St James’ Church, Midhopestones is situated in the small rural hamlet of Midhopestones, just within the northern boundary of the City of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...

. Since April 1969 it has been a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Gives details of listed status and architecture. St James is small church which is often referred to as a chapel, in fact it is situated on Chapel Lane. The church is officially dedicated to

James the Less James the Less ( grc-gre, Ἰάκωβος ὁ μικρός ) is a figure of early Christianity, one of the Twelve chosen by Jesus. He is also called "the Minor", "the Little", "the Lesser", or "the Younger", according to translation. He is not to ...

and not

James the Greater James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...

although there has always been some confusion. Some modern historians and clergy maintain that the church should be dedicated to James the Greater as the scallop shells carved above the church door are the traditional emblem of James the Greater. It is possible that it was re-dedicated to James the Less in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

because of the smallness of the church. The church is in the Parish of

Penistone Penistone ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 22,909 at the 2011 census. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is west of Barnsley, n ...

within the

Diocese of Wakefield The Diocese of Wakefield is a former Church of England diocese based in Wakefield in West Yorkshire, covering Wakefield, Barnsley, Kirklees and Calderdale. The cathedral was Wakefield Cathedral and the bishop was the diocesan Bishop of Wakef ...

History

Origins

St James’ church was founded by the Barnby family of Barnby Hall,

Cawthorne Cawthorne is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. The village was once a centre of the iron and coal mining industry; today it is part of an affluent commuter belt west of Barnsley. A ...

. Thomas de Barnby, vicar of

Kirkheaton Kirkheaton () is a village and former civil parish north-east of Huddersfield, now in the parish of Kirkburton, in the county of West Yorkshire, England, Historically, it is part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is in the Dalton ward of ...

, became

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 Midhope in 1337 and was succeeded by his nephew Robert in 1354. Robert de Barnby was the probable founder of the church around the year 1360 although other scholars attribute Thomas de Barnby as the founder at a slightly earlier date.''"Medieval South Yorkshire"'',

David Hey David G. Hey (18 July 1938 – 14 February 2016) was an English historian, and was an authority on surnames and the local history of Yorkshire. Hey was the president of the British Association for Local History, and was a published author of seve ...

, Page 90 , Says Thomas de Barnby was likely founder of chapel and gives other historical information. The church was built as a Chapel of ease for the main church of the parish of Ecclesfield, St. Marys’, which lay 14 km to the east. The Barnbys’ used St James’ as their private chapel until 1622 when they were forced to sell the entire manor because of financial hardship brought on by fines levied after the English Reformation for hearing

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 eleme ...

and not attending the state church.''"Historic Hallamshire"'', David Hey, page 49 , Gives historical information. The church was owned by

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

s between 1622 and 1690 and they installed a Jacobean pulpit which was high enough for the preacher to see out of the window. The pulpit is the present day church's most valuable antique. In the second half of the 17th century the chapel fell into disrepair.''"Church booklet"'', No author or ISBN, Gives most of church‘s history.

1705 restoration

The church was restored in 1705 by Godfrey Bosville who became Lord of the Manor in 1690. Bosville undertook a partial rebuilding of the east and west ends and added the

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

Minstrels' gallery A minstrels' gallery is a form of balcony, often inside the great hall of a castle or manor house, and used to allow musicians (originally minstrels) to perform, sometimes discreetly hidden from the guests below. Notable examples *A rare example ...

box pew A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in ch ...

s and a bell

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

. Bosville had his

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

along with his and his wife Bridget's initial carved above the porch door as a sign that he regarded the church as his personal family chapel, a move which upset many local residents. Until 1847 services at St James’ were performed by clergy from the nearby St Mary's Church, Bolsterstone where all records of births, marriages and deaths were kept. After 1847 services were carried out by clergy from Penistone. The bell in the cupola was replaced in 1858 and again 1929, the

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

was laid out in the 18th century and further extended in 1915.''"Welcome To St James‘ Church, Midhopestones"'', No ISBN, Gives historical information.

Modern developments

In 1967 a trap door was discovered between the pulpit and the altar by a joiner doing repairs, this led to speculation of an ancient tunnel connecting the church to the old manor house. However no evidence of a tunnel was found and it is now believed that it was a place where the church silver was kept safely in the past. In 1978 renovations took place which included lowering the pulpit to its present height, replacing brass candlesticks and cross with wrought iron ones and the removal of the front box pews and using the

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

wood to make inner doors and a desk and chair for the priest. A large ancient stone altar was discovered in the south wall during the 1978 renovations; this is now used as the altar in

Saint John the Baptist Church, Penistone Saint John the Baptist Church, Penistone Parish Church, or Penistone Church is a Church of England church in the Parish of Penistone, near Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, England. The church is a Grade I listed building and is located in the ce ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Midhopestones, Saint James 14th-century church buildings in England History of Sheffield Tourist attractions in Sheffield Grade II* listed buildings in Sheffield Grade II* listed churches in South Yorkshire Churches in Sheffield Church of England church buildings in South Yorkshire