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THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
NOTES ON THE
CHURCHES OF DERBYSHIRE.
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BY
J. CHARLES COX,
Member of the British Archaological Association, etc.
VOL. IV.
THE HUNDRED OF MORLESTON AND LITCHURCH :
AND GENERAL SUPPLEMENT.
ILLUSTRATED WITH HELIOTYPES FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY R. KEENE, AND
NUMEROUS OTHER PLATES.
1 EVERY STONE THAT WE LOOK UPON IN THIS REPOSITORY OF PAST AGES IS BOTH AN
ENTERTAINMENT AND A MONITOR."
CHESTERFIELD: W. EDMUNDS.
LONDON: BEMROSE AND SONS, 10, PATERNOSTER
BUILDINGS; AND DERBY.
MDCCCLXXIX.
DA
to
THE EIGHT HONOURABLE
W. E. GLADSTONE, D.C.L., M.P.,
THIS WORK is (WITH PERMISSION) DEDICATED,
IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF
THE LOAN OF THE GLYNN MSS. PERTAINING TO THIS COUNTY,
AND AS AN UNWORTHY TRIBUTE TO
HIS UNFLINCHING INTEGRITY
AS A CHURCHMAN AND A STATESMAN,
704784
INTRODUCTION.
| HIS fourth volume, which concludes the work, contains
an account of all the old Churches and Chapels
within the Hundred of Morleston and Litchurch,
and also a good deal of supplementary matter relative to the
Churches treated of in the previous volumes, especially in the
first and second. Yielding to the advice of several, whose
judgment was of much value, I have supplied lists of the
Clergy and Patrons of the different Benefices in East and
North Derbyshire, which had previously been omitted. The
local value of these lists has been already mentioned in the
introduction to the third volume ; but the student of national
history may also find them worthy of attention, as showing
the different epochs, when, from different reasons, considerable
changes were effected in the ranks of the clergy.
To one of these epochs it is worth while to very briefly
draw attention the year 1348-9, when the whole of Europe
was devastated by that terrible mortality, the Black Death.
The pestilence first appeared in the seaports of Dorsetshire on
August 1st, 1348, and travelled, slowly but surely, westward
and northward. It lay comparatively dormant during the
winter, but by May, 1349, it had reached Derbyshire, and for
the next four months raged with fury throughout the king-
dom. Hecker calculates the loss to Europe at large as twenty-
five millions. Nowhere was the plague more fatal than in
England ; a single burial-ground, consecrated for the purpose,
now the site of the Charter-house, received 50,000 corpses,
arranged in layers, in large pits. It has generally been
assumed that the rather vague statement of the old chroniclers,
as to the deaths in England, are considerably exaggerated,
Vlll DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
but the Episcopal Registers at Lichfield afford undeniable
evidence of the appalling character of the visitation. The
total number of Derbyshire benefices, whose incumbents had
to be presented to the Bishop was, at that time, 108. The
average number of institutions per annum to those benefices,
through vacancies caused by death or resignation, was, during
that century, seven. In 1346 they numbered four, in 1347,
only two, and in 1348 eight ; but in 1349 the number leapt
to sixty-three, and in the following year (many of the vacant
benefices not being filled up till then) they numbered forty-
one !
Seventy-seven beneficed priests of Derbyshire died in that
one dread period, and twenty-two more resigned. Of the three
vicars of Derby Churches, that required Episcopal Institution,
two (S. Peter's and S. Michael's) died at their posts, whilst
the vicar of S. Werburgh's resigned his cure. The chantry
priest of Our Lady, at S. Peter's Church, also perished. The
two rectors of Eckington both died, and of the three rectors
who then shared the rectory of Darley, two died and one
resigned. The rectories of Lang with and Mugginton, and the
vicarages of Barlborough, Bolsover, Horsley, Longford, Sutton-
on-the-Hill, and Wellington, were twice emptied by the plague,
and three successive vicars of Pentrich all fell in the same
fatal year. Nor were the regular clergy more fortunate, for
the Abbots of Beauchief, Dale, and Darley, the Prior of Gresley,
the Prior of the Dominicans at Derby, and the Prioress of
King's Mead, were all victims ; and if death thus seized upon
the superiors, it is not likely that the ordinary canons, monks,
or nuns, fared any better.
After making all due allowance for the pleasant reflection
that the mortality among the priests possibly exceeded that
of other classes, owing to their faithfulness in administering
the last consolations of the Church, and thus pre-eminently
exposing themselves to contagion, it must be allowed that
the death-rate was gigantic. Unless the Diocese of Coventry
and Lichfield was a striking exception to the general condi-
tion of the country, the documentary evidence of its registers
goes far to prove the correctness of the old chroniclers. The
evidence that we have also given, in the account of Crich,
INTRODUCTION. IX
of the ravages of this plague of 1349, at Wakebridge, in a
single household one of the most wealthy and healthily
situated in the county taken in connection with the death
of the superior clergy, is also some proof of the hastiness of
the conclusion that assigns the Black Death almost exclusively
to the poorer classes. *
The awful shock thus given to the nation, and to Europe
at large, by the Black Death, paralysed for a time every art and
industry. The science of church architecture, then about at its
height, was some years in recovering from the blow. In some
cases, as with the grand church of S. Nicholas, Yarmouth,
where a splendid pair of western towers were being erected,
the work was stopped and never resumed. In other instances
the piety of wealthy survivors caused them to give much
of their substance to the fabrics or endowments of the church,
as was the case with the three Derbyshire families of Wake-
bridge, Chesterfield, and Chaddesden. The recollection of this
great plague often helps to explain the break that the careful
eye not unfrequently notes in church buildings of the fourteenth
century, and accounts for the long period over which the
works extended. We believe this to be the secret of the long
stretch of years that elapsed before the noble church of
Tideswell was completed in that century ; and it also affords
the clue to much other work interrupted, or suddenly under-
taken, in several other fabrics of the county.
The serious, but far less deadly, visitations of 1361-2,
and 1369, styled in the old charters, the Second and Third
Plagues, may also be traced in the Institutions. Much inci-
dental information as to the different outbreaks of the plague
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries will also be found
in this volume, in the account of the registers of the different
parish churches of the town of Derby.
The King's name will often be noted in the list of patrons
given in this and the third volumes. It should be remem-
bered, that not only was the King patron of all benefices
pertaining to tenants who held direct from the Crown, during
* On the great change brought about in the Church of England by the Black
Death, see Hook's Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. iv., chap. 12 ; on the equally great
social and political changes, see Professor Eogers* History of Agriculture and Prices
in England, vol. i. passim ; on the general subject, see Hecker's Epidemics of the
Middle A gen, translated by Dr. Babiugton.
X DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
the time that the heirs might be in their minority, but that
the right of patronage in many cases devolved upon the Crown
in virtue of lapse. A lapse (by the canon law styled Devo-
lution) is the transferring elsewhere of patronage, when the
patron fails to present within six months. The patronage, in
the first instance lapses to the Ordinary or Bishop, then,
after another six months to the Metropolitan, and finally, after
another like interval, to the King. If the Archbishop fails
to present in the second six months, the last resort for filling
up the benefice, in the rest of the Western Church, is the
Pope ; but in England this claim of the Bishop of Rome was
never recognised, and the supreme authority was always
vested in our Kings. The Crown likewise always presented
if the Ordinary died after a lapse had happened, and also to
all episcopal benefices during the vacancy of the See.
Another matter in connection with these lists, worth a
moment's attention, is the way in which they show that the
various monastic establishments were aware of the fate coming
upon them before the storm burst, and how they were able
to realise something, or, at all events, cheat the Crown for a
time of its plunder, by selling or devising the next presen-
tation to their advowsons. In no case do they appear to have
been able to sell the advowson itself, but in almost every
case of monastic patronage, it will be noted that the presen-
tation following the dissolution of those establishments was
made by one or more persons who had obtained the right
by arrangement with the then defunct abbey or priory.
Through the courtesy of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield,
with the kind help of the Right Reverend Bishop Hobhouse,
I have gone through the various Registers or Act Books of
the Chapter, and also inspected a large number of charters
and documents relative to their peculiar jurisdiction of the
Peak, embracing the whole of the old parishes of Bakewell,
Tideswell, and Hope, certain rights in Chapel- en-le -Frith, and
the extra-parochial district of Peak Forest, and also (by
special arrangement with the Dean of Lincoln) the rectory of
Kniveton. There are a great number of documents pertaining
to the long-fought struggle between the Chapter and Lenton
Priory as to the tithes on the Peverel demesnes, but there
INTRODUCTION. XI
seems to be nothing of importance under that head in addi-
tion to what I have already summarised under Chapel-en-le-
Frith, Tideswell, and Fairfield, in the second volume. The
supplement, however, will be found to contain a large amount
of fresh information, relative to the Peak district, from other
charters, and from the Act Books.
The earliest of these Act Books is now at the Bodleian
(Ashm. MSS. 794), and was probably removed by that not
too scrupulous antiquary, Elias Ashmole, who was a native
of Lichfield. There is a transcript of the greater portion of
it in the valuable Salt Library, Stafford. It extends from
1321 to 1356 ; after the latter date fifty-eight leaves are
unfortunately lost, and then come some entries of the year
1369.
The next volume is the first one in the possession of the
Chapter, and is entitled Primus Liber Acta Capitularia. It
extends from 1384 to 1438, and seems to be complete and in
good condition.
Then there is a considerable gap, and the next volume
can scarcely be considered an Act book, but partakes more
of the character of a note and account book, kept by Thomas
Godsalve, the chapter clerk. It extends from 1480 to 1510.
The fourth volume, endorsed as the third, or " le Black
Book," is from 1490 to 1523.
The succeeding volume follows immediately on its prede-
cessor, and goes down, but with considerable irregularity, to
1575. It is styled the fourth, or "Ye redd Booke." The
titles of " Black " and " Red," like that of the Magnum Regis-
trum Album (the early Chartulary of the Chapter described
in the introduction to my second volume) arc derived from
the colour of the respective bindings.
The fifth book (according to the number of those in the
possession of the Chapter) is not an Act Book, but chiefly
consists of a collection of charters and copies of leases. The
earliest document here transcribed is of the year 1537, and
the latest of 1621.
All those hitherto described have been of parchment, but
the sixth is a folio book of paper, about a fourth of which
Xll DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
is frayed away at the edges. It is an Act Book from 1628
to 1637, kept by Geoffrey Glasier, chapter clerk.
The seventh volume is also of paper, but in good condition.
It consists of an Act Book from 1660 to 1734, followed by
a detailed description of the proceedings at the election and
enthronement of a Bishop, and also by various Visitations of
the Vicars-Choral by the Dean up to 1774. These last are of
much interest as showing the eighteenth century Use of the
Cathedral in various particulars. One of the Visitation queries
put to the Vicars was, whether they were careful in " reve-
rently bowing to the Holy Table," at entering and leaving the
quire, or on crossing it, or on going to read the lessons ? The
Vicars replied that this reverent custom was " for the most
part observed."
The eighth volume consists of the Acts and Orders of the
Chapter from 1740 to 1795. Other volumes bring the Chapter
Acts down to the present day. All these records are of value
to the Derbyshire ecclesiologist, as herein are contained the
nominations to the different vicarages in the Chapter Peculiar,
which are never once named in the Episcopal Registers, as
well as much incidental information relative to those benefices,
and to the prebends of Sawley and Sandiacre.
Nor must I omit to mention the two large and important
volumes, termed Oliverian Surveys, that pertain to the
Chapter. Their nature is best explained by a full transcript
of the title:
" A Survey of the Rectory of Bakewell and members, with the whole jurisdicon
of the same, of the Tythes of Wooll Lambes Graine, etc., with the Rights Members
and Appurtenances thereunto belonging or apperteining lying and being in the
County of Derby, parcell of the possession belonginge to the Cathedrall Church
of St. Chad in Leichfeild And to the late Deane and Chapter there, made and
taken in the moneth of Octob' 1649."
An analysis of these volumes is given in the Supplement,
under Bakewell.
It is a source of great regret that space has forbidden me
making fuller use of the treasury of information contained
in the Episcopal and Chapter Records, but I have the satis-
faction of feeling that I have, in this and the preceding
Introductions, pointed out the nature of their stores, and of
INTRODUCTION. Xlll
thinking that but few points of importance, relative to Derby-
shire, can have escaped my notice, however condensed may
be the form in which they are given. The way in which
the mediaeval Bishops exercised their most important func-
tions up and down their Diocese, instead of confining them
for the most part to their cathedrals, as is the general modern
custom, has often struck me. For instance, in the first half
of the fourteenth century, five Ordinations were held in the
church of All Saints', Derby, five in the prebendal church
of Sawley, and one each in the parish churches of Eckington,
Darley, Spondon, Elvaston, and Bakewell; the last instance
must have been by the special consent of the Chapter.
The other new sources of information, made use of in this
volume and its supplement, in addition to the Chapter MSS.,
are chiefly two-fold the Pension Roll of 2 and 3 Philip and
Mary, and the Glynn MSS. The former is to be found in
the British Museum, Add. MSS. 8102, the skins relating to
Derbyshire being numbered 45 and 50 ; it gives the names
of all the suppressed chantry priests, etc., whose stipends had
been confiscated, and to whom pensions were at that time
granted from the Exchequer. It had been my intention to
give these particulars verbatim in the Appendix, but it after-
wards seemed better to give the substance of the information
under the respective parishes. That distinguished ecclesiolo-
gist, the late Sir Stephen Glynn, was in the habit of taking
full architectural notes of all the churches he visited through-
out his long life. The great majority of the churches of
England and Wales came under his diligent notice. His notes
on the Churches of Kent have been recently published as a
posthumous work. Mr. Gladstone most kindly placed his
notes on this county at my service. His courtesy I have
gratefully acknowledged in the dedication of this volume.
These Derbyshire notes of Sir Stephen Glynn, of which it
will be seen I have made free use, begin in 1832, and go
down to 1873 ; they include the whole of the old churches
of the county, with some five or six exceptions, and many
of the notices are of exceptional value, as the fabrics of
several have been since taken down or considerably over-
restored.
DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
In the place of the Pension Roll, there is given in the
Appendix a list of the destroyed or disused churches and
chapels of Derbyshire, which I have proof were in use in
mediaeval times. Their number actually exceeds one hundred.
That the case is understated I am convinced, for there can
be no doubt that there were more chapels in 'connection
with monastic granges, than the few of that class which are
enumerated. It should also be understood that no merely
domestic chapel or oratory is included in the list, but only
such as were used by tenantry or retainers (like those of
Haddon Hall, or Codnor Castle, which were even in possession
of baptismal rights), or that had a priest permanently attached
to them. If oratories for occasional private Masses, and for
family devotions had been included, such as were attached to
every manor house of the least importance, two or three
score of episcopal licenses for such oratories might have been
produced, on a diligent search among the Lichfield Registers ;
for in those days it was considered comely and reverent to
have a room set apart for daily devotion, the slovenly habit
of family prayers among the debris of the breakfast table not
being then invented. The very bountiful provision for the
spiritual necessities of her people, that was made by the
ancient Church of England in this country, is thus abundantly
proved. No large manor house, nor the smallest hamlet, was
then without its chapel ; and when the great difference of
population is taken into account, it will be found that even
the great and happy growth of the Church during the past
quarter of a century is very far from rivalling in church
accommodation the better periods of the mediaeval days.
To the repeated request, urged in different strains, but from
the same quarter, that descriptions of all the churches in
the county should be given, it must again be replied, that
such was never for a moment within the scope or intention
of the work. I started with the plainly expressed idea of
giving a sketch of the history and some account of the
architecture of all the old churches and chapels in Derbyshire,
and that has now been accomplished. I fully grant that it
is, in one sense, a matter of far higher importance than any-
thing herein undertaken, to know of the work of Church
INTRODUCTION. XV
Extension, from the handsome parochial church to the humble
mission chapel, now being done in our midst ; but all this
can be learnt in a few minutes by the expenditure of a shilling
on the Derbyshire Red Book or the Diocesan Calendar. More-
over, I do not profess to be a critic of modern architecture;
and though a few fabrics worthy of their purpose have been
erected in Derbyshire within the last few years, yet by far
the greater part of the ecclesiastical buildings of a later date
than Henry VII., instead of being constructed on the principle
of giving of our best to God, have partaken of the opposite
characteristics of extreme parsimony and outrageous taste. If
there are any to whom the description of such work is con-
genial, to them I willingly leave it.
The difficulty of condensing my materials has steadily in-
creased volume by volume, as the sources of information more
fully unfolded themselves. I have been compelled to break
my promise of giving some account of the Abbeys of Dale
and Darley in these pages. So much of importance can be
gathered as to their history, that it is hoped a monograph of
each may be prepared, notices of the smaller religious houses
of Derby being included in the latter. The history of Dale
Abbey, which Mr. Hope and myself have jointly undertaken,
is already in preparation. From some of the churches men-
tioned in this volume it was a pang to part company; so
interesting, at all events to the compiler, was the tale of their
fabrics and the monuments that they covered, and so un-
worthy does the space here afforded to them seem to be.
Especially was this the case with Morley, Crich, Sawley, and
All Saints'. Of the last-named it has been found necessary
to write a separate and far fuller account, in addition to
what is stated in these pages ; and this will very soon be
ready for the press. It is hoped that no one will grudge
the numerous pages bestowed upon a summary of the hitherto
overlooked Chartulary of the Chantries of Crich; it seemed
to me to be unique in the side-lights that it throws upon our
ecclesiastical and local history.
This county cannot for a moment pretend to vie with
Somersetshire in its towers, with Northamptonshire in its
spires, with Norfolk or Suffolk in the size or beauty of so
XVI DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
many of their churches, or with Kent in the number of its
brasses ; but this can, I believe, be fairly claimed for Derby-
shire, that no other part of the country of the same size has
anything like the same extensive variety of styles and ex-
cellent specimens of every period, both in the ecclesiastical
fabrics themselves, and in the monumental remains and other
details that they shelter. The following is a summary of their
more remarkable features, according to the different styles :
SAXON PERIOD. Crypt, chancel, and two nave piers (now
under the tower) at -Repton; chancel-arch of Marston Mont-
gomery, and of Sawley ; chancel-arch, and other details, of
Long Eaton, and of Stanton-by-Bridge ; windows, etc., of Cald-
well Chapel; font, at Wilne (very early); and churchyard crosses,
at Eyam, Bakewell, Hope, Blackwell, Spondon, and Tadding-
ton (very early), with considerable fragments at S. Alkmund's,
Derby, Darley, etc., etc.
NORMAN PERIOD. The grand church at Melbourn ; tower
at Bradbourne ; considerable remains at Aston-on-Trent, Bake-
well, Hault Hucknall, Longford, Sandiacre, Whitwell, and
Youlgreave ; south doorways at Allestree and Breadsall ; fonts
at Ashover (lead), Church Broughton, Kirk Hallam, Mellor,
Somersall Herbert, Staveley, Tissington, Winster, and Youl-
greave, with a projecting holy water stoup ; and that exquisite
gem, Steetley Church.
EARLY ENGLISH PERIOD. Towers of Breadsall and Ecking-
ton, and tower and spire of Ockbrook ; chancels of Ashbourn,
Dovebridge, Marston-on-Dove, and Weston-on-Trent ; chapel of
S. John Baptist, Belper ; ruins of Yeaveley Preceptory ; and
fonts of Ashbourn, Bradbourn, Bradley, and Norton.
