St Wilfrid's Church, Hickleton, is a parish church of the Church of England in Hickleton, near Doncaster in South Yorkshire.

Location and history

The existing church of St Wilfrid lies to the south of the

A635 The A635 is a main road that runs between Manchester and Doncaster running east–west through Stalybridge, Saddleworth Moor, Holmfirth, Barnsley and the Dearne Valley. The section forming the eastern part of the Mancunian Way is a motorway and ...

Doncaster–

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 ...

road as you enter the village of Hickleton from the east. Archaeological excavations date the existing building back to but there is the suggestion of a church on this location in

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 ...

times. The building is

Grade I listed 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 ...

. The chancel arch is a fine example 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 ...

construction, indicating that the church originally consisted of simply a small nave and chancel, whilst the western end of the nave and the porch date back to about 1300. The tower is perpendicular in style, being built of typical South Yorkshire Magnesian limestone and sandstone, which was possibly added when the church and its lands were gifted to the Priory of Monk Bretton by the Archbishop Neville of York in 1386 following the destruction of the priory by fire.

Restorations

The first major

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 ...

took place between 1876–1888 and was supervised by

G F Bodley George Frederick Bodley (14 March 182721 October 1907) was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, and worked in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career. He was one of the founders of Watt ...

. During this period a new north aisle and

sacristry A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

were added, the roof was raised and renewed, the sanctuary was paved with marble and new screens were added to enclose the altar. The second set of extensive work took place in the 1980s, when the building was seriously affected by a

geological fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

which caused it to list dangerously. A concrete base was installed under the foundations which allows for the structure to be corrected using

hydraulic jack A jack is a mechanical lifting device used to apply great forces or lift heavy loads. A mechanical jack employs a screw thread for lifting heavy equipment. A hydraulic jack uses hydraulic power. The most common form is a car jack, floor jack o ...

s should there be any further movement.

Lychgate and skulls

The lychgate to the north-west of the church has three human skulls set behind a grille above which are the words (in Latin and English) "Today for me, Tomorrow for thee". A local legend has arisen which suggests they are the skulls of three sheep rustlers, hanged at nearby High Melton or three fallen women of the Parish but it is more likely that they were obtained by Lord Halifax (2nd Viscount) to serve as a memento mori. The two outer ones are genuine, both having had the crowns removed surgically and the centre one is a stone which replaces the original stolen in the 1980's.

References

External links

The Official Website for the Parish of Goldthorpe and Hickleton, South Yorkshire.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hickleton, Saint Wilfrid's Church Church of England church buildings in South Yorkshire Grade I listed churches in South Yorkshire Anglo-Catholic church buildings in South Yorkshire Hickleton

Location and history

Restorations

Lychgate and skulls

See also

References

External links