Rectory to the Roman Catholic Church of St Michael the Archangel and boundary wall, Hathersage, Derbyshire

Summary

A rectory to the Roman Catholic Church of St Michael the Archangel, built at the turn of the C19 to designs of 1797.

Description

A rectory to the Roman Catholic Church of St Michael the Archangel, built at the turn of the C19 to designs of 1797.

MATERIALS: the rectory is constructed of regularly coursed gritstone, with rusticated quoins and ashlar dressings, stone stacks and a stone slate roof. Windows to the principal south and east elevations are two-over-two timber sashes with horns set within flush stone surrounds.

PLAN: the rectory is roughly square on plan, with a rear porch and outshot to its north-east corner. The building adjoins the Roman Catholic Church of St Michael (listed separately) on its west side. The interior is laid out over two storeys with a cellar. It has a double pile plan, two rooms deep and wide, with the staircase to the west side of a central hallway.

EXTERIOR: the rectory is of three bays over two storeys, beneath a hipped roof with two symmetrical ridge stacks. The principal elevation faces south and features a broad ashlar plinth and quoins, and sash windows set in flush stone surrounds. The central doorway is set within a flush stone frame with keystone and imposts and features a semi-circular fanlight with radiating glazing bars above a C20 half-glazed door.

The level of the ground is lower on the east side of the building and reveals a semi-basement with a six-light barred window at ground level. Above are two sash windows to the ground and first floor. The east side of the north elevation features a single-storey stone lean-to, featuring a planked door to its west face, and casements with glazing bars within flush stone surrounds to the north and east. Evidence in the blank brickwork above suggests a gable formerly abutted the first floor. The north windows have fixed timber mullions and transoms with single opening lights. The central window to the first floor has four lights while the ground and first floor windows of the west bay have six. All have stone lintels and sills. At the centre of the ground floor is a C20 glazed timber porch with a stone plinth. The west elevation of the rectory adjoins the sacristy of the chapel. It features a small six-light stair window to the first floor and a C20 inserted window to the ground floor.

INTERIOR: the front door leads into the hallway which features arched thresholds. On the west side of the hallway an office, with door to the sacristy, features an early-C20 glazed brick fire surround with arched fireplace opening. Elsewhere, fire surrounds are modern replacements. The former kitchen features a built-in cupboard and retains a heavy stone hearth the length of the room, which has three deeply recessed square niches, the central of which is over boarded. The windows to each of the rooms on the ground floor have panelled reveals and internal shutters. The staircase features a banister in two sections, with simple turned balustrades and newel posts. Beneath is a panelled door to the cellar. The original doorways to the ground and first floor rooms feature six-panelled doors within deep, panelled surrounds with moulded architraves.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES
BOUNDARY WALL: the perimeter wall is constructed of irregularly coursed, rubble stone with flat stone coping, and marks the boundary to the grounds at the rear of the rectory and chapel.

History

A large Catholic community existed at Hathersage throughout penal times and records of secret Catholic masses at the nearby farm settlement of Nether Hirst date from the sixteenth century. The Furniss family were recusants who owned land in Hathersage, and towards the end of the C17 they provided land for a Mass House. However, it was sacked by a Protestant mob soon after it was erected in 1692.

Following the Second Catholic Relief Act of 1791, which permitted Catholic places of worship to be built in England and Wales for the first time since the Reformation, plans were drawn up for the rebuilding of the chapel as a place of Catholic worship. The plans dated 1797 also included designs for an attached rectory in a modest classical style to complement the chapel. The plans show the ground floor of the rectory was designed with a four-room plan, divided by a hallway and staircase, and that it adjoined the chapel through a sacristy linked to the nave.

Work on the buildings began in 1798 and the chapel was opened in 1806. The rectory appears to have been executed largely as planned, though the heavily moulded entrance, originally proposed to match that of the chapel, was omitted in favour of a more modest design. In 1825, the mission priest, George Jinks, built a coach house in the grounds to the north of the chapel and rectory, which was converted into a garage during the late-C20 or early-C21.

Evidence in brickwork to the rear (north) elevation of the rectory suggests that a gabled outshot previously abutted the main house at its north-east corner and that this was replaced by the present lean-to structure. Alterations were also made to the interior in the C20. The kitchen was relocated, though the hearth was retained in its original position. The rear rooms on the first floor were subdivided and some modern fixtures and fittings were introduced.

Reasons for Listing

The Rectory to the Church of St Michael the Archangel is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an elegant example of a late-C18 rectory, designed with high quality materials and detailing which complement the adjoining Church of St Michael the Archangel;
* for the survival of interior detailing, including stonework to the former kitchen and good quality joinery and chimneypieces.

Historic interest:

* as an early example of a purpose-built Catholic rectory designed in tandem with the Church of St Michael the Archangel following the Second Catholic Relief Act of 1791, which permitted Catholic places of worship to be built in England and Wales for the first time since the Reformation.

Group value:

* it forms a cohesive contemporary grouping with the adjoining Church of St Michael the Archangel, which is listed Grade II* in its own right.

External Links

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