DECORATED PERIOD. Chancels of Bakewell, Dronfield, Nor-
bury, and Sandiacre ; tower and spire of Ashbourn ; churches
of Chesterfield, Mackworth, Tideswell, and Hathersage; good
windows and other details at Ashbourn, Bonsall, Chaddesden,
Crich, Ilkeston, S. Peter's, Derby, and Walton-on-Trent ; and
font at Bakewell.
PERPENDICULAR PERIOD. Towers of All Saints', Derby (late),
Elvaston, Longford, Youlgreave, and North Winfield ; and the
roofs of Longstone and Repton.
No county can compare with Derbyshire in the abundance
INTRODUCTION. XV11
of early incised slabs, from the tenth century downwards.
They are found built into the walls of many of the churches,
especially in North and East Derbyshire. The best collections
are at Bakewell, Barley, and Chelmorton. Effigies incised on
slabs of the local alabaster found at Chellaston, are common
in the South Derbyshire churches, for the most part of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. There are remarkable semi-
effigial monuments at Brampton, Kedleston, Hartington, and
Mack worth. Early stone effigies are found at Darley, Eggin-
ton, Ilkeston, Melbourn, Norbury, Newton Solney, Sawley,
Sudbury, Wingerworth, North Winfield, Youlgreave, etc. There
are some fine alabaster effigies at Ashbourn, Aston-on-Trent,
Cubley, Duffield, Kedleston, Longford, Newton Solney, Nor-
bury, and Radbourn. Owing to the prevalence of stone,
brasses are not common, but there is an excellent series at
Morley, and some good ones at Ashover, Dronfield, Etwall,
Hathersage, Mugginton, Norbury, Sawley, Staveley, Tideswell,
Walton-on-Trent, and Wilne.
The old stained glass at either Morley or Norbury is well
worth a pilgrimage, and there is also much interest about the
remains of glass at Egginton. The fourteenth century pulpit
at Mellor, carved out of the solid oak, is a unique relic.
The stone gospel lecterns against the chancel walls of Chad-
desden, Crich, Etwall, Mickleover, and Spondon, are of very
exceptional occurrence. The sedilia of Dronfield, Ilkeston,
Monyash, Sandiacre, and Whitwell, are all remarkably good
examples. The stone chancel screens of Ilkeston and Chel-
morton, and the stone parclose in Darley Church, are most
uncommon and noteworthy.
The most melancholy reflection caused by writing these
pages is the way in which the truth of the old proverb
Tempus edax, homo edador, is exemplified. Much havoc was
doubtless made with stained glass, with monumental remains,
and general church fittings, in the sixteenth century ; yet
more havoc was done during the disordered times of the
great Civil War; but when we come to inquire of the
condition of Derbyshire monuments in 1662, as shown by the
notes of Ashmole, Dugdale, and St. Loe Kniveton, and of the
yet later accounts of Bassano, about 1710, it is obvious that
XV111 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
the Georgian period, when the Church was at its lowest ebb
in intelligence and energy, was also the time that was far the
most fatal of any both to the fabrics themselves, and to
all that was comely or ancient within them. The Catholic
revival, too, has many sins of its own, in the eyes of the
arch geologist and of the reverent student of church history, to
answer for ; some of the Derbyshire " restorations " have been
terribly destructive of much that should have been held
sacred, and have swept away that history of religious art
which could previously be read, from century to century, in
the furrowed stones of their walls and buttresses. There is
much to be regretted in certain of the "restorations" that
have taken place even whilst this work has been in progress.
On one point I desire to enter a most earnest protest, viz.,
against the notion that any honour is paid to God, or respect
to the memory of those that He created in His own image, by
burying inscribed gravestones beneath many inches of concrete,
in order to stick therein the glossy tiles of recent manufacture.
The effacing, or removal (wherever it can be avoided), of the
memorials of the dead should in all cases be strongly resisted,
no matter what be the eminence of the architect that recom-
mends it. There are not many unrestored churches left in
the county, but there are some of much value and interest,
for whose fate we tremble. When a "restoration" (the term
is a necessity for lack of a better) is contemplated, let it be
recollected that all work beyond the removal of galleries and
modern fittings, the opening out of flat plaster ceilings above
which good timber roofs often lie concealed, the scraping off
the accumulated layers of whitewash and paint, the letting in
of light through blocked-up windows, the allowing of feet to
pass through doorways closed in recent days by the mason
or bricklayer, and the making strong of really perishing parts
all work beyond this is in great danger of destroying the
traces of the historic continuity of our Church, and of doing
a damage that can never be repaired. And in preserving the
traces of this historic continuity, let it not be thought that
any service is being rendered to history or religion by sweep-
ing clean out of the church all fittings of a post-Reformation
date. The sturdy Elizabethan benches (still remaining in
INTRODUCTION. XIX
several Derbyshire churches), the well-carved Jacobean pulpit,
or the altar rails of beaten iron of last century, should all be
preserved as memorials of their respective periods; in short,
everything that our forefathers gave to God's service that was
costly and good should be by us preserved, provided that it
does not mar the devout ritual ordered by the Common
Prayer, or in other respects interfere with the Church's due
proclaiming of her divine mission to the nineteenth century.
The reaction against over-restoration is now happily setting
in, but a word of caution is also necessary, lest that cry
should be adopted as the cloak of a lazy indifferentism, or be
used as an excuse for regarding the parish church as a local
museum, illustrative of byegone times, to be carefully dusted
and nothing more. Where much new work or any consider-
able extent of refitting seem absolutely necessary, it is best
to hasten slowly, and to do a little well, rather than to aim
at a speedy general effect. Thus, if one of our old grey
churches requires fresh seating, how much better to fill a
single aisle, or one bay of the nave, with sound and effectively
carved oak, and only repair the remainder, rather than to
accomplish the whole in glossy deal. The best materials and
the best art should surely be used in God's service, and not
reserved to feed our pride or minister to our comfort in
private dwellings. It would be invidious for me here to
name any special churches, but I have more than once
noticed how far better the work of redeeming the interior of
our churches, from that state of dirt and neglect that had
degraded some at least below the level of the very barns
upon the glebe, has been carried out where money has come
in slowly and at intervals, rather than where some munificent
patron has readily found the funds to enter upon a big
contract.
To C. S. Greaves, Esq., Q.C., to the Rev. Hugh A. Stowell,
and to Captain A. E. Lawson-Lowe, F.S.A., I am specially
indebted for their kindness in sending me lists of errata of
the previous volumes, which have been of the greatest service
in preparing the supplement. My friend, Mr. W. H. St. John
Hope, has been of much help to me in many ways connected
with this volume. The general courtesy that I have received
XX DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
from all to whom I have applied for help or information has
been most remarkable, and I desire once again to gratefully
acknowledge the aid that I have received from many of the
clergy. Not the least pleasant feature of this work, in a
personal sense, has been that it has led to the formation of
several valued friendships.
It is with genuine sorrow that I now write the last words;
I could almost wish they were the first, for I leave the task
with so much regret. And though more has now been
accomplished for the churches of Derbyshire than has yet
been done for the churches of any other shire, no one knows
the imperfections of these pages better than the writer, or is
more fully alive to several particulars wherein their plan
might have been improved. The lesson it has taught me
has been one of incalculable value, for, in writing the history
of the churches of Derbyshire, I have learnt to see how this
tiny fragment of Christendom is but a unit of the " One
Catholic and Apostolic Church," founded by her Divine Lord.
In contemplating with loving eyes and lingering looks these
substantial traces of the costly works of different generations
of our pious forefathers, let it not be forgotten that all the
wealth and beauty of the diverse arts that they consecrated
to the service of God in brightening His sanctuary, were thus
used in order
"to rouse the heart and lead the will
By a bright ladder to the worlds above ; "
and that if the admiration is merely confined to temples built
by hands, it will be of no avail at the last to plead
DOMINE DILEXI DECORUM DOMUS TlLE.
CONTENTS.
^untrrttr of ^torleston mttr Uttdjttrd).
PACE
ASTON-UPON-TRENT ................................................ 3
BARROW-UPON-TRENT ............................................... 15
TWYFOBD ................................................................. 28
CRICH .................................................................... 33
WAKEBRIDGE .............................................................. 65
ALL SAINTS' .............................................................. 69
s. MARY'S-ON-THE-BRIDGE .............................. ........ ...... 102
QUARNDON ................................................ ................. 107
S. ALKMUND'S ..................................... . ..................... 113
LITTLE EATON ................................................ . .......... 127
S. MICHAEL'S .......................................................... 131
ALVASTON ................................................ .................. 137
S. PETER'S ........................................................... 145
BOULTON ............................................................... 156
NORMANTON ........ ........................................................ 161
OS1IASTON ................................................................ 163
S. WERBURGH'S .. ...... 171
XX11 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
EGGINTON 183
ELVASTON 195
OCKBROOK 206
KIRK HALLAM 211
MAPPERLEY 216
WEST HALLAM 219
HEANOR 233
HORSLEY 243
DENBY 248
ILKESTON 257
KIRK LANGLEY 267
MACKWORTH 283
ALLESTREE 293
MICKLEOVER 303
LITTLEOVER 309
FINDERN 312
POTLOCK ... 316
MORLEY 321
SMALLEY 348
PENTRICH 355
SANDIACRE 365
SAWLEY 378
LONG EATON 395
WILNE 398
BREASTON 406
RISLEY 409
STANTON-BY-DALE 415
WESTON-UPON-TRENT... . 423
CONTENTS. XXlil
WILLINGTON 435
SUPPLEMENT TO FIRST VOLUME 441
SUPPLEMENT TO SECOND VOLUME 490
SUPPLEMENT TO THIRD VOLUME 521
SUPPLEMENT TO FOURTH VOLUME 532
APPENDIX 537
INDEX OF PERSONS ...: 545
INDEX OF PLACES 561
GENERAL INDEX TO THE FOUR VOLUMES . . 564
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
S. PETER'S CHURCH, S.E (FRONTISPIECE).
DETAILS OF ASTON, AND LECTERN AT MICKLEOVER 8
CRICH CHURCH, S.E 32
S. MARY'S BRIDGE CHAPEL, OLD CHURCH OF S. ALKMUND, AND
PARTS OF TOMB, ALL SAINTS' 102
DETAILS OF SAXON CROSSES, S. ALKMUND'S 122
CHEST AND SLAB, S. PETER'S; SLAB, ALVASTON 154
BOULTON AND ALVASTON DETAILS; FONT CoVER, S. WERBURGH's 160
EGGINTON, EFFIGY; ILKESTON, EFFIGY, SCREEN, AND CAPITAL... 190
ELVASTON CHURCH, S.E 195
FONTS KIRK HALLAM, SANDIACRE, ASTON, S, WERBURGH'S, AND
AT DERBY MUSEUM 214
DENBY CHURCH, s.w 248
SEDILIA OF ILKESTON AND KIRK HALLAM 262
MACKWORTH CHURCH, S.E 283
MORLEY. CENTRE LIGHT OF EAST WINDOW OF SOUTH AISLE ... 342
SANDIACRE CHANCEL, s 365
SANDIACBE, SEDILIA, PRIESTS' DOOR, AND TOMB 370
SAWLEY CHURCH, S.E 377
SAWLEY, CANON BOTHE'B TOMB 390
WILNE FONT 400
WESTON-UPON-TRENT CHURCH, S.E : 423
CHELMORTON FONT INSCRIPTION . 498
of
anil ki
|T the time of the Domesday Survey, Weston-on-Trent was
a royal manor, to which pertained the two lesser manors,
or herewicks, of Aston and Shardlow. Down to quite a
recent date, Aston is described as parcel of the superior manor
of Weston. The Domesday Survey makes mention of two
churches on the manor of Weston, and we have no doubt that the
churches of Weston and Aston are thereby signified. Weston,
cum memlris, had been held by Algar, Earl of Mercia, who died
in 1050, but it was forfeited to the crown through his rebellion.
It was held under the Conqueror by his nephew, Hugh, Earl
of Chester, the chief founder and benefactor of the Abbey of
S. Werburgh at Chester. Upon this Abbey Hugh conferred a
third of the manor of Weston ; and other grants of land in
Weston, Aston, Shardlow, and Great Wilne, were from time to
time made to the monks of Chester, by the Verdous and others,
who held of the crown under the Earls of Chester.* The
advowson of the rectory of Aston seems to have been also given to
the Abbey by Hugh, Earl of Chester; at all events it was in the
gift of the abbot as early as the reign of Henry I. Henry III.
granted to the monks a weekly market at Aston, within his manor
of Weston, and also a fair for three days at the feast of S. Peter, f
Edward I. granted them the important right of free warren over
the Derbyshire manors of Aston, Weston, Shardlow, Wilne, Morley,
and Smalley.j The Taxation Boll of 1291 gives the annual value
of Aston rectory at the large sum of 33 6s. 8d. In the year
* There are two chartularies of the Abbey of S. Werburgh extant, viz., numbers
1,965 and 2,062 of the Harl. MSS., and also some fragments and copies of charters in
number 2,073 of the same collection. They contain numerous references to the
property possessed by the Abbey at Aston, Weston, Morley, and in other parts of
Derbyshire.
t Chart. Rot., 41 Henry III., and Harl. MSS., 1,965, f. 8.
+ Harl. MSS. , 2,062, f. 14.
4 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
1378, the abbey obtained tlie papal dispensation for the appropria-
tion of the benefices of Aston and Weston, with power of choosing
the vicars to supply the churches.* This appropriation of the
tithes was subsequently confirmed by two successive Bishops of
Coventry and Lichfield, Walter Shirland and Richard Scroope, as
well as by the Archbishop of Canterbury, as Metropolitan. f On
Lady Day, 1494, a jury reported that it was not to the prejudice
of the King to grant to the Abbey of S. Werburgh the appropria-
tion of the churches of Aston and Weston, the advowsons of which
were held in chief, as parcel of the foundation charters of the
Abbey ; the inquisition gives the annual value of Aston rectory as
forty marks. | On September 20th in the following year, the
Bishop of the diocese again gave his license for the appropriation
of these rectories when next vacant, the abbot convenanting to pay
a pension of 13s. 4d. to the Archdeacon of Derby, on the feast of
S. Michael, in the church of S. Peter's, Derby.
It is, however, not a little remarkable to find, after all the
precautions taken to secure full ecclesiastical and civil license for
the appropriation of the revenues of Aston Church, that on the
vacancy occurring by the resignation of rector Henry de Coton
in 1403, the Abbey forfeited its claim, and allowed the
institution of another rector. The same thing also occurred in
respect to Weston, so that there never were vicars of either
of these benefices. The Abbey no doubt received valuable compen-
sation from those interested in the patronage for thus waiving
its claim, but of this we have not obtained any satisfactory
evidence.
During the time that Walter de Pinchbeck was abbot of S.
Werburgh's (1228-40), William de Verdon, junr., gave to Eoger,
chaplain in the church of Aston, certain lands within the town
and field of Aston, to be held on a rental of two shillings, which
was to be paid on Christmas-day, for sustaining the lamp of S.
Katharine in that Church. [| Mention is made elsewhere in the
* Pope Clement VII. granted this dispensation in the first year of the great schism.
He was the first of those who resided at Avignon, usually termed anti-popes. Our
historians have always represented that England, duiing the schism, gave its entire
support to Urban VI., and the Popes resident at Eome (see Hallam's Middle Ages,
vol. ii., p. 242 ; Reichel's See of Rome, p. 444; and Hook's Archbishops of Canterbury,
vol. iv., passim); hut we have come across several instances of powerful English
monasteries that recognised Clement VII. Had his dispensation been considered
invalid, it would not have been copied into these chartularies.
t Harl. MSS., 2,062, f. 5; 2,071, ff. 38-9.
J Inq. post. Mort.. 17 Ric. II., No. 63. This is really an Inq. ad quod Damnum, and
is wrongly classified at the Public Record Office.
Lichfield Episcopal Registers, vol vi., f. 102.
! j Harl. MSS., 1,965, f. 10; 2,062, f. 7.
ASTON. O
chartularies of chaplains of Aston, as distinct from rectors or
parsons, so it would seern that there was a chantry priest or
chaplain permanently attached to this benefice, serving the altar
of S. Katharine, which probably stood in the south aisle. This
chantry does not obtain mention in the Chantry Roll of Edward
VI., as its endowments appear to have been held by the Abbey,
which had to provide the priest, and they would therefore have
been swallowed up in the dissolution of the monasteries.
The Valor Ecclesiastic us (27 Henry VIII.) gives the clear annual
value of this rectory as 29 15s., and of the temporalities held in
Aston, by the Abbey of S. Werburgh's, as 18 9s. 9Jd. The
Abbey also held lands at Shardlow worth 10 7s., and at Great
Wilne worth 6 7s. 8d. per annum, both in this parish. Special
mention is made of the 2s. that had to be paid out of the Aston
rents towards sustaining the lamp in the church.
On the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII. granted the
Derbyshire possessions of the Abbey of S. Werburgh's, which
included the advowsons of the rectories of Aston, Weston, and
Morley, and the manors of Weston, Aston, Shardlow, Great
Wilue, Morley, and Smalley, to the new Bishop of Chester. But
another grant of Elizabeth transferred them to Henry Sacheverell,
and an additional grant of the first of James I. transferred them
to Charles Paget. The latter was attainted, and the advowson
of Aston and the rest of the property passed once more to the
crown, in the tenth of James I., 'who in the same year granted
it to Anthony Roper, and his wife, Maria, and then- heirs and
assigns.*
In 16-49, Robert Holden (who had previously purchased other
property here from the Hunts) bought the manor and advowsou of
Aston from the Ropers, and it has remained in- their hands up to
the present time. Robert Holden, who died in 1746, left an only
daughter and heiress, who married James Shuttleworth, but their
fourth son, Charles, on succeeding by bequest to this property,
took the name of Holden. -
The following is the inventory of church goods drawn up in
1552 :
" Aston uppon Trent. Oct 5. Jo Bande Curate, j chalyce of sylver parcell
gylte with a patten v vestments, j whyte bodkeu, j grene iij albes iij amyses
toe corporassess with a case ij coppes, j whyte badwen & j of rede sey v
aulter clothes v towells iij bells on the stepull ij handbells j canope of whyte
clothe with a pyx of brasse j crosse of masslen j sanctus bell."
* Patent Eolls, 10 James I., part 23, No. 13.
G DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
The Parliamentary Commissioners of 1650 report :
"Aston super Trent is a parsonage really worth one hundred and foure score
pounds per annum, noe Chappell apperteyning. Mr. Thomas Palmer is Incumbent
an able preacher and of good conversason."
The following list of rectors and patrons is chiefly compiled
from the Episcopal Begisters, and the returns of the First Fruits
Office :
1304. John de Sandale; patron, the King.
1310. Henry de Derby, acolite ; patron, Abbot of Chester. On the resignation of
J. de S.
1312. Robert de Frodesham ; patron, Abbot of Chester.
1319. Henry de Walton; patron, Abbot of Chester. On the resignation of
E. de F.
1330. Thomas de Bonyngton; patron, Abbot of Chester. On the death of
H. de W.
1334. John de Herincton.
. William de Herincton.
. Richard de Okeley.
1336. John de Hertfordton. On the resignation of E. de O.
1349. John de Okeley. On the death of J. de H.
. Richard de Okeley.
1369. Henry de Coton, deacon. On the death of E. de O.
1403. Edward de Button. On the resignation of H. de C.
1454. Roger Bulkeley; patron, William de Bulkeley de Eyton (for this turn). On
the resignation of E. de S.
