# A History of Cawthorne/The Parish Church, The Churchyard, Parochial Registers

CHAPTER VII:
THE PARISH CHURCH.
The history of a Parish has very well been said to "centre round the history of its ancient Parish Church." The particular account and description of the Church has only been so long postponed in this volume, in order that the description might include the latest additions to its dignity and beauty.
There was occasion in the first Chapter to speak of the existence of a Church at Cawthorne at the time of the Domesday Survey of 1086, the only one existing in what is now the Rural Deanery of Silkstone, and mention of it has frequently been made in connection with the various Charters in which it is named. Of this early Saxon Church—built of wood, probably, as most Saxon Churches were—there is no trace whatever existing at the present time beyond the remains of a Churchyard Cross discovered in the recent Restoration, and of which there is little doubt that it dates before the Norman Conquest. The shaft was found near the foundation of the late Chancel Arch, on the South side, built in as mere material; the Cross which surmounted it, and may possibly have been an original Consecration Cross of the Church or Churchyard, was discovered over the middle pier of the North wall of the Nave, hidden under many coats of whitewash.
The present Church dates from the early part of the Thirteenth century, to which date may be assigned the piers and arches of the North side, though they have since been considerably altered if not altogether rebuilt, retaining their original character of structure.
The Church consists of a Tower and Nave with North and South Aisles and a Chancel with aisles, the South Aisle of the Nave having been lengthened and entirely rebuilt during the recent Restoration; the Chancel has been considerably lengthened, and a new South Chancel Aisle been added, whilst new Roofs have been erected throughout the entire fabric.
​The whole of the new work is in the style of the Fourteenth century. The Restoration and Enlargement with everything connected with the work inside the Church and out have been from the plans and designs of Messrs. Bodley (A.R.A) and Garner, of 14, South Square, Gray's Inn, and have been carried out entirely under the superintendence of Mr. George Swift, of Cawthorne, by the masons usually employed by him upon the Cannon Hall estate.
In giving a detailed description of the Church, it is thought best to describe the Interior first, beginning with the Nave and Chancel, and then going from the oldest part of the existing Church—the North Chancel Aisle, Chapel, or Chantry—round the several Aisles and the Tower, from the North East round by the West to the South East.
The word "Church," it may be remarked in passing, is derived from a Greek word Kuriake meaning the Lord's House, "Kirk" in the North being softened into "Church" in the South: the "Nave" is so called from the Greek naus, or Latin navis, a ship, the favourite symbol of the Church in primitive times; an "Aisle" is from "ala," the Latin for a wing, through the French aile; "Chancel," from the Latin "cancelli," the screen or latticework by which as early as the fourth century the East end of the Church was separated from the Nave or Body; "Chapel," from the Kings of France having always carried St Martin's cope (Latin, cappa) into the field with them when engaged in war, keeping it as a sacred relic in a tent, where mass was said, the place hence being called capella, the chapel; the word "Chantry" is from the Latin canto to sing, and signifies a chapel or other part of a Church set apart for the saying or singing of masses for the soul of some one departed this life; "Altar" is derived from the two Latin words alta ara, a high altar; "Reredos" (pronounced reardoss) from the French arriere dos, behind back, being an adornment behind the altar.
The Nave.
The total length of the Church from the West door of the Tower to the East wall of the Chancel is 99 feet, the Nave being 43 feet 6 inches by 20 feet 6 inches. In place of the former whitewashed plaster flat ceiling, with a West end Gallery extending to the first of ​the three Nave piers, there is now a lofty waggon-headed roof with two tie-beams. The Roof is richly decorated throughout with green and gold. In the upper part of each division made by the gold decorated ribs there is a shield with the sacred monogram "I H S," and in the lower part the words "Laus Deo" are repeated in alternate divisions, with the word "Alleluia" under each "Deo." The wallpiece of each tie-beam terminates with a shield bearing a gold "I H S," and there are shields at equal distances between them on the wall plate. The arrangement of the colouring of the Roofs throughout the Church is on a general plan of counterchange: the Nave roof is green and gold, the Chancel is red and gold; the Aisles of the Nave being red, the Chancel Aisles are green.
Immediately below the wall-plate of the Nave on each side runs the legend, "With Angels and Archangels and all the Company of Heaven we laud and magnify Thy glorious Name, evermore praising Thee and saying. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts, Heaven and earth are full of Thy Glory: Glory be to Thee, O Lord most High."
Underneath the coats of whitewash on the North wall were found here and there small traces of a very early pattern fresco, and at the West end on the North side some old black-letter texts of Scripture. The three arches on the South side belong to the alterations of 1826, being of greatly inferior workmanship to the three on the North side, which represent the original Thirteenth-century work. The solid oak seats, all free and unappropriated, are entirely new, and are the workmanship of Messrs. Franklin of Deddington, near Oxford, who executed from the architects' designs all the new woodwork throughout the Church. The Pulpit is a square decorated wooden one, the two front panels bearing the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary painted by Mr. Roddam Stanhope. The handsome carved oak lectern is a gift of Mr. T. E. Taylor, J.P., D.L., of Dodworth Hall, whose family for many generations belonged to the Parish of Cawthorne.
The Beauty of the Church looking Eastward is greatly enhanced by its delicately carved black oak Screen. The upper part of it is new: the lower part previously to the Restoration was being made use of to form the family pew at the East end of the North Chapel. ​The Screen has five shields bearing the sacred emblems of the Saviour's Passion: the centre one has the cross with a crown of thorns; those at the sides, two scourges, the hammer and nails, the spear and sponge, and the ladder. The old entrance to the ancient Roodloft—the loft or gallery across the Chancel arch in front of which, towards the Nave, stood the Holy Rood or figure of our Blessed Lord upon the Cross—was opened at the east end of the Nave wall on the north side, but was built up again for fear of its endangering the arch's safety.
The oak seats which were in the Nave since 1864 are now made use of in the North and South Aisles: they replaced the former pews of 1811. By a deed dated April 8, 1811, there was an "Agreement among the Proprietors of Pews, seats, and sittings for new pewing the Church, and making further alterations:" these alterations will be more conveniently spoken of after the description of the Church in its present state.
The oak-work throughout is stained to a dark tint, which gives a quiet, rich tone of colour to the interior.
The Chancel.
The present Chancel, which is entirely new, is fourteen feet longer than the former one, being 37 feet 6 inches by 15 feet 6 inches. It rises one step above the Nave at the lofty Chancel Arch which springs from the wall without any capital, and it is paved in the centre with black and white marble, and at the sides with white Roche Abbey stone. The Choir-stalls of oak and all the Chancel fittings are new: the east end of the north stall has carved on it the arms of the Spencers, that of the south the arms of the Stanhopes. The Choir Organ is brought through the south wall, between the two arches into the South Chancel Aisle and the east end of the Church, and its richly carved and decorated case breaks in a pleasing manner the length of Chancel wall. It bears the legend "My soul doth magnify the Lord" in the front, with "Alleluia" at each end, and in the diaper work on the wall below are the words, "My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." On the floor below the first step are two ​communicant's kneeling stools in the place of any "altar rails" such as began to be used after the Puritans' destruction of chancel-screens. There are altogether four steps up to the altar, the whole sacrarium being paved with black and white marble, laid partly square and partly diagonal. There are three seats in the Sedilia—from Latin sedes, a seat—on the south side, with a credence or shelf on which the elements to be used in the Holy Eucharist are first placed (from Italian credenzare, to test by tasting beforehand) On the usual green Altar Frontal is an embroidered decorated cross, and on the super-frontal the emblematic passion-flowers three times repeated on each side of the centre "I H S," the work of the late Mrs. Stanhope, having been transferred from the red velvet altar frontal offered in the former Church on Easter Day (March 31), 1872. The brass Altar-desk was a special thank-offering from some members of the congregation for Mrs. Stanhope's recovery in 1878. The alabaster Reredos, executed by Messrs. Farmer and Brindley from the architects' designs, is beautifully sculptured in five divisions, the centre being a relief figure of the Crucifixion with St. Mary and St. John, while the two divisions on each side have each an angel holding instruments of the Redeemer's Passion, those on the north side bearing respectively the seamless robe and dice to cast lots with, and the other the spear and sponge and three nails, those on the south side the scourges and the cords and Judas' burse or bag. Gold and coloured diaper work in the background bring out the relief.
The East window is a fine specimen of rich flowing tracery with five lights, each containing an upper and lower row of figures, the tracery being filled with foliage ornament, except the highest division which has the cross with hammer and nails. The shafts of the internal arch rise from the floor, giving an effect of height and forming a recess for the reredos. In the upper part of the centre light is represented our Lord in glory with the Latin words "Tu es Rex Gloriæ, Christe" ("Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ"), while the side lights have on the south side St. Peter (Sanctus Petrus) with open book and keys, and St. Paul (Sanctus Paulus) with closed book and sword; on the north side are the Blessed Virgin (Sancta Maria, Saint Mary), and St. John the Baptist (Scs. Johanes Bapta) with a lamb.
​The five lower figures of the East Window are those of Yorkshire Saints: St. Paulinus (Sanctus Paulinus) in the centre, St. Wilfrid and St. William of York (Scus Willmus Ebor.) being on the south, St. John of Beverley (Scs. Johanes Bevlac) and St Hilda (Sancta Hilda) on the north. The dark line above certain letters shows that the word below is given in a contracted form.
St. Paulinus was the first Archbishop of York. He was a disciple of St. Gregory the Great, and was sent by him to assist St. Augustine in extending Christianity in this country. He was the means of converting Eadwine, the King of Northumbria, the Christian Ethelburge's husband, and with him his nobles and many thousands of his subjects, the king being baptized at York (Latin, Eboracum, Celtic, "Eborac", "the town at the meeting of the waters,") on Easter Day, A.D. 627. Immediately after his baptism, King Eadwine commenced the Cathedral of York, of which St. Paulinus was made the first bishop. He is commemorated in the English Calendar on Oct. 10. (Bede: Eccl: Hist: Bk. II., c. 14, 16.)
St. Wilfrid was the third Archbishop of York, succeeding St. Chad A.D. 669, and was one of the most celebrated Saxon bishops. He was buried in the Monastery which he had founded at Ripon, now the Cathedral, which is dedicated to God in the joint names of St. Peter and St. Wilfrid. He is commemorated on Oct. 12th.
St. William of York was chosen Archbishop of York on the death of Thurstan in A.D. 1140, being a son of King Stephen's sister Emma. He died in 1154, and, according to tradition, from drinking a poisoned chalice. There is a large window in the north end of the Choir Transept of York Minster to his memory, put up about the middle of the fifteenth century, representing in the numerous compartments of its five lights some miracle or subject from his history. He was commemorated on June 8th.
St. John of Beverley (i.e. Beaver-lea) was born at Harpham near Driffield, was educated under St. Hilda and was himself the teacher of the Venerable Bede, whom he ordained to the priesthood. He was first the Bishop of Hexham, and afterwards (in 705) Archbishop ​of York. He built a cell at Beverley for retirement from his office of archbishop, which became a celebrated monastery (Beverley Minster, i.e. Monastery). He died May 7, 721.
St. Hilda embraced the Christian faith at the same time as her relation King Eadwine, through the preaching of St. Paulinus. She was afterwards trained by St. Aidan and founded many monasteries, becoming herself the Abbess of Whitby, where her counsel was sought by kings and princes as that of a woman of eminent piety and ability. She died November 12th, A.D. 680.
