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.

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Paul.

Always great that they let it stand. Here they mostly raze the old and build new. Great place to fly. Lovely colors. Nice job.

Depp Posted at 1-15 22:53
Always great that they let it stand. Here they mostly raze the old and build new. Great place to fly. Lovely colors. Nice job.

Thanks Depp, you can't beat a good ruin...

Paul.

Excellent reveals Paul,    I love the backwards scenes.  

Great job on that video it looks good - nice one

DAFlys Posted at 1-16 00:11
Excellent reveals Paul,    I love the backwards scenes.

Thank you David - ssometimes a reverse makes a nice bit of difference.

Paul.

Codgerzh2 Posted at 1-16 08:33
Great job on that video it looks good - nice one

Much appreciated Codger, thank you.

Paul.

Very nice job!

Montfrooij Posted at 1-16 11:15
Very nice job!

Thank you again Peter  

Paul.

Paul Bilbo Posted at 1-16 11:23
Thank you again Peter  

Paul.

As always, you're welcome!

Really interesting ruins.  Very impressive job on this video Paul.  

DowntownRDB Posted at 1-16 16:08
Really interesting ruins.  Very impressive job on this video Paul.

Thanks DT.

What was interesting too, was that almost the whole walkable ground consisted of gravestones, even the "pathways" were gravestones.

Paul.

Paul Bilbo Posted at 1-16 16:12
Thanks DT.

What was interesting too, was that almost the whole walkable ground consisted of gravestones, even the "pathways" were gravestones.

I did notice some of the pathway looked like gravestones.  I'm betting those graves go back several hundred years.  Very intriguing place for sure.  I hope you are having a great week Paul.  

DowntownRDB Posted at 1-16 16:30
I did notice some of the pathway looked like gravestones.  I'm betting those graves go back several hundred years.  Very intriguing place for sure.  I hope you are having a great week Paul.

There were some from the 1700's and 1800's I looked at. No doubt there are older ones.

The week is OK for the most part, lol, thanks for asking, though every now and then I get a bit vexxed at other folk!!!

Paul Bilbo Posted at 1-16 16:33
There were some from the 1700's and 1800's I looked at. No doubt there are older ones.

The week is OK for the most part, lol, thanks for asking, though every now and then I get a bit vexxed at other folk!!!

Thanks for the dates you saw.  Yeah, those are very old.  

Good to hear your week is going OK for the most part.  Don't worry as we all get irritated, annoyed, or distressed at one time or another.  Some of us more than others.  

Paul Bilbo Posted at 1-16 10:44
Thank you David - ssometimes a reverse makes a nice bit of difference.

Paul.

It certainly does,   I should probably use it more often.