St Mary Magdelene's Church, Whiston - a photo on Flickriver

Whiston Parish Church in Rotherham, England, dates back to the 12th century. Documented evidence from the year 1188 shows that a chapel on the current site was not only being built, but belonged to the Church at Ecclesfield, Sheffield; which in turn was shown to be a possession of the Benedictine Abbey of St Wandrille, at Fontenelle in Normandy, France.

In the early days of the church, Whiston was a larger parish than it is today, but it served a much smaller population (because Whiston was an entirely rural village rather than an enclosed suburb of Rotherham). This meant that the original building that was constructed during the Norman era was of a more modest size when compared to the larger structure of today.

Whiston is believed to have acquired Parish status in 1236 and the Revd Robert de Doncaster (spelt 'Danecastre') was installed as the first Rector. In circa 1250, the Church's distinctive tower was constructed and the present, south doorway was installed - replacing an earlier (Norman) west doorway as the main entrance to the building.

By the turn of the 15th century, the church had been serving the village well for 200 years. At some point during this century (the actual date is unverified), the church was extended eastwards to create a comparatively long chancel. Secondly, a north aisle featuring a low, sloping, roof was probably built at approximately the same time.

The next major change came in 1430 when the then-Rector, Rev. Robert Ragenhill died, leaving about 10 old English marks in his will for repairs to the church. As a result, two large south windows were installed. Furthermore, two of the present church bells were hung in the tower, although it is possible that this event happened later in the 15th Century and was not, therefore, a result of the bequest from Rev. Ragenhill. Finally, a third bell was hung in the church in 1636.

The Reverend Obadiah Browne was installed as Rector in 1689 and set about a refurbishment and general tidying-up of the church over the next few decades of his ministry as part of what became a larger period of generally ill-conceived updates to the building throughout the 18th and into the 19th Century.

Many projects took place to remove old pews and install new ones (1697); erect a gallery at the west end of the nave (1762); build a new pulpit (1764) and install a new organ plus box pews (1808). Most of these installations would later be removed again. In any case, all of this was work carried out on the building in its original guise.

By the 1880s, little maintenance work had been done for 50 years and the building was once again in need of restoration. Instead, it was decided to enlarge the church in order to futureproof it. At this time the Parish of Whiston was still a large one; and the population it served would surely grow with time. Such work would also serve as a memorial to the late Revd Howard, who served as Rector in Whiston for 40 years from 1841 until 1881. The church was closed for over one year whilst the work was carried out. It was reopened and rededicated on Thursday, 11th October 1883 by the Archbishop of York. The result is the building that we have today.

Reference: www.whiston-parish-church.org.uk

Taken on: April 16, 2020

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Camera: Canon EOS 90D, f/9.0, 1/30 sec, 10mm (=0mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 90D
Lens:	EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Aperture:	f/9.0
Exposure Time:	0.033 sec (1/30)
Focal Length:	10mm (35mm equivalent: 0mm)
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 22.5 (Macintosh)
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