Holy Rood Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, 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 po ...

, 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 rapidly during the Industrial ...

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''; -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptist ...

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 Mary (mother of Jesus), Blessed Virgin Mary cradling the mortal body of Jesus Christ after his Descent from the Cross. It is most often found in sculpture. ...

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

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

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 a district 2 to 3 miles south of Barnsley in the Barnsley (borough), metropolitan borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. Before 1974, Worsbrough had its own Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district counci ...

. 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 Vi ...

and St Bartholomew's Church in

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

. 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 and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

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