Friday 15 March 2024

Another Afternoon in Doncaster

 
Hall Cross

Continuing my day out in Doncaster, having briefly explored Cusworth and the grounds of Cusworth Hall, I photographed the Grade II Listed Keeper’s Cottage and the former Church of St. Edmund, a C18 agricultural building that was converted into a church by George Pace in 1954, before walking back into Doncaster.
 
The former Church of St. Edmund

Once back in Doncaster, my task for the afternoon was to photograph 15 buildings for the British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge, of which only St. James’ church (1858) on St. Sepulchre Gate West is built in stone and are not of particular interest to this Language of Stone Blog. 
 
The south end of St. James' church
 
It was built by shareholders of the Great Northern Railway and was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in conjunction with Lord Grimthorpe, the son of the chairman of shareholders, Sir Edmund Beckett. In a very uncharacteristic addition to his description of the church, Pevsner refers to him as a ‘venomous, pompous, righteous bully of St. Albans notoriety’.
 
The north end of St. James' church
 
I had passed by this church many times when arriving in Doncaster from the Rotherham on the bus and train, without ever thinking of taking a closer look at it and, judging by its cream coloured stonework, presumed that it was built with Permian dolomitic limestone from the Cadeby Formation - the building stone that is almost exclusively used in and around Doncaster.
 
The porch
 
Arriving at the very dirty south porch, however, I immediately thought that the dark brown colour of the patina and dirt was more typical of Jurassic oolitic limestone than Magnesian Limestone. The distinctive ripple marks in the stone used for the shafts confirmed to me that this is Ancaster limestone, which is also recorded in the Historic England listing description.
 
Ripple marks in Ancaster limestone
 
After taking photographs of the headstops to the porch, which are partly covered in clinker like deposits that typically contain damaging concentrations of sulphates, I walked round to the north elevation to photograph the separately listed iron railings.
 
Headstops on the porch
 
Here, in the car park that once formed part of the railway sidings, the tarmac has worn away to reveal setts that are made of the very distinctive markfieldite, a microdiorite that has green hornblende and pink feldspar as major mineral components and has been extensively used throughout the UK for ballast upon which railway tracks are laid.
 
Exposed markfieldite road setts
 
I then made my way along Waterdale to Hall Cross Hill, where I stopped briefly to look at Hall Cross (1793), built with coarse cross-bedded dolomitic limestone, before going to find various listed buildings to photograph in the Georgian district of Doncaster.
 
Hall Cross
 
Reaching the churchyard at the Grade II* Christ Church (1829), I took a few photos of the gatepiers and railings and then had a very quick walk around the exterior, which according to the church website is built in Roche Abbey stone, to take a few general photos for my own records.
 
Christ Church
 
The church was designed in a Commissioners Gothick style by William Hurst of the Doncaster based architectural practice Woodhead and Hurst, who were also responsible for Christ Church (1830) and St. George’s church (1825) in Sheffield, but Sir George Gilbert Scott enlarged the chancel in the 1850’s.
 
The tower at Christ Church
 
In the churchyard, the two Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones to Private E.R. Daubney of the Lincolnshire Regiment and Sapper H.W.O. Hirst of the Royal Engineers are both replacements, made with Botticino marble and with the inscriptions and regimental crest cut with a CNC milling machine.
 
Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones

At the time of my visit, the cafĂ© in the church was open and I went inside to take a couple of photos of the nave and the chancel, which was illuminated with purple lighting, but I didn’t explore it further and went to complete my Photo Challenge, before doing some shopping at Doncaster fish market and catching a train back to Sheffield.
 
A view along the nave at Christ Church
 

Tuesday 12 March 2024

Cusworth Hall Museum and Park

 
The south elevation of Cusworth Hall
 
After arriving in Cusworth on the No. 41 bus, it took less than half an hour to photograph the listed buildings and other vernacular architecture in the old village and then walk up Cusworth Lane and along Back Lane to the entrance lodge to Cusworth Hall.
 
The south elevation of the entrance lodge
 
Passing through the lodge to its south side, I had a very quick look at the dolomitic limestone ashlar, which will have been quarried from the nearby Cadeby Formation. This has been extensively quarried at Sprotbrough and Cadeby and looking at a weathered and delaminating block, which seems to be face bedded and exposes burrows, it seems more like limestone from the upper Sprotbrough Member than the lower Wetherby Member. 
 
Face bedded limestone with burrows

The Grade I Listed Cusworth Hall was built in 1745 by George Platt, for William Wrightson, with alterations by James Paine completed in 1753. It was occupied by the Battie-Wrightson family for more than 200 years, but was sold to Doncaster MBC in 1961 and opened as a museum in 1967. 
 
The north elevation of Cusworth Hall

Approaching the house from the north, two 5 bay service wings face each other across the entrance courtyard. Much of the masonry to the front elevations of these have developed a dark brown patina, as also seen in the house, which is very different to the greyish patina that usually forms on dolomitic limestone from the Cadeby Formation. 
 
