East Midlands Barton upon Humber and its churches, North Lincolnshire

Off the tourist beat but well worth a visit.

Most people ignore Barton upon Humber as they zoom over the Humber Bridge. When the bridge opened in 1981 (late and over budget), it was the longest single span suspension bridge in the world and soon became a major tourist attraction.

Set on the south bank of the river, Barton upon Humber is an attractive small town with a long history.

The towers of Barton’s two churches can be seen from the A15. St Peter's is the oldest, dating from the C10th and has one of the best preserved Anglo-Saxon towers in England. Now no longer is use, it is in the care of English Heritage and only open on summer Sundays. After it closed, excavations revealed a major Anglo-Saxon cemetery with nearly 3000 burials.

The Old Vicarage is a splendid white Georgian building below the church. Its main claim to fame is that Chad Varah, the founder of the Samaritans was born here in 1911.

To the east of the church there are glimpses over the wall of brick built Tyrwhitt Hall which is C15th and the oldest building in Barton. This is now a private house and not open.

Below the church is a triangular open piece of ground with grass and trees, known as the Beck. This used to be a pond but the springs feeding it dried up and the area had become neglected and an eye sore. It has recently been restored and is, once again, an attractive pond with a family of ducks and seats.

There is a lovely view of St Mary's Church from here.

This started as a chapel of ease for St Peter’s Church. Barton was very wealthy in the Middle ages and St Mary’s was extended several times. It is now the parish church which is open daily.

The Humber has always been a major route for passenger and goods traffic and Barton was a major port with Barton Haven provided safe anchorage for ships.

There was a ferry to Hull from the C15th until 1851. As boats got bigger, the ferry terminal moved to a specially built pier at New Holland. The service was run by coal fired paddle steamers. Crossing times could be erratic as the steamers were known to get stuck on sand banks at low tide. This was in use until the Humber Bridge was opened.

Barton was a flourishing market town in the C18th and C19th and this is reflected in the grandeur of many of its buildings. It is worth walking round Barton and Barton Civic Society produce a number of leaflets of walks around the town.

There are many splendid Georgian Houses around the Beck, Whitecross Street and Priestgate. Baysgarth House was built in 1751 for the Nelthorpe Family, important landowners in this part of Lincolnshire. The house is surrounded by parkland with mature trees. It is now a local history museum, which is open on Fridays and Saturdays. As well as period rooms and shops it also has information about local industry. It also hosts temporary exhibitions.

Victorian buildings are found around High Street and Queen’s Street. The Corn Exchange in the Market Place, Assembly Rooms (originally the Temperance Hall) and old Police Station with the Magistrates Court next to it, date from this time.

The splendid building which now houses the Salvation Army Citadel was originally a Primitive Methodist Chapel

Providence House, still standing in its own grounds on Holydyke, was built for Thomas Tombleson, one of Barton’s largest landowners. It was later used as a children's home and later as an annex by the local secondary school, before becoming the library and adult education centre. In 2024 it was all boarded up after planning permission had been granted for 16 apartments and noew office buildings,

Perhaps the most significant Victorian Building is the Wilderspin National School dating from 1844. When the school closed in 1978 it was restored as a museum. It is a typical Victoria brick built school with outside toilets, with an infant, girls and boys classrooms.

The first superintendent was Samuel Wilderspin who had very enlightened (revolutionary in fact) ideas about educating infants. This is open Thursdays - Sundays throughout the year. It is a fascinating place to visit, geared at all ages.

Barton became an important industrial centre from the C18th - C20th. Clay from along the Humber banks was used for brick and tile making. By 1900 there were 15 yards along the banks of the Humber. Now William Blyth has now reopened as a garden centre and artisan village.

The remains of the flooded clay pits can be seen all along the river banks. These are now returning to nature with reeds, wild flowers and abundant wild life. Many are nature reserves. Far Ings Nature Reserve is one of the few places in Britain the bittern can be seen and heard. It has a Visitor Centre and several walks and bird hides.