1461. Robert Sheppart; patron, Abbot of Chester. On the resignation of E. B.,
to whom a pension of 24s. was secured.
1480. Richard Shyrbourn. On the resignation of E. S., to whom a pension of
10 was to be paid out of the fruits of the rectory for two years.
1499. Philip Agard ; patron, Abbot of Chester. On the death of E. S.
1517. Michael Sutton ; patron, Eichard Sutton and John Sutton, by concession of
the Abbot of Chester. On the death of P. A.
1520. Thomas Pyrton; patron, Abbot of Chester. On the death of M. S.
1547. John Whalhede; patron, Sir William Paget. On the death of J. P.
1552. John Whitby ; patron, Sir William Paget. On the death of J. W.
1557. Alexander Barloe ; patron, Sir William Paget. On the death of J. W.
1617. John Porter ; patron, Joanna Porter, widow, for this turn, on behalf of
Charles Paget, and Anthony Eoper and Maria his wife.
1636. Richard Clerke; patron, Henry Clarke. On the death of J. P.
(1650). Thomas Palmer. Ejected, 1662.*
1681. Edward Holden; patron, Samuel Holden.
1702. Thomas Holden; patron, Eobert Holden.
1729. John Rolleston; patron, Eobert Holden.
1770. John Augustine Pinch ; patrons, James Shuttleworth and his wife.
1774. Charles Edward Shuttleworth ; f patrons, Mary Shuttleworth, widow, and
others.
* " He had been formerly Minister of S. Lawrence Poultney Church in London,
from whence he remov'd to this Place : And he was remov'd from hence soon after the
Eestauration of King Charles, to make way for Mr. Clark a Prelatical Divine, who had
been Eject'd there many Years before. About July, 1663, he was imprisou'd in
Nottingham for Preaching in Conventicles." Calamy's Ejected Ministers, vol. ii.,
p. 205.
t He obtained a dispensation to hold this rectory in conjunction with that of
Loughton, Leicester. Pegge's MSS. vol v.
ASTON. 7
1796. Nathaniel Palmer Johnson;* patron, Charles Holden, Clerk.
1850. Francis Augustus Weekes; patron, Samuel Ashton, Prestwich. On the
death of N. P. J.
1865. James Richard Holden.
1867. John Ayton Whitaker.
1869. James Shuttleworth Holden.
The church, which is dedicated to All Saints, consists of
nave with side aisles, chancel with north aisle or chapel, north
and south porches, and west tower. Its dimensions are : nave
25 ft. 2 in. by 12 ft. ; north aisle or chapel 57 ft. 8 in. by 12 ft.
9 in.; south aisle 33 ft. 5 in. by 15 ft. 6 in.; and chancel 35 ft. 5 in.
by 15 ft. 6 in. The lower stage of the tower is of late Norman
date, opening to the nave by a plain semi-circular arch, the imposts
of which are carved with the hollow-square ornament. On the north,
south, and west are Norman windows, having shafts in the jambs.
In the west wall of the tower is a modern round-headed doorway,
and over it a narrow two-light lancet window, quite plain, and
without any hood-mould, but the splay in the interior is rounded.
It seems to be a transition wiudow of the time of Henry II.
When Sir Stephen Grlyun visited this church, May 5th, 1866, he
noticed a small closed Norman window over the south arcade of
the nave, but it does not now remain.
The three arches that separate the nave from the south aisle,
supported on circular columns with octagonal capitals and on large
wedge-shaped responds, are of the Early English period. The
arcade between the nave and the north aisle is very similar, but
of rather later date. The two arches between the chancel and the
continuation of the north aisle are also Early English. To this
period, too, belongs the interesting font (Plate X.), which stands
at the west end of the church. It consists of a plain octagonal
bowl, supported by a cylindrical stem, and four detached shafts.
The diameter of the bowl is 27 inches, and it is 42 inches high.
The windows of the south aisle are good examples of the
Decorated style of the first half of the fourteenth century.
The three-light south window of this aisle, nearest the east end,
is remarkable for the ogee-headed canopies in the jambs, an
unusual feature, rarely found except in Cathedral or Abbey churches
(Plate II). Note the corbels of these two canopied niches, especially
the one nearest the west, which is evidently the base of a Jesse-
tree, or emblematical representation of the genealogy of Christ.
* There is a mural slab to the memory of this rector at the east end of the north
aisle. He died Oct. 25th, 1850, aged 86, having been rector of Aston for 54 years.
8 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
The stone carving shows the prostrate sleeping Jesse with the main
branches growing forth from him, and the leaves and branches of
the different generations would most likely be continued in fresco
up the sides of the niche. The niche itself would probably contain
a figure of our Lord, or of the Virgin and Infant. The arch leading
into the chancel is pointed, the mouldings carried down with octagonal
shafts. The three south windows of the chancel are long, curious,
transomed windows of two lights, and are of the time of Eichard
II., when the Decorated style was in the course of transition to
the Perpendicular.
To the Perpendicular period pertain the two-light square-headed
clerestory windows, also the windows of the north aisle (except the
west one, which is Decorated), and the upper stage of the tower
with its battlements and four pinnacles. The clerestory and
chancel are embattled, but not the aisles. The east chancel
window has Perpendicular tracery, but it is only coeval with the
modern memorial glass. The two porches are new. This church
has been most carefully restored within the last few years by the
late Mr. Holden. A gallery which was then removed had been put
up by the Trent and Mersey Navigation Company in 1788.
A small portion of black letter text, temp. Elizabeth, may be
noticed under the tower. There are some fine old massive benches
of oak of the same date in the nave. A few old encaustic tiles,
with an effective pattern of a floriated cross, were found during the
restoration. Those that now pave the sanctuary are a reproduction
of this pattern. The modern oak stalls of the chancel are well and
carefully carved, and as they are the work of a carpenter of the
village, it is pleasant to be able to give his name George
Halliday.
On the south side of the chancel arch is a rood-loft door.
The square opening of a "low side window,"* now blocked up,
should be noticed on the south side of the chancel (Plate II).
The most ancient detail about the fabric, which serves as an in-
teresting link with the pre-Norman days, when our forefathers revered
the true faith on this same site, is the portion of the Saxon church-
yard or memorial cross, of a reticulated pattern, now built into the
west wall of the north aisle (Plate II). f In the pier to the north
*The subject of "low side windows" has been fully explained in Churches of
Derbyshire, vol. iii. , under Spondon and Bavenston ; see also the subsequent account
of Barrow Church in this volume.
t Compare Plate XII. of Churches of Derbyshire, vol. ii., where drawings are given
of the ancient crosses of Taddington, Eyam, Hope, and Bakewell.
D LATE.
ASTON. 9
side of the chancel has been built the head of an incised cross,
which has at one time formed part of a sepulchral slab.
The principal monument in this church now stands against the
north wall of the north aisle. Its position used to be (as we learn
from several MSS., Bassano, Meynell, etc.) under the arch nearest
the west end between the chancel and the north chapel.* It
consists of an alabaster altar tomb on , which rest the effigies of a
man and his wife, hand in hand. The man wears a long thickly
plaited robe with hanging sleeves, and on his head is a round flat
cap of three folds. The hair is cut off short above the ears. His
wife wears a long mantle, and a small dog lies at her feet. The
gown, which is fastened with a large plain buckle, has tight-fitting
sleeves. Her head-dress is of the style sometimes termed "butterfly,"
having wide side cauls, elaborately interlaced, and a light veil over
the coiffure. The costume of these figures gives the date of the
monument to the reign of Henry VI. (1422-61). On the south side
of this tomb are three angels holding shields, bearing respectively :
(1) a chevron engrailed between three escallops, impaling ;
(2) a chevron engrailed between three escallops ; (3) a chevron
engrailed between three escallops, impaling vaire. On the west
end are two more angels holding between them a shield, bearing :
a chevron engrailed between three escallops, impaling a chevron
between three crescents. We find from Bassano's notes (1710),
that there were, on the side which is now against the wall, three
coats, viz. : the chevron and escallops, impaling vaire a chevron
between three crescents and the chevron and escallops. But
notwithstanding this heraldry, we cannot identify the tomb with any
precision ; though the consideration of the mural monument on
the wall above it will be an aid.
On this is inscribed :
" Prope Sepeliuntur corpora Thomfe Hunt Generosi & Alicise uxoris ejus
Robert! Hunt filii et hseredis Thomse & Alicise una cum Catharina uxore Roberti
qui pro Sobole habuerunt Johannem Hunt generosu qui matrimonial! fcedore
conjunctus erat Annse filise Johan Kime genero' Netting' & iste Job. Hunt ista
insignia posuit in futuri temporis memoriam, H>25."
Above the slab are the following quartered arms, surmounted by
the crest of a bugle : (1) arg-., a bugle, sab., on a chief, gu., three
mullets pierced of the field. (2) sab., a chevron engrailed, ermine,
between three escallops, arg. (3) arg., a chevron between three
* This north chapel, or continuation of the north aisle, would doubtless be used as
the chapel of Our Lady ; the altar of S. Katharine stood in the south aisle.
10 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
crescents, or* (4) ary., a greyhound courant, sab., collared, or. The
first of these quarterings is for Hunt, and the last for Holford,
co. Chester, but the second and third are doubtful. This quartered
coat is given with the Visitation pedigrees of Hunt, of Ashover,
but unfortunately the quarterings are not identified, nor do the
pedigrees go back early enough to show how they were obtained. t
The family of Hunt, of Ashover and Aston, is said to have
been settled at the former place as early as the reign of Henry
III., but the pedigrees only begin with John Hunt, who married
Margaret, daughter of John Cotes, towards the end of the fifteenth
century. Their eldest son, Christopher, married Dorothy, sister of
William Bassett, and died in 1540, seized of one capital messuage,
two cottages, and 260 acres of land at Aston. J His son and heir
Thomas (mentioned on the monument), married Alice, daughter
of Eobert Baiubridge, of Lockington, and Dorothy, daughter of
William Skevington, for his second wife. Eobert, son of Thomas
and Alice Hunt, married Catharine, daughter of Thomas Eathbone,
of Stone, co. Stafford, and their sou and heir, John, was aged
fourteen at the Visitation of 1611.
This John, who put up the monument to his parents and grand-
parents, also gave the present holy table. Eouud the edge is
carved Ex dono Johannis Hunte 1630 anno (Btatis 35, and the crest
of a bugle horn.
It has generally been said that Christopher Hunt was the first
of the family who had property at Aston, but the quarterings on
the mural munument, taken in conjunction with the heraldry of
the altar tomb, prove that a Hunt, earlier than any mentioned in
the pedigrees, must have married the heiress of the arms of the
2nd quarter (a chevron between three escallops), the representative
* The coat, as given in Harl. MSS., should be az., a chevron, gu., between three
crescents, or. The quarterings on the monument have been carelessly repainted.
t Harl. MSS., 1,093, f. 116 ; 5,809, f. 61 ; and Egertou MSS., 996, f. 33.
J Meynell MSS.
These arms, tinctured as above, were borne by Farewell, of Somerset, and Farway,
of Devon, but, on referring to their pedigrees (Harl. MSS., 1,559, ff. 126b, 91b), we
cannot find any connection between them and Hunt, or indeed with Derbyshire in
any way. The following reply, in answer to a query of ours, appeared in Notes and
Queries, 5th S, x. p. 151 : " The arms on the monument in the church of Aston-on-
Trent, and inquired for by Mr. Cox, are 1, Hunt; 2, Chedder; 3, Stakepoule or
Barkerolles ; 4, Holford. The knightly family of Chedder, whose arms are given in
the second quarter, were of the county of Somerset, but they may have had property
at Aston. A co-heir of this family married Sir John Talbot, Viscount L'Isle, who
was killed with his father, the renowned Earl of Shrewsbury, at the battle of < Ihas-
tillon, in 1453. This marriage may perhaps assist to verify the arms. The tincture
of tbe third quarter cannot be correct. The chevron should be either argent or or.
Azure, a chevron arg. between 3 crescents or, is borne of Stakepoule, and az., a
chevron between 3 crescents or, by Barkerolles. There is a Derbyshire family,
Blackwall, whose arms have great affinity to those of Holford: Arg., a greyhound
courant, sable, collared, or ; or a chief indented, sable. 3 besauts. G. D. T., Hudders-
field."
ASTON. 1 1
of some family unknown, who were landowners in Aston, and to
whom the altar tomb pertains.
Against the south wall of the chancel is a brass, thus inscribed :
" Prope sepelitnr Johannes Porter artium Magister Theologus sincer' & quondam
rector hujus ecclesise dignissimus Vir Sapiens doctus plus hospitalis et amicis
charissimus qui placide in Domino expiravit Jan. 23 A D ni 1636 A setatis 46."
On the stone on which the holy table stands is inscribed :
"Edwardus Houlden ob. Sept. die Junii A.D. 1653 set. 49.
Robertus Houlden ob. quart, die Nov. A.D. 1654 set. 25.
Robertas Houlden ob. quart, die Jan. A.D. 1659 set. 64.
Mary Houldeu ob. quart, die Jan. A.D. 1668 set. 23.
John Houldeu ob. quart, die Feb. A.D. 1739 set. 55.
Hannah Lathwell ob. Sept. die Feb. A.D. 1687 set. 72.
These inscriptions record six tablets laid beneath the floor at the time of the
Restoration of the churchA.D. 1867."
Though the restoration of this church seems for the most part
to have been carried out with exceptional carefulness, we cannot
but express our great regret that any memorial stones should have
been covered up. Fortunately these inscriptions are given in full
in Glover's Derbyshire, and we there find two other inscriptions
of some importance, which we looked for in vain, and which we
fear also disappeared at the restoration. One of these is a long
genealogical epitaph to Eobert Porter, Fellow of Ah 1 Souls', Oxford,
and others of that family, erected by John Porter, rector of Aston,
in 1635. The other runs as follows :
"Prope sepelitur corpus Johannis Sale fratris Willim Sale rectoris hujus
ecclesise qui extremum diem clausit quinto die mensis Julii A.D. 1572."*
There are also mural slabs to Eobert Holden, 1746 ; Mary
Shuttleworth, wife of Eev. C. Shuttleworth, 1777; Mary Shuttle-
worth, wife of James Shuttleworth, 1791 ; Elizabeth, wife of Eev.
Charles Holden, 1795 ; Eev. Charles Holden, 1821, his third wife,
1820, and their son, aged 13, 1817 ; Antonia Henrietta, second
daughter of Eev. C. Holden, 1849, and her husband, Colonel
Clowes, 1862.
A brass tablet within the sacrarium runs as follows :
"To the glory of God, and in memory of Edward Shuttleworth, d. Sep. 8, 1855,
aged 18; Charles Shuttleworth, d. Aug. 6, 1872, aged 34; William Arthur
Shuttleworth, d. Jan. 18, 1856, aged 5 ; sons of Edward Anthony and Susan
Drummond Holden, of Aston Hall, this sanctuary was adorned A.D. 1873.
'Lord, Thou hast been our refuge from one generation to another.' Ps. xl. 1."
There are two stained glass windows to the above-named Edward
Shuttleworth, 1855, and to two of his sisters, 1867 and 1869.
* With respect to the Sales, see the subsequent account of Weston Church.
12 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
The tower contains a ring of four bells.
I. " John Taylor & Sons Founders Loughbrough 1847."
II. " Jhesus be our spede 1590," in Lombardic capitals, and with
the bell-mark of Henry Oldfitld.
III. " Jesus be our spede 1594," in Lombardic capitals. In
addition to the mark of Henry Oldfield, this bell has a very fine
stamp of the arms of Queen Elizabeth, with motto, supporters, etc.,
and the initials E. E.
IV. " All men that heare my mournful sound Eepent before you
lye in ground, 1661," and the mark of George Oldfield.
The registers only date back to the year 1667, and contain no
entries of special interest.
Parroto.
HIS parish, usually distinguished as Barrow-upon-Trent,
comprises the hamlets or townships of Arleston, Sinfin,
and Stenson, and the parochial chapelry of Twyford.
At the time of the Domesday Survey the manor of Barrow
formed part of the estates of Ralph Fitzhubert, and it is recorded
that it possessed a priest and a church. One portion of the manor
was regarded as subordinate to the royal manor of Melbourn, and
as such formed part of the original endowment of the bishopric of
Carlisle, when it was founded in 1133 by Henry I. It remained
in the hands of that see till 1704, when, as parcel of the rectory
manor of Melbourn, it was enfranchised by Act of Parliament.*
But the manor proper of Barrow, including the church, was at an
early date in the family of Bakepuze. Probably it was in the
hands of Robert de Bakepuze, benefactor of Abingdon Abbey, soon
after the compilation of the Domesday Survey. In the time of
Henry II., Robert de Bakepuze gave the church of Barrow to the
Priory of S. John of Jerusalem, otherwise known as the Knights
Hospitallers. t John de Bakepuze, the son of Robert (and probably
great graudson of the original donor), in the year 1288, confirmed
the grant of the rectory of Barrow, stating that he did it for the
health of the souls of himself and his wife Cecilia, as well as for
the souls of his ancestors and posterity.;}: At the same time he
confirmed grants of laud in Barrow pertaining to the Brethren of
the Hospital.
* Quo Warranto and Hundred Bolls, temp. Edw. I. ; see also account of Melbourn
church in vol. iii.
t Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. ii., p. 547, where the mistake originated of making the
gift of B. de B., refer to the church of Barrow in Cheshire, instead of in Derbyshire.
For particulars relative to the connection of the family of Bakepuze with this county,
see Churches of Derbyshire, vol. iii., pp. 5, 6, 195.
I Liber Niger de Nedewood, 16 Edw. I., as quoted in Add. MSS., 6,666. f. 32. He
describes the rectory as " ecclesiam meam de Barowe <jue sita est in feodo meo super
Trent in com. Derb."
16 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
In the year 1388, Brother Philip Tharne, Grand Prior of
England, drew np a full report of the income and possessions of
the Order in England. JBarrow was then esteemed one of the
smaller estates, termed camera, or chambers, that were under
independent management. The camera of Barrow was under a
bailiff, and its gross income (of which no less than 30 was
returned as the value of the rectory) was 36 2s. This, after
deducting 12 15s. 4d. for expenses and pensions, left a balance of
23 6s. 8d. for the general treasury.*
At some date prior to 1433, the camera of Barrow was annexed
to the preceptory or bailiwick, of Yeaveley, which was henceforth
known by the joint title of Yeaveley and Barrow, until the
dissolution of the property of the Order temp. Henry VIII. Mass
was sung for the soul of Eopert de Bakepuze every Sunday within
the chapel of the preceptory at Yeaveley. f
In a chartulary relating to the lands of the Knights Hospitallers,
between the years 1503 and 1526, there are numerous references
to this joint preceptory.;}; In 1504, William Darel, preceptor of
Yeaveley and Barrow, leases all fruits, rents, appurtenances, tithes,
oblations, and advowsons pertaining to this preceptory, to Thomas
Babington, of Lea, for three years, at 26 2s. lid. per annum,
subject to the annual payment to the prior of Tutbury, of his
pension of 3, to the Bishop of Carlisle, of 13s. 4d., and to the
seneschal of the court of the said prior of 40s. pro feodo SIM. The
lessee was also to find a priest to celebrate in the preceptory
chapel at Yeaveley. In 1509, Brother John Babington, preceptor
of Yeaveley and Barrow, leased the preceptory to Thomas Babing-
ton, of Lea, and to Anthony Babington, of Kingston (his son and
heir), for one year at 26 2s. lid., but for the second and third
years at 72. It was subject to the same payments, and to the
exercise of honourable hospitality within the preceptory.
