ORIGINAL SAXON CHURCH IN BARLICK

[Stanley]

ORIGINAL SAXON CHURCH IN BARLICK

09 October 2008
Two things have struck me recently whilst digging through the evidence for a church. One of the sections of the account given by Serlo to Hugh of Kirkstall reads: When the abbot and his monks arrived in Barlick they found there ‘a church, very ancient and founded long before with four parochial vills, to wit Marton and another Marton, Bracewell and Stock besides the vill of Barnoldswick and two small vills appertaining, Elfwynetrop (possibly Coates Township) and Brogden of which the monks were by this time in possession, after removal of the inhabitants’. Serlo describes Bracewell in 1147 specifically as a ‘parochial vill’ of Barnoldswick in the context of belonging to ‘a church, very ancient and founded long before’ it’s hard to see how there could have been a church at that time. The church web site says: ‘Originally built in 1143 to serve as a chantry chapel for the Tempest family, St Michael's became the parish church in 1153.’ The official date of build for Gill is 1157. Serlo also said: ‘The place of our habitation at first was called Bernolfwic (also Barnolfswet) which we called by a changed name – The Mount of St Mary. We remained there for several years, suffering many discomforts of cold and hunger, partly because of the inclemency of the air and the ceaseless trouble of the rain, partly because, the kingdom being in a turmoil, many a time our possessions were wasted by brigands. The site of our habitation therefore displeased us, and the abbey was reduced to a grange.’
The question is what does ‘several years’ mean. The fact that Bracewell was made a parish church in 1153 looks like the abbot deciding that as they were leaving ‘Bernolfwyc’ they had to make provision for worship and so designated the Tempest’s chantry chapel as parish church for the whole of the manor. This was obviously too far away to be the regular place of worship for the inhabitants of Barlick and so a new church was built in 1157 at Gill. This gives as a possible rational explanation for the siting of Gill on the opposite edge of Barnoldswick, it would make perfect sense in terms of maximum coverage. Reinforcing this is the fact that Thornton in Craven church wasn’t built until 1200 and so Gill would serve a dual purpose. This is all supported by the fact that Kirkstall Abbey was founded and ready for the monks to move from Barlick On May 19th, 1152. Not surprisingly they dedicated the new monastery to the Virgin Mary.
Another thing of interest is the fact that the original Saxon church at Thornton in Craven was built near the site of the 1200 church next to a holy well in the church grounds which fits neatly with my suggestion that Barlick’s original church was built near what is now called St Mary’s Well. One more thing in this context. I walked down Shitten Ginnel today and kept my eyes open. I was struck by the amount of squared stone littered about in the bed of Calf Hall Beck and the immediate vicinity.