St James’ Church, Midhopestones is situated in the small rural hamlet of

Midhopestones Midhopestones (archaic ''Nether Midhope'', also ''Middup'', or ''Middop'') is a village partially in the civil parish of Bradfield within the Stocksbridge and Upper Don electoral ward in the borough of the City of Sheffield, England. Together ...

, just within the northern boundary of the City of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

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 ...

. Since April 1969 it has been a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. 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 ( ) is a figure of early Christianity. He is also called "the Minor", "the Little", "the Lesser", or "the Younger", according to translation, James is styled "the Less" to distinguish him from the Apostle James the Great (also ca ...

and not

James the Greater James the Great (Koine Greek, Koinē Greek: Ἰάκωβος, romanized: ''Iákōbos''; Syriac language, Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ, romanized: ''Yaʿqōḇ''; died AD 44) was one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Accordi ...

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 Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve molluscs in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related famili ...

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 reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

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

Penistone Penistone ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 13,270 at the 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in ...

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 Wa ...

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. At ...

. Thomas de Barnby, vicar of

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

, became

Lord of the Manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

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 sev ...

, 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 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, generally due to trav ...

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 The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

for hearing

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 ...

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 rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

s between 1622 and 1690 and they installed a Jacobean

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

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 (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...

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 c ...

s and a bell

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

. Bosville had his

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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

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 St Mary's Church, Bolsterstone is situated in the village of Bolsterstone, within the boundary of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. The church dates from 1879 although there is evidence that a place of worship has existed on ...

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, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

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 hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

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 cent ...

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