The following interesting farm inventory was drawn up on the
entry of Thomas Babington into the estate :-
" THTES BEE the parcells of catell and corne and of other Implementes to be left
by Thomas Babington or by his assignes at thende of his terrne within specified
* Porter's Knights of Malta, vol. i., cap. 9 ; Hospitallers in England, p. 109 (Camden
Society). See Appendix II. for details of the 1338 return.
f See our account of the preceptory of Yeaveley, Churches of Derbyshire, vol. iii.,
pp. 279-283, and Appendices IX and XA.
I Cott. MSS., Claud. E. vi., ff. 5, 68, 68b, 156, 210, 263, and 277. There are other
extant chartularies of this Order (Cott. MSS., Nero E. vi., and Landsdowne MSS.,
200), but they afford no information with respect to Yeaveley and Barrow.
With respect to the Babingtons, especially of those here mentioned, see Churches
of Derbyshire, vol. i., under Lea, Dethick, and Ashover.
BARROW. 1 7
or elles the price of the same. OF CATELL xij oxen price vjli. It. xij kye price
iiijli. It. a cowe geven by Willim Bentley to upholde seynt John's light price
vjs. viijd. It. a bull vjs. viijd. OP COBXE vj quartes of Whete price the qrt. vs.
It.vj qrts. of Eye price the qrt. iiijs. It. x qrts. of Pesen price the qrt. ijs. viijd.
It. Ixxx busshells of otes, ij stryke to the busshell, price the busshell 3d. 06.
PLOUGHEGERE viij yrone tymtes (?) price vs. iiijd. It. x owkes yroned iijs. iiijd. It.
ij Weynes and the Wheles xijs. It. ij harroes with yrones price ijs. It. ij plowghes
with eares of yron price xxd. It. ij cutters xvjd. It. ij shares xijd. It. ij muk
rakes iiijd. It. ij payre of clevys viijd. It. ij pryk forkes iiijd. Sm. totalis
xvijZi. vs. iiijd."
On April 24th, 1516, there is a renewal from Jolm Babington, as
preceptor, to his father, Thomas Babington, for two years at
26 2s. lid., and for a third year at 72. In 1522 the same
preceptor grants this estate to Edward Ehoche (preceptor of
Templebrewer), and to Humphrey Babington (mother of John B.),
for two years at 26 2s. lid., and for the third year at 62. On
May 1st, 1526, Ambrose Leytou, who succeeded Sir John Babington
in this preceptory, leased it conjointly to Sir John (who had
meanwhile been promoted to the much more lucrative preceptory
of Dalby and Eothley), to Thomas Redeman, of London, gent., to
Anthony Viualde, merchant, and to Brother John Mabilsteyn, for
two years at 26 2s. lid., and for the third year at 90.
At the same date Thomas Docwra, Grand Prior of England,
granted to Ralph Pemberton, yeoman of Barrow- on-Trent, a twenty-
nine years' lease of the rectory of Barrow with all its tithes, lands,
meadows, pastures, profits, and appurtenances, after the same manner
as it had lately been farmed by William Bothe. The rental was
fixed at 20, and it was further covenanted that if the preceptor,
Ambrose Ley ton, should at any time whilst he held that office,
build or repair the large room* on the west side of the Hall, that
Ralph Pemberton was to provide all the workmen, both smiths and
bricklayers, with food and drink at his own expense.
We believe that the preceptory house of^ the Hospitallers was
situated at Arleston in this parish, where there are extensive
foundations of ancient buildings. Here would be the residence of
the Bailiff of the camera of Barrow (where hospitality was exercised
before the estate was joined to that of Yeaveley), which seems
to have been subsequently occupied by the farmer of the rectory
manor. The substantial stone-built basement of a large hah 1 , some
75 feet by 21 feet, yet remains, apparently of fourteenth century
*"Cameram conclavem seu promptuarium," i.e., chamber, dining-hall, or store-
house, but we take these expressions to be synonymes for a large unfinished or
ruined building, on the west side of the Hall, which might be finished so as to be used
for any of these purposes. See Appendix III., where the agreement is given in full.
3
18 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
workmanship, supported by buttresses, and this has at a subsequent
date been finished in brick, and converted into a farm-house. But
this latter work (though perhaps the earliest part of it may
be of late sixteenth century date) is subsequent to the
dissolution of the Order, and could not have been carried out
during the tenancy of Ralph Pemberton. There seems good
reason to suppose that this is the structure referred to in Ralph
Pemberton's lease, and which had either been left unfinished,
or allowed to fall into ruin.
Seeing that Pemberton's lease of the rectory of Barrow, and the
lease of the preceptory to Sir John Babington and three others are
dated on the same day, it is clear that the rectory was held
separately from the general estate of the preceptory ; it also
appears from other sources as if it had been farmed by the Bothes
for upwards of a century before the death of William Bothe in 1521.
After the Order was dissolved, part of the rectory manor was
transferred by the crown to the family of Beaumont ; but the
larger part was granted to Richard Harpur, Chief Justice of the
Common Pleas, and his descendant, Sir John Crewe, is at the
present time the impropriator or lay rector. The advowson of the
vicarage, which was for a time with the Beaumonts, has changed
hands, by sale, very repeatedly.
The following list of vicars of Barrow, is chiefly compiled from
the Episcopal Registers and the returns of the First Fruits
Office :
. Roger Caldewell.
1313. John de Belton, rector of Crayke, Durham, exchanged benefices with R. C.,
vicar of Barrow; patron, Philip de Thame,* Grand Prior of England of the
Order of St. John of Jerusalem.
1349. William le Cok de Barrow; patron, Philip de Thame, Grand Prior.
1381. Richard Bars ; f patron, Robert de Hales, Grand Prior.
1434. John Clement ; patron, Robert Malloy, Grand Prior.
1439. William Eleyston; patron, Robert Malloy, Grand Prior.
1462. William Wolfett; patron, William Eleyston, the late vicar, acting for the
Grand Prior.
1470. William Brown ; patron, John Langstrother, Grand Prior. On the resigna-
tion of W. W.
1500. William Frankishe; patron, Thomas Newport, " receptor." On the death
of W. B.
* For a short account of the respective Grand Priors of England, who are patrons of
this vicarage, see Porter's Knights of Malta, vol. ii., pp. 283-5.
f Richard Bars was chaplain of S. Katharine's chantry, Melbourne. Churches of
Derbyshire, vol. iii., p. 400.
I Sir Thomas Newport, a member of a distinguished Shropshire family, was
Receiver-General of England He was probably acting for the Grand Prior, during
a temporary absence. Sir Thomas, during the siege of Rhodes, 1522, persisted in
embarking from Dover in a violent storm, and was lost off the coast of Spain, with all
his forces.
BARROW. 19
].j41. Thomas Wylson ; patrons, John Smythe de Wythcote, and Eobert Chaun-
trell de Sybbertofte, in place of the lately dissolved Order. On the death
of W. F.
1555. William Benryngton ; patrons, Michael Halsted and Hugo Halsted, yeomen.
On the death of T. W.
. Michael Sanington.
1560. John Hill; patron, Edward Beaumont. On the resignation of H. S.
1566. Thomas Robinson; patron, Edward Beaumont.
* * * *
1638. Gervase Wheeldon : patron, Francis Beaumont.
1657. Daniel Shelmerdine ; patrons, the parishioners.
1662. Roger Farmer; patron, Nicholas Wilmot.
1675. Robert Norman ; patron, Nicholas Wilmot.
1752. Edward Lilly ; patron, John Tempest Borrow.
1756. Walter Fletcher; patron, John Tempest Borrow. On the resignation of
W. F.
. John Hutchinson.
1803. Richard George Robinson ; patron, John Barrow, of Alvaston. On the
death of J. H.
1825. William Heacock ; patron, Lord Scarsdale. On the death of R. G. R.
1838. John Latham ; patron, John Latham. On the resignation of William
Heacock.
1855. Joseph Edwards ; patron, Ambrose Moore, of Upper Berkeley St. On the
resignation of J. L. A Resignation Bond was signed between this vicar and
the patron.
1870. J. H. Hughes ; patron, Ambrose Moore. On the resignation of J. E.
1873. George Arthur Smallwood; patron, Ambrose Moore. On the resignation
of J. H. H.
1876. D. C. Cochrane ; patrons, representatives of Wilson Moore. On the resig-
nation of G. A. S.
The Church Goods Commissioners of 6 Edward VI., made the
following report respecting Barrow :
" Barro. Oct. 6. Thos. Wylson Vicar.
j chalys of sylver parcell gylt iij vestments iij albes j of sylke & the other ij of
chaungable cruell iij alter cloythes j coope of cruell iij towells ij corporaxis
with iij caysis~j orosse of copper j cruyt of leyd iij belles in y 9 steple
j byble with a boke of comonen (Holy Communion)."
The Parliamentary Survey of livings, in Lambeth Palace Library,
taken in 1650, gives the following particulars relative to this
parish :
"Barrow is a viccaridge really worth thirteene pounds thirteene shillings and
foure pence per annum.
" Sir John Harpur upon his late Composison settled twentye pounds per annum
more forth of the Impropriate Rectorye of Barrowe. There is one chappell diuers
hambletts apperteyuing (vizt).
"Barrow itselfe in vicarall Tythes ffive pounds. Item the said Augmentasou
twentie pounds maye convenientlye be vnited to Swarkstone in the hundred of
Repton the church there being something inlarged.
"Item Twyford is an appertenanse and hath a chappell the vicarall tythes there
and in Stenson are worth six pounds thirteeue shillings and ffoure pence per
annum.
20 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
" Item Sinfin and Arlestone two small hambletts apperteyning the vicarall tythes
worth about ffortye shillings per annum may be joyiied w Ul Twyford and the
chappell there made a parish church.
" Mr. Gervase Weildou is vicar a man of noe good repute."
Sir John Harpur was allowed by the Parliament to compound
for his estates in Derbyshire for the sum of 4583. On
January 10th, 1645, it was ordered that " Sir John Harpur, of
Swarkeston, do settle 110 per annum 20 on the vicarage of
Barrow, 40 on the church of Ticknall, and 50 on the church of
Eepton, for which he is to be allowed 588, and so his fine of
4583 be reduced to 4000."*
The church, which has the unusual dedication of S. Wilfred,t
consists of nave with side aisles, south porch, chancel, and tower
at the western end. There are no remains of the fabric of Norman
date. The dimensions are : nave 44 ft. 5 in. by 18 ft. 5 in. ;
north aisle 43 ft. 3 in by 16 ft. ; south aisle 44 ft. 3 in. by 13 ft.
4 in. ; and chancel 20 ft. 8 in. by 17 ft. 7 in. The earliest work
is to be seen in the pillars supporting the three arches that
separate the nave from the north aisle. These pillars are of early
English date and have clustered banded shafts. The respond at
the west end has similar banded shafts. These shafts are broken
away in places, and the sounding board of the pulpit, when in its
old position, spoilt one of the capitals. That the church must have
been rebuilt much on its present plan about the beginning of the
reign of Henry III., is evident from the outer buttresses both of this
and the south aisle, which are of Early English character. Another
considerable " restoration " of the church took place in the first
half of the fourteenth century, when the Decorated style prevailed.
The north and west windows and plain pointed doorway of the
north aisle, and the lower stage of the tower, with its five-light
west window of intersecting mullions, seem to have been the work
of one period, circa 1300. The three arches, supported on octagon
pillars, that divide the south aisle from the nave, the three-light
east window of reticulated tracery, and the other windows of that
aisle, now destitute of tracery, together with the large south porch,
and the east window of the north aisle, are perhaps some twenty
or thirty years later. The chancel arch and the north chancel
door are also of Decorated date.
* Book of Sequestrations, Meynell MSS.
f There are 31 old dedications of English churches to S. TTilfred. Three of these,
Barrow, Egginton, and W. Hallam, are iu Derbyshire. S. Wilfred was Bishop of York
and Confessor 709.
BARROW. 2 1
In the Perpendicular period the tower was repaired throughout,
and the present upper stage with the belfry windows added. The
pinnacles aud battlements have been renewed after a very poor
fashion at a much later date. The chancel has a Perpendicular
three-light window on the south side, and a round-headed priest's
door, probably of this date, now blocked up. This door-way is
close to the present east end, but it is quite evident that the
chancel has originally been carried a bay further towards the east,
and has been thus docked off at a later period, probably in the
seventeenth century, for economical reasons relative to its repair.
The present east window is of a debased character, and quite an
eyesore to the church. At the same time that the chancel was
shortened, the clerestory windows (inserted in the Perpendicular
period) were most likely stripped of tracery and rnullions, and
reduced to their present plain proportions. The roofs of the nave
aud chancel are nearly flat, aud of modern date, those of the aisles
are plastered.
On the north side of the chancel is a small " two-side window,"
with a trefoil head, now blocked up. The hall and the chief part
of the village seem to have been always, as they now are, on the
north and not on the south side of the church, and we obtain
thereby a strong confirmation of the theory that these windows
were usually for the purpose of allowing the attendant at mass to
ring the sanctus bell outside, to warn the people of the time of the
elevation of the Host.*
Behind the north chancel pier is a low archway communicating
with the east end of the north aisle ; it may possibly have served
in some sense as a squint. Through this same pier, but looking
into the nave, is a loop-hole opening, only about a foot above the
floor. It is not in a position in which it could have been available
as a squint, and we can only conjecture that it is part of the
masonry of an older church, and that it was not intended to be
opened, as has been recently done by a too enthusiastic restorer.
At the east end of the south aisle is a genuine squint, giving a
view of the high altar, and near by is the doorway that formerly
led on to the rood loft. Against the south wall of this aisle is a
shallow sedile with a trefoil head, and also a small piscina. The
font, which stands at the west end of the north aisle, is of plain
octagon shape and probably of Perpendicular date. It is 40 in.
high, and 82 in. in diameter.
* Churches of Derbynhire, vol. iii., p. 418.
22 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
In the tower are three bells, thus inscribed :
I. " God save the church, 1613." Bell mark of George Oldfield.
II. " Ave Maria," in highly ornamented Lombardic capitals.
III. " Sancta Elena," in similar lettering to the second bell.
The east end of the north aisle pertained to the manors of
Arleston and Sinfin, and here, until about the commencement of
the present century, were memorials to at least six generations of
the ancient family of Bothe, of whom we shall have more to say
in the account of the church of Sawley. They were extensive
landowners in this parish.
Towards the end of the reign of Edward III., the Bothes were
seized of the manor of Siufin, which had previously pertained to
the Toukes. The manor of Arleston was conveyed to John Bothe
in 1426, whose descendant William Bothe, died seized of it in
1521 ; but this conveyance was probably only a recovery deed
from trustees, as we know from the monumental inscriptions that
it was in then* hands at an earlier date. This William and
several of his ancestors also held lands at Barrow, under the Prior
of S. John of Jerusalem.*
On an alabaster gravestone were the incised figures of a knight
and his lady, and round the margin this inscription : \
"Hie jacent Johes Bothe mil. filius et heres Henrici BotheJ quondam domini
de Erleston et Margareta uxor ejus filia et heres de Thomas Petinore Knygtys (?)
Thorpe qui quidem Johes obiit quinto decimo die mensis Maij Anno Domini
MCCCCXIIII (?) Lra Dnicalis G. et p'dicta Margereta obiit sexto die Aprilis A.D.
MCCCCLXII (?)."
" On a wall in the same church :
" Henry Bothe of Iretyes (?) sometyme of Erlaston ob. 8 Jul. fryday at none
A 1446."
" Upon part of an alibaster stone entering into y e Chancel is y e
portraiture of a man in armour cap a pie. In y e inscription is
John Bothe and y e yeare MCCCCLXXXIV " (Bassano). This we believe
* Meynell MSS. Fines 5 Hen. VI.
t This and the following inscriptions are given in the text after comparing the
church notes of 1662, in the Dodsworth MSS., vol. Ixxxii., p. 4?A, with those of
Bassano in 1710, and another version preserved in the Meyuell MSS.
I The incised slab to Isabella, daughter of John de Fimlern, and wife of Henry
Bothe, is still extant at Findern church. There is probably something wrong about
one or other of the dates of this inscription, most likely a figure has been misread,
and the death of John should be 1444, and not 1413. Sir Henry Bothe, of Arleston,
presented to the rectory of Norbury in 1424 ; his daughter Alice was the first wife of
Sir Nicholas Fitzherbert, tenth Lord of Norbury. Their impaled arms are still in a
window of that church, see Churches of Derbyshire, vol. iii., p. 231, etc. Most likely
Sir Henry Bothe died in 1424, for in that year we find John Bothe (and Joan his first
wife) presenting to the rectory of Stretton-in-the-Fields, and again in 1437 ; Churches
of Derbyshire, vol. iii., p. 487.
Dodsworth MSS., probably a younger son of John of the last monument.
BARROW. 23
to be the son and heir of the last named John. He had two
sons, William and Ealph, to hoth of whom there were monuments.
On a marble stone in the Arleston quire were the brass effigies
of William and Isabella Bothe, with this inscription :
" Hie jacent W m Bothe arm. filius et heres Johis Bothe quondam Domini de
Herleston et Isabella uxor ejus filia Kadi Poole de Radborue qui quidem W m
obiit . . . die . . . 1521 Lra Dominicalis B. et ipsa Isabella obiit 12 Maij A Iol4."*
On another stone adjoining :
"Hie jacet Radus Bothe fratr' W m Bothe de Erleston arm. qui quidem Radus
obiit 14 Sep. A.D. 1510."
" Close to y e north wall is a little raised tomb of Alibaster and
upon y e covering stone are y e faire portraitures of a man and
woman with hands elevated and at feet 5 children, but part of y e
stone here broken off. Upon y e stone is here circumscribed"
(Bassauo) :
" Orate pro animabus Johis Bothe armig. et Johanne uxoris . sue quiquidem
Johes obiit 7 die Julij A 1531. Quorum animabus propicietur Deus Ameu."
This John Bothe was son and heir of William and Isabella
Bothe. He was the last of the Bothes of this parish, for about
this time their manors of Arleston and Sinfin were transferred
to the Blounts, from whom they subsequently passed to tbe
Harpurs. There was also a tomb to Joyce, daughter of John
Bothe, having this inscription :
" Hie jacet Jocosa Sherley uxor Thome Sherle ar : filia Johis Bothe de Erleston
ar : qui Jocosa ob. 12 July A Dni 1523."f
" Towords the east end of y e lie in a large fair stone of
Alibaster appears y e head of a man his hair short and y e crown of
* It seems that William Bothe's first wife was Margaret Assheton. At all events on
May 21st, 1486, an episcopal dispensation was obtained for his marriage with the said
Margaret, who was related to him in the fourth degree of consanguinity. Lichfield
Registers, vol. xii.. f. 155.
His will, dated September 25th, 1520, leaves his body to be buried in the parish
church ''by my wyff, betwixt ray father and grandfather." He left 5 Ib. of wax and 7
torches to be burnt at his burial, 10s. to the church of Barrow, 10s. to the church of
Twyford, 10s. to All Saints', Derby, 10s. to the Friar Preachers of Derby, 10s. for
a treutal of masses, 10s. for the repair of Swarkeston Bridge, and 10s. for the
" roodegeld '' (i.e., Guild of the Rood) of Repton. Further: "I bequeathe to John
Bothe who shall be my heir after me my Stuff in the Chappell that is to wit West-
ments chalis masseboke portuses and all that I have belonging to the said Chappell."
