The Church
Penistone Church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist and stands as a worthy landmark above other features of the town. Along with the viaduct, it is one of our town's key features. It is built of local stone, with a square tower on the West side and is unusual in having clocks on two sides.
The founder appears to have been Sweyn of Hoylandswaine, who lived in the twelfth century, but there are clues that the site was used by Christians well before then. Priests belonging to a church in Penistone are referred to in documents dating from around 1200. Part of a Saxon cross shaft (shown below) was used in the construction of an internal pillar near the pulpit.
The masonry was built in a herringbone pattern and, along with other clues, helps to put the church at around a thousand years old. Other parts of the church date from the twelfth century. As with most churches, parts were added from time to time and the tower arrived about 500 years ago.
An in-depth study of the church features can be found in a church leaflet and a recent book from David Hey. The old picture below shows the church interior before the alteration of the altar choir stalls, during the time of Rev. Baxter. The clock was recently stuck at 3.25 for many months, but at least it was right twice a day.
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From another book by David Hey: 'Several South Yorkshire churches... (list includes Penistone) ... have nave arcades that date from a transitional period about the year 1200.' - the transition being the Norman style giving way to early English Gothic. It was extended about two hundred years later and the 8O ft high tower was built around 1500. I heard that before the tower was built, the church had a spire.
The gritstone of the church is likely to have been quarried from Harden Clough near Dunford Bridge, about five miles away. Some of the stained glass comes from the seventeenth century. One of the windows celebrates the marriage of Godfrey Bosville (pronounced 'Boswell') of Gunthwaite and Bridget Hotham, in 1681.
The Bosvilles were the most influential family in the Tudor and Stuart period. In recent times the windows have had to be protected (by sheets of perspex) from the attentions of vacuous youths who hang around the church or community centre.
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The Bells, Clock and Roof
The present clock was installed in 1924 (1923 on nameplate) and the six bells were re-cast into eight, which would have mostly increased their pitch. Using four bells, the clock's Westminster chime has a pleasant tone and can be heard in most parts of the town - day or night. The total cost in 1924 was £1,217. A previous clock was installed in April 1817 for £87.
Until about 1860, the bells were rung each day to a schedule: Weekdays 5am (summer), 6am (winter), noon and 8pm except Saturday nights. On Sundays at 7am, 8am and 1pm.
£1,500 was raised in 1930 to repair the damage done by death-watch beetles and this was completed in 1932. The organ was installed in 1975, a gift from Salem United Reformed Church of Bradford.
The porch was added in the eighteenth century, using old stones from the ruin of a mediaeval chapel in Chapel Lane. Old grave covers from the same place are used as porch seats. The lychgate was built in 1959 as a memorial to Rev. Canon William Turnbull who was vicar at the church 1855-1915, and responsible for restorations during the Victorian era.
In 1975 a local pensioner made the stainless steel fish weathervane for the tower, the fish being a secret sign of the early Christians and the steel referring to local industry. The full history is in the official guide booklet, obtainable from the church.
2007 Changes
As part of a drive to bring back Penistone church to being more towards the centre of our community, various new facilities have been or are being installed. These include toilets with wheelchair access. Please refer back to this section's index page for more information.
Religious Variation.
Methodism has always been strong in this area right from its beginnings, with several chapels in the area. St. Mary's Roman Catholic church was built in the 1950's on Talbot Road to support an increasing population. With the arrival of people from Eastern Europe in recent times, the UK's Roman Catholics now outnumber other religious groups for the first time in centuries, with the Anglicans now in second place.
There continues to be a Quaker Society of Friends meeting house at High Flatts and I hope to do a new section on this subject. The small chapel at Bullhouse is one of the very oldest non-comformest chapels in this country. It has a continuous history from 1692 to the present day. For such a small chapel, it is interesting that its congregation in 1715 was 200 people.
Records
Graveyard records for the Barnsley area, including Penistone, are kept at the Crematorium, Ardsley, Barnsley. Genealogists might consult larger branches of 'The Church of the Latter Day Saints' (Mormons) to study church records. According to 'Diocesi Eboracensi', Penistone church register books start from 1644, with some defective marriage entries for 1750 - 1745 and 1786 - 1812.
