Church Heritage Record 635131

West bellcote. 5-bay nave with north aisle and north side clerestory and south porch. Chancel with north organ chamber and south vestry. Basement beneath north aisle.

Nave – 82ft x 29ft, chancel 33ft x 29ft

A Neolithic polished stone axe has been found to the south-east of the church. The former Stockbridge steelworks spreading out to the north/north-east includes various blocks and ranges, mostly C19th. There is a 1920s cinema to west.

There are no burials on the site and no highly significant archaeological implications locally.

This development of Stocksbridge and the history of the church are intertwined with Samuel Fox and the Stocksbridge Works which he established in an old water mill in 1852. Stocksbridge until then was a quiet wooded valley and in 1851 there were only 9 recorded houses. The company began with wire for crinoline dresses and became famous for its production of the Paragon umbrella frame. They later moved onto engineering steel for railways. Expansion led to expansion of the town. In 1918 it became part of United Steel Companies Ltd and was nationalised in 1967 on the creation of British Steel Corporation. Its ownership and output has changed since then and the firm is now owned by an Indian company and specialises in the aerospace market.

A church existed uphill to the south in Bolterstone, and in Deepcar (from 1878) but Samuel Fox wanted to provide his workers who largely made up the local population with a church here and to commemorate the Jubilee year. A vicarage was built first and completed in 1858 (?). He died in 1887. It was decided to continue the project in his memory, the stone having already been ordered. His son, William, donated £1000, a site was secured and public subscription raised to meet the £5,000 build cost. The foundation stone was laid in 1889. It became a parish in its own right in 1917.

Architect noted in parish history as local architect, John Dodsley Webster (1840-1913) of Sheffield d.1913, and the builder/mason as James Fidler.

Some changes to the building have occurred since its completion. For example the original light fittings were changed in 1912. A pine screen was inserted at the west end to form a choir vestry in 1940. Some pews were removed in 1961 and a set of fittings introduced c.1965. The 150th anniversary of the church in 1992 is recorded by a plaque. Work was carried out to two of the windows at this time. A kitchen area and disabled access has been inserted in the former choir vestry in the NW corner within the last 10 years.

Some trees to north and east boun­­daries. The site appears to be located within an area defined under G3 of the local plan where protection of trees is highlighted.

Prominent church given its site next to the road. High walls and strong appearance with Perpendicular tracery in the windows. High pitched roof, with accent at the west end provided by a gabled bellcote. 3-stage angle buttresses with coped gables punctuate each bay around the building and are situated at the corner angles. A plinth continues around the base of the church, being much deeper and higher to the north side where the ground drops away, in comparison to the south side. A stone sill continues beneath the windows.

The west end has three light lancet windows with tracery heads. To the north, the lean-to north aisle has a three- light window with perpendicular tracery. A chimney rises in the north-west corner.                                                

Within the deep blinth of the north side are two doors accessing the basement and former boiler room. Above, the windows of the north aisle are of three-lights with trefoil heads within a square-headed surround. A clerestory level above has three-light pointed windows with hoodmoulds Towards the east end the gabled organ chamber projects to the north. It has a single light with hoodmould.

At the east end the two-bay chancel has a five-light perpendicular east window. A stone cross finial marks the apex of the gable. The chancel roof is slightly lower than the nave, the end of which is marked by a raised coped gable, also with stone cross finial at the apex. An old external WC is located within the angle of the east wall of the north organ chamber and the north wall of the chancel. Two-bay chancel at east end (chimney rises from centre) with single storey vestry projecting to the south, with a shallow pyramidal roof hidden behind a parapet. The projection has two-light windows under square heads.

To the south side, each bay is divided by buttresses. A stone modillion cornice continues beneath the eaves. Two-light perpendicular windows sit under hoodmoulds. A porch projects southwards from the second bay from the west. It has a triangular pediment over the pointed arched doorway. A ramp rises to the door.

The interior of the church is a large, high space. Some of the pews have been removed from the west end to create an area with tables. It is raised by two steps and the font is positioned centrally at the west end, its cover suspended from brackets fixed to the west wall. There are ramps to overcome changes in level.

An arcaded north aisle with stone piers, shafts and capitals has clear glazed windows in the clerestory above. It has a lean-to boarded roof. At the west end of the north aisle, an area screened by wooden partitions contains a kitchen, accessible WC and storage. Inserted c.1930s as a choir vestry and inscribed in memory of John Garfield Roberts, priest 1923-39. There is an altar at the east end of the aisle, before the organ chamber.

The nave walls are plastered and painted, with stone arches and surrounds left exposed. Boarded pew platforms rise either side of a carpeted aisles and are seated with fixed pine pews with umbrella furniture at the ends. All the windows along the south elevation contain clear glazing in rectangular leaded panes. They are set high in the wall preventing views out, with a continuous sill beneath them. A wooden barrel vaulted roof ceils the space with principal trusses resting on stone corbels.

Additional light is provided by spotlights fixed to the walls in the spandrels of the arcade and between the south side windows.

The chancel is accessed beneath a pointed arch and is raised by four steps with rails to either side. The division is marked by a low stone wall. Choir stalls are fixed to the north and south sides and the organ is within a chamber to the north. A door to the vestry to the south descends by one step.

The sanctuary is raised by a further step, and the altar upon another step. The walls of the chancel are painted and the floor is paved in a decorative terrazzo finish, with carpet continuing up the central aisle to the altar. The east wall is panelled either side of the reredos.