'a sumptuous small Norman church, rebuilt without any restraint'
said Nicholas Pevsner
The Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Barton-le-Street
About this church
This fascinating Grade I Listed Victorian church, possibly the third church on this site, was rebuilt in 1871 replacing the earlier mediaeval structure. Incorporating a rich, extensive and coherent decorative scheme of carved stonework from the earlier building dated to the 1160s.
The mediaeval church was constructed in the 1160s and remained largely unchanged until its demolition in 1870. Built in the Romanesque style and filled with sculpture it must have been one of the most elaborately decorated parish churches in England.
Doomsday records that there was already in the church in Barton-le-Street by 1086. The only evidence of pre-Conquest worship is the Anglo Saxon cross base in the churchyard (next to the porch).
The present church contains a unique treasury of over 250 pieces of reused late romanesque sculpture taken from the 1160’s church. This lavish and elaborate carving was created at the peak of Romanesque sculpture in Yorkshire. Although re-used in a Victorian building, it is still one of the richest and most complete Romanesque decorative schemes in Yorkshire. The Romanesque sculpture demonstrates a rich mix of artistic and stylish influences including Viking/Scandinavian pre-Conquest/Anglian, Western French and manuscript illumination
The chancel arch and the corbels in the north porch are particularly worthy of note. The porch is quite wonderfully carved, The carvings include biblical scenes, signs of the zodiac, dragons, lions, birds, beasts, demons and monsters and ‘Labours of the Months’. Some of the carvings are quite obviously new, but many of these were carefully copied from much-worn originals.
A frieze of sculpture, high on the wall, decorates the inside of the chancel. These carvings were originally outside but were brought into the chancel for preservation during the Victorian restoration. The Norman arch at the chancel entrance frames the altar, its carved capitals depict leaves with creatures running or peeping through them.
To the right of the altar is an old piscina supported by an elaborately carved small pillar. The font dates to the nineteenth century, but is constructed in an elaborate Norman style. A memorial to Hugo Francis Meynell-Ingram commemorates the benefactor who paid for the rebuilding. The splendid, colourful organ case by the Yorkshire architect Temple Moore is a lone Gothic detail in this homage to the Romanesque style, it probably came from Temple Newsam private chapel which was owned by the Meynell-Ingram family who owned the manor and land of Barton-le-Street.
To solve this multi-cache you will need to obtain the following information:
A = How many segments of red glass are there in one round window of the church porch?
B C = At what age did Ann Lund depart this life?
D = Ann Lazenby died in which month of 1929?
E F = Find the headstone of Michael Storrs Fox: How many years was he the Rector of Barton?
The cache can be found at:
N54° 09. (C+E) (F-E) (D-C)
W000° 53. A (C+E) C
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
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