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Rotherham Minster
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Rotherham Minster
The Minster Church of All Saints or Rotherham Minster is the Anglican minster church of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The Minster is a prominent example of Perpendicular Gothic architecture and various architectural historians have rated it highly. Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as "one of the largest and stateliest churches in Yorkshire", Simon Jenkins states it is "the best work in the county", and Alec Clifton-Taylor calls it the "glory of Rotherham". With its tall spire, it is Rotherham's most predominant landmark, and amongst the tallest churches in Yorkshire.
The church has been designated as Grade I listed since 1951 by Historic England and was granted Minster status in 2004. The minster is also one of two parish churches to have minster status in South Yorkshire, the other being Doncaster Minster.
In Saxon times, Rotherham seems to have been a place of some importance. It had a Saxon church, a market and a fair all before the Norman Conquest. The Domesday Book of 1086 records a church on the site, despite the future town only having a population of twelve households.
This small Saxon church was replaced by a much larger Norman edifice during the 12th century, similar in plan to today's Minster. This Norman church was built using Rotherham Red sandstone and decorated using Magnesium Limestone from Conisborough. It was cruciform in plan, having a chancel, nave, transepts and a low central lantern tower. Little is known about either of these two previous churches, however, the line of the old Norman roof ridge can still be seen on the western tower arch in the present church.
During the 14th to 15th centuries, the church came under the control of the Cistercian Abbeys of Rufford (Nottinghamshire) and Clairvaux (Kingdom of Burgundy), whose monks began rebuilding the church in the Gothic style, beginning with the chancel. The chancel was rebuilt in the Decorated Gothic style in the early part of the 14th century, initially as a single storey. In 1409, the vicar received a letter from Henry Bowet, Archbishop of York, granting him permission to sell indulgences to raise funds to repair and raise the tower. This must have taken some time, as the tower vault was not completed until 1420.
Construction of the new central tower and spire caused issues, for the Gothic builders used the bases of the original Norman piers to take the strain, but these were not in line with the new Gothic arms of the church, and thus the piers no longer formed a square. To cover for this, the builders decorated the intersections of the ribs with carved leaves, to disguise the awkward construction.
The main period of building was from 1480 to 1512, which includes the chancel chapel built by Thomas Rotherham, the locally born Archbishop of York, now called the 'Jesus Chapel', the nave, transepts and aisles. The chancel was also heightened with an additional storey and a new roof. By 1512, the building was essentially complete, with an aisled nave and chancel, transepts and central tower with spire.
During the English Civil War, Rotherham fell to Royalist forces. John Shaw, the English puritan minister, took refuge in the tower at Rotherham Minster during an attack by Royalist forces in January 1643 when his sermon was interrupted. Bullet holes in the roof found two hundred years later suggest they tried to flush him out, but he fled to Kingston upon Hull.
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Rotherham Minster
The Minster Church of All Saints or Rotherham Minster is the Anglican minster church of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The Minster is a prominent example of Perpendicular Gothic architecture and various architectural historians have rated it highly. Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as "one of the largest and stateliest churches in Yorkshire", Simon Jenkins states it is "the best work in the county", and Alec Clifton-Taylor calls it the "glory of Rotherham". With its tall spire, it is Rotherham's most predominant landmark, and amongst the tallest churches in Yorkshire.
The church has been designated as Grade I listed since 1951 by Historic England and was granted Minster status in 2004. The minster is also one of two parish churches to have minster status in South Yorkshire, the other being Doncaster Minster.
In Saxon times, Rotherham seems to have been a place of some importance. It had a Saxon church, a market and a fair all before the Norman Conquest. The Domesday Book of 1086 records a church on the site, despite the future town only having a population of twelve households.
This small Saxon church was replaced by a much larger Norman edifice during the 12th century, similar in plan to today's Minster. This Norman church was built using Rotherham Red sandstone and decorated using Magnesium Limestone from Conisborough. It was cruciform in plan, having a chancel, nave, transepts and a low central lantern tower. Little is known about either of these two previous churches, however, the line of the old Norman roof ridge can still be seen on the western tower arch in the present church.
During the 14th to 15th centuries, the church came under the control of the Cistercian Abbeys of Rufford (Nottinghamshire) and Clairvaux (Kingdom of Burgundy), whose monks began rebuilding the church in the Gothic style, beginning with the chancel. The chancel was rebuilt in the Decorated Gothic style in the early part of the 14th century, initially as a single storey. In 1409, the vicar received a letter from Henry Bowet, Archbishop of York, granting him permission to sell indulgences to raise funds to repair and raise the tower. This must have taken some time, as the tower vault was not completed until 1420.
Construction of the new central tower and spire caused issues, for the Gothic builders used the bases of the original Norman piers to take the strain, but these were not in line with the new Gothic arms of the church, and thus the piers no longer formed a square. To cover for this, the builders decorated the intersections of the ribs with carved leaves, to disguise the awkward construction.
The main period of building was from 1480 to 1512, which includes the chancel chapel built by Thomas Rotherham, the locally born Archbishop of York, now called the 'Jesus Chapel', the nave, transepts and aisles. The chancel was also heightened with an additional storey and a new roof. By 1512, the building was essentially complete, with an aisled nave and chancel, transepts and central tower with spire.
During the English Civil War, Rotherham fell to Royalist forces. John Shaw, the English puritan minister, took refuge in the tower at Rotherham Minster during an attack by Royalist forces in January 1643 when his sermon was interrupted. Bullet holes in the roof found two hundred years later suggest they tried to flush him out, but he fled to Kingston upon Hull.