It will be observed that St. Hilda and St. John are represented with the Pastoral Staff, terminating in an ornamented crook: the other three Archbishops with their Crozier, a staff terminating in a cross.
The beautiful canopy work in these five lights brings out very prominently the intention of the figures being not to represent pictures but painted statues standing under sculptured canopies, the thicker lead being well made use of at the edge of each canopy to make it appear to stand out over the head of its figure. In the sides of the niches in which the figures stand are smaller figures of some of the Apostles: St. Andrew with his cross; St. John with the serpent issuing from his cup, symbolic of the tradition which makes him to have drunk the cup of hemlock intended for his death without suffering any harm from it; St. James with his pilgrim's staff.
The glass was executed by Messrs. Burlison and Grylls from Messrs. Bodley and Garner's designs, who have designed and been responsible for the execution of all the new glass throughout the Church. It is believed that stained glass was first used in churches in the twelfth century.
A Brass is inserted in the jamb of the window on the north side bearing the following inscription surmounted by the coat-of-arms of W. S. Stanhope, Esq., impaled with that of Mrs. Stanhope:
"This Window was erected to the Glory of God and in Memory of Elizabeth Julia, beloved wife of Walter Thomas William Spencer Stanhope of Cannon Hall Esquire by whom he had xi children, ix of whom survive to lament her loss.
​"She was the daughter of Sir John Jacob Buxton of Shadwell Court, Norfolk, Baronet, and was born xxiii. February, 1831; married xvi Jan., 1856; died xxx Septr., 1880.
"Having taken an active part in promoting ye work of ye restoration and enlargement of this Church, which was commenced 22nd Sept: 1875, in Memory of the late John Spencer Stanhope and of Lady Elizabeth Wilhelmina his wife, she was not permitted to see its completion, xxi Dec, 1880."
There is foliage decoration on the wall at each side of the tracery of the window, and carved woodwork below it decorated with gold.
The Window on the north side of the Chancel, opposite the sedilia, is filled with stained glass in memory of the late Rev. Charles Stanhope, who was fifty-two years Vicar of the Parish until his death at Weaverham, in Cheshire, in 1874. It represents the four Evangelists.
The prevailing colour of the Chancel roof is red, with a cresting of gold carved-work along each side immediately above the wall plate, and on each side of the centre gold bosses are four rows of gold stars along the roof as symbols of God's saints, in accordance with the Church's dedication to God by the name of "All Saints." Gold stars with the sacred monogram I H S alternate with scrolls bearing the word "Alleluia" along the wall-plate. There are two thirteenth-century arches from the Chancel into
The North Chancel Aisle or Chapel,
which is the original Chantry of St. Mary founded by Isabel, widow of John Boswell or Bosvile of Newhall, Darfield, and Ardsley, who died in 1441. She was the daughter of Percival Cresacre of Barnborough, and was afterwards the wife of Henry Langton.
A full account of the Foundation of this Chantry will be given under the heading of "Endowments." It dates from the Feast of St. Margaret (Aug. 30) 1455, and was dissolved as a Chantry in the first year of Edward VI. (1547).
​On the exposure of the masonry it was seen how this Chantry had been added to the older structure, taking the place most probably of a former chancel aisle. The large wall-stones of the nave and older building were very clearly seen near the south-west corner carried up almost to the roof without a single 'through' on the surface. Beyond a slightly projecting stone or two in the east wall there was nothing whatever to show the position of its altar, of which the raised end, paved with Roche Abbey stone, is intended to preserve the memory. Previously to the Restoration, a large family pew, made of what is now the lower part of the chancel screen, filled the east end of the Chapel, with a fireplace and its chimney in the south-east corner.
For the last two hundred years, until recently, this Chapel has been used as the burial-place of the Spencer and Spencer-Stanhope families. The Thirteenth century East Window, which before Restoration was cieled across with a plaster ceiling which entirely hid the tracery, has now been filled with glass by the tenants of the estate and others, at a cost of about £200, in memory of the late John Spencer Stanhope Esquire, and Lady Elizabeth his wife. The highest division of the tracery contains the following well-known emblem of the Church's faith in the Holy Trinity and Unity:
The centre of the three lights has our Lord's Crucifixion, with (as we look eastward) St. Mary on the right and St. John on the left in the other lights. Below the Crucifixion is a smaller representation of the Resurrection: below St. Mary by the Cross is a St. Mary of the Annunciation, with the angel Gabriel in the other light, below St. John. The Latin words below the Crucifixion are, "Agnus Dei, Qui tollis peccata mundi, Dona nobis pacem:" "O Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Grant us Thy peace." Below the Virgin Mary by the Cross: "Dixit Matri suæ, Mulier, ecce Filius suus:" "He said to His Mother, Woman, Behold, thy Son!" Below St. John: "Deinde dixit discipulo, Ecce Mater tua:" "Then said He to the disciple, Behold, thy Mother!" (St. John, xix., 26, 27.)
Over the Cross are the sacred letters "I. N. R. I.:" "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudæorum:" "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." (St. John, xix., 19.) Below the angel Gabriel in the Annunciation are the words, "Missus est angelus Gabriel a Deo ad Virginem:" "The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a Virgin," and the angel carries a scroll with the legend, "Ave Maria, plena gratiæ, Dominus tecum:" "Hail, Mary, highly favoured, (Revised Version, margin, "'endued with grace,') the Lord is with thee." (St. Luke, ii., 28.) Below the Virgin, by whose side stands the Lily-pot—the fleur de lis—as an emblem of purity, are the words, "Ecce, ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum:" "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word." (St. Luke, ii., 38.). Below the Resurrection is the motto, "Qui credit in Me, etiamsi ​mortuus fucrit, vivet:" "He that believeth in Me, though he die, yet shall he live" (Revised Version: St. John, xi, 25.) The rising Lord has a scroll, "Ego sum Resurrectio et Vita:" "I am the Resurrection and the Life." In the border round the two side lights are alternately the monogram Maria (Mary) and a Crown: round the centre light the Crown and monogram I H S, being the three first letters of the words "Jesus Hominum Salvator," "Jesus the Saviour of Mankind," which is said to have been first used by St. Pernardine of Sienna, in 1347, as a Latin form of the original I H C, the Greek capital letters Iola, Eta, Sigma, being the first three letters of the sacred name Jesus in Greek. The three Greek letters are first found on a gold coin of the Emperor Basilius I., A.D. 867, and were very commonly used in England in the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries.
In the lower part of the centre light are the arms of the late Mr. and Lady Elizabeth Stanhope: in the north light are the arms of the Spencer family above and those of the Roddams below; in the south light, the Stanhope arms are above, the Collingwood below. Some very small fragments of the original coloured glass of this window were found in the tracery during the Restoration.
There are two lancet windows in the north wall: the one nearer the east has a figure representing Faith ("Fides") overcoming the world, with the inscription below, "In memory of Mary only child of John Roddam and Lilla Spencer Stanhope who died at Florence Febr. 23, 1867, and was buried in that city, aged 7." The window is Mr. Roddam Stanhope's own design.
The other of these two windows was, until March, 1882, filled with glass representing a tree in full foliage, with the text, "As of the green leaves on a thick tree, some fall and some grow; so is the generation of flesh and blood; one cometh to an end, and another is born" (Ecclus xiv. 18), and with the inscription below, "In memory of Eliza Tyrwhitt Born at Cannon Hall, April 20, 1826: Died and was buried at Oxford, September, 1859." The words of the text had special reference to her dying in child-birth. This former window has now been replaced by one which more harmonises with the other windows of the Church, having the figure of St. Catharine with her usual emblems of the wheel and palm.
​Between these two windows has been made a new Canopy of Roche Abbey stone to receive the altar-tomb, which, before it was narrowed and removed to its present recess, stood over the remains of the late Walter Stanhope who died in 1821. An engraving of it is given in Hunter's Deanery, Vol. II., p. 237, as being "designed by Mr. Atkinson after the model of the tombs, of the early Tudor reigns." The word "altar-tomb" historically reminds us of the early Christians' persecutions, when the Catacombs of Rome were the only places where they could hold their religious services with comparative safety, and where the stone altar-tombs of those who suffered martyrdom offered the most convenient and fitting altars for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
On the Walls of the Chapel are many memorial tablets. They record the memory of Hugh, son of John and Ann Spencer, 1694, 13 years; John, son of John and Ann Spencer, 1682, 1 year; Ann, wife of John Spencer, 1699, 40 years; John Spencer, 1729, 74 years; Benjamin Spencer, 1759; Catharine, daughter of Walter and Mary Radcliffe, 1765; John Radcliffe, Curate of this Chapelry 29 years, 1776.
On the North Wall: "Sacra (sic) sub altari requiescit Johannes Spencer, nuper de Cannon-Hall generosus: qui perspicacia singulari, cultu academico, moribusque notus: egenis munificum, suis benignum, bonis amicum, libenter se prasbuit. Huic liberos quinque, Hugonem, Johannem, Dorotheam, Gulielmum, et Edwardum peperit uxor Anna merito dilecta, (filia Johannis Wilson de Wortley gen.) in eodem tumulo sepulta. Hæc obiit Aprilis 19mo 1699, ætat, 40mo: Ille Aprilis 13, 1729, ætat. 74. Ad piam utriusque parentis memoriam hunc cippum posuit filius solus superstes Gulielmus Spencer, A.D. 1732."
Over the door into the Chapel is a Tablet with an inscription, which, as Hunter says, "betrays a superior hand to that which inscribed the other monuments, being written by the present Lord Stowell:" "Memoriæ sacrum Johannis Spencer, de Cannon-Hall, in agro Eboracensi, armigeri, qui in literis elegantioribus excolendis, in re rustica tum gnaviter tum scienter promovenda, et (quod adhuc magis ei in votis fuit) in omnium suorum animis ingenuo indolis ​candore, promptissimæque benevolentiæ sedulitate sibi devinciendis, vitam nec inhoneste nec inutiliter actam cælebs clausit, anno Salutis M DCC Lxxvi. ætatis suæ L vii."
One erected by this John Spencer to his father and mother runs as follows:
​Another inscription: "Near this place lies the Body of Christiana, daughter of Benjamin Ashton, of Hathersage, in the County of Derby, esq., and wife of William Spencer, of Cannon Hall, esq. by whom she had issue Christiana, John, Ann, Alicia Maria, Benjamin, and William, now living: Susanna and Dorothy who died in their infancy. She departed this life Nov. the 20, 1737, in the 51 year of her age. To perpetuate the memory of so virtuous a wife, tender parent, sincere friend, benevolent neighbour, and devout Christian, her affectionate husband erected this monument."
"Gualterus Spencer Spencer Stanhope de Cannon Hall, armiger, natus xxvi die augusti A.D. MDCCLxxxiv: obiit xxvi die Decembris A.D. MDCCCxxxii. Beatus ille qui vitam ærumnosam pro felicitate immortali commutavit." (Blessed is he who has exchanged a life of trouble for immortal happiness.)
