Church of St. Nicholas, Bradfield
Encyclopedia
The Church of St. Nicholas, Bradfield is situated in the small village of High Bradfield
(Grid Reference ) which is located 6 miles (10 km) north west of the centre of the city of Sheffield
in South Yorkshire
, England. It is one of only five Grade One Listed buildings in Sheffield. Apart from its historic architecture, the church is situated in a charming setting, 260 metres (853 ft) above sea level, giving fine views over the north eastern moors and valleys of the Peak District
National Park.
cross discovered in 1870 in the nearby village of Low Bradfield
was dated by specialists to that time. Local historian John Wilson (1719–83) believed that the original Norman church was founded in 1109 when deciphering ancient writing in the church's original east window. The Normans
regarded the area around Bradfield as strategically important and had built a Motte-and-bailey
fortified keep in the area after the conquest. William de Lovetot, Lord of Hallamshire, had built the Church of St. Mary, Ecclesfield
, nine kilometres to the east, at the end of the 11th century, to which St. Nicholas, Bradfield became a Chapel of ease
until 1868 when it became a parish of its own.
The original Norman church was an uncomplicated two cell building, a square bell tower was added in the 14th century before it was largely rebuilt in Gothic Perpendicular style in the 1480s using some of the original masonry which consisted of local gritstone
. The interior of the church changed drastically under the influence of the Puritans during the English Civil War
, statues, wall paintings and stained glass were destroyed and the walls whitewashed.
to its 15th century appearance. Parts of the original Norman church survive in the north arcade, the font and the chancel arch. The previously mentioned 9th century Saxon cross was integrated into the north wall of the church in 1886. The cross is roughly fashioned in local gritstone
and is simply decorated with five bosses on the head which was the Saxon way of depicting the crucifixtion. Records of birth, marriages and burials date from 1559. Music in the church was originally provided by a local band of musicians featuring a bassoon
and violoncello
accompanying the choir. The musicians were replaced in 1843 by an organ
, the present organ was installed in 1973, it was built by Laycock and Bannister and was bought second hand from a church in Middlesbrough
that was closing.
, Clayton and Bell
and Hardman & Co.
. The east window is the largest, it was donated by the Wilson family in 1870, it depicts the nativity, baptism, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Christ. A window on the west wall was donated by the Dixon family in 1930, the family had been the owners of the Spring Grove paper mill in Oughtibridge
since 1871. The main west window is situated in the ringing chamber of the tower, it was a gift of James Wilson Rimington-Wilson (1822–77) of Broomhead Hall and depicts Saint Nicholas
and Saint Cuthbert
. It is one of ten windows in the church attributed to William Francis Dixon (1848–1928) of the Clayton & Bell company.
roof with the wall posts having carved feet and various embossing. The original Norman baptismal font
is still in place: it is made of magnesian limestone with no decoration at all it is believed to have been built and presented by the Cistercian monks of Roche Abbey
in the 12th century. A sunken vestry
was discovered and refurbished during the 19th century, it is thought to have been used by visiting clergy as sleeping quarters.
s. A slate plaque presented by the local water authority in 1989 stands in the south aisle and commemorates the Great Sheffield Flood
of 1864 when the nearby Dale Dike Reservoir
broke and 270 people drowned. A number of flood victims are buried in the churchyard. The grave of William Horsfield who discovered the crack in the embankment of the dam is buried in the churchyard. He died in 1881.
of Loughborough
, six were cast in 1847 while two more were added recently in 1997. Records show Bradfield's bells were not only rung on Sundays but also to commemorate events of national importance such as on 5 November "for the Gunpowder Treason
" and from 1660 onwards on 29 May (Oak Apple Day
) to celebrate The Restoration. The irregular shaped watch house which stands by the main gates was built in 1745 to fight against grave robbers looking for fresh corpses for medical study, with friends and relatives of the deceased often guarding the recently buried loved ones with guns. It is the only surviving watch house in Yorkshire, today it is a private dwelling. When Bradfield village lost its church hall in 1987, the rear pews of the church were removed to provide a meeting place and kitchen.
High Bradfield
High Bradfield is a small village located north west of the centre of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England at Grid Reference and within the city's boundaries...
(Grid Reference ) which is located 6 miles (10 km) north west of the centre of the city of Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
in South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, England. It is one of only five Grade One Listed buildings in Sheffield. Apart from its historic architecture, the church is situated in a charming setting, 260 metres (853 ft) above sea level, giving fine views over the north eastern moors and valleys of the Peak District
Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and South and West Yorkshire....
National Park.
Anglo-Saxon
Christian worship in the Bradfield area dates from at least the 9th century as a SaxonAnglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
cross discovered in 1870 in the nearby village of Low Bradfield
Low Bradfield
Low Bradfield is a village within the in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated within the boundary of the city of Sheffield in the upper part of the Loxley Valley, 6¼ miles west-northwest of the city centre and just inside the northeast boundary of the Peak District National Park...
was dated by specialists to that time. Local historian John Wilson (1719–83) believed that the original Norman church was founded in 1109 when deciphering ancient writing in the church's original east window. The Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
regarded the area around Bradfield as strategically important and had built a Motte-and-bailey
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
fortified keep in the area after the conquest. William de Lovetot, Lord of Hallamshire, had built the Church of St. Mary, Ecclesfield
Church of St. Mary, Ecclesfield
The Church of St. Mary, Ecclesfield is situated on Church Street in the village of Ecclesfield, now a northern suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is situated seven kilometres north of the city centre. It is a Grade One listed building, one of only five within the Sheffield city...
, nine kilometres to the east, at the end of the 11th century, to which St. Nicholas, Bradfield became a Chapel of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a 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....
until 1868 when it became a parish of its own.