Wates' Edge Country Park and Visitor Centre is by the mouth of Barton Haven and is built on the site of a fertiliser factory. When the factory closed down this was one of the most polluted industrial sites in Britain. After a multi-million pound clean up it is now transformed into a nature reserve with ponds, reed beds, marshland, woodland and wild flower meadows. The visitor centre is open daily and has a small cafe.

For those wanting a longer walk, there is a footpath along the Humber banks from South Ferriby to Immingham.

Ropemaking was an important industry in Barton. It started as a cottage industry until John Hall built a Rope Walk here in 1801. Ropes were made for the whaling and fishing fleet in Hull. Trade grew and by the C20th ropes were being exported all over the world. The Rope Walk closed about 25 years ago and is now a craft centre and coffee shop with a fascinating display on its history. There are archive videos here.

There is an derelict windmill by the Haven. The old mill on Market Lane in the centre of Barton used to grind chalk from nearby chalk pits and barley. No longer used, it has been restored as part of the Old Mill Public House.

Industry has virtually gone. Falcon Cycles used to be made in Barton. Kimberly-Clarke had a nappy factory here which closed down in 2013, although the site has new reopened as Wrens Kitchens and is an important local employer.

Cemex UK, the cement works at nearby South Ferriby survives, despite being badly damaged in the December 2013 floods.

Now Barton upon Humber is a dormitory town with locals travelling across the Humber Bridge or to Scunthorpe for work. It still retains a strong community spirit. There are clubs and activities for everyone and the Civic Society hosts regular talks. There are Ghost Walks in the winter months. In the summer is the popular Barton Bike Night.

It is definitely worth the short detour before continuing on your way across the bridge…

 

[Eleanor]

St Mary's Church

Barton-upon-Humber has two splendid churches, St Peter's and St Mary’s, within a few hundred yards of each other. St Peter's is the oldest and has a superb Anglo-Saxon tower.

The first records for St Mary’s Church date from the C12th when it seems to have been a chapel of ease to St Peter’s Church. Barton upon Humber was a thriving town and St Mary’s Church soon grew from a simple rectangular building to a large church with side aisles, tower and its own burial ground. It became the parish church when St Peter’s was closed in 1970.

St Mary’s is a splendid building surrounded by Georgian and Victorian buildings. The tall square tower has eight pinnacles, carved balustrade round the top and tall pointed windows with pillars. Much of the detail in the carving has been lost as a result of weathering.

The nave has a clerestory roof above the later side aisles which have large perpendicular windows. There is a large south porch with a C13th pointed archway and a room above.

Inside it is a large church with a carved stone font by the door.

It is an impressive church with its wooden roof and whitewashed walls. Plain glass in most of the windows floods the church with light. At the west end, a wooden screen cuts off the base of the tower. The nave floor is a mix of the original brickwork floor and later grave slabs.

The arcade separating nave and north aisle is C12th Norman with massive round pillars with dog toothed carved arches above. The clerestory and windows were added in the C15th.

The south arcade and south aisle are later, dating from about 1300. The narrow octagonal columns have smaller pillars running up them. Apparently their waterleaf capitals are quite rare.

The only stained glass is a Victorian window in the south aisle.

The simple chancel arch has a crucifix hanging from the ceiling.

The choir has kept the Victorian choir stalls. There is a simple table altar beneath the massive east window with Gothic tracery. This has fragments of medieval glass depicting Jesus on the cross.

The floor is covered with Victorian patterned tiles with old grave slabs around the altar.

There is a lovely full size brass of Simon Seman, a vintner who was an alderman in London. He died in 1433 and his feet rest on two barrels of wine. Close to this on the wall is an unusual shaped memorial in the shape of a pillar dedicated to Jane Shipsea who died in childbirth aged 22 in 1626.