A large marble Tablet with the following inscription used to be under the East Window of this Chapel:
"Here rest the remains of Walter Spencer Stanhope, Esquire, born on the 4th day of February, 1749, died on the 4th day of April, 1821. From his paternal and maternal uncles John Stanhope of Horsforth Hall and John Spencer of Cannon Hall, esquires, he inherited the estates and united the names of both families. He married Winefred sole daughter and heiress of Wingate Pulleine [this ought to be Thomas Babington Pulleine] of Carleton Hall, esquire, by whom he had fifteen children; twelve, with their surviving parent, are left to revere his memory and lament his loss; By nature and education endowed with every quality which befitted his station, he was esteemed in public and beloved in private life. In Parliament, where he faithfully discharged his duty for a space of nearly 40 years, his conduct was ever upright and consistent and his vote prompted by an ardent zeal for the interest of his country. In the Militia of his county, and in the Yeomanry of his district, he bore arms in her defence, and at a season of great national alarm, as commandant of the Volunteers of the Wapentake, he was amongst the foremost to face the dangers and repel the threats of invasion. A pious and benevolent Christian, a loyal and patriotic ​subject, a tender relation, and a stedfast friend, he blended the accomplishments, concentrated the worth, and exemplified the character of an English country gentleman, bequeathing to his descendants at the close of a useful life the richest of all legacies, a virtuous example."
The Roof of the Chapel is richly decorated, with the legend running round it, "Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ; When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, Thou didst open the Kingdom of heaven to all believers. Day by day we magnify Thee". The square panels of the roof, diagonally divided and with a star surrounding the letters "I H S" in the centre, bear alternately the following words:
On the Floor are two memorial stones of the Barnbys discovered under the family pew during the Restoration:
"Here lyeth the Body of Thomas Barnby of Barnby, Esquire who was buried the ninth day of April, 1668. Inter pios memoriam consequitur immortalem." ("Among the just he attains immortal memory.")
The second has this inscription: "Hic jacet Maria uxor Nicolai Bowdin de Bowdin Armiger, filia Thomas Barnby de Barnby Hall armiger, quae obiit decimo quinto die Septembris Anno Domini 1665." (The Latin is given as in the original).
There are several memorials of the Spencers in the pavement: "Here lieth the Body of Sarah the wife of John Spencer who was buried the 29 day of October 1657, aged 31 years and 9 weeks. The Body of Sarah the daughter of John Spencer was buried in the other quire the 16th day of July, 1656, aged 3 years and"* *
​"Here also lyes the Body of John Spencer of Canon Hall, gent., who died the 19 of April 1681 anno ætatis 52."
"Here lieth the Body of Rebecka the daughter of John and Margaret Spencer who was buried the 2th day of May 1663 aged 1 yeare and 2 moneths."
"Elizabeth ye daughter of John Spencer, 1660, aged 2 years 47 weeks."
"Here lyeth ye body of Edward ye sonne of John Spencer of Cannon Hall who was baptised August ye 19th, 1665, and buried Feb. ye 21th, 1666."
"William Spencer, gent., died ye 16th of April 1759, in ye 34th year of his age."
"Christiana Spencer, 1737."
A recent small Brass records Mary Winifrid Spencer Stanhope, aged 87, and her two daughters Isabella and Anne Winifrid.
The North Aisle
was built in the later part of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century, taking the place of a lower smaller aisle, the dripstone or protecting molding of which, to throw off the wet, is still visible above the arches. In the east wall of the aisle, where a small lath-and-plaster vestry stood before the Restoration, is a small window now filled with glass of the most exquisite character representing St. Wilfrid with the legend, "Paravi lucernam Christo Meo:" "I have ordained a lantern for Mine Anointed."—(Ps. cxxvii, 17.) On the wall near this window was discovered the old fresco of a saint, which, however, it was not possible to preserve.
The three Windows in the North Wall were filled in 1881 with memorial glass: the larger one, with three lights, has the inscription, "To the Glory of God and in Memory of John Kaye, who died 14th Febr., 1849, aged 60, and of Mary his wife who died 13 March, 1866, aged 73."
​It contains, in canopywork, Isaiah and Jeremiah, with the Virgin and Child in the centre light.
The next window has Ezekiel and Daniel: the inscription is, "To the Glory of God and in Memory of Hannah wife of George Terry of Banks Farm, who died April 30, 1876, aged 48." Each Prophet bears a scroll with words taken from his own writings prophetic of that Incarnation which is represented as already fulfilled in the Virgin and Child Jesus—the "Christus"—between Isaiah and Jeremiah:
"Isayas." "Aperiatur terra et germinet Salvatorum." "Let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation." Is. xlv, 8.
"Jeremias." "Germinare faciam David germen justiciae." "I will raise to David a Righteous Branch." Jer. xxiii, 5.
"Ezechiel." "Et servus meus David Rex super eos." "And David my servant shall be King over them." Ez. xxxvii, 24.
"Daniel." "Potestas Ejus potestas æterna." "Whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom." Dan. vii, 27.
The English is given in each case as in our Authorised Version, and not as a translation of the Latin Vulgate.
The other of these three windows was filled with stained glass (by Wailes of Newcastle) in 1867, as a memorial of the people of Cawthorne to Miss Louisa Stanhope, who truly followed in her mother Lady Elizabeth's footsteps, in going about "doing good." The glass not being in harmony with the present Church, it has been replaced by a new window with St. Mary ("Sancta Maria") and St. Elizabeth.
Above the Door into the North Porch is a window now filled with glass by Mr. Shaw, architect, of Saddleworth, which is also about to to be removed for glass more in tone with the rest. It has been called "The Children's Window." It represents Christ blessing little children, and has the inscriptions, "In Memory of Hugh Robert Spencer Stanhope, born April 21, 1864, died Jan. 6, 1865: and of Edward Lytton Bulwer: Born June 18, 1864, Died December 14, 1864." "For I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the Face of my Father which is in heaven." "Suffer little ​children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of heaven." This Edward Lytton Bulwer was the infant child of Mrs. Stanhope's only sister Isabel, married to Edward Bulwer, now Major-General.
The new window contains the figures of Moses and David. The inscription is, "In Memory of Louisa Elizabeth Spencer Stanhope, who died March 15th, A.D., 1867."
Before the Restoration two Brass Tablets were in the West Wall bearing the following inscriptions:
"In Memory of Mary the daughter of John Roddam and Lilla Spencer Stanhope who died at Florence Febr. 23rd, 1867, aged 7 years, and was buried there. Jesus called a little child unto Him."
"In Memory of Laura Winifred Spencer Stanhope, only surviving daughter of the Rev. Charles Spencer Stanhope, Incumbent of Cawthorne, who died at Weaverham, Cheshire, January 21st, 1865, aged 14 years."
There are the following Marble Tablets in the West Wall: to Elizabeth Bisby wife of William Thorp of Hill Top in Cawthorne gent., 1764, 74 years; W. Bisby his son; and Ann Scott of Barnsley her daughter, 1779, and Elizabeth Scott her grand-daughter, 1786 ("erected by Jer. and Wm. Scott of London, sons of the above Ann Scott "). One in memory of John Beatson, gent., of Cinderhill, 1824, 68 years; Juliet Frances Parkinson, died June 11th, 1852, aged 49; Mary Ann Hodgson, 1832, 14 years; Louisa, wife of Rev. Benj. Eamonson, A.M., Minister of this Parish, 1813, in her 27th year.
The door into this aisle previously to the Restoration was about midway between the two smaller windows in the north wall, where a buttress is now outside, a plain square-headed door. A monumental stone cross was left in the north wall near the smallest window.
The prevailing colour in the Roof of this Aisle is red, with scrolls bearing "Alleluia" on the purlins.
The Tower
has been greatly altered in the interior by the Restoration work. An arched doorway has been made into it from the roomy North Porch; a west door has taken the place of the walled-up doorway with a small window at the top; a high narrow arch has been pierced through the south wall into the extended south aisle; the ancient entrance to the Belfry has been opened out; and the West Gallery which completely blocked up the Tower and west window has been removed, also the lower Belfry which received its light through the upper part of the west window. The Gallery had been erected under a Faculty of the Chancellor of the Diocese of York granted in 1730. The Faculty will be spoken of under the heading of "Parish Registers."
Before the removal of the Gallery, the Font had stood for a short time at the foot of the Gallery stairs, and the floor of the Tower was used for the Boys' Sunday School.
The West Window is filled with glass in memory of Mr. Hugh Spencer Stanhope, of Glenallon in Northumberland, who died when on a visit to Cannon Hall. The three lights have three figures from the designs of Mr. Roddam Stanhope, representing Faith ("Fides"), Hope ("Spes"), and Charity ("Caritas"). The ornament of the window was designed by Mr. Bodley, and the whole of it executed by Messrs. Burlison and Grylls. Below the three figures are three shields borne by angels bearing the arms of the Diocese of York on the south, those of Ripon on the north, and the sacred monogram "IHS" in the centre. The inscription is, "In memory of Hugh Spencer Stanhope: Born the 30th day of September, 1804, died at Cannon Hall 24 December, 1871."
There are several Memorial Stones laid on the floor of the Tower: "Randulph Spencer, late of Criggon in the County of Montgomery, gent., who was buried July the 22, 1658, aged 68 years and 2 months;" "Ann wife of William Thorpe of Hill Top Cawthorne, gent., 1719." Eda his second wife, 1740. William Greene of Elmhurst, gent., 1672; Thomas Yeapp, 1689; Thomas Wainwright, yeoman, 1670; Mary wife of William Thornely yeoman daughter of ​Mr. Thomas Pickford late Minister of Edall (Edale, Derb.) "Hic Henricus Skeyns eruditus Dispensator Evangelii Christi; pacificus Pastor hujus Ecclesiæ; Amator gregis cujus interitus magnum dolorem ei attulit. Prindpi Patriæque fidelis. 1662." Susan wife of William Greene of Elmhurst, senr., who died 1672. Jonathan, son of John and Sarah Taylor of Cawthorne, 1722, 27 years. William Smith, Tanner, of Elmhirst, 1759. Mary Wood, daughter of Godfrey Norton of Cawthorne Lanes, 1719. Several memorials of the Woffendens of Norcroft, from 1688.
The Belfry
is now reached by its proper door from the Tower, instead of only by the little outside porch and doorway erected about 1815, the entrance being shown as at present on a Plan of 1811, but not in the parchment one of 1816. The steps, which were nearly worn away, have been repaired. The Bells are six in number, the upper three being added by Mr. and Mrs. Stanhope in 1859 and bearing the founders' name, "Taylor and Co. of Loughborough, Founders, 1859." The tenor bell is 8½ cwt. and is inscribed "1620. Fili Dei, miserere mei" ("Son of God, have mercy on me"). The fifth bell has no date, only the letters "IHS" many times repeated. The letters on the fourth bell are in ancient character, MICHAELIS. It may be noticed that in the Foundation Charter of St. Mary's Chantry it is said to be in the "Chapel of St. Michael" at Cawthorne. The whole peal was first rung at 8 a.m. on Oct. 6th, 1859, by the Silkstone Bell-ringers, who were then instructing the first set of Cawthorne Ringers. Until within the last few years, it was customary to ring a bell here at 6 or 7 in the morning, at noon, and at 7 or 8 in the evening; the old "Shriving Bell," (from the Saxon shrive, to confess) but better known now as the "Pancake Bell," is still rung at eleven on Shrove Tuesday.
It may be mentioned that Bells appear to have been first used in the Christian Church about the fifth century, though the tradition which ascribes their introduction to Paulinus is of doubtful authenticity. To this legend however they owe their mediæval names of Nola and Campana (hence the Italian campanile for bell-tower), ​because this Paulinus was Bishop of Nola in Campania at the beginning of that fifth century. The first authentic record of a bell in use in this country occurs in Bede, who mentions the existence of one at Whitby in the year 680. From that time they steadily increased in number, and Saxon laws gave encouragement to bell-founding. Of the few Saxon buildings indeed which have weathered eight centuries, a large proportion are towers with a definite belfry stage. The fondness of mediæval builders for the music of bells is attested by the number and grandeur of their steeples, the bells for which were often cast within the Church, and then solemnly consecrated with a form of service following that of baptism, the bell having two godfathers and a godmother from whom it received its name. Bells were originally intended to be rung separately, but the introduction of change-ringing in the seventeenth century led to the recasting of old bells to make them into harmonious peals.
