I started this series of articles to present my case for the site of the original church so cruelly taken away from us in about 1150. We know approximately where St Mary's Well is and roughly where the Cistercians set up their new monastery, in the field opposite the end of Shitten Ginnel on the other side of Calf Hall Lane. We know the original church was close enough to the monastery to disturb the monks. We assume that the major centre of settlement then was the area at Townhead around the bottom of Esp Lane. Therefore, if all my assumptions are right, the site must have been in the fields between Townhead and Calf Hall Lane. There is also the matter of the two bridges over the beck in the field to the south of Pickles Hippings, one of which has collapsed recently. I can understand one for field access but two? My strong belief is that the Saxon church was there in those fields and one of these days archaeological excavations may settle the matter once and for all. Incidentally, in one account of the demolition it was said to have been 'pulled down to the foundations'. Add to this the known fact that the first evangelists in the area before Augustine's men favoured building in stone and there is a good chance it was something better than a timber church.
The same arguments about proximity to the well and Townhead suggest that this may have been the site of any building used for Pagan rituals.
As for our main story about the clash between the Cistercians and our old Barlickers, I have little doubt they reacted bitterly against the high handed actions of the monks and that their intransigence was a major factor in the monks giving up and leaving the town in 1153. This is the only case I have ever found of the laity winning a battle against the all-conquering Cistercians, because that's what they were in the mid 12th century. They were obsessed with expansion and controlling as much land and agricultural production as possible. Monasteries were big business!
As for what happened after they left. Kirkstall Abbey kept Barlick as a grange, an outlying farm, and I think that this was the area round the original site of the monastery at Calf Hall. They also controlled Gill Church until the Dissolution in the mid 16th century and in some ways this was good for Barlick as it insulated us from some religious change. I'm sorry we lost the church but I'm glad we have this wonderful slice of history which is to the town's credit. I like these old Barlickers almost as much as the present inhabitants. They were definitely not to be messed with!
Thanks for sticking with me through all this detail. I hope it gives you a real sense of how old the town is. Pass the word on to the children!
Is there a secret in this field?