To the south of the chancel and separated from it by a lovely carved wooden screen, is the Chapel of St James the Deacon. There are carved heads at the base of the arches.

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St James the Deacon was one of the early Christian missionaries who came to York at the start of the C7th. The chapel was added in the C14th and was used as a school room in the C18th.

Next to the Chapel of St James is the C19th organ which came here from St Peter’s Church after it closed. The altar in the south aisle is dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

Opposite it in the north aisle is the Chapel of St Thomas A Becket, with a small piscina near the altar. On the window ledge is a fragment of gravestone to Faith Lowe who died in 1706, aged 23.

Near the piscina is the Victoian carved wood pulpit.

Also in the chapel is a massive treasury chest used to store processional crosses and banners. This has massive iron hinges and locks and was carved from a single oak tree trunk in the C14th or C15th.

At the back of the north aisle is the chapel of St Chad with a small altar. Many of the furnishings came from the demolished church dedicated to St Chad by Barton Haven. The people living on the Waterside were a very close knit community and had their own church.

This is a very nice parish church which has grown over the centuries and reflecting the wealth of medieval Barton. It is obviously well loved and cared for by the parishioners. It is open everyday and well worth visiting.

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[Eleanor]

St Peter's Church

This is one of the few surviving Saxon churches in England. The original tower and baptistry survive and the rest of the church is a good example of how a church grows and develops over the centuries.

A church was first built on the site in 970 with a tower flanked by a baptistry and chancel.

After the Norman Conquest, Barton became a flourishing regional centre and the tiny Saxon chancel was replaced by a Norman nave and chancel. The tower was heightened with a new belfry.

As the population of Barton grew, the church was enlarged in the C12th and C13th with side aisles and a larger chancel. Later a clerestory was added. The church was restored in the C19th and font, pews and pulpit date from this time.

Modern Barton was unable to support two large churches and St Peter’s was declared redundant. As it was architecturally such an important and significant building, it passed into the care of English Heritage.

The church was built on the site of an earlier Saxon cemetery. This continued to be used for burials until Victorian times. At the end of the C20th there was a major excavation of the cemetery and over 3000 bodies exhumed, as can be seen in these pictures taken in 1985.

These gave insight into changing burial customs as well as the health of the population. There is now a major exhibition in the nave with information boards and displays of human skeletons, coffins and some grave goods.

The Saxon tower is built of limestone rubble with gritstone corner stones, door and window surrounds and has decorative pilaster strip work. The base is Saxon although the top story was added by the Normans. On the south wall is a typical narrow round topped Saxon doorway. On the north wall is a blocked triangular topped doorway.

Windows are typical Saxon windows with either round or triangular tops and a central column. They are very different to the taller Norman windows above. At the west end is a small and very tall baptistry with small round topped windows.

The nave is tall with a clerestory. On the sides are lower battlemented side aisles and a long, battlemented chancel.

Inside it is a big church, feeling even bigger as the nave is empty. Octagonal pillars, some with carved capitals with green men support transitional arches and separate the nave and side aisles. The exhibitions are in the side aisles.

At the west end, a Saxon archway leads into the tower, still with wooden ladder giving access to the bell chamber.

Another round topped Saxon doorway leads into what was once a baptistry, but is now empty.

The font is Victorian and stands by the south door. It has carved roundels with either flowers and foliage or faces and stands on a plinth covered with brightly coloured Minton tiles. On the wall above is a big benefice board.

The carved wood pulpit is also Victorian.

At the end of the north aisle is a small, nicely carved wooden altar with a stone top.

On the wall is a medieval piscina with a green man underneath.

The beautifully carved rood screen with fan vaulted canopy is C15th and leads into the chancel.

This has heavy Victorian choir stalls which look very uncomfortable to sit on. There would be no chance of the choir dozing off during long sermons. At the far end is a carved wood altar and reredos with patterned tiles on the wall on either side.

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