The first peal of bells in England was put up in Croyland Abbey, A.D. 870.
The new Clock, by Gillett and Bland of Croydon, was given by the late General Stanhope, and a third face was added on the west side of the tower.
The Ordnance Survey Bench-mark is on the south side of the Tower.
The South Aisle
has been entirely rebuilt, taking the place of one which was built in 1828, of that very poor modern character which acquired the name of "Churchwardens' Gothic" at a time when churchwardens and clergy were equally unhappy in what they called restorations and improvements. The Aisle is now extended to take in the width of of the Tower, from which it may be entered by the new arch mentioned above.
The Font stands nearly opposite the door from the South Porch, near the Tower, thus by its position at the entrance of the material fabric fitly representing Baptism to us as the outward form of admission into the spiritual building of the Christian Church. It is an ​octagonal one of the early part of the fifteenth century, of Roche Abbey stone, bearing some sacred emblem on each of its eight sides—eight, because "few, that is, eight souls, were saved" in the Ark "through water." (1 Pet. iii. 20, Rev. New Test.) On one side, and repeated lower down, are the letters "F P O," interpreted to stand for "Fons Purificationis Omnium," "The Fountain of Purification for all." Other sides bear the trefoil or shamrock, the emblem of the Holy Trinity said to have been used by St. Patrick when preaching in Ireland; a shield with the five sacred wounds; a mystic rose; and more than one form of cross. The Font cover is a memorial of the late Mrs. Stanhope from the offerings gathered in Church on Nov. 14th, 1880. It is an oak crocketed spire with tracery, and bears a brass with the words, "An offering by the Congregation in Memory of Elizabeth Julia Spencer Stanhope, 1880."
The upper part of the Font has unfortunately been much cut down. The bowl of the Font was at one time in the pleasure-grounds of Cannon Hall. The base was happily discovered at the late Mr. Wigglesworth's farm at Hill Top, Hoylandswaine, having been removed from the Church by a former Churchwarden, when a small marble font—of more convenient size, as was thought—was being substituted for this original one. The discovery of the base lead to the two parts being again united and restored to their proper place.
The West Window of this Aisle has stained glass at present only in the tracery. The right hand figure as we look at the window represents St. Wilfrid of York, and the left hand St. Cuthbert, who, after being Abbot of Melrose, was made Bishop of Lindisfarne in 684. Previously to the Reformation, the dedication of Durham Cathedral was to St. Cuthbert: he is said to have introduced the practice of burial in churches. He is represented as holding the head of St. Oswald which King Oswy his brother had placed in the arms of the dead St. Cuthbert, when he recovered it from the Pagans by whom St. Oswald was slain in 642.
Of the three Windows to the South, the eastward one alone is filled with stained glass. It is to the memory of the late General Stanhope, and represents Joshua in armour in the centre, and ​St. Michael and St. George in the side lights. St. Michael has at his feet "the great dragon, that old serpent, called the devil and satan." (Rev. xxii, 7-9.) St. George is also here represented with his vanquished dragon, which he overcame, the legend says, by the sign of the Cross. He was born in Cappadocia of Christian parents, became an officer of high rank in the Imperial army, and is said to have torn down from the Church doors of Nicomedia Diocletian's edicts against the Christians. He suffered martyrdom about 303. He is said to have appeared with his Red Cross to help the Crusaders, and at the Synod of Oxford in 1222 was acknowledged as the Patron Saint of England, in the place of Edward the Confessor. St. George's Red Cross has thus its place on our national flag.
The tracery of these three windows is filled with figures of Saints, some of whom may he easily recognised by their usual emblems: St. Lucy, St. Stephen, St. Lawrence, St. Prisca, St. Barbara, St. Leonard, St. Agatha, St. Catharine, &c.
There are a few Tablets on the West Wall to various members of the Nichols family of Cinder-hill, and one to the late Giles Shaw of Barnby Green, who died in 1854, and his wife who died in 1865.
It will be noticed in the Roof Decoration that part of the Epistle for All Saints' Day is read on the west sides of the three tie-beams: "I beheld, and lo! a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and kindreda, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands." (Rev. vii, 9.) On the sides facing east are these three verses from the Gospel for All Saints' Day" (St. Matt. v.): "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God;" "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God;" "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
The former Aisle of 1826 will be referred to in the account of the Registers, &c.
The South Chancel Aisle
is entirely new and additional, although the original Church probably contained one. It is entered from the South Aisle through a dark oak screen, the woodwork of which is solid to the height of about six feet with wide folding doors in the centre, through which the choir, who use this Aisle as their vestry, enter the Church for their places in the Chancel. The screen is entirely new and is of the local character of fifteenth century woodwork, like the Chancel screen. On the south side of the Aisle stand the several oak presses for the clergy and choir surplices with an oak chest, all alike in character, the clergy vestry being separated by a curtain.
The windows of this Aisle, altered only by new tracery glass, now occupy exactly corresponding positions with those they occupied in the former Chancel. They are by Wailes, of Newcastle. The first window, as we go east, represents the raising of Jairus' Daughter and the "Noli me tangere" ("Touch me not." S. John xx., 17). It has a Brass below: "This window is erected by her brothers and sisters to the memory of Isabella Spencer Stanhope, who departed this life on the 10th of May, 1857, aged 59 years."
The window on the other side of the door has the angel at the empty sepulchre telling the holy women "He is risen" and the Ascension": ":This window is dedicated by her brothers and sisters to the memory of Anne Winifrid Spencer Stanhope, who died March 17, 1860."
The East Window, the east window of the late Chancel, is almost hidden by the Organ. It represents, in two small groups, the Burial of our Lord in one light, and in the other the angels telling the holy women bearing their spices of His having "risen, as He said." The two side lights have no subjects. The inscription is: "In memoriam dilectissimae matris Mariae Winifridis Spencer-Stanhope hanc fenestram liberi ejus moerentes posuerunt. Nat: Nov: ix, MDCCLXIII. Obiit Dec: xvi, MDCCCL." "In memory of their much loved mother Mary Winifrid Spencer-Stanhope her sorrowing children have placed this window. Born, Nov. 9, 1763: died Dec. 16, 1850."
​The new glass in the tracery is well worthy of notice: St. Augustine of Canterbury in the centre, and the first two and the final letters of Jesus Christ in the ancient Greek character I H C X P C, the original and proper form of what was in later times changed into the Latin "I H S," through the Greek capital E resembling the Latin letter H.
St. Augustine landed in England in A. D. 596 to carry forward the conversion of England to Christianity, and was created first Archbishop of Canterbury in 601, the year in which Paulinus came over from Rome to assist him in his work.
The Organ stands in the north-east part of this Aisle, with the case of the Great Organ, richly decorated red and gold, facing west. It was built by Messrs. Wordsworth and Maskell of Leeds, and was used for the first time on the Re-opening Day in 1880. It takes the place of a much smaller one by Gray and Davison, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stanhope at Easter, 1872, which is now placed in the Parish Church of Rushford, in Norfolk, as a memorial of Mrs. Stanhope in her own family's Parish Church, where she was married in 1856.
The following specification was given by the builders at the opening:
The organ consists of 3 manuals, viz., Great, Swell, and Choir, each full compass, CC to G, 56 notes, and pedal organ CCC to F, 30 notes. The stops, &c., are:
GREAT ORGAN
    1 Open diapason 8 feet tone 56 pipes
    2 Stopp'd diapason 8 feet tone 56 pipes
    3 Dulciana (Grooved Bass) 8 feet tone 44 pipes
    4 Wald flute 4 feet tone 56 pipes
    5 principal 4 feet tone 56 pipes
    6 Twelth 2 2/3 feet tone 56 pipes
    7 Fifteenth 2 feet tone 56 pipes
    8 Mixture (3 ranks) 2 ,11/3, 2/3 feet tone 168 pipes ​Page:A History of Cawthorne.djvu/117 ​The words from the Benedicite run along the south wall below the roof, "O all ye Spirits and Souls of the Righteous, Bless ye the Lord. Praise Him and magnify Him for ever! Alleluia."
It may be mentioned in connection with the general decoration of the Church, that it is not unlikely, that, when the walls of the Church are thoroughly dry, there will be more decorative painting added.
On the Floor of the Aisle are several memorial inscriptions of the Greene, Rowley, Taylor and other families.
"Here lyeth the Body of Robert Hartley of Cannon Hall who departed this life upon the 3 day of January 1656. Anno ætatis 29."
"Richard Greene of Micklethwaite who was baptised the 14 day of May 1942 and was interred the 8 day of July; Anno Domini 1669.
[Small Brass.] "William, eldest son of William Green of Micklethwait gent., returned home the 6 day of September 1686, ætatis 6. Whose expression two days before he dyed was, Heaven is Home."
On the same stone: "Hic jacet corpus Gulielmi Greene filii Richardi Greene de Micklethwaite qui obiit duodecimo die martii, tricesimo octo anno suæ ætatis, Anno Domini 1669." "Here also lyeth interred the Body of John Greene late of Micklethwaite, gent. He departed this life the 18th day of March Anno Dni 172*" (date not filled in).
"Here lyeth the body of Richard Greene late of Banks, gent., who departed this life the 10th day of March 170*, and in the 24th year of his age. Nascendo morimur, finisque ab origine pendet."
Brass: "Hic jacet corpus Gulielmi Greene de Micklethwaite filii Gulielmi prædicti qui obiit Anno Dom. 1683, et ætatis 26."
"Here lyeth the body of Mrs. Mary Greene, widow, late wife of Mr. William Greene of Micklethwaite, gent., and daughter of Michael Portington, of Portington, esquier, who left William, Richard, and Grace, her children, and died the 14th of February, in the 43rd year of her age, Anno Domini, 1673."
​On the Wall: "In this Chancel lies the body of Richard Green of Banks, gent.; buried March the 19th, 1707, in the 25th year of his age. He was the son of William Green of Banks, gent., by Ann his wife, daughter of Anthony Devevere, M D., by his wife Barbara, daughter of Thomas Edmunds of Worsborough, Esquire. William Green of Banks, gent., son of John Green, of HoylandSwein, gent., was buried March 7, 1723, aged 33 years. His son Richard, aged a year and four months, was buried March 6, 1723. His brother John Green, of Banks, gent., was buried March 21, 1729, aged 36 years. Richard the son of their brother Samuel Green of Banks, gent., was buried February 23, 1732, aged a year and 5 months. To preserve the memory of these his ancestors and relations, the said Samuel Green erected this monument in the year 1733."
"Elizabeth Walbanke, buried at this pew-door Decr. 3, 1674."
"Ann wife of Mr. Christopher Walbanke, buried in the same grave April 2nd, 1695. Aged 64. Fautrix hospita pauperibus. Mors omnium dolorum solutio. Refrigeries est animæ: Mors ærumnarum requies: Hic ero sanus (sic)."
"Mr. Christopher Walbanke, Preacher of the Gospel and Minister of this Church was buried March ye 16th, 1708."
