Hampole Priory, along with

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

s appointed by them. About this time, a tower was added and a

Lady Chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel, an ...

to the south-east. As a result, the ground plan is rather unusual, having two

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 – one through a short

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 ...

within the

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 ...

and the western tower, and also a continuous south aisle to the whole length of the church leading to the Lady Chapel. Before the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

there was no ecclesiastical

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of High Melton (then known as Melton-super-Montem or Melton-on-the-Hill), remaining under the spiritual direction of the Priory at Hampole, which appointed a

Curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

and claimed the

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. For ...

from the lands. No

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

was appointed until following the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, when John Norobolt was installed as first Vicar of Melton-on-the-Hill in 1660 following the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

Benefactors

It has had several generous benefactors over the years, including the Fountayne family and its descendants, the Wilson family, which changed its name to Montagu following an inheritance. There are substantial memorials to members of these families in the church. Several members of the Fountayne family are interred beneath the

whilst the

Carrara marble Carrara marble, Luna marble to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of Massa ...

graves A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as gravey ...

of the Montagues are located in the northern section of the

churchyard In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...

Another local family which were connected to the church were the

Levett Levett is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from eLivet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories. Origins This surname comes from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, no ...

s of High Melton, who settled there after leaving nearby Normanton, where they had been prominent since the 13th century. John Levett of High Melton had married Mary, the daughter of Emmanuel Mote, who owned the manor of High Melton, having inherited it from his wife's family, the Copleys. The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of the Levetts of High Melton and Normanton appear, like those of several prominent local families, in a stained glass window of St James' Church. Benefactors helped to improve the state of the church in the early 20th century. In particular, there is a spectacular

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or ...

bearing a

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

set of figures (1905), a

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

and

altar frontal An ''antependium'' (from Latin ''ante-'' and ''pendēre'' "to hang before"; pl: ''antependia''), also known as a ''parament'' or ''hanging'', or, when speaking specifically of the hanging for the altar, an altar frontal (Latin: ''pallium altaris ...

s (1907) which are the work of Sir John

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the des ...

, who also did much work for

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbis ...

. The rood screen hides a notable

arch, which is thought to be one of the earliest specimens of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

work in the district.

Stained glass windows

St James' is also known for its beautiful windows, one of which is also from the Comper Studio.

John Fountayne John Fountayne (1714–1802) was a Church of England clergyman and the longest serving Dean of York. Life Fountayne was the younger of two sons of John Fountayne. He was raised at Melton Hall], in High Melton, the family seat which he inherit ...

, Doctor of Divinity, DD,

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, installed several pieces of

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

obtained from throughout the county, most notably a window depicting

William de Melton William Melton (died 5 April 1340) was the 43rd Archbishop of York (1317–1340). Life Melton was the son of Nicholas of Melton, and the brother of Henry de Melton, and John Melton. He was born in Melton in the parish of Welton, about ...

, the 43rd

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

(1317–1340) and fragments of a 'doom scene' from the

Jesse Tree The Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree which rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. It is the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a ge ...

window of

. Fountayne, who was

Lord of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

of High Melton from 1739–1802, also introduced several examples of painted glass by Peckitt and stained glass from the influential 14th-century pioneer

Thomas Glazier Thomas Glazier of Oxford ( fl. 1386-1427) was a master glazier active in England during the late 14th and early 15th century; he is one of the earliest identifiable stained glass artists, and is considered a leading proponent of the International G ...

, giving the church a rich inheritance. Some of the stained glass, including the heraldic panels, were moved from the Great Chamber of the Old Hall when Very Rev. Dr. Fountayne renovated it in the mid-18th century. The two East Windows are examples of work by Kempe.

Parish registers

The

Parish Registers A parish register in an ecclesiastical parish is a handwritten volume, normally kept in the parish church in which certain details of religious ceremonies marking major events such as baptisms (together with the dates and names of the parents), ma ...

of High Melton begin in 1538 (this is unusual as in many other parishes the registers only date back to the beginning of the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

, 1558).

Organ

The church has a two

manual Manual may refer to: Instructions * User guide * Owner's manual * Instruction manual (gaming) * Online help Other uses * Manual (music), a keyboard, as for an organ * Manual (band) * Manual transmission * Manual, a bicycle technique similar to ...

tracker action Tracker action is a term used in reference to pipe organs and steam calliopes to indicate a mechanical linkage between keys or pedals pressed by the organist and the valve that allows air to flow into pipe(s) of the corresponding note. This is ...

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

Forster and Andrews Forster and Andrews was a British organ building company between 1843 and 1924. The company was formed by James Alderson Forster (1818–1886) and Joseph King Andrews (1820–1896), who had been employees of the London organ builder J. C. Bisho ...

dating from 1898. A specification of the organ can be found on th
National Pipe Organ Register

Tower, bells and clock

The

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 ...

is constructed in three stages being mainly in

perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

style, the lower part in the 14th century, with 15th- and 17th-century additional stages. The second stage of the tower, which is the ringing chamber, has a large stone

fireplace A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design. ...

on its east side and is locally reputed to have housed curates prior to the Restoration. The tower houses three bells, currently unringable. The tenor bell weighs 7 cwt, sounds B and was

cast Cast may refer to: Music * Cast (band), an English alternative rock band * Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band * The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis * ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William * ...

in 1636 in Doncaster by William Oldfield of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

(who had branches in York and Doncaster). It bears the inscription " Soli Deo gloria", one of the

five solas The five ''solae'' (from Latin, ', lit. "alone"; occasionally Anglicized to five solas) of the Protestant Reformation are a foundational set of Christian theological principles held by theologians and clergy to be central to the doctrines of ...

propounded to summarise the Reformers' basic beliefs during the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. The second bell sounds C and is the oldest, being a pre-Reformation cast, between 1500 and 1510, by the Seliok family and dedicated Sancti Antonii. The

treble Treble may refer to: In music: *Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass *Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range *Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands *T ...

bell sounds D and was cast by Henry Dand of Nottingham.St James' High Melton, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers
/ref> The

clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and the ...

, with its unusual stone

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

, was constructed in 1788 and has been inactive for many years.

Current use

It is part of the

Diocese of Sheffield The Diocese of Sheffield is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. The Diocese of Sheffield was created under George V on 23 January 1914, by the division from the Diocese of York (along with that pa ...

, now under the joint

Benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

St Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

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 ...

, and St James, Melton-on-the-Hill, with St John the Baptist, Adwick-upon-Dearne.

References

External links

*Some information from "The History of St James' Church, Melton-on-the-Hill", F. Galloway (April 1969).
Mediaeval Stained Glass, St James' Church, High Melton, CVMARegisters of St James, High MeltonIndex of Cartularies, Thomas Phillipps, 1839Coat of arms of Levett of High Melton and Normanton impaling Barnby, St James' Church, High Melton, CVMAand Coat-of-arms, Mowbray, St James' Church, High Melton, Flickr.comImages of Comper Rood Screenand Reredos, Flickr.com
*
Doom crowd scene fragment from sanctuary window, Flickr.comand representation of Archbishop Melton, CVMA
{{Authority control High Melton, St James' Church Grade II* listed churches in South Yorkshire Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster