Goldthorpe
Goldthorpe was described as a hamlet in the township and parish of Bolton upon Dearne.
Goldthorpe Lane Ends also a hamlet in the township and parish of Bolton upon Dearne
Goldthorpe, Doncaster Road c1965
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection.
Interesting fact
The Church of St John and St Mary Magdalene, Goldthorpe was designed in 1914 by Arthur Nutt for Charles Lindley Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax. Goldthorpe was the first concrete church, in Italian Style, effective in the distance with its campanile crowned with a clock. The pulpit was carved with cherubs, foliage and figures of the Four Evangelists. 2nd Viscount Halifax was presented with a Ceremonial Key on the occasion of his opening the Church of St. John and St. Mary, Goldthorpe, on 15 June 1916. This Key was in a glass case containing other family heirlooms and keepsakes at Hickleton Hall. The contents of the case were stolen on the night before the funeral of 2nd Viscount Halifax, 22/23 Jan 1934. The Key was thus lost, until it was found again in an antique dealer's shop in the King's Road, London, by one of the curates serving St. Mary's, Bourne Street, who gave it to Mrs. Hugh Sutton, daughter of 2nd Viscount Halifax, in June 1958. It was given by her to her brother, 1st Earl of Halifax. None of the other pieces stolen from the case in Jan 1934 were found.
The Italianate style and use of reinforced concrete were highly unusual for an Anglican church. In the 1990s, acid rain began to leach through the concrete and the metal inside began to rust. The Grade-II listed church also suffered from a leaking roof. The significant repair bill was beyond local means but the Heritage Lottery Fund has paid for vital repairs.
In September 2008, two Sienese panels dating from the 15th century were recovered in the church. The two paintings had been hanging for years in the Lady Chapel, an area of the church where it was very difficult to appreciate their worth. It seems that no one considered these works could have an important value.
Christie’s auction house were consulted who sought advice from Everett Fahy of the Metropolitan Museum of New York.
The five-foot panels were identified as the work of Italian artist Sano di Pietro.
The paintings are now (December, 2008) on display at York Art Gallery until March 31, after which they will be on show at York Minster.
The famous preacher S. Bernardino of Siena was the most prominent figure in the religious life of Italy during the early Renaissance, and was also the chief instrument in restoring, through the Strict Observance movement, the purity of the Franciscan Order, of which he may be styled the Second Founder. Source:
The second Viscount Halifax, Charles Lindley Wood (1839-1934), was lay leader of the catholic revival in the Church of England. He led the defense of catholic principles through lobbying, speaking, and writing as President of the English Church Union, the first modern interest group in the Church of England. Halifax was a key ecclesiastical politician who exercised unofficial political authority and thereby modeled and legitimated new models of lay authority in the Church of England. Source: The Viscount Halifax and the Transformation of Lay Authority in the Church of England (1865-1910)
The current Earl of Halifax said his great grandfather, the 2nd Viscount, Charles Lindley Wood, donated the paintings and also provided most of the furnishings for the Church of St John and St Mary Magdalene.
©2004