"Here lieth interred the body of Thomas Cockshutt, Clerk, A.M., Minister of Cawthorne and Vicar of Peniston, who died upon the first and was buried on the fourth of February, in the year of our Lord, 1739, aged 62 years."
"Here lieth interred the Body of Susannah, Daughter of John Willson gent., and wife of the Rev'nd. Thomas Cockshutt, Clerk, A.M., late Minister of this Church, who departed this life the 25th day of January in the year of our Lord 1743. Aged ** years." (Not filled up.)
William sonne of William Thorpe, 1683. Memorial inscriptions of the Wood family of Jowett-House beginning in 1692; of Lockwoods of Clough Green; of Whites from 1700; of Mary daughter of Wm. Woffendin of Norcroft, 1770, first married to Richard Ellison of Barnby Hall, and afterwards to Geo. Walker of Hunshelf "Gentle Man."
​There are large stones of the Taylor family beginning with William son of John and Sarah, who died in 1757, aged 66, and coming down to "Sarah Taylor of Barnsley, wife of the above Edward Taylor of Barnsley, son of Edward and Abigail Taylor, late of Cawthorne, who died Aug. 12, 1836, 85 years." "Jonathan West of Cawthorne, Attorney-at-law, the son of John and Dorothy West, late of Norcroft, died 1795 in 80th year." Hannah, his wife, died 1767.
The Rowley Memorials begin with a William Rowley who died Sept. 10, 1696, aged 80. Daniel Rowley of Barnby Furnace died 1749, in 68th year. His wife Martha, died 1733. Richard son of John and Alice Rowley of Flash-House, yeoman, died 1730. William Rowley of Flash-House, A.M., Rector of Boughton in Northamptonshire and Chaplain to the Right Hon. Wm. Earl of Strafford, was interred 12th Nov., 1775, aged 53. John eldest son of the late John Rowley of Flash-House, 1857, 46 years.
The Re-opening.
After the description of the interior of the Church may be given a short account of the Re-opening. The Restoration was begun after the Easter Day of 1875. On the 2nd of September in that year, when the foundations of the new extension of the South Aisle were well advanced, a short special Service was held, at 3 p.m., at which a Memorial Stone was laid at the south-west corner by Mr. John Montagu Spencer Stanhope, who at the last moment took his mother's place, owing to her temporary indisposition. In a cavity beneath the stone was deposited a hermetically sealed bottle containing several coins of the year, a copy of the notice announcing that day's proceedings, a copy of the previous day's "Times," and a paper containing the names of Mr. John and Lady Elizabeth Stanhope with the date of their death, and stating that the work of Restoration was being done in their memory. The Services were continued in the Church until the following Easter Day, when the "Te Deum" was sung at the close of the Afternoon Service as the congregation's last hymn of praise in "the old Church." The Services were held in the Tivydale School until Sunday, Sept. 9th, 1877, when the Nave ​only was used. The first Service was the eight o'clock Celebration on that day. The Chancel continued partitioned off from the Nave until the opening day, the Chancel only once being used for a service, at the Burial of Mrs. Stanhope on Oct. 6th, 1880.
The day appointed for the Re-opening was St. Thomas' Day (Dec. 21st), 1880. The first Service on that day was an early Celebration. At the eleven o'clock Service the sermon was preached by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Ripon (Dr. Bickersteth). Among the clergy present were the Rev. C. Sangster, Vicar of Darton, Rural Dean (1855); C. S. Stanhope, Vicar of Crowton (Cheshire); Canon Cross, Vicar of Appleby, Lincs.; J. Ingham Brooke, Rector of Thornhill, J. Johnson, Vicar of Denby (1851), F. G. Wintour, Rector of High Hoyland (1867); W. S. Turnbull, Vicar of Penistone (1855); F. B. Hutton, Vicar of Hoyland-Swaine (1879); W. W. Kirby, Rector of Barnsley (1878); J. G. Metcalfe, Vicar of Gawber (1875); W. S. Barker, Vicar of Silkstone (1880); G. A. Fry, Vicar of Dodworth (1879); W. U. Wooler, Vicar of Thurgoland (1879) F. Fawkes, Vicar of Woolley; Dr. Gatty, Vicar of Ecclesfield; W. Elmhirst, Chaplain of Stainhorough (1862). The date after the names of clergy belonging to this Rural Deanery is that of their admission to their benefice.
The Clergy, the Choir (32 in number and for the first time in surplices), and two Churchwardens (Mr. Stanhope and Mr. George Swift) walked before the Bishop from the Infants' School to the West door of the Church, where the hymn was begun, "We love the place, O God." The Service was choral, the Psalms being 24, 48, and 84: the Lessons—Haggai ii. to v. 10 and Rev. xxi.—were read by Mr. Stanhope, the Hymns were, "Lift the strain of high thanksgiving," "O Word of God above," and "Christ is made the sure Foundation," from "Hymns Ancient and Modern." The Bishop preached from the Gospel for the day—St. John xx, part v. 19. Towards the close of his sermon he very touchingly "called to mind one who took the deepest and warmest interest in the Restoration of this Church, and who has not been spared to strike the note of joy with us in its completed Restoration. But (he said) am I justified in saying this? May it not be possible that our loving Father ​in heaven may have permitted her to look down from her abode of blessedness, and see what has been going forward within these walls this morning?"
Immediately after the Service was the Consecration of the private Burial-ground of Mr. Stanhope, then of the addition to the Churchyard, and afterwards of the Parochial Cemetery, under three separate Consecration Deeds.
There was a Confirmation at three p.m., followed by an Organ Recital by Mr. Ernest Wood, Organist of St. Mary Magdalene, Lincoln, a native of Cawthorne, who presided at the organ at all the Services of the Opening day.
At the Evening Service, at seven, the Psalms were 118 and 122; the Lessons, Ezra iii. and Rev. xxii; the Sermon was preached by Mr. Stanhope's intimate friend the Rev. J. E. Cross, Vicar of Appleby (Lincs.), and Canon of Lincoln Cathedral. On the following two evenings the preachers were the Revs. C. S. Stanhope, Vicar of Crowton, elder son of the late Vicar of Cawthorne, and the Rev. J. Ingham Brooke, Rector of Thornhill.
The day of the Re-opening was a beautiful calm sunny winter's day.
At the public Luncheon held in the Boys' School, at which Mr. Stanhope was only present at the conclusion, he specially referred to "the Church now restored being always open; it is free to all; and I hope that it will be appreciated by some as a place of retirement and contemplation, a place of rest always ready to receive those who may wish to turn from their daily work for a few moments by themselves.
The Faculty for the Restoration was granted at the Chancellor's Court at Ripon July 22nd, 1875, the cost of obtaining this unopposed Faculty being £33 10s. 10d.
The Exterior
of the Church does not call for any lengthened description. The Tower belongs to the fifteenth century and is of the local character. Its height to the top of the battlements is 70 feet 4 inches; from the battlements to the top of the Pinnacles is 8 feet. The northeast pinnacle was struck by lightning some years ago and fell through the nave roof upon the organ which was in the west gallery. The North Porch has a figure of St. Paulinus in a niche over the entrance, the work and gift of Mr. Samuel Swift, a native of Cawthorne, whose brother has had the entire superintendence of the Restoration, as their father had of the building of the Church at Hoyland-Swaine. In the tracery of the North Porch Windows are the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. Under the East Window of the North Chancel Aisle is built into the wall the head of a Cross of the eleventh or early part of the twelfth century. The stone used in the older part of the Church—the Tower and North Aisle—seems to have been merely loose surface stones: all the new work is of Thurlstone and Huddersfield stone. The old Sun-dial on the Tower has not been replaced, with its "Via Vitæ"—"The Way of Life"—inscription, and the initials "J. H, 1798."
The Churchyard
originally extended probably as far south as the present one, but went scarcely any farther west than the Tower or farther east than the present Chancel. A considerable addition was made to the west, as far as the present row of elms, in 1813, and a tradition says that the first burial in that addition was George Batchelor, a coachman at Cannon Hall, whose widow came from Barnsley to her husband's burial in the carriage which brought Mr. John Stanhope home on parole as a French prisoner. A further addition was made at the east end in 1852, and the footpath which ran near the boundary of the old Churchyard was altered in 1867 to the boundary of the addition. The North Wall of the Churchyard, from the entrance to the vault, was built, and the boundary straightened, at the time when the vault itself was made, in 1865-6, from the designs of Mr. Shaw of Saddleworth. There have been the following burials up to the present time in the family vault: Louisa Elizabeth Stanhope in ​1867; Hugh Robert (removed from the churchyard) infant son of Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Stanhope; Hugh Spencer Stanhope, 1871; Mr. and Lady Elizabeth Stanhope, 1873; Philip (General) Stanhope, 1880. The late Mrs. W. S. Stanhope lies outside the mausoleum at its west front.
The part of the Churchyard which is between the row of elms and the sunk-fence is raised from the soil removed in the recent alterations, and is not intended to be ever used for burials. The land was given by Mr. Stanhope at the same time as the acre of land below it, which latter was conveyed to the Rural Sanitary Authority under the "Public Health (Interments) Act, 1879," known as "Marten's Act," the expense of its being walled round, &c., being defrayed by the rates. Three-quarters of the acre was consecrated by the Bishop of Ripon immediately after the Church's Re-opening Service (Dec. 21, 1880). Under a separate Consecration Deed the addition between the elms and the sunk fence was consecrated, being conveyed to the Vicar and Churchwardens; and the family vault and private burial-ground around it were also consecrated, being reserved by the donor for his own family's use under a separate Consecration Deed, in accordance with a Clause in the Burials Act which gives the donor power to reserve for his own family's use not more than one-sixth part of what he gives for Parochial Burial-ground.
Among the Memorial Stones in the Churchyard there is none that goes back beyond the early part of the seventeenth century. The oldest of all is one of the Shirt family:
"Hic jacet William Shyrte de Cawthorne Lanes qui obiit nono die Junii 1630, natus annis sexaginta octo vicesimo nono die Januarii ultimo preterito." "Hic jacet Johannes Shirte junior de Cawthorne-lanes qui obiit duodecimo die Febr. Anno Domini 1664. Fui, non sum. Estis, non eritis" ("I was, I am not: ye are, ye will not be").
"March ye 14, 1694. Here was interred ye body of Sarah Shirt Widd and Relict of Nathaniel Shirt sometime Vicar of Kirkburton in the same grave where the Body of Ann Broadley her Mother Widd and Relict of Nicholes Broadley sometime Minister of Cawthorne was layd ye 2 of May, 1663.
​"Here lyeth interred the Body of Dorothy the wife of Nathan Staniforth late of Penistone gent, and daughter of Mr. Nathaniel Shirt sometime Vicar of Kirkburton. She departed this life the 23rd day of November Anno Domini 1726, aged 74 years."
A short notice of this Nathaniel Shirt is given in Morehouse's History of Kirkburton. He is believed to have been the son of John Shirt who was steward to Mr. Godfrey Bosvile of Gunthwaite, and a near relation of Captain Shirt of Rawroyd, a Parliamentary officer. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he took his M.A. in 1643. He was appointed to the Episcopal Chapel of Midhope by Mr. Bosvile, and in 1649, through Mr. Bosvile's influence, to Kirkburton. He married Sarah, daughter of the Rev. Nicholas Broadley, Incumbent of Cawthorne, and died at Kirkburton in 1662.
"Hic jacet Agnis uxorem (sic) Roberti Smith quæ obiit secundo die Februarii, 1650."
