This historic church near Barnsley is celebrating 150 years with a festival

William Crossland, architect of the famous Rochdale Town Hall and many prestigious London buildings, created a simple design for a new church at Hoylandswaine.

Edward Burne-Jones, the leading figure of his time in stained glass design, created the main window, and John Roddam Spencer Stanhope of Cannon Hall painted a huge mural on the walls surrounding that window.

That mural was rediscovered in 2012 after being painted over in the 1960s in a bid to prevent damp seeping through.

This July marks 150 years since the church came in to being. Experts from across the country are visiting Hoylandswaine to talk about and pay tribute to the great men behind the project.

The festival opens on Friday, July 12, with a concert by the internationally acclaimed musicians of Ensemble 360, based in Sheffield.

On Saturday, July 13, at 2pm, Sarah Hardy, national curator of the de Morgan collection, some of which is housed in Cannon Hall, will open the art exhibition by local artists.

This exhibition will remain until Monday evening, open from noon on both Sunday and Monday, with free admission.

A series of talks begins on Sunday, with contributions from Sarah Hardy; Simon Poë, an expert on Roddam, and Simon Brock, born in Silkstone Common, an artist, clogmaker and tutor to the local artists exhibiting.

On Monday the final talk will be given by Jim Cheshire of Lincoln University, who will explain how Burne-Jones created the stained glass window.

Refreshments, including wine, hot drinks and cakes, will be available throughout the weekend.

This may be the last chance to see the church as it was originally designed, as church authorities are planning major alterations to the interior, to widen its use in the future.