St Peter's Church, Barnburgh is a
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...
of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
situated at the centre of the village of
Barnburgh
Barnburgh is a village and civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. The village is adjacent to the village of Harlington - the parish contains both villages, and according to the 2001 census it had a population of 1, ...
, near
Doncaster
Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
in
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...
. Famous for the
legend
A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...
of the 'Cat and Man', the church serves the communities of Barnburgh and
Harlington.
Construction
St Peter's consists of a
tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
of four stages surmounted by a small, squat
spire
A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...
, a
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
with north and south
aisle
An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...
s, a
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
with a north aisle or chapel, and a porch. The church is built of a mixture of sandstone and magnesium limestone.
Although there has been a church on this site since AD, nothing remains of the original church.
There is a private
chantry chapel
A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings:
# a chantry service, a set of Church service, Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or
# a chantr ...
north of the chancel for the Cresacre family, whose males were lords of Barnburgh from the 13th to the 16th century. Most of this chapel is taken up by the tomb of Sir Percival Cresacre (who died in 1477) and his wife, Alice (died 1450).
Cat and Man Legend
The Cat and Man Legend tells of events said to have occurred before the 15th century. There was formerly a hall at Barnburgh which was in the possession of the Cresacre family. According to the legend, a knight of the Cresacre family (reputedly Sir Percival Cresacre, but this is disputed)
Legend of Cat and Man
Given the likelihood that wildcats had become extinct in this area by the time of Sir Percival Cresacre, it has been suggested that the events happened much earlier. was returning home late on the heavily wooded track from Doncaster
Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
through Sprotborough
Sprotbrough and Cusworth is a civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, with most of its settlements on the western edge of the Doncaster built-up area. It lies between and to the west of Doncaster and is split by the ...
and High Melton
High Melton is a village and civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 339 in 2001, reducing to 300 at the 2011 Census.
History
In August 2019, 13 men and women fell ill after accidentally inges ...
.
As he was approaching Barnburgh, a wildcat
The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...
(or a lynx
A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...
) sprang out of the branches of a tree and landed on the back of his horse. The horse threw its rider to the ground and fled. The cat then turned on the knight and there followed a long and deadly struggle between the two which continued all the way from Ludwell Hill to Barnburgh.
After fighting the cat the mile's distance to the village of Barnburgh, the knight made for the porch of St Peter's Church, presumably to try to get inside the church and close the door on the animal. The fight had been so fierce, however, that Sir Percival fell dying in the church porch and, in his last, dying struggle, stretched out his feet and crushed the cat against the wall of the porch.
Thus, the legend goes, the cat killed the man and the man killed the cat. They were found sometime later by the search party that went out after the knight's horse had returned home riderless.
Stones in the floor of the porch of St Peter's are tainted with red. There is also a cat at the feet of the Cresacre effigy in the north aisle of the church.
See also
*Grade I listed buildings in South Yorkshire
There are 62 Grade I listed buildings in South Yorkshire, England. In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significan ...
*Listed buildings in Barnburgh
Barnburgh is a civil parish in the metropolitan borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The parish contains 16 Listed building#England and Wales, listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, ...
References
External links
Barnburgh and Harlington WebsiteDiocese of Sheffield
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnburgh, Saint Peter's Church
Church of England church buildings in South Yorkshire
Grade I listed churches in South Yorkshire