This chapel was clearly not in the parish church or it would have been thus described,
nor did it pertain to any private manor house of his own, in which case it would
have been cited as ' my chapel." We have no doubt that it was the chapel pertain-
ing to the camera or estate building of the Knights Hospitallers, at Arleston, which
(as we have already stated) was held by the Bothes under the Order. Probate
Court, Lichfield.
t Thomas Shirley, second son of John Shirley, of Eatingtou and Shirley, succeeded
under his father's will, to a life interest in an estate called " The Fostery," in Hope-
dale in the Peak. There was no issue to his marriage with Joyce Bothe. Stemmata
Shirleiana, p. 41.
24 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
his head shaven. On y e middle of y e stone is a cross in a Footing
of 4 greeces on y e one side of it is a chalice .... Upon y e south
side of y e Chancell within an ovall or round is a cross fleury."
In addition to all these monuments, Bassano also gives the
following details respecting heraldic glass that was then (1710), in
the windows of the north aisle :
" In west window of north He.
1. Gules 2 Lyons or.
2. Gules 2 Lyons or a File of 5 poynts azure each charged with 3 bezants.
3. Gules a fess between 6 crosses botony or.
In north window of this He.
1. Quarterly gules and or in y e first Quarter sex de foyle.
2. Azure within an orle of Stars or a coat of pretence Quarterly gules and or.
3. Argent a fess gules between 3 eaglets displayed sable.
In another north window.
1. Gules a cross argent.
2. Or upon a fess gules 3 flowers de lis or.
3. Checkey or and azure.
In y e last window of y e Isle is twice y e armes of England, gules 3 Lyons passant
guardant.
Below or a frett gules, joynt of every frett charged with so many plates,
Neare to it in y e same range is gules 3 long fishes naiant among 8 crosslets
gobony argent.
Another partition in y e same range is sable a cinque foile within an orle of
mantlets argent."
We do not know the precise date when the utterly scandalous
destruction of all the monuments and glass named above took
place, but it was about the beginning of the present century.
They had almost all disappeared when Mr. Meynell was here in
1812, and Mr. Kawlins, on visiting the church in 1821, though
there were then two Bothe slabs remaining, says : " there were
formerly several other fine alabaster memorials for the Bothes in
the north aisle, which the hands of violence have destroyed, either
by pounding them into mortar, or casting them aside in portions
to repair the parish roads."
Against the north wall of the north aisle is a monument bearing
the foUowing inscription :
" Here lieth buried y e bodye of Elizabeth, the wife of Henrye Milward of
Sindfen, gent Shee had issue 5 sons and 5 daughters by her said husband she
deceased y 6 27 th day of September 1610 y e said Henrye deceased 25 th of January
1615 and lyeth buried in S* Warburghs Clrurche in Darbye. To whose memories
John Milward of London their youngest childe hath erected these monuments.
A faithful, loving, cheerful wife, her husband's comfort she,
Elizabeth was ever found modest and wise to bee ;
Good housewife and good housekeeper, still helpful to the poor,
A neighbour kinde, by all approv'd, according to her store.
BARROW. 25
A matrone wisp, a mother deare, 52 yeares a wife,
A lover of God's word and church, during her mortal life :
And after 72 years pains, all greife and sickness past,
Her Saviour deare she now enjoys, in joy which aye shall last.
I. M."*
In the north east angle of the chancel is a raised tomb, having
this inscription :
"Here lieth the bodie of William Sale, of Barrow, gentleman, sonne of Richard
Sale of Weston clarke, deceased the 17th of November 1065, setate sue 74."
He was the founder of the family of the Sales of Barrow,
who are still landowners in the parish. t
On the floor of the chancel is a slab to Cicely Beaumont, wife
of Kobert Beaumont, of Barrow, and daughter and co-heiress of Sir
Thomas Beaumont, of Gracedieu ; she died in 1695, aged 47 To
her husband, who died in 1726, there is another slab ; he married
Jane, widow of Francis Lowe, of Owlgreaves, for his second wife,
and thirdly Winifred, daughter of Francis Lowe.;}: This Kobert
Beaumont was fourth in direct descent from Edward Beaumont,
who settled at Barrow about the year 1550, having obtained a
grant from the crown of part of the lands that had pertained to
the Knights Hospitallers at Barrow. William Beaumont, son and
heir of Edward, died 33 Elizabeth ; he held two hundred acres of
land of the Queen, as of her manors of Greenwich.
In the south wall of the south aisle is a rounded arched recess.
Within it is the alabaster effigy of a priest in Eucharistic vest-
ments, with the feet resting on a dog. The head rests on a
cushion, and has been supported by two small angels, but these, as
well as the hands and other parts, are now broken off. The date
of the recess is uncertain, but the effigy is of the fourteenth
century, and probably represents the ecclesiastic who then rebuilt
this aisle. Below the squint in the north-east angle of this aisle,
is a sepulchral recess of a later date, now empty, but apparently ' of
a period more nearly coeval with the effigy of the ecclesiastic than
that in which it is now resting.
Over the east window of the chancel may be noticed part of an
incised sepulchral slab of an early date.
The registers begin in 1657, at which date Daniel Shelmerdine
* See the account of S. Werburgh's church in this volume, also Churches of Derby-
shire, vol. ii., pp. 165-6, 633, and vol. iii., pp. 123-4.
t See the subsequent account of Westou Church.
J There is a good pedigree of Beaumont, of Gracedieu and Barrow, in Glover's
Derbyshire.
Meyueil MSS.
26 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
was chosen by the parish as their minister. His entries do not
continue beyond February 3rd, 1658. The regular registration
begins in 1662. From the first volume we take the following
entries and interpolations :
1662. Mem d that M r Roger Farmer, Minister of Congerston in Leicestershire, was
made Minister of Barrow-super-Trent, in Derbyshire.
1666. M r Robert Norman, Curate to Old M r Sam. Bold, of Mickleover, married
Eliz. Hegge, December 12.
1675. M r Roger Farmer resigned Barrow, July 27. I, Robert Norman, was
presented to Barrow-cum-Twyford.
1678. Maria filia Danielis Shelmenliue de Finderne Sepulta fuit decimo secnudo
Octobris.
1683. Mem d that the great frost begun in November, and lasted about 13 weeks,
ending in February.
1693. Hugh Latimer Peregrinus de Congerston (who was drown'd in the Trent and
found by Pickering's house at Barrow), sepult. May 1.
1699. Gulielmus Drable (a stranger and a poor man coming from Hulland Ward in
Derbyshire being foimd suddenly dead on Sunday morning March 26th was
buried in Twyford Churchyard Monday 27 after M r Charles Adderley
Coroner had sate uppon him (he was found dead on Stenson Green).
Jacobus Hurd de Stenson Bachalauraus qui in Aqua Trenti irnmersus die
Veneris vigesinio tertio sepultus fuit Sancti Johannis Baptis die M r Charles
Adderley Coroner sate upon him in Twyford Church, June 24.
Mem d M r Daniel Shelmardine was borne at Matlock in Derbyshire and was
baptised Anno Dom. 1639. He was chosen by the Parish of Barrow to be their
minister in Cromwell's time being then about twenty years old [a word or two
here are doubtful]. The said M r S. came to Barrow about March 25, 1657, and
staid till Bartholomew 1662 and then put out.
Danie] Shelmerdine also formerly minister of Barrow-sup-Trent dyed at Findern
in the Parish of Mickleovor on Sunday night (October 22, 1699) about sun-setting
and was buried in Finderne Church by M r Ward then minister of Mickleover
(who preached his fu;nerall Sermon on Tuesday 24 following. His text was upon
1 Cor. 15, 35).
M r Moore (then living at Derby) a Nonconformist minister preached another
funerall Sermon the same night by candle-light in the meeting House at Findern
upon y e same occasion. His text John 5, 28, 29.
Mem d that one M r Pike a nonconformist minister (then living at Burton-on-
Trent in Staffordshire) preached another funerall sermon in the meeting house of
Findern aforesaid upon the same occasion on Sunday November 5 following. His
text was 2 Tim. 4, 6, 7, 8.
Mem d that a Sunday or two after v 8 s d M T Pike one M r Woodhouse then living
at Diseworth Grange preached upon the same occasion, whose text was in Luke
23, 27, 28.
* Daniel Shelmerdine was the son of Thomas Shelmerdine, minister of Crich, and
subsequently of Matlock. Dr. Calamy says that he was born at Crich on New Year's
Day, 1636 or 1637. He was educated at Repton and Christ's College, Cambridge.
He was ordained by the Classical Presbytery of Wirksworth (of which his father was
often Moderator), on May 20, 1657, and was first chaplain in the family of Colonel
Grevis, of Moseley, Worcestershire. Thence he went to Barrow-cum-Twyford, which
he held till 1662. Afterwards he rented a farm at Twyford for seventeen years. He
was several times imprisoned and suffered much for nonconformity. " When the
Liberty was settled by Law, he Preach'd at Derby and several other Places Occasion-
ally ; not dareing to hide his Lord's Talent in a Napkin. A valuable Man and a
useful Preacher." Calamy's Ejected Ministers, vol. ii., p. 166, Wirksworth Classis
MSS. Mr. Robert Moore, who preached one of the funeral sermons, was ejected from
BARROW. 27
1701. Sept. 20. Eobert Steevenson of Draicott in y county of Darby died suddenly
in Barrow field next to Swarkston field he had a Son-in-law with him
whom he had sent before to Swarkston with his waggon and six poor
horses or mares (going towards the ferry) loaden with cheese ; he was
buried in Barrow churchyard Saturday 20 th , but dyed Thursday 18 th before,
I having a Paper under M r Charles Adderley's hand of Derby Coroner to
bury him. Quod vide. He sickened in Potluck lane as he came from
Uttoxeter by Twyford and so towards Swarkston.
1705. Apr. 6. Quidam Gulielmus Smith Peregrinus veniens e Parochia de Utoxeter
suspendit seipsum apud Twyford : sepultus autem erat in loco vulgo appel-
late Hailstones.
1711. Mem d . That his grace the Duke of Newcastle, whose seat was at Welbeck
Abbey in Nottinghamshire, was flung of his horse on Friday July 6, 1711,
as he was hunting the fox, and dyed on Sunday morning following, at 3 of
the clock in the 56 year of his age, and was carried up to London about 13
of August immediately following, to stand among the Kings and Queens
and the rest of the Nobles in Westminster Abbey.
1712. Elizabetha Norman de Sinfin Parochia de Barrow-sup-Trentum Uxor Roberti
Norman Vicarii de Barrow prsedicta mortua est die Solis per duodecimam
horam apud noctem ejusdem diei vel eo circiter deciino sexto Novembris,
sepulta autem fuit die Mercurii decimoque nono Novembris in cemeteris de
Twyford per Dominum Thomas Buxtouium (tune ministrum de Chellaston).
To end her days on the Lord's day
She thought it was the best
And now I hope to heaven she's gone
To everlasting rest.
Home Home she always said she'd go
This was her constant ditty
She knew full well that here below
She'd no continuing city.
Her husband friends and house she chang'd
(In this world ne'er to see)
For God and Christ in Heaven with Saints
For evermore to Bee.
or otherwise thus
To live eternally.
Joyn'd we was in Marriage
the llth of December (viz 1666)
Disjoyn'd we was by Death again
the sixteenth of November (viz 1712)
And all the time betwixt us both
A child we had but one
Mary by name who's gone to God
And I am left alone.
or otherwise thus
And she to her is gone.
R. NORM AN.
1714, July 6. Mr. Rt Norman and Mrs Rebecca Sales married.
July 12. Mr. Robt Norman buried.
the living of Brampton in 1662. He also suffered imprisonment for his views, and was
" once indited for not reading the Book, when it was not yet come down. He was
afterwards one of the Pastors of the Congregation in Derby, where he dy'd in June
1704." Mr. Woodhouse died in 1700, pastor of a considerable congregation in London.
A note in a later hand, m the registers, says that Mr. Pike was born at Clebury, in
Shropshire, and died at Burton.
28 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
CJapeto uf
j)F the ecclesiastical history of Twyford, as independent of
that of Barrow, hardly anything can be gleaned. It
appears to have been from the earliest date a parochial
chapelry of Barrow, with rights of baptism and burial attached to
it, but the priest who served there was merely a chaplain or
curate appointed by the vicar of Barrow, to whom he had to
render all oblations, etc. It had 110 independent endowment
attached to it. After the ^Reformation it came to be regarded in a
certain light as possessing beneficiary rights of its own, and
institutions were made in the title of Barrow-cum-Twyford, and
occasionally even of Twyford-cum-Barrow; but the two benefices
have always been held in conjunction.
The church or chapel, which is dedicated to S. Andrew, consists
of a nave 38 ft. 10 in. by 20 ft., a chancel 20 ft. 3 in. by 15 ft.,
and a small tower and spire at the west end. Between the nave
and chancel is a bold Norman arch, of the reign of Henry I.,
ornamented with the chevron moulding, and in good preservation.
The lower stage of the tower has three widely-splayed lancet
windows, and is a good sample of early English work of the
beginning of the 13th century, though the west light is spoilt by
the insertion of a modern doorway.
The church is of the Decorated period, temp. Edward II. It has
a plain pointed priest's doorway, a two-light square-headed window,
and a good three-light pointed window on the south side. The
three-light east window has quatrefoils in the upper tracery. On
the north side is a two -light square-headed window of debased
date.
The upper stage of the tower has four square-headed bell-
chamber windows, which are clearly of the same date as the south
chancel windows. The short octagon spire is also of this period.
TWYFORD. 29
The nave is of brick, faced with stone, lighted with round-
headed windows, and ceiled with plaster. It resembles the style
of work at Trusley church, and seems to be of the reign of Anne
or George I.
There used to be a plain old Norman font in this church, but it
now possesses one of the most miserable examples of a modern
stonemason's art that it has ever been our fate to see. In large
letters on the base is prominently inscribed : " C. Bennett, Work-
sop, Fecit D.D.D."
When Bassano visited this church (1710) he noted two alabaster
stones, from which the inscription was worn off, and also, near to
the north wall, an old alabaster slab with " the portraiture of a
man in armour cap-a-pie and coat of male," and the following
remnant of an inscription : " .... militis . . . armi/jeri . . . dei
menxis . . . anno dni M V e xxxii et . . . . animalus ppicietur Deus
Amen." The Rawlins MSS., of a century later, also speak of the
effigy of a man in armour of the year 1533, but we looked in vain
for any remnant of this or other alabaster slabs.
Bound the margin of a large slate slab, now against the north
wall of the chancel, is the following inscription :
" Hie jacet corpus Georgii filij secundi Ricardi Harpur de Littleover militia qui
obijt decimo sexto die Novembris Anno Domini 1658 ^tatis suaa 64."
On a smah 1 brass plate in the centre of this slab, it is recorded
that :
"Here also lieth Anna his wife the daughter of Sir Edward Vernon of Sudbury
Knt. who departed this life the 15th of January 1C88 aged 68."
Against the same side of the chancel is a mural monument,
having in the upper part these impaled arms : Arg., a lion
rampant within a bordure engrailed, sab. (Harpur), and, sab. , on a
chevron between three talbots' heads erased, arg., as many fleurs-
de-lis of the first. Above the arms is the Harpur crest of a boar.
The inscription is now illegible. It commemorated George Harpur,
son of the last-named Harpur, who died in 1672, and his wife
Catharine, daughter of Edward Wardour, who died in 1669.
There used also to be a monument at Twyford to John, son of
George Harpur, who died in 1671.
The adjacent manors of Twyford and Stenson were held by the
Curzons as early as the reign of Henry I.,* but in the reign of
Henry II. they were conveyed by John Curzon, of Croxall, to
* Churches of Derbyshire, vol. iii., p. 171, etc.
30 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
John Crewcher and Alice his wife.* Thence they passed to the
Finderns. Thomas Findern dying seized of them in 1558, the
estate passed to his sister and heiress, Jane, who conveyed it?
inter alia, to her husband, Eichard Harpur, whose monument we
have already described under Swarkestoii Church. Their second
son was Sir Richard Harpur, of Littleover,t whose second son,
George, inherited the Twyford property, and here resided. For
lack of heirs it afterwards reverted to the senior branch of the
family.
A brass against the south wall of the chancel says that the
Bristowe vault is under the communion rails. There is a memorial
of Samuel Bristowe, 1761.
There are three bells in the tower.
I. " Paule," in Lombardic capitals, and the founder's mark
attributed to Richard Mellor.
II. " Jhesus be our spede, 1611," in Lombardic capitals, and the
founder's mark of Henry Oldfield.
III. " In mi beginning God be mi spede," in Lombardic capitals,
and the same founder's mark as the first bell.
In June, 1821, the spire was struck by lightning and much
damaged, necessitating the rebuilding of a considerable portion.
At the same time the churches of Coleorton and Staunton Harold
were greatly injured.^
* Lysons' Derbyshire, p. .46.
t .See our subsequent account of Littleover Church.
J Bigsby's History of Repton, p. 298.
|0 church is mentioned at Crich iu the Domesday Survey.
Crick was at that time one of the nineteen Derbyshire
manors held by Ealph Fitzhubert, whose principal
residence was on this manor.* To him succeeded his son, Ealph
Fitzralph, first Baron of Crich, who in the time of Henry I.
gave certain lands in Hartshorn to the Knights Hospitallers. t
His son, Hubert Fitzralph, was a great benefactor to Darley
Abbey, and in the year 1175 confirmed his church of Crich to that
establishment. But it seems to have been previously given to the
Abbey by Ealph Fitzralph, for the church of Crich is mentioned
by Eobert de Ferrers as part of his gift to the canons at the time
when he removed them from Derby and founded the Abbey of
Darley, which was early in the reign of Henry II., for Eobert de
Ferrers died in 1162. There is some contradiction between the
different charters as to the actual donor of the church, of Crich,
but it is most probable that the Ferrers for a time exercised some
nearly nominal control over Crich manor as chief lords, and that
the donation required their consent. j Considerable lands and
woods pertaining to the manor of Crich were also bestowed upon
the abbey by Hubert Fitzralph and his father. In the year 1175
a dispute arose between Albinus, first abbot of Darley, and Hubert,
respecting the manor and church of Crich, and lands at Pentricli,
Eipley, Okerthorpe, and Chilwell. The dispute chiefly turned on
the claim of the abbot to the pannage and agistment of swine
throughout the whole of the woods of Crich. The matter was
* He was the eldest son of Hubert de Eya, and was hung in the civil wars, in the
year 1140, by a partisan of the Empress Maud. Dugdale's Baronage, vol. i., p. 109;
Matt, of Westminster (ed. 1601), p. 243.
f Dugdale's Momisticon, vol. ii., p. 527.
I Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. ii., p. 231, and vol. iii., p. 60. See also the important
chartularies of Darley Abbey, now in the Brit. Museum (Cotton and Cole MSS.),
described in Churches of Derbyshire, vol. i., p. 321.
4
34 DERBYSHIRE CHl/RCHES.
referred to the determination of Roger, Bishop of Worcester, and
Robert, Prior of Kenilworth, and the decision was chiefly in favour
of Hubert. 1 "
Hubert Fitzralph, Baron of Crich and Lord of Scarcliffe and
Palterton, died about the year 1225. By his first wife, Edelina,
he left two daughters, his co-heiresses, the eldest of whom, Juliana,
was married to Anker de Frecheville, t but he dying before his
father-in-law, Crich passed to his son, Ralph de Frecheville. One
of the Darley chartularies contains a deed of this Ralph, confirming
the church of Crich to the abbey.J His son, Anker de Frecheville,
who married the heiress of Musard, and thus became baron of
Staveley as well as of Crich, died in 1268. His son, Ralph de
Frecheville, in the year 1324, alienated the manor of Crich to
Roger Beler and his heirs, who died seized of it in the following
year, leaving an heir, Roger, aged seven years. | Sir Roger Beler
died in 1380, and his fourth wife, who survived him eleven years,
held Crich as part of her dowry ; thence it passed to Sir Robert
de Swillington, who had married Margaret, daughter and co-heiress
of Sir Roger Beler by his second wife. It afterwards passed by
inheritance to Ralph, Lord Cromwell, who in the reign of Henry
VI. sold the reversion to John Talbot, second Earl of Shrewsbury.
On the death of Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury, in 1616, the manor
was divided between his three daughters and co-heiresses, the
Countesses of Pembroke, Kent, and Arundel.** The manor has
since become much divided, and has been the subject of prolonged
and frequent litigation.
During the episcopate of Alexander Stavenby (1224-1240), a
vicarage was formally ordained at Crich, and endowed with the
tithes of lambs and wool, and the usual oblations. In the year
1278 a composition was entered into between the abbot of Darley
and William de Draycote, vicar of Crich, by which the latter under-
took to rest content with the former ordination of the vicarage,
and certain additions made at the time of his presentation to the
* Cole MSS., vol. xxi., f. 171. On the same page occurs a grant of a portion of the
manor of Crich to Darley Abbey by Geoffrey de Constantine. He married the sister
of Hubert Fitzralph. This grant is confirmed by Walter, Bishop of Coventry and
Lichfield, 1149-61.
f Nichols' Collectanea, vol. iv., p. 1; but Nichols is wrong in the date of the death
of Hubert.
{ Cole MSS., vol. xxi., f. 177. See also Harl. MSS. 5809, f. 35 b.
Inq. post Mort.. 53 Hen. III., No. 20. See the account of Staveley, Churches of
Derbyshire, vol. i., pp. 345-364.
II Eot. Fin., S. Mich., 18 Edw. II. ; Inq. post Mort., 19 Edw. II., No. 98.
** See Blore's South Winfield and the accompanying pedigrees ; also Glover's
DerbysJiire.
CRICH. 35
vicarage, viz. a provision in case of illness the whole tithes of
the lands and tenements that used to pertain to Peter de Wake-
bridge, which Bricius, formerly vicar of Crich, obtained by consent
of the abbey of Darley and forty shillings of rent paid annually
by the abbey.*
The taxation roll of Pope Nicholas (1291) gives the annual value
of this church at 6 13s. 4d., and a rental of the temporalities of
Darley Abbey, within the archdeaconry of Derby, taken about the
same time, states that the monks held sixty acres of land at
Crich, valued at twenty shillings per annum, and also assessed
rents to the annual value of twelve shillings. t
The manor of Wakebridge in this parish belonged at an early
period to*, a family who took their name from the place. Peter,
son of Ealph de Wakebridge, married, in the reign of John,
Emma, sister of Hubert Fitzralph, lord of Crich. j Their great-
grandson, Peter de Wakebridge, was knight of the shire in several
parliaments of Edward III., and died in 1349. He had a large
family, and left Sir William de Wakebridge his heir. Neither Sir
William nor his brothers had any issue, and his sister, Cecilia, the
wife of Sir John de la Pole, became his heir. Peter de la Pole,'
son of Sir John and Cecilia, was the ancestor of the Poles of
Kadbourn, but his younger brother, Ealph de la Pole, became lord
of Wakebridge. His posterity continued there till the death of
John Pole in 1724, when it passed, in default of heirs male, to his
great nephew, Garalt Morphy, and Wakebridge was soon afterwards
sold to Mr. Nightingale, of Lea.
Sir William de Wakebridge, of Wakebridge, was knight both of
this shire and Nottingham in several parliaments between 26 and
86 Edward III. He is said to have been a valiant warrior in the
French wars, but is better known as the munificent founder of two
chantries in his parish church. Much information respecting these
chantries, as well as other particulars relative to the parish church }
can be gleaned from an interesting chartulary still extant, which
affords a far fuller insight into the property and working of these
chantries than is the case with any other parochial chantry with
whose history we are conversant. It is curious that this MS. has
* Cott. MSS., Titus, C. ix.. f. 47 b.
t Ibid., f. 41. The total annual value of the temporalities of the abbey, within the
archdeaconry, is given as 72 19s. 3d.
I A pedigree of Wakebridge in Glover's Derbyshire makes Emma daughter of
Hubert, but this could not be, otherwise she would have been a co-heiress, and
conveyed part of the manor of Crich to Wakebridge.
36 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
hitherto altogether escaped the notice of our county historians.*
The volume commences with the writs and inquisitions of Edward
III., done into English :
" Edwarde the thirde Kinge of Englande directed his writte unto th eschetor of
Darbyeshere to make inquisition to knowe whether he were any thiuge damnified
yf he dyd graunte to Wylliam Wakebrugge lycence to geave unto a chapelayue
to singe for the sowle of his predecessors at Chriche fowre messuages, thre
cotages, one tofte, seven plowe lande, and sixtene shyUiuges of rent -w th
th appurtenance in Chriche, Whetecrofte, Holeways, Alvaleye, and the Lees by
Cromforde, and fortye shyllinges issueinge out of his landes at Hassoppe, Harston,
Wakebrugge, Tannesleye and Tyversall to have and to holde for ever, and to
make inquisition wether he has sufficient landes besides this to be swore
Sessions and Assises.
" Ihon Walleis th eschetor dyd retorne his inquisition taken bye the veredicte
of twelve men wyche dyd present that hit was not prejudiciall unto the Kinge
nor unto anye other that the sayde Wakebrugge sholde geave unto the chapel-
aynes fowre messuages, thre cotages, one tofte, and seven plowe lande, and
syxtene shillinges of rent w th th appurtenances in Chriche, Whetcrofte, Holeways,
Alvaleye and the Lee by Cromforde, wythe lycence for to geave the same
chapelayene at Haslop, Harston, Wakebrugge, Tausleye and Tyversaill and theye
save that the sayde fowre messuages, thre cotages, seven plowe land, and sixtene
shyllinges rent are holden of Rauffe Lee, that is to saye everye messuage by the
service of toe shillinges, everye cotage and tofte by the service of six pence, and
everye plow land by the service of ijs six pence by the yere, the whe Rauffe
dothe holde the same of Roger Beler by the service of the fowerthe part of a
knight fee and farther theye present that he hath sufficyent of freholde to be
sworen in sessions and assises videlicet x 11 of lande by the yere in Criche, &c.
"Whereupon the Kinge confirmed his graunt savinge unto the chiffe lordes
theyre right &c.
" An other writte unto the schetor.
" The same Kinge directed a wryt unto theschetor to enquire by the othe of
twelve good and laufull men of the same counteye of Darbye what damage hit
were to him or unto other yf he dyd graunt to Wylliam de Wake that he maye
geave fowre messuages thre cotages fyve toftes thre plowe lande, fowre and xx u
shyllinges of rent w th th appurtenances in Chriche, Whetcrofte, Plastowe, Furche-
leye, Alveleye, Holewayes, Tannesleye, Dethecke, and the Lee by Dethecke to a
certayne chappelayne to praye for the sowles of dyvers his predecessors, &c.
" Bye vertwe of w ch writte th eschetor made his inquisition in the w ch he dothe
retorne that hit is no losse or prejudice unto the Kinge or to anye other yf he
do geave the same land and farther makethe in his retorne that toe messuages,
thre cotages, toe plowe land, and twelve shillinges of rent are holden of Roger
Beler payenge one payre of gloves for all services, the w cb Roger doth holde hit
of the Kinge by homage and fealtee. Lyckewise they do saye that to messuages,
fyve toftes, and one plow land, and twelve shyllinges of rent are holden of Roger
of Wynfeld, the wyche Roger dothe hold them of Roger Beler by homage and
fealtee and the fowertenthe parte of a Knightes fee. W c he Roger dothe holde hit
of the King in capite as parcell of the Manere of Chryche. Lykewise they saye
that the sayd Wylliam hath land in Chriche to the valewe of x* 1 over all
chardges, &c.
* Harl. MSS. 3669. It is a thin volume of 101 folios ff. 2*-4* copies of writ of
Edw. III., done into English in a later hand ff 1-6, calendar of saints' days, etc.
ff. 7-92, the chartulary proper ff. 93-98, a second calendar, with obituary and other
notices ff. 99-101, rentals. A tolerable full abstract of its contents will he found at
the beginning of vol. 6669 of the Add. MSS.
CHICH. 37
" Whereupon the Kinge confirmed his grauiit saviuge unto the chiffe lordes his
right, &c.
" Hit is to be knowen that all the tenements in the afforesayde dedes, contayned
or retorned by the inquisition are not holden of the fforesayde lordes ueyther by
BO muche rent as by the inquisition is supposed and this was done by the
counsell or the founder that the tenements shold seeine to be of lesse value then
they were and therefore the Kinges fine was lesse, but these w 011 here after euswe
are the rentes of the Chauntrye graunted bye the founder.
" Imprimis one halpeuye was reserved to the Heyeres of Hugh Gurneye for the
mansion in Chriche as hit dothe appeare by the dede. Item one halfepenye was
reserved to the heyres of Heugh de Loudeforth for the same as hit doth appere
bye the deede, w ch rent is not nowe to be payed for that, neyther of the
grauntours hathe anye Heyres. Lykewyse fyve shyllinges are to be payed to the
prior of Felley for the tenement w c h was Thomas Eyres of Chriche, and thre
shyllinges and fowre pence are dewe to the same prior for the tenement w ch the
sayde Thomas dyd hold in furtesleye and six pence are dewe to the chyrch of
Chriche for the tenements in Chriche bye the grauut of Adam Eyre. Lykewise
one penye is dewe to the Heyres of Wylliam Keuerdsaye lord of the Lee for one
tenement w c he is in the handes of Simon Whetcrofte. Lykewyse one halfepenye
is dew to the light in the Churche of Chriche for all other tenements in Whet-
crofte w ch were Alexander Lees. Lykewyse a payre of gylden spores or six pence
in moneye are dew to the lord of Chriche for to plow lande at Stricthorne, wyche
were Henrye Codinton. Lykewyse one aple is dewe to Richard Clarcke for one
mesuage and toe acres of lande the w ch Ihon of Chestershire dyd purchase of
Alexander de Lee. Lykewise one halfepeuye is dewe to W m of Kenardsaye for
three acres of laud the w he the sayde Ihon of Chestershire dyd purchase of
Thomas de Ferarius. And one halfepenye is to be payed to the light of Saiiict
lohn of Dethecke for one plot of land in the Lee wh is called Hannefelde.
Lykewise one pounde of cumine is dew to the lord of Chriche and the grindiuge
of a eleven busshelles of come is dew to the chapellaynes in the Lee for that
halfe part of the milne w ch were Thomas Ferrars. Lykewyse to shylliuges are
dewe to the heyres of Alexander Lee except a releas may be had, and that is to
be sought of lohn of Dethecke and the grinding of an eleven bushell is dew to
the chappelaynes of the Lee for that halfe of the milues w ch were Alexander
Lees, and one penye halfepeuye is dew to the lord of Tutburye, for the enlarginge
of the damme of the lower Mylne of the Lee. Lykewyse six shillinges are to be
payed to the prior of Felleye for one plowe land in Clattercotes. Lykewyse one
halfepeuye is dew to Richard Clarke for all the tenementes the wych Peter of
Wakebrugge the father of the founder dyd purchase of Godfraye Holewayes
chapelayne in Alveleye, and the w h the same Godfraye dyd purchase of Alexander
Lee."
The first of these chantries was founded in 1350, and dedicated
conjointly to SS. Nicholas, Katharine, Margaret, and Mary Magdalen,
though it was more usually known by the names of the first two
of these saints. The founder paid a fine of ten marks to the king
for licence to alienate the lands before specified.* It was ordered
that mass should be daily celebrated for the souls of the founder
and his two wives Joan and Elizabeth, his grandfather Nicholas
de Wakebridge, and his wife Juliana, their son Nicholas, and their
daughters Sarah, Joan, and Amicia (uncle and aunts of the founder),
* Rot. Orig. 24 Edw. III. rot. 41.
38 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
his father and' mother, Peter and Joan de Wakebridge, their children,
Eobert, Nicholas, Peter, John (chaplain), and Matilda (brothers
and sisters of the founder), William Cosyne, his wife Eleanor, and
their children, John, Cecilia, and Alice, John de la Pole, and
Cecilia his wife (sister of the founder), Henry de Codyngton,
Margaret his wife, and their parents, Roger de Chesterfield, clerk,
Henry Nicholas, Geoffrey de Chaddesden, Nicholas de Tyssyngton,
and William de Balidon (vicar of Crich), Eoger Beler, Margaret
his wife, and Alice Beler (daughter of Thomas Beler, and niece of
Roger), Cecilia Wyn, and Ralph Frescheville and his heirs. The
chaplain was to assist the vicar of Crich on double festivals, on
Sundays, and on the feasts of SS. Katharine and Margaret, si cum
nota ubi legitnr 'jubuiit que singuli quod residebu/it.' Further
instructions provided that the chaplain was to hold no other cure ;
that he was to provide a wax taper for use in the chancel ; that
on the feast of S. Katharine full service of the dead was to be
said, and on the morrow 5d. was to be offered; also on the same
day the chaplain was to distribute 10s. or its value to the poor of
Crich ; that the right of presentation to this chantry was to be
vested in the founder for his life, and -then, in default of heirs male,
in his sister Cecilia ; that after a month's vacancy, the presentation
should rest with the abbot of Darley, and after a further lapse of
fifteen days, in the bishop of the diocese ; that within fifteen days
of his presentation, the chaplain, in the presence of the lord of
the manor of Wakebridge, of the vicar of Crich, and of two other
honest parishioners, should make an inventory of the goods of the
chantry, which are to be left in as good or better condition ; that 40s.
in money was to be handed to each successive chaplain on his
entering upon the duties of the chantry ; that on the anniversary
of the death of the founder, two wax tapers should burn at his
sepulchre in the chapel of SS. Nicholas and Katharine, tain in
viijilia ad placebo et diriye quam in crastino ad missam ; and that the
chaplain should daily say the full service of the dead and the
commendation of souls, double festivals being excepted.
It was not until 1357 that the episcopal license for the appoint-
ment of this chantry was obtained, when Richard Davy, described
as a chaplain of Stony Stanton, was instituted as the first chantry
priest. The founder's ordinance is recited at length in the Act Book
of Roger de Norbury, and some additional particulars can be gleaned
therefrom which are not given in the chartulary.* We find that
* Lichfield Episcopal Eegisters, vol. iii., ff. 48a to 51b.
CRICII. t
this chantry was situated in the north aisle of the church, which
was entirely rebuilt by Sir William de Wakebridge, and that the
altar in that aisle had previously been simply dedicated in honour
of S. Nicholas. The order for the observance of S. Katharine's day is
given in greater detail; Henry de Codyugtou, and his wife, together
with the brothers, sisters, and friends of the founder, were enjoined
to attend mass on that day, and on the vigil of the feast to offer
two wax tapers at his tomb in the chantry, and five pence in
honour of the five wounds of Jesus Christ, and the five joys of the
Blessed Virgin. With respect to the distribution of 10s. to the
poor on S. Katharine's day, there is the following curious entry, on a
later page of the chartulary :
" Neghbo I let you understand y* as y ia day as you know of old custom y e
chantre prest of Sanct Nycholas and Sanct Kathrine y 8 bond to dystribute x in
penys or penys-wurthe so y' any persons coming have j d in sylver of
sylver wherfor I desyre (you) when masse y* done to tary and receive yo r dole
and to pray for y* founder "Wyliam Wake (bridge). I desyre your young folkes and
al other to tary w'in y* churche and you shal all be fynde gyff you do not. I
desyre you to hold me excusyd for (? or) forsothe you shall go w*out any dole."
In the year 1368, William de Wakebridge also obtained the
episcopal licence of Bishop Robert Stretton, to found a chantry at
the altar of the Blessed Virgin, within the parish church of Crich,
in honore Domini nostri Jhesu Christi et beatissime Virginia Marie
matris sue et omnium Sanctorum.
The Mary altar is described as having been formerly dedicated
/to 8. Stephen. The composition deed of this chantry, after
reciting the permission of the Abbot of Darley, of William de
Weston, vicar of Crich, of the parishioners, and of all others
interested therein, appoints Richard Whiteman as perpetual chap-
lain.
The endowment was to consist of Q of rents to be paid
annually by the Prior of Thurgarton, together with other lands and
tenements specified in a deed held by Richard Whiteman. It was
ordained that the chaplain should be a secular priest that he was
in his daily mass to make mention of the founder and Elizabeth,
his wife ; of Roger de Chesterfield, clerk ; and of John de la Pole
and Cecilia, his wife, whilst they lived, and afterwards to pray for
their souls, and also for the souls of Nicholas de Wakebridge and
Juliana, his wife; of Peter de Wakebridge and Joan, his wife; of
Robert, Nicholas, and Peter, their sons ; of Joan, wife of William
de Wakebridge ; and of Joan and Margaret, daughters of Peter
that the vicar of Crich, or the parochial chaplain, was to assist
40 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
the chaplain, both wearing surplices, at matins, mass, and vespers,
en double festivals, on Sundays, and on the feasts of SS. Nicholas,
Katharine, Margaret, and Mary Magdalen that he should daily,
both on festivals and ordinary days, say his service and the office
of the dead, in conjunction with the chaplain of S. Katharine,
either in the church or churchyard that he should daily, the
greater and double feasts being excepted, say the full service of the
dead and the commendation of souls that on Wednesdays and
Fridays he should say the seven penitential psalms with litany,
except in the week of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost that he
should continuously reside at the chantry-house, in the same way as
if he were a vicar, wearing the canonical dress and tonsure that
whenever he said or sung mass (sine nota vel cum not a), in the
lutroit, before the commencement of mass, a Pater Noster and Ave
Maria should be recited by those present that he should daily,
after matins and the " hours," say the psalm De profundis, with
the usual versicles, in the hearing of the bystanders that ou the
conclusion of the versicles, he should say " Anima Willelmi et ainme
omnium fidelium defimctorum per Dei miserecordiani in pace requiescant"
and the same words after mass and compline, and after his daily
grace at table that mass should be said at a convenient hour, so
that the parishioners and others should be able to hear it that a
bell should be rung to give warning of the service that the chap-
lain should not hold any other benefice or undertake any other
permanent duty that on the death or resignation of the chaplain,
the chantry should be served by the chaplain of the altar of SS.