The service wings
 
This colour reminds me very much of the weathering of Jurassic Bath stone in a polluted urban environment, which I came across very many times while working in the building restoration industry in London. It contrasts strongly with the very pale cream limestone used to restore the west wing, which I first saw back in 2007 when very briefly visiting with the Curator of Natural History at Doncaster Museum, when I was working on the Doncaster Geodiversity Assessment.
 
Restoration of the west service wing in 2007
 
When undertaking preliminary research for my day out, I didn’t even think to check the opening times at what is described as a ‘jewel in Doncaster's crown’, especially since I had planned to arrive during the late morning on a Saturday. 
 
A view of the south elevation
 
Much to my great surprise, I found that the museum was shut – although the current website now shows it as being open on a Saturday – so I just resigned myself to having a quick look around the rest of the exterior and the grounds, which were landscaped by Richard Woods in the 1760’s. 
 
The Paine Chapel
 
The repairs that I had noticed to the west service block in 2007 are just one part of a major award winning refurbishment that was undertaken at the time, including a complete renovation of the chapel, which James Paine had added together with the library at the opposite end.
 
Restored stonework to the Paine Chapel
 
Looking closely at the stonework here, the unrestored masonry is quite deeply weathered and exhibits cavernous decay and differential weathering of softer beds, to reveal shallow angle cross-bedding and ripple marks in the limestone. 
 
New and original masonry on the Paine Chapel

When used for ashlar masonry or plain walling, limestone from the Cadeby Formation is usually quite resistant to weathering; however, on several buildings that have been restored recently, I have seen marked efflorescence on blocks that are not subject to rising damp and which contributes to accelerated decay, which seems to relate to sedimentary structures within the limestone - as is typically seen in Ancaster freestone, where ripple marks are highlighted by weathering.
 
New and original masonry on the Paine Chapel

Having taken general record photographs of the exterior, without closely examining the stone, I noticed a gate pier where there is a great contrast in the colour and texture between this and the adjoining walling – illustrating some of the physical differences between the lower and upper members of the Cadeby Formation. 
 
A gate pier and adjoining walling
 
The lower cream to yellowish coloured Wetherby Member tends to be oolitic and shelly, with well defined massive beds that are often associated with bryozoan reefs, as seen at North Cliff Quarry in Conisbrough. The Sprotbrough Member, which is well exposed at Warmsworth Park, displays large scale cross-bedding, a greater degree of dolomitisation that has obliterated the primary texture and fossils and tends to be much paler in colour. 
 
A view towards Doncaster
 
Before following a path to the Upper Fish Pond, I stopped to look at the view towards Doncaster, where there is a rapid fall in the elevation of the land beyond the South Don Fault, which separates the limestone of the Permian Brotherton Formation and the mudstones of the Roxby Formation. The lower ground, which also includes the Triassic Chester Formation, is largely covered in Quaternary river terrace deposits and alluvium laid down by the River Don. 
 
The superficial geology between Cusworth Hall and Doncaster

I carried on down the path to the north end of the Upper Fish Pond to photograph the Grade II Listed boathouse, which is probably part of Richard Wood’s landscaping in 1763 and is in the form of a grotto constructed with limestone boulders and rubble.
 
The boathouse
 

An Introduction to Cusworth

 
A plaque at the site of the old Cusworth Hall

For my first day out in October 2022, having spent an afternoon in Bakewell to photograph various listed buildings a few days earlier, I decided to head out to Doncaster again to visit Cusworth Hall Museum and Park, which involved a 10 minute bus journey from Doncaster Interchange.
 
A map showing the locations of Treeton and Cusworth
 
Alighting from the No. 41 bus from Doncaster at the Cusworth Lane/Filby Road stop, I walked along Cusworth Lane for just over 100 metres past later C20 brick houses until I reached the junction with Back Lane, which forms the continuation of the main road. 
 
The geology and topography around Cusworth
 
Although I didn’t realise this at the time, from the moment the bus turned off York Road onto Cusworth Lane and headed in a south-westerly direction, it followed the boundary between the dolomitic limestone of the Brotherton Formation and the reddish brown mudstone and siltstone of the younger Roxby Formation. 
 
The online GeoIndex Onshore map viewer doesn’t show this at the 1:50,000 scale, but this linear feature, which is also reflected in the topography, is a continuation of the South Don Fault with a downthrow to the south-east. It forms part of a regionally important structure known as the Don Monocline, which largely controls the course of the River Don between Sheffield and Doncaster and also includes the North Don Fault. 
 
The Cusworth Conservation Area

Continuing down Cusworth Lane, I soon arrived at the boundary of the Cusworth Conservation Area, which includes the old village, the Grade I Listed Cusworth Hall and the parkland around it, which forms part of a much larger area of the original estate that has national historic interest. 
 
Manor Cottage
 
To the right hand side on rising ground, Manor Cottage, which is probably late C17, is one of three Grade II Listed buildings in the old village of Cusworth, which are built of limestone rubble with red pantile roofs, as are the rest of the buildings in the Conservation Area - both old and new. 
 
