Heptonstall has two churches within one graveyard. Towards the centre of the village are the ruins of the Church of St Thomas a’ Becket built between 1256 and 1260.
Following a fierce storm in 1847 the west face of the tower fell away. Some measure of repair took place and the church remained in use up to 1854 when the present church, St Thomas the Apostle, was completed at a cost of £7,000. A decision was taken to dismantle parts of the old church to make it safe and preserve its shell. It became a listed building in 1980.
It served the spiritual needs of that part of the South Pennines as Heptonstall became an important centre in the cottage industry of hand-loom weaving.In the graveyard, between the ruin and the new church, is the grave of David “King” Hartley (1729-1770), leader of the notorious Cragg Vale Coiners, whose counterfeiting racket saw him being hunted down and eventually facing the gallows at York, hanged for counterfeiting in 1770. The story was told in last year’s BBC drama series The Gallows Pole.
Enroute the moors were spectacular to drive through...
Paul.
Following a fierce storm in 1847 the west face of the tower fell away. Some measure of repair took place and the church remained in use up to 1854 when the present church, St Thomas the Apostle, was completed at a cost of £7,000. A decision was taken to dismantle parts of the old church to make it safe and preserve its shell. It became a listed building in 1980.
It served the spiritual needs of that part of the South Pennines as Heptonstall became an important centre in the cottage industry of hand-loom weaving.In the graveyard, between the ruin and the new church, is the grave of David “King” Hartley (1729-1770), leader of the notorious Cragg Vale Coiners, whose counterfeiting racket saw him being hunted down and eventually facing the gallows at York, hanged for counterfeiting in 1770. The story was told in last year’s BBC drama series The Gallows Pole.
Enroute the moors were spectacular to drive through...
Paul.