Nicholas and Katharine, who should receive the income and
discharge the expenses of the vacant chantry, and return full
accounts thereof to the future chaplain immediately on his appoint-
ment that 110 woman, de qua suspicio aliqua possit oriri, should live
in the chantry house that on the anniversary of the founder's
death mass should be said for his soul, and for the souls of those
mentioned above that every chaplain, within five clays of his
obtaining possession of this chantry, shah 1 draw up, in the presence
of the chaplain of SS. Nicholas and Katharine, and the vicar,
an inventory of the number, condition, and value of the books,
chalices, jewels, vestments, ornaments, utensils, and all other goods
pertaining to the chantry, which he shall keep in as good or better
condition as he found them that there should be three copies of
such inventory, one to be kept by the chaplain of S. Mary, one
for the chaplain of SS. Nicholas and Katharine, and one for the
CRICH. 41
vicar that no chaplain should use for his own purpose, or will
away, any of the books, etc., or other goods pertaining to the
chantry that the chaplain, immediately on his institution, shall
swear on the Gospels to look diligently after the best intei-ests of
the chantry that he shall be instituted and inducted personally,
and not by proxy that on the vigil of the Annunciation he should,
in conjunction with the chaplain of SS. Nicholas and Katharine,
sing placebo et diriije for the souls of Eoger Beler, senior, and Alice,
his wife ; for Roger Beler, junior, and Margaret and Elizabeth, his
wives ; for Reginald de Grey, of Sliirland, and Matilda, his wife ;
and for the souls of all their ancestors and heirs that on the next
day, mass was to be sung at the high altar for the souls of the
aforesaid that, in conjunction with the chaplain of SS. Nicholas
and Katharine, placebo et diriye should be sung on the Saturday
before the Nativity of S. John Baptist, and on the next day mass
(with intention for the Queen) to be sung for the souls of Roger
de Chesterfield ; of Richard, his brother ;* of Henry, Nicholas, and
Geoffrey de Chaddesden ;t of Richard de Tissyngton ; of Robert de
Derby ; and John Mykbrother, of Eyam ; my most special and
confidential friends that the same service should be sung at the
high altar, by the two chaplains on the vigil and feast of S.
Michael, for the souls of William de Weston, vicar of Crich ; of
William de Balliden, formerly vicar;, of Richard Davy and Richard
Whitman, chaplains ; and for the souls of all the parishioners of
Crich, who were then dead, or who should here afterwards die
that all the aforesaid services and prayers, should be also for the
souls of John de Annesley and Anna, his wife ; of Robert de
Annesley, rector of Rotyngtone ; of John Belewe and Isabella, his
wife ; of John Belewe, his son, and Alice, his wife ; and of Cecilia
Wyu and Robert Attehall, servants of W. de W., the founder that
these nameSj with those mentioned before, should be inscribed on a
tablet, which should be placed on the super-altar, there for ever to
face the celebrant that on a vacancy in the chantry through death
or other natural causes, William, the founder, during his life should
present, and after his death his legitimate heirs in default of heirs,
the advowson should pass to his sister Cecilia, and her heirs male,
and in default, to the Abbot and Convent of Dale that if the
* Roger and Richard de Chesterfield, chaplains, were the joint founders of the
chautry of S. Michael, in the parish church of Chesterfield. See Churches of
Derbyshire, vol. i., pp. 161, 162, 168.
t With respect to the three Chaddesdens, see Churches of Derbyshire, vol. iii. ,
p. 30 1, etc.
42 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
founder and his heirs should neglect to appoint, and the Abbot of
Dale also after five days' notice, then the patronage should go for
that turn to the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield that this ordina-
tion of the chantry, lest the foundation thereof might be forgotten,
should be read distinctly in the vulgar tongue to the parishioners
of Crich, in the church or churchyard, on the Sunday next before
the feast of the Assumption, before the commencement of high
mass and that one copy of this ordination should be kept by the
chaplain, another by the lord of the manor of Wakebridge, and a
third by the Abbot of Dale.
The calendar bound up with this chartulary specifies the following
obits :
Jan. ix kal. John de Wakebridge (uncle of the founder), 1344.
March iiij kal. William de Wakebridge (the founder), 1369.
April x kal. Juliana de Wakebridge (grandmother of the founder), 1318.
May xv kal. Nicholas de Wakebridge (brother of the founder), 1349.
J\me v kal. " Elizabet de Aslaccon sororis uxoris Willelmi de Wakebridge," 1349.
July xvij kal. Robert de Wakebridge, vicar of Crich (brother of the founder), 1349.
x kal. William de Sybthorpe, 1349.
August nones. Peter de Wakebridge, and Joan, his daughter (father and sister of
the founder), 1349.
iij ides. Joan, the wife of "William de Wakebridge (the founder), and
Margaret, his sister, 1349.
xviij kal. John de Wakebridge, chaplain (brother of the founder), 1349.
Sept. vij ides. Nicholas, son of Nicholas de Wakebridge (uncle of the founder),
1300.
xij kal. Peter, son of Peter de Wakebridge (brother of the founder), 1347.
Oct. xvi kal. Matilda de Wakebridge (sister of the founder), 1343.
xiij kal. Nicholas de Wakebridge (grandfather of the founder), 1315.
Nov. ij nones. Eoger de Chesterfield, i367.
v ides. Cecilia Wyn, 1368.
A glance at this obituary is sufficient to draw the attention of
the reader to the remarkable number of deaths in the year 13i9,
and those who have read the introduction to this volume will
recollect that it was the time of that fearful visitation of the plague,
usually termed the Black Death. Of its terrible character we can
form some idea, when we consider the extent of its ravages in a
single household a household the most wealthy of the neigh-
bourhood, and situated in as healthy and uncrowded a spot as any
that could be found on all the fair hill sides of Derbyshire. Within
three months Sir William de Wakebridge lost his father, his wife,
three brothers, two sisters, and a sister-in-law. Sir William, on
succeeding to the Wakebridge estate, through this sad list of
fatalities, appears to have abandoned the profession of arms, and
to have devoted a very large share of his wealth to the service of
CRICH. 43
God in his own neighbourhood. The Great Plague had the effect
of thoroughly unstringing the consciences of many of the survivors,
and a lamentable outbreak of profligacy was the result. But the
dire judgments of God had a contrary effect on many others, who
were led by His grace to a newness of life ; and hence as a
practical outcome of their change of habit, we find about this
period a marked revival in the works of His Church, such as the
rebuilding of fabrics and the ordination of chantries. An unworthy
and superstitious fear may have actuated some minds in this
abandonment of private wealth, but a genuine change of heart was
wrought in others, and it seems reasonable to class Sir William
de Wakebridge in the latter category. There is a great difference
between the foundation charters of the chantries of Sir William
and many others of this date that we have perused, viz., that
these are not of the selfish class (so to speak) that merely pro-
vided masses for the souls of the founder and his relatives, but
the whole tone of the charters (of which we have only been able
to find space for meagre abstracts) bespeaks a real interest in the
souls of the neighbourhood, and an earnest desire that the Holy
Sacrifice and other services should be attended by the people at
large. Nor was the generosity of Sir William in church work
merely aroused into momentary action by the shock of the deadly
visitor to Wakebridge manor house in 1319; for we find that he
was engaged in a further alienation of his property in 1368, only
the year before his death, and he also at some intermediate date
built a private chapel at his manor house, which he adorned in a
most costly manner, and furnished it with a chaplain. He was
also the joint founder of a Nottinghamshire chantry in 1363, and
gave to the parish church of Crich some most costly .vestments.
Moreover, if a man is to be judged by his friends, Sir William
must have been a pious Catholic, for we find him on terms of the
closest and most confidential friendship with such old Derbyshire
worthies as the Chesterfields and the Chaddesdens.
Nor have we yet finished with this most interesting chartulary,
which seems to us to be unique in the side-lights that it throws
upon our ecclesiastical and local history. The candid student of
fourteenth century life is forced to admit much as he may admire
the deep piety and self-abasement of no inconsiderable portion of
the nation, and much as he may appreciate the exuberant skill of
the artificers in wood and glass and stone, who were content to
lay the glories of their art at the threshold of the Church that
44 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
this enviable catholicity of tone was sadly intermingled with much
that savoured of baseness and superstition. Here, on the same
pages of the Calendar that record the deaths of the Wakebridge
family, and of the munificent founder of the chantries, with a
touching brevity, the hand of some chantry priest has inserted
numerous entries that not only breathe a most mundane desire
after bodily health, but are persistent in their warnings of the
luck, good or bad, attaching to particular days and seasons. If
he had contented himself with entering a receipt for the cure of
the " stone, strangury, and colyke,"* we should not have quarrelled
with him except as to his bad taste in the selection of a common-
place book ; but it is really too bad when we find month after
month of the Calendar interspersed with general directions for
dietary and blood-letting, regulated by a superstitious regard for
certain seasons. Thus we are informed that if anyone lets blood
on April llth in the left arm, he will not lose his eyesight for
that year, but if he lets blood on the 3rd he will be saved for
that year from headache and extasim Anylice Swymes that four
days of May are very dangerous, viz., the 7th, 15th, 16th, and
20th that if blood is let on the 7th of the Kalends of August,
the patient will die on the third day after that no one who is
bled on September 17th need fear having paralysis, dropsy, or
epilepsy for that year that if anyone strike either man or beast
on March 26th, July 25th, or December 8th, he will assuredly die
on the third day after, et hoc probatum est, etc., etc.
Sir William de Wakebridge does not appear to have been able
to alienate much of his own manor of Wakebridge to religious
use ; and the lands wherewith he endowed the chantries situated
at Crich, Wheatcroft, Holloway, Tansley, Fritchley, Dethick, Lea,
Ashover, etc., were purchased by him of their owners for that
purpose. We therefore find that a considerable portion of this
chartulary consists of the licenses of Sir Roger Beler and his son
Roger, of Geoffrey Dethick and his son John, of William de
Kynardsley, of Richard de Clerk, and of Roger de Wynfeld, to
alienate their lands for this object.
There are also various rentals of the chantry of SS. Nicholas
* " For y* stone, strangury and colyke. Take malues, violet, mercury, make of yche
j handfull, percele, maydoii here, tho thistyll, of yche half a handfulle, of lyquerice j
quartron, seth all yis in iiij quartes of ale tyl y e half be coiisumet, yen streyii it thro
a clothe and gyf hym vj spoiifulle of y* licor to drynck in y e morowe cold and at
nyght lew warme w* half a sponfull of y e powd r y* folows Take careaway, fenelsede,
spyknard, anneys, cinamon, galyugale, of yche di uiice, grouuselsede j unce, lycorys
j uiice . . . y e wyeght of alle."
CRICH. 45
and Katharine, giving the value of some of the lands, and names
of the tenants, during the respective chaplaincies of Richard Davy
and William Woderowe, and a list of debts owing to the chantry
on the death of Henry Coke. It appears that there was an annual
payment of the chaplain of 14s. 4d. to the Prior of Felley, in
recognition of lands held of that priory at Fritchley and Clatter-
cotes, which had been granted to those monks by Ivo de Heriz.
Much of the endowment of the small priory of Felley, in Notting-
hamshire, came from the Derbyshire parishes of Crich, Ashover,
Morton, and Tibshelf.* The neighbouring church of Annesley
was given to Felley priory, at an early date, by Ralph de Aunesley,
and in the Crich Chartulary is a long document recording the
consent of John, Archbishop of York, to the foundation by Sir
William de Wakebridge and Robert de Annesley, rector of Rotyntone,
of a chantry at the altar of the Blessed Virgin within the church
of Annesley.t It is dated January 7th, 1363.
During the chaplaincy of Henry Coke, the chantry house per-
taining to SS. Nicholas and Katharine was repaired, the stone for
the purpose being carried there from Winfield at a cost of 3d.J
In the year of the founding of the second chantry (1368), an
indenture was made between Sir William de Wakebridge and
Richard Davy, the chaplain of the first chantry, by which Richard
and his successors became possessed of the -following altar furniture,
vestments, etc. : one super-altar, one " haire," one altar-cloth,
and two autependia, one autependium with frontal for the super-
altar, another worn antependium with frontal, and one new one,
two corporals with cases, one missal, one chalice, one vestment for
double festivals, one for Sundays, and one old and worn for ordinary
use, one antependium of " Syndone," one portifer, two old towels for
ablutions, one painting over the altar, two pax-breads, two cruets,
one chantry register, one vestment entirely of blue Samite, with
two tunicles and a cope of the same. The property at the same
time handed over to Richard Whiteman, of the second chantry,
included : one super altar, one " haire," three altar-cloths, and two
frontals, four towels, three tapestry antependia, one corporal, one
new case for the corporal, one good missal, one chalice, one new
* Stevens' Addition to tfie Monasticon, vol. ii., pp. 131-3.
t Harl. MSS., 3669, ff. 83-5.
} As these details are of some interest, we have reproduced them verbatim. See
Appendix No. IV.
This is probably for " ara," which was the name used not only for a portable
altar stone, but also for the super-altar, or ledge for the crucifix, candlesticks, &c.
46 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
vestment for doubles, one for Sundays, and one for ordinary use,
one pax-bread, and two cruets.
The Valor Ecclesiasticus (27 Henry VIII.) gives the annual value
of the chantry of SS. Nicholas and Katharine, accruing from
mansion, messuages, and lands, at 12 19s. 10d., and also annual
pensions to the value of 1 7s. 3d., but deductions for chief rents to
divers persons brought the clear income down to 13 4s. 4d. The
chantry of Our Lady had a clear income of 6 3s. 4d. The
following is the account given in the Chantry Boll, temp. Edward
VI:-
"Cruche. The Chauntrye of SS. Nycholas & Kateryns founded by W m "Wake-
brygge somtym lord there, mayntanynge of God's service and socoure of pore
folks A xxiiij Edward III. xijtt. iiijs. iiijd., clere xiiZi. iijs., besyds xvjs. vjd.
rents resoluts, xls. receyoyd of the late monastery of Thurgarton. Jo. Maryott
Chauntry prest, the residen letten by him to Fraunceys Pole Esq. & German Pole
Esq.* for the terme of xxj yeres payenge to him yerely xli. xvjs. jd. by indenture
xviij Oct. A xxxvj Regis. It hath a mancyon prised att iiijs. iiijd. by yere.
Stocke lixs. iiij.
" The Chauntrye of our Ladye founded by the same, to the same entente & that
a priste everye Sundaye & dubble feste shoulde assiste the Vycar there at masse,
mattyns, and evensong, & to pray for his soul, etc. by foundaceyon A xlij Edw.
III., vjZi. iijs. iiijcZ. with vj payd out of the late monastre of Thurgartou & iijs.
iiij<. for his mancyon house. Bob. Swinstoo Chauntry priste. Stocke Iviijs.'
Towards the end of the Crich chartulary is this entry :
" An Inventory of y e goodes of y e Chauntree of Sact Nycholas and Sact Kateryn
in Criche receved by me S r John Mariott, xxj die Julii anno dui 1524.
" In primis a chalice leadyd in the bothum. Item oone old maser| withe the
armes off the founder. Item iiij sylver spones of y e whiche three are brokene.
Item ij rookesj of cooles and a litile wodd about y e house in styd of fourty
shillynges y* I ought to have hadd at myne entre y f there had rernaynyd so
moche. Item oone masse booke. Item oone old wrytyn portuus. Item iij old
vestymentes and oone very old casula (chasuble) y l is tome. Item oone old brokene
cruett. Item ij old auter clothes. Item oone hangyng before y e autre. Item
three corperaxes w 4 cases. Item oone furnes. Item iij leades (? leaden basons)
sett in a forme. Item oone old wrytyne procession, all which y e said S r John
hathe delyveryd to John Beamount esquyer dwellyng at gracedew monastory
beynge y 6 Kynges visitor vj Edward vj th ."||
The following lists of the chaplains and patrons of these
chantries, are compiled from the Lichfield Eegisters :
* There is an original memorandum (Add. MSS., 6,668, f. 717), from John Marriott,
to Francis Pole, of the Dale, and to German Pole, of Wakebridge, dated 23rd Jan. 33
Henry VIII., promising that if he release the goodwill of the chautry to any man,
it shall be to them.
t A maser, or mazer, was a broad standing cup or drinking bowl of maple or walnut
wood.
I Bookes of cooles =reeks of coals. Beek=rick or pile.
I.e., a portesse, or breviary.
|| In Add. MSS., 6,668, f. 719, there is an original copy of this inventory on a slip
of parchment 7 inches by 4.
CRICH. 47
CHANTRY OF SS. NICHOLAS AND KATHARINE.
1357. Richard Davy ; patron, William de Wakebridge. According to the Chartu-
lary, Davy was inducted June 18th, 1356.
1370. William le Blount; patron, John de la Pole. On the death of R. D.
. Henry Coke.
1429, June 28th. Adam Webster, vicar of Hartington, exchanged his benefice for
this chantry with H. C.
, Nov. 4th. This exchange reversed ! Henry Coke coming back to the
chantry, and A. W. returning to Hartington.
. James Hyton.
1441. John Duffeld; patron; Peter de la Pole. On the resignation of J. H.
1459. William Woderowe ; patron, Justice Ralph Pole. On the death of J. D.
1490. Edmund Pole, sub-deacon ; patron, Ralph Pole. On the death of W. W.
1535. John Marriott. Valor Ecclesiasticus.
CHANTRY OF OUR LADY.
1368. Richard Whiteman ; patron, William de Wakebridge.
1370. John de Duffield: patron William de Wakebridge.
1376. John Loscowe; patron, John de la Pole.
. John Ilkesdon.
1390. John Heth ; patron, Cecilia de la Pole. On the resignation of J. I.
1403. Richard Yvenot; patron, Cecilia, relict of John Pole.
1436. John Assheley ; patron, Edward de la Pole. On the death of B. T.
. Thomas Cowper.
1491. John Fox; patron, Ralph Pole. On the death of T. C.
1515. Robert Swynscowe ; patron, John Pole. On the death of J. F.
The Crich Chartulary also contains records of several matters
that affect the parish rather than the chantries, and some of them,
being of earlier date than their foundation, must have been copied
from documents previously in possession of the vicar.
During the metropolitan visitation of that strict disciplinarian,
Archbishop Peckham, in 1280, he was called upon to settle a
dispute between the parishioners of Crich and the abbot of Darley,
as rector. The archbishop appears to have visited Crich personally,
and then he appointed Simon de Baliden* and E. de Suham,
canons of Lichfield, as his commissioners in the dispute. Their
decision was that the abbot should find some one whose duty it
should be to ring the parish bells of the church of Crich, and to
bring water and fire there as often as required that he should
provide ropes for the bells that he should relieve the necessitous
and indigent hi the parish and that he should also provide at his
own expense for the serving of the chantry within the chapel of
S. Thomas the Martyr, situated in the churchyard at Crich, on
three days of the week. In the same year it was also agreed, on
* Simon de BaUden was Vicar-General of the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield in
1274. Howard's Lichfield, p. 184.
48 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
appeal to the archbishop, that the abbot should in perpetuity hold
himself bound to provide an image of the Blessed Virgin to
stand in the chancel, and all other things necessary for the
chancel, except the chalice and missal, which the parish were to
find. The parishioners claimed that the monks of Darley ought
also to do all that was necessary for the sustentation and repair
of the nave, seeing how much property they held in the parish.*
But the decision on this point was that the abbey was only to be
responsible for that portion of the general burdens of the nave
and of providing the Holy Bread + that corresponded with the
extent of their lands, mansions, and other possessions within the
limits of the parish.
The parishioners of Crich set apart 5 acres 3 roods of arable
land, out of the common fields of Tansley,| to provide for a lamp
to be always burning before the image of the Virgin in the
chancel. There were also several other small individual endow-
ments for the same purpose.