The Mistal
 
Next to this is The Mistal, a mid C18 cowhouse that has been converted to a house and has its stone slate eaves course, as also seen at Manor Cottage, replaced with concrete tiles. I did not get close enough to look at the limestone but, judging by the boundary walls, massive limestone from the Cadeby Formation and not thinly bedded limestone from the Brotherton Formation has been used for both of these buildings. 
 
Views of the Manor House
 
The C17 Manor House has the same pattern of building materials, including stone slate eaves, which is quite typical of the vernacular architecture that I have seen along the length of the Magnesian Limestone, from Knaresborough to Palterton. 
 
The British Orthodox Church
 
On the south side of Cusworth Lane, the C20 houses are not within the Conservation Area and the graveyard of the unlisted British Orthodox Church of St. Mark and St. Hubert next caught my eye, where the various headstones are of a very small size compared to most others that I have seen in various churchyards and cemeteries. 
 
Vernacular architecture in Cusworth
 
I took a very quick look at the houses at the west end of Cusworth Lane and then, after following it beyond the right angle bend, continued up past various traditionally built houses to Back Lane and then made my way to the entrance lodge at Cusworth Hall.
 
The entrance lodge at Cusworth Hall
 

Saturday 9 March 2024

An Afternoon in Bakewell - Part 6

 
Milford Bridge

After having a quick look at the interior of All Saints church, during my afternoon in Bakewell, I set off to continue with my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge at North Church Street, but firstly I photographed the unusual rusticated gritstone dressings to the unlisted Ollerset House.
 
Rusticated dressings at Ollerset House
 
The garden wall and gate posts at The Limes were the first on my list, followed by the early C19 asymmetrical pair of gritstone cottages at Nos. 25 and 26 and their front garden walls, with the latter being included for group value. 
 
Nos.25 and 26 North Church Street
 
The late C18 to early C19 terrace of four gritstone cottages - Jasmine Cottage, Green Lea, Bryn Cott and Claverley House - were the next properties to photograph, with their front garden walls again included only for group value. 
 
Jasmine Cottage, Green Lea, Bryn Cott and Claverley House
 
A little further down North Church Street are the Grade II Listed Imsworth Cottage, Gritston Cottage and Wainstones, which Historic England describe as probably being of C18 origin, but were later refronted in the early C19. 
 
Imsworth Cottage, Gritston Cottage and Wainstones
 
Crossing the road to photograph the churchyard steps, which are listed along with the churchyard wall and other entrances and railings, I made my way down to Buxton Road to find Rutland Terrace and photograph its railings. 
 
Rutland Terrace and its gates and railings

A little further up the road is the late C18 to early C19 Rutland House, where again it was the gate and railings that needed to be photographed and not the house itself. Taking a quick diversion down Bath Street, I took a few quick photos of the gateway, gate piers and plinth wall to the former Trustees Savings Bank, before returning to Buxton Road. 
 
Rutland House and its gate and railings

When I lived in Bakewell for three years, I had passed by No.7 Buxton Road very many times and was always interested to see that the stonework below the window was severely eroded to a depth of several centimetres – the result of recrystallising road salt – and that, more than 25 years later, it had finally been restored. 
 
No. 7 Buxton Road
 
Carrying on along Buxton Road, I then went to look for the stile between the bridge over the Victoria Mill tailrace and Milford House Hotel, but I couldn’t see any sign of it and so I just took a photo of the late C18 to early C19 gritstone bridge. 
 
The bridge over the tailrace
 
I made my way back towards Bakewell along Brook Side to Castle Street and then to Bridge Street, where I took a few photos of the perimeter wall that runs along the back of the gardens of the terraced of houses known as Wye Bank. 
 
The perimeter wall to the rear of Wye Bank
 
Finding a path that took me down by the River Wye, I then took a few close up photos of the perimeter wall and from here I had a good view of the north elevation of the Grade I Listed Bakewell Bridge, which dates back to c.1300. 
 
Bakewell Bridge
 
Arriving back in the centre of Bakewell, I next photographed the mid C19 Bagshaws Estate Agents and the early C18 Denman House on Bridge Street, both of which are built in gritstone but, except for the segmental pediment of the latter, neither have great architectural merit. 
 
Bagshaws and Denman House

On Water Street, Wye Cottage and Granby Cottage, dated to the early C17 and probably C18 respectively, are built in limestone with gritstone dressings and, like many of the older houses in central Bakewell, have been converted into a restaurant and shops. 
 
Wye Cottage and Granby Cottage
 
Stopping to photograph the garden wall of Wye Cottage, I continued along Water Street to the gritstone Granby House, dated to the late C18 with a C19 addition, before going to get some shopping at the local Co-Op and then heading back to Rutland Square. 
 
Granby House
 
While waiting fro the No. 218 bus back to Sheffield, I took a few photographs of the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop on the opposite side of the road, which has probably C18 origins and was altered during the C19, before finishing my Photo Challenge by photographing the steps, railings and walls to the Royal Bank of Scotland building. 
 
The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop
 
Although, apart from All Saints church and Bagshaw Hall, most of the buildings that I had seen in Bakewell weren’t of great architectural interest – especially the various walls, gate piers and railings – I had a good 4 km walk and saw several new places.
 
Steps, railings and walls to the former Royal Bank of Scotland