Gritstone
Gritstone or Grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for paper and for grindstones to sharpen blades. "Grit" is...
. The interior of the church changed drastically under the influence of the Puritans during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, statues, wall paintings and stained glass were destroyed and the walls whitewashed.
19th century
These changes were reversed in the latter part of the 19th century when the interior was restoredVictorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
to its 15th century appearance. Parts of the original Norman church survive in the north arcade, the font and the chancel arch. The previously mentioned 9th century Saxon cross was integrated into the north wall of the church in 1886. The cross is roughly fashioned in local gritstone
Gritstone
Gritstone or Grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for paper and for grindstones to sharpen blades. "Grit" is...
and is simply decorated with five bosses on the head which was the Saxon way of depicting the crucifixtion. Records of birth, marriages and burials date from 1559. Music in the church was originally provided by a local band of musicians featuring a bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
and violoncello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
accompanying the choir. The musicians were replaced in 1843 by an organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, the present organ was installed in 1973, it was built by Laycock and Bannister and was bought second hand from a church in Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
that was closing.
Today
Windows
The interior contains 17 stained glass windows of varying sizes, much of it from the late 19th century although the Medieval Window includes fragments of glass from the 15th century, during the Second World War it was stored in a local clay mine to protect it from bomb damage. The windows include designs by Sir John Ninian ComperNinian Comper
Sir John Ninian Comper was a Scottish-born architect. He was one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects, noted for his churches and their furnishings...
, Clayton and Bell
Clayton and Bell
Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient workshops of English stained glass during the latter half of the 19th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton and Alfred Bell . The company was founded in 1855 and continued until 1993...
and Hardman & Co.
Hardman & Co.
Hardman & Co., otherwise John Hardman Trading Co., Ltd., founded 1838, began manufacturing stained glass in 1844 and became one of the world's leading manufacturers of stained glass and ecclesiastical fittings...
. The east window is the largest, it was donated by the Wilson family in 1870, it depicts the nativity, baptism, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Christ. A window on the west wall was donated by the Dixon family in 1930, the family had been the owners of the Spring Grove paper mill in Oughtibridge
Oughtibridge
Oughtibridge is a residential village on the northern outskirts of Sheffield within the bounds of Bradfield Parish Council. The village stands northwest of the city centre in the valley of the River Don...
since 1871. The main west window is situated in the ringing chamber of the tower, it was a gift of James Wilson Rimington-Wilson (1822–77) of Broomhead Hall and depicts Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
and Saint Cuthbert
Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
Saint Cuthbert was an Anglo-Saxon monk, bishop and hermit associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Northumbria, at that time including, in modern terms, northern England as well as south-eastern Scotland as far as the Firth of Forth...
. It is one of ten windows in the church attributed to William Francis Dixon (1848–1928) of the Clayton & Bell company.
Interior
The pulpit features carved panels portraying Christ with the four Gospel writers. Oak panels brought from Normandy in 1886 decorate the sanctuary and the altar. The interior has a Camber beamCamber beam
In building, a camber beam is a piece of timber cut archwise, or with an obtuse angle in the middle, commonly used in platforms, as church leads, and other occasions where long and strong beams are required....
roof with the wall posts having carved feet and various embossing. The original Norman baptismal font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
is still in place: it is made of magnesian limestone with no decoration at all it is believed to have been built and presented by the Cistercian monks of Roche Abbey
Roche Abbey
Roche Abbey is a now-ruined abbey located near Maltby, South Yorkshire, England. It is situated in a valley alongside Maltby Beck and King's Wood.-Early history:...
in the 12th century. A sunken vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
was discovered and refurbished during the 19th century, it is thought to have been used by visiting clergy as sleeping quarters.
Memorial
The church features memorials to the Bradfield men who perished in both World warWorld war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
s. A slate plaque presented by the local water authority in 1989 stands in the south aisle and commemorates the Great Sheffield Flood
Great Sheffield Flood
Not to be confused with the floods in Sheffield in 2007.The Great Sheffield Flood was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke.- Collapse of Dale Dyke Dam :...
of 1864 when the nearby Dale Dike Reservoir
Dale Dike Reservoir
Dale Dike Reservoir or Dale Dyke Reservoir , famous for causing the Great Sheffield Flood, is in the north-east Peak District, in the City of Sheffield South Yorkshire, England, a mile west of Bradfield, eight miles from the centre of Sheffield, on the Dale Dike, a tributary of the River...
broke and 270 people drowned. A number of flood victims are buried in the churchyard. The grave of William Horsfield who discovered the crack in the embankment of the dam is buried in the churchyard. He died in 1881.
Bell Tower
The bell tower contains a peal of eight bells made by John Taylor BellfoundersJohn Taylor Bellfounders
John Taylor & Co, formerly trading as Taylors, Eayre & Smith Ltd and John Taylor Bellfounders Ltd, and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry, located in Loughborough in the United Kingdom.The company manufactures bells for use in...
of Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
, six were cast in 1847 while two more were added recently in 1997. Records show Bradfield's bells were not only rung on Sundays but also to commemorate events of national importance such as on 5 November "for the Gunpowder Treason
Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...
" and from 1660 onwards on 29 May (Oak Apple Day
Oak Apple Day
Oak Apple Day or Royal Oak Day was a holiday celebrated in England on 29 May to commemorate the restoration of the English monarchy, in May 1660...
) to celebrate The Restoration. The irregular shaped watch house which stands by the main gates was built in 1745 to fight against grave robbers looking for fresh corpses for medical study, with friends and relatives of the deceased often guarding the recently buried loved ones with guns. It is the only surviving watch house in Yorkshire, today it is a private dwelling. When Bradfield village lost its church hall in 1987, the rear pews of the church were removed to provide a meeting place and kitchen.