YOUNGSTERS have paid tribute to their heritage - and made their own mark on a historic scheme to reframe century-old Barnsley Pals flags - by making their frames so they can be seen by future generations.
The Friends of St Mary’s group have been helped by joinery lecturers and students to develop new bespoke ashwood stands for the colours of of the 13th (First Barnsley) and 14th York and Lancaster Regiments, painstakingly restored and now displayed at the town centre church after being found damaged in 1990.
The colours - awarded in 1919 - will be revealed at a service on October 22, which will celebrate the main Church Street building’s bicentenary and the centenary of its war memorial chapel.
Joinery lecturers Stephen Seymour and Dom Horn, along with technician Rick Wills and students Robert Moorhouse and Charlie Anson, worked together to create the stands.
Stephen said: “We were honoured to assist in manufacturing the display frames for the Barnsley Pals regimental colours.
“It was an opportunity for the staff and students to showcase a range of traditional skill sets, while giving something back to the local community - especially when we consider that some of our students’ forefathers will have sacrificed so much for their country.
“It was also a chance to bring some positivity back into the region after the instability of the pandemic.”
St Mary’s Church has been carrying out services, marriages and funerals for far longer than the building, erected in 1822, has been in situ - with record of a church on the land going back as far as 1180.
One of the oldest churches in the borough, the foundations of St Mary’s are thought to date from the eighth century.
The tower, which was erected in around 1380, was kept during the building of the current church in 1822 - keeping a link to its past.
The flags’ restoration was funded overall by a grant from South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation (SYCF) and fundraising by the Friends of St Mary’s, who advised Father Stephen Race to get the college involved by creating the stands.
Textile conservators from the People’s History Museum in Manchester spent a week carefully laying out the remaining fragments of each colour to be placed in the bespoke frames.
Textile conservators from the People’s History Museum in Manchester spent a week carefully laying out the remaining fragments of each colour to be placed in the bespoke frames.
Fr Race added: “This has been a wonderful project which was unfortunately held up for some time because of the pandemic.
“It has been really great to have involved the skills of college staff, and to have added to the learning of the students involved.
“The new building was consecrated on October 22, 1822 and this date will provide the main focus for our service of thanksgiving in 2022.
“The same date was used for the dedication of the war memorial chapel in 1922 and we will also commemorate its centenary and the return of the now-framed Barnsley Pals colours.”
