St Luke

As St Luke’s dominates the village of Grimethorpe, it may appear, being a large, modern building, to have little to offer in the means of interesting architecture.

However it has much to offer in way of historic and community interest. After the pit closed in 1993, the village went through a period of degeneration and in 2001 the church council voted to demolish the building. Fortunately, this never happened.

When Father Peter Needham, the then Vicar, arrived in 2002, the church was in a bad condition, sadly neglected and in need of restoration and loving care. The vision of creating a community facility within the vast church was developed and split into three phases. Phase one of the work has seen the completion of a new doors, new windows and a new roof. The remaining work is still in progress, but small refurbishments and reordering schemes have taken place.

In 2005, the Parish of Grimethorpe was enlarged to include the daughter church of St Paul in Brierley, about 1 mile away. There are a number of unique features at St Luke’s. A new marble altar, using the reclaimed ‘Ladystone’ as a base, has been situated in the Lady Chapel. Two new modern stained glass windows, designed by Nathalie Liege, using a revolutionary process, have been installed in the Lady Chapel. A new crucifix (the Grimethorpe Icon), based on the style of Giunta Pisano with a Byzantine influence, and painted by Romanian artist Christ Paslaru, hangs from the chancel arch.

The village memorials stand outside, in the church grounds. These include the War Memorial and the Miners’ Memorial.