A Tour of Penistone Church
Ours is a fine medieval Church dedicated to St. John the Baptist and it stands out as a fine landmark for our town. Its original date of construction is somewhat lost in history but it would have been built upon in several stages over the centuries. The Church is built of local stone, with a square Norman tower on the West side of more than 500 years old and a melodic and joyful carillon of eight bells. It is unusual in having clocks on two sides. There is an old Saxon cross in one wall which suggests ancient worship in this same place before Penistone Church was built. Please see the church history page for more details.
| 1 | Inside the church | |
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|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Church exterior | ||
| 3 | Going up the tower | ||
| 4 | Views from the top | ||
The Proper Name
Let's get the name right. In the last couple of years, 'they' are avoiding the name of 'Penistone Parish Church' in favour of 'St. John's Church'. Now that is at least inadequate. There are other churches in Penistone but only one that could properly be called simply 'Penistone Church', by virtue of its prominence, antiquity and location. It smacks of some kind of political correctness to name all local churches in the same style, as though they were all of equal eminence.
Henceforth, I expect and implore every Penistonian to do the right thing and call it 'Penistone Church'. Don't let them get away with it.
New and Improved Facilities
Changes have been made to expand the role of the church in the community:
Penistone people are urged to join in the church activities and to contribute in some way, if they can. The church welcomes fund-raising, gifts and bequests. It is a worthwhile local facility that is often taken for granted, as though it will always be there for weddings, funerals and Christenings. But other churches have been turned into dwellings, carpet warehouses and worse, so we must be aware of those possibilities. For their part, it is up to church-goers to actively encourage others to worship there and to respect the sanctity of the church.
Open Days ('Gift Days')
As part of Penistone church's push to engage more with the community, 'Gift Days' have become a regular activity. These events allow people to explore the tower; to see how the bell ringers operate and to see the clock mechanism. Tea, coffee and buns are dispensed In the church and people might be allowed to play the organ. More lunches are being put on at a reasonable price. On a recent event, I enjoyed a delicious meal of fine vegetarian quiche followed by cheesecake. All home-made too.
It is good to encourage more people into our fine medieval church, so long as its sanctity is always remembered and observed properly. I have some concerns about that, as I was always brought up to be reverent to holy places and I feel uncomfortable about events which are not or which treat the fabric of the church as a village hall. On a tangent, the two places which felt 'most holy' to me were a cathedral in Poznan, Poland and a Greek Orthodox church in Zakynthos. The Poles and the Greeks know how to do 'holy'.
I'd like to suggest classical musical evenings (Eg. Bach, Brahms, Liszt etc.), as it is a fine organ and such music would be well received. I can even suggest a good musician or two.
Thefts
In late 2007, there have been several thefts of lead from the church roof. This is to do with the value of metal being high, with high demand from countries such as India and China. A special liquid has been appled to make the lead traceable, as a deterrence and in the hope that the thieves and the scrap metal dealers will not escape prosecution.
On a 2007 gift day, PGS Samba Band stirred Penistone up with a vigorous drum performance in their procession to Penistone Church. The first picture is from that procession, a cross on a crossing, with the mayor Councillor Unsworth in the cross-bearer's wake. I hope to show the new features better when I have the chance.
Visitor information can be found in the church on all Thursday Market Days, 10am to 12.30pm, and Farmers Market Days (second Saturday of the month). Download the sounds of the bell-ringers MP3 file (2MB-ish).