"Hic jacet Anna filia Henrici Woolrich 1660."
"Here lieth the body of Mary the wife of Matthew Lindley, who was buried the 5 day of June, 1640."
"In memory of Thomas Pashley, yeoman, of Cawthorne, who gave six pounds yearly for ever to the Minister of Cawthorne by virtue of a Feoffee Deed: he was interred ye 24 day of March, 1667. Via misericordiæ, via Beatitudinis." ("The way of Mercy is the way of Blessedness.")
Elizabeth Hewitt, 1667; William Littlewood, yeoman, 1697; Alice Hyrst, formerly wife to Robert Burgon, 1687: Thomas Falley, Brookehouse, 1699; Thos. Gawthorpe, 1684; Matthew Walker, 1676;—Firth, 1666; Martha, wife of John Lindley, 1666; Anne Baxter, 1689; Robert Dixon, 1664,—and one later, of Clay Hall, 1674; Nathaniel, son of Nathaniel Moxon, gent., from the County of Darby, 1672;—Turton of Barnby Green, 1673; A. Micklethwaite, 1676, of Woolgreave, yeoman; Lindley of Jowet-house, 1654 and 1659; Hannah Robuck, 1674. The Wests of Norcroft, Waltons of Cawthorne Lanes, and Taylors of Cawthorne, have several stones beginning with the early part of the following—the eighteenth—century. John Street, Fellmonger, 1734; Cudworth, 1770; Cleggs, and Moaksons, (Caleb, 1767).
​Several tombstones of much greater antiquity, in the form of plain and floreated Crosses, were found built into the walls of the Church, and are now collected together and inserted in the Churchyard wall, near the north-east corner. One or two of them have a pair of shears on them, to indicate the housewife, woman, or female child; and one has a sword, to show the man or boy. The old Saxon Cross, of which two or three pieces have been recovered, has been already spoken of as carrying us back for certainly not less than eight hundred years, and not improbably to a period still more remote.
Most of the names on the Headstones of the Churchyard are those of families which have been in the parish for some generations: the families of Willcock, Moxon, Swifts of Waterslack (1744), Fish of Waterslack, Johnson, Ibbotson, English. Some of them speak to us of families which have altogether disappeared: Rich of Dawwalls (1722); Streetes (1729); Smith of Dean Hill (1706 to 61); Ellis of Hillhouse, 1707; Rhoades of Cawthorne Hall, 1737; Newton, Kettleroyd, 1716; Mr. Daniel Wilson of Barnby Furnace, and his widow, 1812. On some of them we find names which do not at all belong to our neighbourhood or county: that of Puddephatt taking us back to the time when Cawthorne had its "gauger" for Mr. West's large malt works, where "Malt-kiln Row" now is; while in those of Rix, Fishbourne, Potts, Atkinson, and others, we may see the connection between Cannon Hall and Norfolk and Northumberland. The headstone to "Mary Fishburne, of Holkham," erected as a mark of personal esteem by Mrs. Clarke of Noblethorpe, preserves the memory of one who was a parochial "character." In his Fifty Years of my Life, Lord Albemarle speaks of "Polly Fishbourne" as one of the gamekeepers at Holkham (Lord Leicester's) and Keeper of the Church Lodge. He adds, "She must be about my own age. She had large black eyes, red cheeks, and white teeth; her hair was cropped like a man's, and she wore a man's hat. The rest of her attire was feminine. She was irreproachable in conduct, and indeed somewhat of a prude. Polly was the terror of poachers, with whom she had frequent encounters, and would give and take hard knocks; but generally she succeeded in capturing her opponents and making them answer for their misdeeds at Petty Sessions. A Norfolk game-preserver once offered Polly a shilling a-piece for a hundred pheasant ​eggs. She nodded her head. Soon after she brought Mr. Coke (afterwards created Earl of Leicester) a five-pound-note. 'There, Squire,' said she, 'is the price of a hundred of your guinea fowl eggs.' Of course the Squire made Polly keep the five-pound-note. One time I was staying at Holkham, a bull killed a labouring man in the salt marshes. The savage brute was standing over his victim, and a crowd was assembled at the gate, when Polly appeared at the opposite gate. There was a cry, 'Get out of the way, Polly, or the bull will kill you.' 'Not he,' was the reply, 'he knows better.' She was right. The moment he saw her he backed astern to the remotest corner of the inclosure. It turned out that the animal had once attempted to run at her, but she lodged a charge of small-shot in his muzzle." (Vol. II., pp. 232, 3.) Neither her fine looks of manly womanhood nor her anecdotes of Holkham and her own former powers with dogs and guns will soon be forgotten by those who knew her. She died at Norcroft in 1873, aged 80.
At the east end of the Church there is a headstone to a William Atkinson, the work of his son Thomas Witlam Atkinson who was born at Cawthorne March 6, 1796, in a house adjoining the old Wesleyan Chapel. This William Atkinson came from Northumberland, and was head mason at Cannon Hall: he married an Elizabeth Bates, of Cawthorne, in 1792, by whom he had two children. After her death in 1795, he married, August, 1798, a Martha Witlam, housemaid at Cannon Hall, and Thomas Witlam was their eldest son. "Thomas, son of William and Martha Atkinson, mason, baptised March 25, 1799." This son began life at ten as a mason's labourer with his father, attending school in winter, and receiving lessons in writing and drawing from his elder half-brother. In 1822, he was working as a mason on St. George's Church, Barnsley, walking daily from his home. The headstone to his mother in our Churchyard has been called his "first great work." The Rev. C. S. Stanhope was so pleased with one of his designs that he persuaded him to go to Manchester. He went there, and afterwards to London, and set up as an architect. There are at Cannon Hall several pictures of the Church of St. Nicholas, Lower Tooting, of which he was the architect in 1832, building that church, "to hold 1,083 "persons," at a cost of £4,619. When a considerable part of ​Hamburg was destroyed by fire, Atkinson at once went there: some of his work there was so admired by the Emperor of Russia, that heengaged him to go as architect to St. Petersburg. The Emperor sent him to make surveys in Siberia, and employed him on various works in different and distant parts of the empire. He extended his travels beyond the Russian territory. In 1858, he published his first volume of travels, "Oriental and Western Siberia," and in 1860, "Travels in the Regions of the Upper and Lower Amoor and Russian Acquisitions on the Confines of India and China, by Thomas Witlam Atkinson, F.R.G.S., F.G.S., author of Oriental and Western Siberia." It was dedicated by special permission to Her Majesty, and published by Hurst and Blackett. He presented a copy of his works to the village Library which still has the inscription, "Presented to the Cawthome Library with the best wishes for its success by T. W. Atkinson. 1st Nov. 1860." His first work was in 1819, "Gothic Ornaments from the different Cathedrals and Churches in England." In 1860, he came as a guest to Cannon Hall from the Rev. C. S. Stanhope's at Weaverham, and was present at the annual Harvest Thanksgiving and its Evening Meeting on Nov. 1. He died August, 1861, in his 62nd year, leaving a son born in Tartary, now in Honolulu, and two daughters, one of whom, Miss Emma Wilshere Atkinson, has written the "Lives of the Queens of Prussia" and other works.
One headstone is "In Memory of Seven Men who lost their lives at Bamby Colliery by Fire Damp" in 1805, and others speak of accident in the mine. John Livesley's epitaph tells us he "was Parish Clerk, Perpetual Overseer of the Poor, and Collector of the King's Taxes for a number of years": he is still remembered by a few as the "factotum" of the Parish: he died in 1833. "Juliet Frances Parkinson who died at the Parsonage June 11th, 1852," was a sister of the Curate at that time. The Armitages of Willroyd have several monuments, and there is one to a Mr. Robert Overend, solicitor, of Kirkburton, through his wife being a daughter of Charles Marshall of Dean Hill, who died in 1820.
There is a charming view over the valley from the steps at the West Entrance of the Churchyard, and the fine old elm near the Tower, which was some years ago struck with lightning, is sure to ​attract attention. The view here takes in High Hoyland and its Church on the north horizon, Denby and its Church in the west, and part of Hoyland-Swaine and its Church on the south-west.
The restored Saxon Cross on the South side of the steps, with two pieces of its original shaft and the original Cross on the summit, standing altogether about thirteen feet in height, is a 'blest Sign of man's redemption' which happily connects the present faith of Christ's Church with the Christian past of the Parish eight hundred years ago.
The Parish Registers
may appropriately follow the account of Church and Churchyard. They go back as far as the year 1653, on the 29th of September in which year a new Act of the Commonwealth Parliament came into operation. At the Dissolution of Monasteries in 1535, the dispersion of Monks, who had up to that period been the principal Register-keepers, gave rise to a mandate issued in 1538 by Thomas Cromwell, afterwards Earl of Essex, Vicar General, for the Keeping of Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, in each Parish. Afterwards, in the reign of Elizabeth, it was ordered that every minister at his institution to a benefice should subscribe to this protestation, "I shall keepe the register booke according to the Queen's Majestie's injunction." Parishes are frequently deficient in Registers during the usurpation, the duty of registering being then taken out of the hands of the clergy, and given over to some village tradesman whose chief recommendation for office was probably the zeal he had shown in the destruction of all the ancient registers and records. In 1644, when the ordinance was passed against the use of the Book of Common Prayer in favour of The Directory for Public Worship, a fair Register Book was ordered to be provided. An Act was passed in 1653 "touching marriages and the registering thereof, and also touching births and burials." Before the 22nd of September in that year, each parish was to choose some able and honest person as its registrar, to be approved and sworn by one justice of the peace, and so signified under his hand in the said Register Book, the person so elected continuing in office for three years.
​In accordance with this enactment, the following entry is found on the first page of the oldest Register: "The 22nd day of November, 1653. Be it remembered that William Swift of Cawthorne was by the inhabitants of the Parish elected and made choice of for their Register and hath the day and yeare above come before me and is approved of and sworne according to ye act of Parliament in that case made and provided.
"[Signed] G. Byan (?)."
On the 22nd of Sept., 1654, John Savile's signature is found to the approval of John Robucke as Register, elected by the inhabitants in the place of William Swift deceased. This is evidently Sir John Savile, of Lupset, Knight, who was Sheriff of this County 1649-50.
On the fly-leaf before the first entries of 1653 is a record of several Collections made in the Church.
"Collected in the Parish Church of Cawthorne for the inhabitants of Southwold in Suffolk towards there losses of £4000. Collected ye sume of 12s. 6d. ye 28 of August 1659 and paid to" [blank]. An Act was passed in that year authorising the authorities of Southwold to "gather the alms and charitable benevolences of all good and well-disposed people whatsoever in any of the Counties, Cities, etc., of England and Wales" on account of "a fearful lamentable and hoisterous fire which in four hours destroyed 238 dwelling-houses and inflicted losses to the amount of £40,000."
"Collected in the Parish Church of Cawthorne for the inhabitants of Metringham [Metheringham] in the Countie of Linkhoulne the sume of 14s. 6d. the 8th day of April, 1660."
"Collected for Ripon Minster by a Letter patten 5s."
"A letter pattin for Dalby in Lecestershire collected 3s. 6d."
"A letter pattin for Scarbrough Church collected 5s. 6d."
