Summary

Former church, now offices. 1859-60 by Weightman and Hadfield, extended 1900-01 by W J Sykes of Hoyland. Coursed, dressed sandstone. Welsh slate roofs. Gothic Revival style.

Description

Former church, now offices. 1859-60 by Weightman and Hadfield, extended 1900-01 by W J Sykes of Hoyland. Coursed, dressed sandstone. Welsh slate roofs. Gothic Revival style.

PLAN: Four-bay nave with north and south aisles with separate double-pitched roofs, south porch beneath tower with spire. Lower two-bay chancel with north vestry and organ chamber; south Lady Chapel now removed.

EXTERIOR: the tower is square with angle buttresses to the lower stage and a pointed arch porch doorway to the south side. There is an offset band beneath an upper stage with two-light cusped and trefoiled louvres. Above is a broach spire with lucarnes. There is a vice (spiral stair) in the angle with the south aisle. The south aisle has a chamfered plinth and a buttress between each bay. There are three two-light cusped and pierced plate tracery windows with plain hoodmoulds and polychromatic arches over. The north aisle has similar detailing to the side elevation, with a shallow lean-to section at the left-hand end. There are three modern skylights to the outer pitch of the north aisle roof. Both aisles have pointed arch windows to their west gable walls with three-light cusped and cinquefoil tracery; the north vestry, under a continuous aisle roof, has a similar window in its east gable wall. The nave breaks forward at the west end. The west window is of four cusped lights with a king mullion and a sunken roundel above pierced by three trefoils. At the east end, the south Lady Chapel has been removed and the pointed arch originally linking it with the south aisle is now glazed to form an exterior window in the east gable wall of the aisle. Similarly, the pointed arch linking it with the chancel has also been glazed, with a glazed doorway and an external access ramp. The chancel has a chamfered plinth and angle buttresses. The east window has four lights with Geometric tracery with plain hoodmoulds and polychromatic arches over. There is a two-light cusped and pierced plate tracery window in the south elevation. The church has corbelled kneelers and coped gables with intermediate stepped kneelers.

INTERIOR: there is a four-bay arcade to the nave with pointed arches and circular columns with chamfered bases and moulded capitals. There is an internal three-light window above the pointed chancel arch. The nave and aisles have scissor-braced roofs, with a plastered chancel ceiling. The chancel has an encaustic tiled floor and a Gothic-style concrete reredos. On the left-hand side of the chancel arch is a timber pulpit with Gothic detailing. The majority of the windows retain stained glass. The nave and the inner pitches of both aisles have modern skylights.

History

The church was built in 1859-60 to designs by the ecclesiastical architects' practice, Weightman and Hadfield. It was extended in 1900-01 by W J Sykes of Hoyland.

In 2003 the church closed for worship. Permission was granted in 2005 to convert the building to office use. The conversion included the demolition of the Lady Chapel on the south side of the chancel and the insertion of a number of temporary office partitions. The refurbishment was completed in 2009.

Reasons for Listing

The former Church of St John the Baptist, Ecclesfield, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural Interest: as a robust, well-designed Gothic church of the mid C19, with landmark tower and broach spire, by well-known ecclesiastical practice Weightman and Hadfield;
* Interior: despite being no longer in ecclesiastical use, the building retains original scissor-braced roofs, good quality stained glass and fixtures and fittings such as the reredos and pulpit.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26487590

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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