St Barnabas
Ranskill, Nottinghamshire
The village of Ranskill dates back to the 9th century.
It was a daughter house of St Katherine’s of Rouen and French monks were sent there. During the early middle ages Blyth become busy, populous and prosperous, an important town in the county. At Blyth Priory, where kings with their large retinues often stayed, there was a guest hall for the entertainment of strangers as well as apartments for poor travellers.
From the end of the 13th century the Priory church was extended and reorganised in order to meet the demand of the Blyth population for greater independence. By 1476 parish and Priory worshipped separately in the great church, with a new dividing east wall freshly decorated by ‘doom’ images of judgement day, and a second bell tower for the parish at the west end.
There is much to see in this stunning church, including the recently uncovered and extremely rare Doom painting.