Hinderwell's History and Antiquities of Scarborough gives an account of this church's destruction during the Civil War, and the inhabitants' memorial to Parliament representing their "church as wholly ruinated, except the walls and some part of the roof, which was formerly in good repaire." Their memorial, however, in 1646, met with no response; but they obtained a Brief or Letters Patent in ​their favour from Charles II., in 1660. This Brief or Letters Patent—called patent because not sealed up, but addressed by the king to all his loyal subjects—was the great means in those days of appealing to the national generosity. The Brief is given in Hinderwell (pp. 96, etc.), reciting that the king is "credibly informed that during the late wars our said town of Scarboro' was twice stormed, and the said inhabitants disabled from following their ancient trade; and, that nothing might be wanting to make their condition more deplorable, their two fair Churches were, by the violence of cannon, beaten down; that in one day there were threescore pieces of ordnance discharged against the steeple of the upper Church there, called St. Mary's * * * and that the charges of rebuilding will cost £2500 at the least, which of themselves they are not able to disburse, their fortunes being almost ruined by the late war."
The above is given as an example of what used to be read in our Churches to excite compassion, and as a means of the wealthier assisting the poorer parishes, or indeed parishes of any kind, in their special necessity.
"A letter patten for Great Dranton in Worcestershire 5s. 6d "
"Collected for Pontefract Church £1. 0s. 6d."
"August the second 1663. Collected in the Parish Church of Cawthorn for Thomas Carr, a poor scholler, who was for going up to Camebridge and born in ye Parish of Eccklesfield, the sume of 6s. 6d."
In 1688 there is the following entry: "Received then of the Minister and Churchwardens of Cawthorn the som of thre pound thirteen shillings and elevenpens collected for the Parish of Cawthorn upon a Breafe bearing date the 31st day of January 1687–8, and granted to the distressed Protestants of France. Received at Wakefield by Thom: Holmes."
In this generous collection we may see our Parish historically connected with Lewis the Fourteenth's revocation in 1685 of the memorable Edict of Nantes of 1598, which had given freedom of worship to the "Protestants." By this time, the name which was first borne by those who in 1529 "protested" against the decision of the ​Diet of Spires and appealed to the Emperor and a future Council was applied to all those, whatever their belief might be, who had renounced the communion of the Roman pontiff. In Macaulay's History, chapter vi., paragraph "Persecution of the French Huguenots," there is a graphic account of those distressing circumstances which obliged King James at last to issue letters under his great seal, inviting his subjects to imitate his own liberality, though, Macaulay adds, "his compassion was only feigned for the purpose of cajoling his Parliament."
The next entry: "July the 7: 1689. Collected in the Parish of Cawthorne for Irish Protestants and paid then to Mr. Walbanke [the Vicar] by us the sume of three pounds tenn shillings and three pense. Edw: Smithson: Thomas Dickson, Thomas Fawlley, Churchwardens."
Macaulay's xiith chapter "on the state of Ireland" and his reference to the "Acts passed for the confiscation of the property of Protestants" will show us the necessity there was for such Parochial Collection.
"Agust the 20, 1690. Collected in the Parish of Cawthorne for Irish Protestants and paid to Mr. Walbanke by us the sum of one pound ten shilling and three pence. Thomas Jeessopp Thomas Fawlley Churchwardens."
"March ye 4th, 1694. "Collected in the Parish of Cawthorne ye some of one pounds tenn shillings six pence and for ye Protestants of France paid to Mr. Walbank by us Collectors Robert Bower, Godfrey Morton, Churchwardens."
The state of "Distress in France" at this time and the "Bill for the Naturalization of Foreign Protestants" are alluded to in the xxth chapter of Macaulay's History.
1653. The entries in the Register from November 1653 to the end of the year on March 24th comprise 11 births and 4 burials. Among the names are found those of Addie, Moakeson, Clough, Greene, Dickson, Longley, Fawley—the first two of these names being among those of the Poll-Tax of 1379.
​1654. This year has 16 births and 14 burials: among its five marriages is that of William Greene and Mary Portington, the "Intentions" of which "were published May 14, 21, and 28, the same persons were married June 8th." Mitchell, Butterworth, Byngley, Hirste, Shaw, Horsfall, Smithe, Gawthrop, Moakeson, Hawkesworth, Clough, and Lindley are among the names of this year.
1655. 22 births; twelve "Intentions of Marriage" published in the Church "according to Act of Parliament three severall Lord's Daies," John Clayton being the magistrate to witness the actual marriages, as the law required. The name of William Roebuck occurs among these marriages: Oliver Heywood in his Diary speaks of lodging at Cawthorne with William Roebucke in Feb. 1668, visiting the families of Nathaniel Bottomley and his brother Roebuck. Heywood speaks in 1690 of visiting again "the little cheerful village of Cawthorne and preaching there at a friend's house at night." The ten burials of this year include Elizabeth wife of John Shirt, Dorothe wife of Will. Shirt, Richard Rawlin, William Plate, gent.
1656. There are 27 births, after one of which the date of baptism is given: 23 burials, among them a Sarah daughter of John Spencer, Robert Hartley (of Cannon Hall) and the names of Clough, Hurst, Johnson, Bostwicke, Lindley, Moaksone, Gawthorp. One of the eight Intentions of Marriage is expressly mentioned as having been "published three severall market daies at the Market Cross of Barnsley," as the law allowed it to be published "if the parties to be married shall desire it, between the hours of 11 and 2," as Robert Woffenden and Susan Horsfall seem to have done.There are two marriages of Lindleys and Hinchliffes.
1657. 27 births: in two cases it is added "and baptised:" Thorp, Woffenden, Greene, Spencer among them. 15 burials, including Margaret Hartley widdow, Sara wife of John Spencer, John Shirt, Anne Shirt, Jane wife of Thomas Hewitt, William the son of Tho: Scorrer (see first line of page 50). 7 marriages: the names of Sara Taylor, a Thomas Dickson, and a Wainwright among them.
​1658. 22 births: 15 burials, Randolfe Spencer July 22nd: 12 marriages, the first being that of John Spencer and Margrett Hartley, one-and-thirtieth day of March; Joseph Micklethwaite marries Sarah Clayton of Clayton, John Shirt a Margaret Couldwell of Silkston, William Shirt Mary Lindley, William Slacke Mary Shirt, John Shirt Ann Shaw, Edward Brighouse of Huthersfeld Ann Shirt—no less than five marriages of Shirts in one year.
1659. 20 births: Elizabeth daughter of John Shirt is the only one entered as also "baptised." 19 burials: Shirt, Lindley, Hewite, Scorer, "Rich: Brodley, Minister." 5 or 6 marriages, one in which both are of the Parish of Woolley: a Mosley and a Burgon, of Cawthorne.
1660. No less than 36 burials, nearly all given as daughters and sonnes, show the exceptional mortality this year among the young: nearly every family name in the Parish appears. 28 births, with the word "baptized" becoming more and more frequent, as events occurring in Church and State might lead us to expect. A "Sara the daughter of Henery Skines, Minister, was baptized Sept. 20th," omitting the date of birth. Only three of the six people married belong to this Parish, the three brides.
1661. 23 baptisms or births, the word baptized now becoming the usual word, and "borne" the exception, a Dixon, Bramall, Turton, Mockson and a few more, having the latter word only. 15 burials: Longley, Thorp, Silverwood, Hargreaves, &c.. Three marriages, a Blagborne, Addey, Sickes, Robucke, Littlewood, &c..
This summary has been given as showing the prevailing surnames and giving some idea of the population at the time. It is not beyond hope that at some time the complete Register may be printed. In 1663 the entries begin to be made in Latin, evidently by Mr. Walbanke, who signs the pages as "Registrarius," his first entry of a marriage having "bannis ter publicatis" and also "per licentiam."
The heading becomes "Weddinges" in 1670, and in 1667 "buried" takes the place of "sepult: fuere," which is used of each separate burial: "Maria uxor Nicholae Bodin sepult. fuere:" while the good old word "Christeninges" comes in in 1665. It is only seldom that the name of both parents is given: "1670. Elizabeth daughter of ​"Mr. John Allott and Elizabeth Allott of Baraby Hall." "Mary the daughter of Mr John Allott and Elizabeth Allott of Barnby Hall was borne April the 4th, 1672, and Babtized (sic) April the 25th."
1673. "Barnby the sonn of Nich. Bowden Esqre. was buried July the 10th."
1674. "Thomas Bowden Esq. and Elizabeth Allot married December the 22nd."
1679, 80: Children are mentioned of a Robert Duckenfeild Esqr., while Willm. Greene is given as "gent," and Thomas and Robert Bowden are given as "Mr.," as is also "Mr. George Barnby," buried in 1683; at the close of that year William Littlewood signs his name as Churchwarden and Thomas Fawley makes "his mark."
The names of Oley, Senyor, Longley, Firth, are now frequently found.
Though not an extract from the Register, it may be mentioned here, that, in 1682, John Turner, of Cawthorne, a Quaker, was charged at Barnsley with being absent from Church for three Sundays: when requested to find sureties, he refused, and was committed to York Castle.
"Mr. Gervis Armitidge and Priscilla Bosvile marid March the 21," 1687. Mr. Thomas Alcocke buried, 1687: Mr. Willm. Barnby, 1688; Mr. Michael Wheatley baptized, 1689; Mr. Godfrey Copley and Mrs. Mary Allott married 1689, also William Bramham and Mrs. Rebecca Wolrich; Mrs. Ann Wheateley baptd., 1692; the names of Clegg, Looks, Beever, are found. In 1691, Mr. Robert Wagstaffe and Martha Moorhouse are married; the names of Exley, Rowley, Cawthorne, Rich, Fish, Dorothy daughter of Dr. Wheatley, Thornaley. John Burdet and Mary Wortley married, 1699; Mary Barnby buried, 1703; John Sykes and Mary Barnby married, 1703; signed by Tho. Cockshutt, minister; John Taylor, Matthew Littlewood, Churchwardens.
In 1704, there is a Wadsworth (of Hoyland-Swaine) baptism, and the Register begins to give the date when those who were privately baptized were "Publickly received into the Church." In 1706, Ann, ​daughter of John Wordsworth, baptized. Edward Smithson and Timothy Fawley sign as Churchwardens in 1710. Issachar, son of John Wordsworth bapt. 1711; the names of Chappell, West, Wood, Milner, Lockwood, Swift, now occurring. Elizabeth daughter of Mr. Alexander Banes baptd., 1716: Tim: Fawley and Rich: Bramhall Churchwardens. An entry in 1717 is "Daniel, a son of Thomas Brook, a Quaker, born and named, I am told, in their way." In 1718 we find the occupation given in one or two instances; "mason" after John Swift, "woodcutter" after John Bostwick. In 1728 is an entry "John, son of Richard Priest of Denby (a quondam Quaker), "ye child about two years old baptized." When the occupations begin —about 1744—to be generally given, we find "collier," "weaver," "wood-collier," "clothier," "yeoman," &c. The names occur of Wigglesworth, Eastwood, Ashton, Greenwood, Marsden (joiner), Jubb, Moxon, weaver; Chapel, collier; Taylor and Turner, clothiers; Moakson, weaver; Burgon, shoemaker; Smith, tanner; Caleb Moakson, butcher (1749); Clegg, farmer; Dransfield, tanner; West, farmer; Longley, shoemaker; Bramhall, clothier.; Taylor, hatter; Shaw, weaver; Willm. Sadler, groom; George Shooter, keeper: John Milner, wright; Richard Pagett, soldier; (1762) Joseph Barrowclough; Edward Wilcock (1763), cooper; Ibberson, weaver; Charlesworth, clothier; Kay, serge-weaver; Jonathan Tyas, blacksmith (1772); Joshua Charlesworth, tanner; Hardcastle, husbandman; Judah Hinchliffe, butcher (1795); Johnson, miller; Fisher, gamekeeper; Bell, groom; Staton; Thornley, tammy-weaver; Hinchliffe, mason; George Schofield, blacksmith (1798); David Roberts, cordwainer; John Batley, gardener; English, farmer; Dyson, weaver; Wigglesworth, farmer; Barlow, tailor; Wilcock, wood-valuer; Hawksworth, nailmaker; Morley, joiner.
