Our Lady & St James
Worsbrough, Yorkshire
A small Gothic Revival design of the turn of the 20th century, built for Anglican worship and acquired for Roman Catholic use in the 1970s.
Internally, simplicity is the key. There are open pews of stained wood, no closed seats. The pulpit is of finely sculpted Caen stone and the choir stalls are delicately carved. The font is also of Caen stone and is a replacement for the original which cracked in 1879. That was made of cut and polished coal presented by local colliers. The dividing wall between the chancel and the vestry has been recently added to and carefully decorated to match the existing colour and pattern. There are beautiful encaustic tiles on the chancel floor.
The stained-glass windows are fine Victorian examples. The east window has five lights of rich and brilliant colours. Its early geometric characters depict the ‘Crucifixion and Resurrection of our Blessed Saviour’, the ‘Raising of Lazarus’, the ‘Resurrection of the Saints’, the ‘Brazen Serpent’ and the ‘Offering of Isaac’. The west window depicts the life of St Thomas. There are some fine Kempe windows in the south aisle.
The churchyard is very interesting. There are some fine tombstones and graves where local benefactors and worthies are buried. Directly opposite the church entrance is a memorial to a local disaster at Swaithe Main Pit. In December 1875, 143 people including children were killed in an explosion. Other graves bear testimony to tragic deaths including high numbers of infant deaths.