Diameter: 18" Bell 1 of 1
Founded by Samuel I Smith 1690
Dove Bell ID: 56222 Tower ID: 21356 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Kirk Sandall: St Oswald
Diocese of Sheffield
CCT Church
http://www.stoswaldskirksandall.co.uk/index.htmOverview
Grid reference: SE 609 81
First mentioned in the Domesday book, St Oswald church retains some Saxon and Norman fabric. The building is made up of material from different times, reflecting its history. It is small and compact and of a rather unusual massing as a result of the tower rising from the slope of the south aisle roof directly above the porch. The church lies half a mile to the north-west of the village on the edge of a canal which forms a navigable parallel to the River Don.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Nave with north and south aisle, tower over part of south aisle, north vestry, chancel with north chantry chapel.
Dimensions:
Nave 27ft 6in by 16ft
Aisles each 8ft wide
Chancel 18ft by 11ft
Chantry chapel 20ft 6in by 18ft .
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was mentioned in Domesday Book. The west wall shows some Saxon work and there are two Norman windows and a Norman doorway in the south aisle. The arcades are thirteenth - century, the west window of c. 1310. The chantry chapel north of the chancel dates from soon after the death of Archbishop Rokeby in 1521. The tower was shortened and finished with a pyramidal tiled cap in 1935 , E.H. Walker and M. Thompson being the architects and William Anelay of York builders . Previously it had a parapet and pinnacles and Y - traceried bell - openings , all apparently of 1828. The church was restored in 1864 by J.M. Teale, Anelay of York builders, at a cost of £291.
Exterior Description
The body of the church is small and compact and of rather unusual massing as a result of the tower rising from the slope of the south aisle roof directly above the porch. The two - light south aisle window close by on the right, with a trefoil as tracery, is entirely of 1864 but said to be an accurate copy of what was there before. The east wall of the aisle has a small Norman light , and this goes with the south doorway within the porch, with one order of shafts carrying moulded capitals and an arch with two slight chamfers and with the west window of the aisle, which is also a small Norman light. Quoins in the east and west walls of the nave, however, show that the substance of the nave is older still. The west nave window is of c.1310, of three lights with intersecting tracery, and there are bands of herringbone masonry in the wall which suggest Saxon origins for the building. The north aisle is separated by a buttress on a moulded plinth, much more sophisticated and Perpendicular in style. The masonry is ashlar and the window has two lights with four - centred heads and recessed spandrels but no label, the corner is a diagonal buttress ahd beyond this lies the vestry, linking the church visually with the brick cottage to the north - west.
The exterior of the chancel is relatively insignificant, with a three - light square - headed east window and two smaller square - headed windows in the south wall and a simple parapet with moulded edge. The chantry chapel on the north is much more dominant, extending further east and altogether on a larger scale. It is, moreover, ashlar faced rather than rubble built, and was evidently intended to impress. The east facade has a wide five - light window (blocked since the eighteenth century but still with its original stanchions and saddlebars in places and fragments of old glass embedded in the mortar of the tracery lights). The base of the wall stands over a heavily moulded plinth and there are substantial angle buttresses which formerly rose above the embattled parapet into pinnacles, but these have long been missing. In the space between the head of the window and the parapetted gable is a carved shield of arms of a Bishop, doubtless that of Archbishop Rokeby under whose will the chapel was erected (he died in 1521). Above this is an empty statue niche in the centre of the parapet. The north wall of the chapel is of two bays, each with a four - light window with panel tracery and moulded label, and the design of the plinth and buttresses is continued from the east wall. The lower moulding of the parapet has small carved florets at intervals .
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1950
The east window shows Christ the Saviour flanked by St. Oswald and St Hilda, by Powell of Whitefriars
Stained Glass
1950
Chancel south window, two lights St. Patrick and St. Columba. By Powell of Whitefriars.
Stained Glass
North chapel , west window of north wall: four lights of early sixteenth - century glass, all fragmentary and jumbled up. The first light from the west includes the three - quarter length figure of a female saint holding a sword and an open book, the head being an especially fine piece of glass painting The lower part contains a collection of canopy pieces, drapery and foliage. The second light contains the head of a bishop, large drapery pieces, canopies and part of an inscription " Oswald ", the lower panel with the identifiable remains of a figure with a lily - pot, doubtless part of an Annunciation scene. The third light contains the three - quarter length figures of a bearded saint holding a sword and a purso, pieces of inscription and a medly of fragments in the background. In the lower panel further fragments of various but interesting glass. The fourth light contains the most complete figure , of St. Margaret , with a splendid green dragon at her feet. The lower panel contains assorted pieces of drapery, canopies and part of a tracery panel shpwing St. Christopher. The
glass was originally in the east window of the chapel.
Stained Glass
1870
South aisle east window: one small light showing St Oswald
Stained Glass
1950
South aisle south window: two lights showing St Ninian and St Aidan. By Powell of Whitefriars
Building Materials
Stone
Walls are generally of stone rubble
Ashlar
Rokeby chapel walls
Tile
Nave and tower roof
Lead
Chancel and chapel roof
Interior
Interior Description
The stonework of the interior walls is left exposed, and the scale of the building is quite small. The south porch leads into the narrow south aisle under the tower, which is supported on massive oak beams, and thence under the south arcade into the nave. The arcades are of two bays with semi - circular responds and round arches carried mid - way on octagonal piers with square bases and capitals. The arches are quite undecorated, even by chamfers. Some disturbance of the masonry above the arches of the north arcade suggests that there may once have been a clerestory, but all trace of this has vanished. The roof is nineteenth century and of simple scissor - braced design. Otherwise there is little to say of the nave, save that the windows stand within plain reveals, the later windows with simple mouldings (for example in the north aisle) at the shoulders and there is a piscina with a round arch and square drain in the south aisle. The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders and is now filled by a timber screen. This was formerly across the arch between the chancel and the Rokeby chapel, and another screen of similar date and style still closes the eastern arch of the north aisle which opens into the chapel. The chancel is small, again with unplastered walls, and with a floor paved with stone slabs and tiles one step lower than the nave. The east window and two south windows are all filled with relatively modern stained glass and choir stalls have been removed to make more space. A piscina with square drain and aumbry seem to have been entirely renewed in 1938 .
The chantry chapel built shortly after 1521 is without doubt the most refined part of the building, and is approached from the north aisle or chancel through arches with mouldings which carry through rudimentary moulded capitals to the floor, The north wall is arcaded below the windows, with cusped heads to the blind orches, and the scheme is interrupted under the eastern of the two windows by Archbishop Rokeby's tomb chest under a canopy. The east window has long been blocked by a monument commemorating a death in 1699. The organ has now been removed to another church and the improvement to the appearance of the chapel is considerable. The floor is mostly made up of ledger slabs and the roof, which seems basically to be contemporary, with foliage carving at the inter sections of the moulded beams and a prudent central boss , may have been somewhat restored. It is difficult to tell without closer inspection, but the colour of the timber seems rather fresh - this might be the result only of rather energetic restoration . Each side of the east window are damaged niches for images with carved canopies sheared off flush with the wall.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
1930s
Yellow oak, substantial with trraceried panels on the front
Pulpit
1864
Oak, three sides of an open octagon with tracery
Lectern
1864
Oak pedestal
Font (object)
Late Norman
The font is plain, massive and circular
Rail
quite modern, of ook with turned baluster uprights
Bells
Churchyard
Grid reference: SE 609 81
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
The churchyard has war graves.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | N/A |
| Solar Thermal Panels | N/A |
| Biomass | N/A |
| Wind Turbine | N/A |
| Air Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ev Charging | N/A |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
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