Salem Wesleyan Reform Church
Barnsley, Yorkshire
The church was built in 1825, with seating for 350 people, a schoolroom and classrooms that were opened later, in 1852. It was built as an impressive town centre Congregational Chapel.
St Mary’s is a hidden gem with a wealth of heritage features. The foundations of the building date from the 8th century, when it may have been called St Helen’s. A board in the porch lists Rectors from c1180 and it was originally in the ancient parish of Silkstone. It is Grade II* listed.
St Mary's has an impressive organ case by Father Bernard Smith, who was appointed royal organ builder by King Charles II. The pipes, which were replaced, got water damaged in a leak around the year 2000 and cannot be played.
The tower was retained from the Medieval church when the current building was erected in 1822 by Woodhead and Hurst of Doncaster to double the sittings. Bodley redesigned the interior in 1870, removing galleries and creating the ornate Gothic chancel screen, the reredos and east window. Pew rents ceased at this time. Most stained glass windows were installed in the 1890s, paid for by local families, who donated other items and paid for many memorials on the walls.
The war memorial chapel was completed in 1922 to display the magnificent WWI pillar with 200 names, two special windows (one to our only woman (Dorothy Fox) on a WWI memorial in Barnsley) and the two Barnsley Pals Colours, which have been framed with permission from the Ministry of Defence.
St Mary’s Garden is an oasis next to the church and near Graham Ibbeson’s wonderful Oaks Colliery 1866 memorial to the 360+ victims and their families.
Across the road from St Mary’s is Churchfields Peace Gardens on the site of the churchyard extension, which contains hundreds of victims of the 1832 cholera pandemic. The sculpture ‘Light Lines’ placed here commemorates the centenary of 300 Barnsley men who died on 1 July 1916.
2022 is a special year for St Mary’s as it celebrates the bicentenary of the main building, consecrated on 22 October 1822, and the centenary of the war memorial chapel, dedicated on 22 October 1922. Please see separate publicity about events, everyone is welcome!