The above are gathered as examples of names and occupations in the latter half of the last century.
It is a tradition, that, when the present Mr. Stanhope's grandfather succeeded to the property about a hundred years ago, there was a remarkable correspondence between the names and occupations of many connected with the house and estate: the housekeeper, Mrs. Pickle; the gardener, Mr. Peach; the huntsman, Thomas Beat​—from whose name comes "Beat House;" the whipper-in, William Spurr; a groom, William Sadler; the game-keeper, George Shooter; a keeper, George Fisher. Nearly all these names are found in the Register.
It is impossible to tell why some entries occur of those not belonging to the Parish: "Eliza, dr. of Thos. Ownsworth of Falthwaite," baptd. 1769. In the early part of last century many marriages are entered of these who neither of them resided in the Parish: "Mr. Hugh Bosvile of Gray's Inn in ye County of Middlesex and Mrs. Bridget Bosseville of Gunthwaite in ye Parish of Penistone marryd by me Thomas Cockshutt at their own Chappell at Midhop by virtue of licence," 1725: Mr. Cockshutt signs the page as "Vicar of Peniston and Minister of Cawthorne."
"Mr. Willm. Shuttleworth of Horrocksford in the County Palatine of Lancaster and Mrs. Christiana Spencer of Cannon Hall: Dec. 2: 1748."
" Mr. Walter Stanhope, of Leeds, merchant, and Mrs. Ann Spencer of Cannon Hall, Jan. 26, 1748-9."
"Mr. John Radclyffe, Clerk, and Mrs. Mary Green," 1753; "John Greame Esq. of Bridlington and Alicia Maria Spencer of this Parish, 1756."
An entry in 1726 is the burial of Ann Robucke, "an antient unmarryd woman." Mrs. Dorothy Staniforth is described (1726) as "the Rev. Mr. Shirt's daughter." A husband and wife are both buried the same day, John Bolton and Elizabeth {1726); some few are entered as "poor strangers," and a William Taylor (T730) as "basket maker." The Rev. Thos. Cockshutt, in 1739; Mr. John Thorp, late of Tickhill, 1759; Mr. Benj. Dutton, Barnby Hall, 1774; Rev. Wm. Rowley, of Flashhouse, 1775; John Spencer, of Cannon Hall, Esqre., Nov. 17, 1775; Rev. John Radclyffe, clerk, 1776; "Thomas Rowley, gentleman," 1790. The entries of 1799 include the names of West, Staton, Clegg, Hawksworth, "Ned" Greenwood's wife, Turton, Iberson, Mosley, Schofield, Wilcock, Pashley, Roberts, Hinchliffe, Wood, Taylor, Barlow, Dyson, English, Eastwood, Blackburn, Milnes, Hemingway, Burgon.
​The following is a record in the Register:
"January ye xxxth, 1672.
"Paid into the hands of the present Churchwardens and Overseers for this yeare the sume of Tenn Poundes left by William Greene of Micklethwaite, gent., for ye use of the poor of ye Parish of Cawthorne. William Robucke, John Robucke."
There is also "A Copy of ye Order or Decree by which Thomas Cockshutt, Minister of Cawthorne, was empowered and authorised to erect a Loft in ye Church of Cawthorne, 1730.
"John Audley, Doctor of Laws, Vicar generall and official principall of ye Most Reverend Father in God Lancelot [Blackburne] by Divine Providence Lord Arch-Bishop of York, Primate of England and Metropolitan, To our well-beloved in Christ Thomas Cockshutt, Clerk, Vicar of Cawthorne, within ye County and Diocese of York greeting:
"Whereas we lawfully proceeding have lately issued out a Citation under ye seal of our office against all and singular ye Parishioners and Inhabitants of and within ye said Parish of Cawthorne to appear in York Minster on a certain day now elapsed, to show cause, if they had or knew any, why an order should not be granted to build a Loft or Gallery in ye said Parish Church of Cawthorne according to ye dimensions hereafter specified, which said Citation hath been duly published in ye said Church, certified and returned in open Court, where ye said Inhabitants being thrice publicly called and none appearing to show cause to ye contrary, We have decreed and do by these presents grant this our order unto you ye said Thomas Cockshutt, Clerk, to erect and build, or cause to be erected and built, a convenient Loft or Gallery near ye Belfry of the said Church, to contain in length twenty feet and in breadth seventeen feet or thereabouts, for the use of ye Parishioners and Inhabitants of ye said Parish, to sit, kneel, and hear Divine Service and sermons in, Requiring that no person whatsoever attempt to molest or disturb you ye said Thomas Cockshutt, Clerk, in ye erecting or building of ye Loft or Gallery aforesaid, pursuant to this our order. And what ye shall do or cause to be done in and about ye premises, you shall certify Us as soon as conveniently may ​be, together with these presents. Given at York under ye Seal of our office, this nineteenth day of August, in ye year of our Lord one Thousand seven hundred and thirty.
"Concordat cum decreto, Tho. Jubb, Regrarii Dep..
"Extract. p. C. Clapham.
"Mathew White, James Oates, John Rowley, and Benjamin Micklethwait certify it as a true copy."
Then follows an allotment of "the seats, pews, or closets therein" to those who have "paid their due proportion towards ye expense of erecting ye said Loft upon condition of their having seats granted to themselves, their heirs, or assignes for ever. Front seat on north side, John Rowley; 2, to John Micklethwaite and Thos. Street; 3, to Emor Rich and Thos. Hemingway; 4, to Mrs. Grammar; 5, to Mr. James Oates (transferred to Mr. Robt. Fretwell in 1738); 6, to John Longley and Rich. Fish. On the south side: 1, reserved to myself (it cost me about £4); 2, to Thomas Woffendin and William Taylor; 3, to John Shirt; 4, to Thomas Smith; 5, to John Armitage; 6, to Joseph Armfield. (Signed) Thomas Cockshutt, Minister of Cawthorne, in presence of us John Rohuck, Clark; Benjamin Sykes, Churchwarden; Daniel Rowley, John Rowley, Thomas Smith."
There is an entry in 1712 signed by "all ye freeholders and owners of ye Tythes of Cawthorne" consenting for themselves "and all their posterity" to the minister and his family having "a seat or Pew in ye Quire or Chancell next behind where ye Clark sits," as "he has now no seat in our Church for ye use of his family." It is signed by W. Wentworth, Godfr. Boseville, John Spencer, W. Greene, John Grammer, Will. Beaumont, Wm. Thorpe, Ro. Lacock, Mary Scoray, John Wainwright, John Rowley, John Lindley, Thomas Walton, Josias Micklethwait, Thomas Dickson, George Dixon, John Morton, William Smith, Martha Wagstaffe, Thomas Dickson junr., Jonathan Roebuck. **** Not in the Register Books, but in a separate parchment Deed, dated April 8th, 1811, there is an "Agreement among the Proprietors ​"of Pews, seats, and sittings in Cawthorne Church, for new pewing the same and making other alterations." It is signed by Tho. Rich. Beaumont, Diana Beaumont, W. Spencer Stanhope, Francis Fawkes, Wm. Bosville, Abraham Thompson, Thomas West, Edmund Paley, James Wigglesworth, Jonathan Wood, senr., John Beatson, Judah Hinchliffe, John Lisle, John Taylor, John Lindley, John Rowley. It represents the present sittings as being "very much out of repair and "in a very ruinous state and condition, and the plan and situation. thereof ill adapted for the purposes intended, and for the convenience of persons attending Divine Service there." It then goes on to appoint a Committee consisting of the Vicar, the Churchwardens, Walter Spencer Stanhope, Thomas West, Samuel Thorp of Banks Hall, Charles Bowns of Darley Hall, John Howson of Cannon Hall, George Keir of Barnsley, John Beatson and Thomas Eyre of Cawthorne: these are to carry out the alterations, to assess the amount the several contributors are to pay, and to appoint a Committee to award the several pews or sittings, the said award to be proclaimed in Church on the Sunday after it is made.
The Award is dated November 1st, 1816, and is signed by most of the above, Mr. Buee signing as vicar, John Livesley and Elijah Moxon as churchwardens. It contains a Parchment Plan which shows the alterations which have been made. Beside the re-seating, they seem to have opened out the little window at the east of the north aisle (now St. Wilfrid) and made a vestry there, and to have closed up the entrance to the Belfry from the inside of the Tower, making the entrance with a small porch from without. The Award assigns 16 pews to Walter Spencer Stanhope; 5 to Thomas Richard Beaumont and Diana his wife, Lord and Lady of the Manor of Cawthorne; 4 to Francis Fawkes; 3 to the Hon. Godfrey Bosville; others to Thomas West, John Beatson, John Lindley of Jowet-house, John Rowley of Flash-house, to John Livesley and Elijah Moxon and their successors as Churchwardens ("near the Gallery stairs"); to David Hinchliffe, Butcher, Cawthorne Lanes; Thomas Milnes, Farmer; John Lisle, Yeoman; John Hunt, Shopkeeper; the Schoolmaster of Cawthorne of the School erected in the Church or Chapel yard and his successors; Joseph Clarkson of Cawthorne Lanes, Farmer, and others.
​These alterations in the Church were made when it consisted of a Nave, North Aisle, and Chancel. The enlargement by the addition of a South Aisle was not made until 1828. The following is a copy of the inscription which used to be in the South Aisle:
"Cawthorne Church.
"In the year 1828, the enlargement of this Church was commenced, and it was finished in the year 1829, by the addition of a new South Aisle. The expense of the work was defrayed by voluntary subscriptions, the sale of additional new pews, and by a Grant of ₤150 from the Society for the Enlargement and Building of Churches and Chapels [i.e., Chapels of Ease]. 157 additional sittings have been obtained in the South Aisle, 60 of which are appropriated and 97 unappropriated. There are also eleven unappropriated sittings, designed for children, under the West Gallery; 82 in the Tower of the Church; 10 in the Chancel, situate on the south side of the Font; the whole of the Pew adjoining the west side of the Pulpit and Reading Desk, consisting of sixteen sittings. These together make a total of 276 sittings; and in consequence of the said Grant from the Society for Promoting the Enlargement and Building of Churches and Chapels, 216 of that number are hereby declared to be free and unappropriated for ever. The Chancel of this Church was also at the same time rebuilt by the Churchwardens out of the Rate.
"The Rev. Charles Spencer Stanhope, Minister.
"John Emanuel Nichols, } Churchwardens."
"John Dransfield,
In the above accounts of the erection of the Gallery, the reseating of the Nave and the North Aisle, and the enlargement of the Church by the building of the South Aisle, we see how the system of private rights to particular pews and seats crept in under the protection of a Faculty, in contravention of the common law by which "every parishioner is entitled to a seat in his Parish Church, at the discretion of the Churchwardens." By the Church being made, since its Restoration, entirely free and unappropriated, it has been restored to the freedom from private rights to any particular seats, which the old common law of the land assigns to it, "in the absence of any Faculty," i.e., any special license from "the Ordinary," the Bishop.
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