The Cat and Man Legend tells of events said to have occurred before the 15th century. There was formerly a hall at Barnburgh which was in the possession of the Cresacre family. According to the legend, a knight of the Cresacre family (reputedly Sir Percival Cresacre, but this is disputed) was returning home late on the heavily wooded track from Doncaster through Sprotborough and High Melton.

As he was approaching Barnburgh, a wildcat or a lynx sprang out of the branches of a tree and landed on the back of his horse. The horse threw its rider to the ground and fled. The cat then turned on the knight and there followed a long and deadly struggle between the two which continued all the way from Ludwell Hill to Barnburgh.

After fighting the cat the mile's distance to the village of Barnburgh, the knight made for the porch of St Peter's Church, presumably to try to get inside the church and close the door on the animal. The fight had been so fierce, however, that Sir Percival fell dying in the church porch and, in his last, dying struggle, stretched out his feet and crushed the cat against the wall of the porch.

Thus, the legend goes, the cat killed the man and the man killed the cat. They were found sometime later by the search party that went out after the knight's horse had returned home riderless.

Stones in the floor of the porch of St Peter's are tainted with red. There is also a cat at the feet of the Cresacre effigy in the north aisle of the church.

Photo by Flickr: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-and-white-lynx-in-close-photography-148715/