An indenture made in 1368 between Roger Beler, William de
Wakebridge, Henry de Codyntone, Roger Kybbulle, jun., Henry de
Merlache, Adam del Hulle, Thomas de Biggynges, Henry Clerke,
Robert Burgulone, Henry de Plastowe, Simon de Whetcrofte, Adam
Couper, Peter Couper, John Hayward and Richard Bateman de
Wyssintone, John, son of Robert de Tannesley, Adam Haselbache,
and many other parishioners of Crich, of the one part, and
William de Weston, vicar of Crich, of the other part, provides
that all the ornaments and vestments that have been furnished
individually or collectively for the use of the clergy, chaplains, and
others ministering in the church of Crich, between the years 1349
and 1868, shall be placed in the custody of William de Weston,
the vicar, and his successors, to be held by them for the use of
the parish, and not to be privately appropriated or sold by them
or by the abbots of Darley. The articles are thus specified : One
vestment de viridi Camacw with two tunicles and one cope of the
* In addition to the lands and tithes already mentioned, Darley Abbey also held
the whole of the manor of Wistauton (now called Wessington), in this parish, which
was granted to them by Ealph Fitz Odo and Geoffrey de Constantino. The monks
had a chapel attached to their grange of Wistanton, but we have not been able to
glean anything respecting its site or history.
f The Holy, or Blessed Bread must not be confounded with the Host of the Mass.
In the early Church, at the end of Mass, the loaves offered by the faithful, which had
not been consecrated, were blessed by the celebrant, and distributed as a sign of
brotherly communion. Hence arose the custom, still continued in both the Roman
and Greek branches of the Church Catholic, of distributing blessed bread to the
general body of the congregation on the great festivals.
I As the names of these fields at Tausley, and their tenants, are of some interest,
we have given them in full in Appendix No. V.
CRICH. 49
same, value 10* one good cope, value 10 marks, which Eoger
de Chesterfield, clerk, gave to William de Wakebridge and the
other parishioners of Crich, to serve as a remembrance of him
one chalice, value 8 marks one missal, value 100 shillings one
antiphonar, f value 60 shillings and one great psalter, which
William de Balidene, formerly vicar, gave to William de Wake-
bridge and the parishioners as a remembrance, and who did many
other good works for the church of Crich as well as other
chalices, books, vestments, tunicles, copes, surplices, and other
ornaments.
The Crich Chartulary also contains (and this shall be our last
reference to it) a copy of an encyclical letter of Simon Islip,|
Archbishop of Canterbury, of the year 1362, relative to the observ-
ance of Holy-days, which was probably ordered to be read in all
parish churches. It is of considerable interest as affording an
insight into the habits of the time, but as it is not in any way
specially local, we must abstain from giving more than a brief
abstract. The archbishop complains that not only was the custom
prevalent of transacting ordinary business on Saints' days, but also
of indulging in abominable and blasphemous practices, so that what
was intended to serve as a storing up of devotion, had become the
occasion of an outbreak of dissoluteness that the festivals were
kept rather by the crowding of revellers to the taverns than of
communicants to the churches that the ear was greeted more
with the sounds of drunken jestings than of penitent prayers and
that, in fine, the whole purport of God in hallowing the Sabbath,
and of the Church in setting apart other days for pious observances,
had by the multitude been completely perverted. He therefore
enjoins, throughout the whole of his province of Canterbury, that
every Sunday shall be observed, beginning with the vesper hour of
the previous Saturday, and not sooner, lest they should seem to be
participators in Jewish professions that they should also observe
the feasts of SS. Stephen, John, Innocents, Thomas the Martyr,
Circumcision, Epiphany, Purification, Easter with three days fol-
lowing, Mark, Philip and James, Invention of the Cross, Ascension,
* If we reflect that the then value of money must be multiplied by at least 20 to
get the present value, we can form some idea of the exceptional costliness and
splendour of the vestments that were used to God's honour in the parish church of
Crich in mediaeval days. " Camaca " was the name of a cloth, made of silk and
interwoven with other precious stuff.
f The antiphonar contained the music for the hours, anthems, hymns, and psalms,
noted in plain chant.
I Simon Islip was connected with this county. He held the prebendary of
Saudiacre from 1347 to 1350.
5
50 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
Pentecost with three days following, Corpus Christi, Nativity of
S. John Baptist, Peter and Paul, Translation of S. Thomas
the Martyr, Mary Magdalen, James, Assumption, Bartholomew,
Lawrence, Nativity of B. V. M., Exaltation of the Cross, Matthew,
Michael, Luke, Simon, Jude, All Saints, Andrew, Nicholas, Concep-
tion, Thomas the Apostle, and the dedication of parish churches,
and of saints in whose honour they are dedicated that on all
these days the parishioners shall he admonished and induced not
only to attend Mass, but also the full complement of the services
that the relics of the saints should he carried ad opera ruralia
according to custom and that any foremen of operatives or
labourers who suffer the usual work to be carried out on these
days, shah 1 be visited with the censures of the Church.
The inventory of church goods, taken in the reign of Edward
VI., has the following, relative to this church :
" Cryche. Oct. 6. Rich. Banks clerke.
" iiij bells in the steple j chalys of sylver with paten ij cruetts of pewter
iij vestments whereof j of blew sylke and the other of blewe chamblet j of redde
wostyd ij tables clothe ij hangings before the table j coope of old sylke
j corperas with two cases ij crosses j of tynne j of brasse j hand bell ij
candlestycks of pewter j byble with the paraphracs j coffer with iij lockes and
iij keyes. There was ij chalyces belongyng to the chauntrez there w ch Jo
Beamonte Esq., hadde."
The Valor Ecclesiasticus gives the clear value of the vicarage
at 6 10s. lOd. It was then endowed with Easter offerings,
oblations, tithes of hay, lambs, wool, pigs, geese, flax, and hemp,
and with the annual pension from Wakebridge in lieu of tithes.
The following is the statement made by the Parliamentary Com-
missioners of 1650 :
" Crich is a vicarige really worth tenne pounds per annum noe Chappell
appirteyning. Tansley is a hamblitt appirteyning and thre myles distant and
fitt to be united to Matlocke in the hundred of Wirksworth it lying nearer to
Matlocke the profitts are about ffortye shillings per annum.
" Wessington grange, Leas, and Lindwaye lane are Members butt remote and
fitt to be united to Trinitye Chappell in the hundred of Scarsdale."
" 200 raised by the parish of Crich and several gentlemen in
that neighbourhood, and 200 more advanced by the Trustees of
Queen Anne's bounty, were laid out in lands at Plaistow Green,
within the parish of Crich aforesaid, for augmenting the church
living there, towards the latter end of 1746. By mistake the
lands, &c., are said to be in Wheatcroft."*
The vicars of Crich were, of course, appointed by the Abbots of
* Add. MSS. 6705, f. 12.
CRICH. 51
Darley up to the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, but
after that date there was much confusion with respect to the
patronage of the advowson, in connection with which there were
several lawsuits of interminable length. The claims were so
conflicting that the successive Bishops of Lichfield declined to
exercise their right to collate, and the presentation consequently
lapsed to the Crown. There is not a single presentation to Crick
entered in the episcopal registers of the seventeenth century, nor
is there one of the eighteenth century, until 1793. At the end
of last century the right of presentation was claimed by Sir
Wolstan Dixie, and also by Sir Edward "Wilmot, both claiming
through the heiresses of John Claye, who is alleged to have obtained
it hi the time of Elizabeth, from Anthony Babington, who certainly
held the great tithes of Crich through grant from the Crown.*
Eventually the Dixie family made good their claim to the advowson,
but after two presentations sold it to trustees.
The pre-reformation part of the following list of vicars is taken
from the Episcopal registers, and the remainder chiefly from the
returns of the First Fruits Office, and the parish register :
. Bricius.
1278. William de Draycote.
1298. John de Whalleye.
1313. William de Baliden. On the resignation of J. de W,
1340. Richard de RadeclifF, rector of Nuthall, exchanged benefices with W. de B.,
vicar of Crich.
1348. Robert de Wakebridge, vicar of S. Mary's, Nottingham, exchanged benefices
with E. de R., vicar of Crich.
1349. William de Baliden. On the death of R. de W.
. Radus de Findern. On the resignation of W. de B.
1345. Roger de Walton, rector of Whittington, exchanged benefices with R. de F.,
vicar of Crich.
1356. William de Weston. On the death of R. de W.
1393. John Whitlessey. Collated of the Bishop.
. John Bagworth. On the resignation of J. W.
1397. William Bacon. On the resignation of J. B.
. Thomas Hoppeley.
1402. John Osmond. On the death of T. H.
. William Garton, rector of Bulwell, exchanged benefices with J. O., vicar of
Crich.
. Peter Trusbut.
1418. Hugo Penyale. On the resignation of P. T.
1441. James Hyton, late chantry priest. On the resignation of H. P.
1451. John Fesand. On the resignation of J. H.
. James Romsore.
1505. Richard Repyngdon. On the death of J. R.
(1535.) William Richardson. Valor Ecclesiasticus.
* See an elaborate statement of this claim by Mr. Reynolds, the local antiquary,
given in full in Glover's Derbyshire, vol. 2, p. 321-3.
52 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
1542. Richard Bankys ; patrons, Robert and Thomas Bradshaw, for this turn, by
virtue of an agreement with the Abbot of the lately dissolved monastery of
Darley. On the death of W. R.
.**.*
1629. Thomas Shelmardine ; patron, John Eley, gen.
. Joseph Topham. Parish Registers. Probably he followed T. S. on his
I ejection in 1662.
. Thomas England, died Feb. 7th, 1730.
1731. John Walker; patron, the King, through lapse of time.
1775. John Mason ; patron, the King.
1793. Samuel Davenport ; patron, the King, by reason of lunacy. On the death of
J. M.
1801. Thomas Cornthwaite ; patron, the King. On the death of S. D.
1838. Thomas Carson ; patron, Sir W. W. Dixie. On the resignation of T. C.
1849. G. W. Lewis; patron, Sir W. W. Dixie. On the resignation of T. C.
1855. William Chawner ; patrons, Edward Radford, Henry Anne Norman, Rev.
M. Holmes, John Garton, and William Wathey. On the resignation of
G. W. L.
1875. William Acraman; patrons, Rev. Melville Holmes, clerk, Henry Anne
Norman, gentleman, and Thomas Bellamy Dale, manufacturer. On the
resignation of W. C.
The church of Crich, which is dedicated to S. Mary,* consists
of nave, side aisles, and south porch, chancel, with north vestry,
and tower and spire at the west end. The nave and aisles are
each 50ft. long, and their united width is 46ft. The chancel is
39 ft. by 18 ft. Of the church that seems to have been first
erected here by Kalph FitzRalph in the reign of Stephen (1135-54),
there are considerable remains. The nave is separated from the
aisles on each side by three plain and round Norman arches,
supported on circular columns having square capitals. The arcade
on the south is a few years later in style than that on the north,
showing that the body of the church originally consisted only of
nave and north aisle. At the west end of the south aisle is the
Norman font, which is 37 inches high and 27 inches in diameter.
It is circular and of massive appearance, and surrounded with a
coarsely executed moulding of the cable pattern. At the restoration
of this church in 1861, the font was rather too freely re-chiselled.
The church does not appear to have been touched in the Early
* There is no doubt whatever as to the real dedication of this church being to S.
Mary, for it is repeatedly mentioned by name both in the Crich chartulary and in
different chartularies of Darley Abbey. It is also thus given in Bacon's Liber Regis,
and in the county histories of Pilkington, Davies, and Glover. It was not until the
issue of that utterly misleading work (so far as ecclesiology is concerned), Kelly's
Post Office Directory, in 1855, that an alleged dedication to S. Michael was published,
but since that date numerous directories aud the yearly edition of the Derbyshire Red
Book persist in assigning it to S. Michael. The wakes, it is true, are held at Michael-
mas, but, as has been already pointed out several times in these pages, wakes at Lady
Day or Michaelmas are no guide. Moreover, the feast-day, on whatever day it may
occur, though it can fairly be claimed as corroborative evidence, is no proof in itself
of the dedication ; for that day was usually the anniversary of the consecration of the
church, and it frequently happened that a church was not consecrated on the day of
the Saint to whom it was dedicated.
53
English period, but at the time of the Decorated style, which
extended over the greater part of the fourteenth century, it was
thoroughly renovated, and rebuilt. The chancel, vestry, tower, spire,
and exterior walls of the aisles are of that epoch, though of slightly
differing dates. The windows in the south aisle show that it was
rebuilt about 1300-20. The chancel is of good character through-
out, especially the east and south windows. It has a priest's door
on the south, and opposite to it is a doorway opening into a vestry,
the external wall-plate of which shows it to have been of the same
date, though much altered subsequently. At the time when the
chancel was built, circa 1350, it would seem that the nave was
lengthened and the two narrow pointed arches at the east end of
the nave arcades inserted. The tower, which has a moulded
parapet, with an effective band of wavy lines closely resembling that
at Chesterfield, is of much the same date, as well as the spire,*
which is octagonal with two tiers of lights. The north aisle was
also evidently rebuilt about this date, viz., at the time when Sir
William de Wakebridge founded the chantry of SS. Nicholas and
Katharine in that aisle, so that probably the example set by him
caused the Abbey of Darley and the parish generally to re-model
the rest of the fabric. There is a curiously carved stone, of Norman
pattern, utilised in the capital of the narrow arch near the east
end of the north aisle, which is placed upside down. Below it
may also be noticed a portion of the head of an early incised
sepulchral cross. In the north wall is a doorway, now blocked
up. The weather moulding of the high pitch roof of the Decorated
period may be noticed on the west side of the tower.
The present roof of the nave is nearly flat, and was added when
the walls over the nave arcades were raised so as to admit of the
three-light square-headed clerestory windows. This alteration was of
the" Perpendicular period. The porch has a plain Perpendicular
doorway, and square-headed windows of two lights. The west
window of the south aisle is also of that period. The chancel
roof is supported on the old stone corbel-heads, small but good,
of the original Decorated design, five on each side.
At the east end of the south aisle is a piscina, with a trefoil
arch. The piscina drain for the high altar is in the sill of the
* We may here notice, as a useful warning to others, how much the effect of this
spire has been recently spoiled by repointing it with white mortar, which has given
it a patchy and semi -new appearance that will last for a generation. The simple and
costless expedient of mixing a little wood-ash or other colouring ingredient with the
lime should always be adopted in repointing old stone work.
54 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
south chancel window, but it has no niche over it. Oil the same
side are three sedilia of equal elevation, with trefoiled arches.
In the north chancel wall is a recess, now closed with an oak
door, and used as a cupboard or ahnery. It is, however, evident
that this recess has originally been a sloping aperture or squint,
going right through the wall into the vestry, so as to give the
sacristan or occupant an opportunity of seeing the high altar.
Over this aperture is fixed a large projecting stone, which from the
angle at which it is fixed, and the ledge on the lower side, has
evidently been intended for a gospel lectern, of which we have
already noticed several in Derbyshire churches, though they are of
the rarest occurrence elsewhere. The visitor will probably be told,
as we have been, that this aperture was used for confessions, and
that on the ledge the Father Confessor rested his book of instruc-
tions whilst listening to the penitent within the vestry !
The parapets of the aisles are plainly moulded, but those of the
nave over the clerestory windows are embattled. In the parapet
on the east gable of the nave is a sanctus bell-cote.
On the west wall of the tower is a well-moulded ogee-headed
niche of rather large proportions. There is a tradition at Crich
that the figure of the Blessed Virgin, which once occupied this
niche, was removed to S. Mary's church at Nottingham.* There
is generally some basis for every tradition, and it may possibly
have some connection with the exchange of benefices between the
vicars of Crich and Nottingham in the fourteenth century, that
has been already recorded.
In the north wall of the north aisle is a sepulchral recess of
ogee form, trefoiled, and with continuous mouldings. There can be
no doubt whatever that this recess was constructed for the founder
of the chantry in this aisle ; but that does not of itself prove that
the effigy now there is the founder, as effigies in course of time
were often placed within recesses for which they had not been
originally intended. The effigy now there is not a precise fit, but
then this was seldom the case, as monuments, except of the
roughest type, were usually constructed by skilled workmen at a
distance, and afterwards forwarded to be placed in their proper
position. This effigy is the figure of a man, dressed in a long
gown reaching to the ankles, closely buttoned from the neck to the
waist, bare-headed, with long hair and beard, the hands joined over
* This tradition first reached us through a letter in the Derbyshire Times, dated
Crich Carr, August 8th, 1871, and signed " W. H."
CRICH. 55
the breast, and the feet resting on a dog. Two small angels have
supported the man's head, hut that on the left is broken off.
That on the right holds a Katharine wheel to the ear of the effigy.
In all probability the other, when perfect, had an emblem of 8.
Nicholas, to whom this chantry was jointly dedicated. This figure
has always been supposed, until recent years, to represent Sir
William de Wakebridge. It is thus spoken of by Bassano (1710),
who adduces as proof the close contiguity of two alabaster slabs
bearing the arms of Wakebridge, but which have since disappeared.
Lately it has been claimed by the representatives of the Bellairs
family as the effigy of Sir Koger Beler, lord of the manor of Crich,
and one of the itinerant justices. But the proof that has been
adduced in support of this claim is very meagre. It is said that
the costume is that of a judge, and not of one who has been
specially described as a valiant knight.* But the fact is, that
the dress is that of an ordinary civilian of the day, and not that
of a judge ; and what is more likely than that Sir William de
Wakebridge, who abandoned the pursuit of arms from the time of
his entering on his estate up to his death, a period of twenty-three
years, and who gave himself up to good works, should be thus
depicted. Moreover, it cannot be proved that Sir Roger Beler was
ever resident at Crich, whilst Sir William lived on his manor close
to the parish church. . Certainly Sir Roger Beler would never be
buried in the founder's tomb of the Wakebridge chantry, and it is
only on the supposition that the effigy has been moved there, that
a word can be said in favor of the Beler theory. But then
Bassano, and after him, Reynolds, describe this tomb as guarded
by iron bars and palisades, which were fixed into the tomb itself
and into the walls with lead, and which then seemed in themselves
very ancient. It is not credible that such an outrage on the
memory of the great benefactor of Crich would have been permitted
so long ago, as to place in his tomb the effigy of another.
Moreover, the evidence of the Katharine wheel is almost sufficient
of itself to connect the effigy with the founder of the chautry. On
the whole, we can only conclude by saying that we know of no
* The following is the passage from which this description of Sir William is taken ;
it is from Wyrley's True Use of Arms, 1592, and is worth quoting in explanation of
the Wakebridge coat : " Another sort there be not much more skilful, who if they
see any Armorie straight enter into the comparison of the fairies thereof : and foul and
false it is, if metall be upon metall alone, or colour upon colour : And yet I could wish
we should never have more dishonorable men nor woorse soldiers than have so borne
their Armorie : for to admit that worthy Godfrey, etc., etc of our owne Sir
Eichard Sandbach of Saudbach in Cheshire, Sir William Wakbirge of Wakbirge in
Darbyshire, two valiant knights, yet both bare colour upon colour."
56 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
other uninscribed monument in England whose identity can be
proved by more weighty cii-cumstantial evidence, than can be
adduced with regard to this effigy of Sir William de Wakebridge,
and we should have thought it superfluous to have written thus
much in its favour, had it not been for the repeated attempts to
establish the Beler theory.* A legend, still current in Crich, says
that this figure is to the memory of the man who built the church,
who fell when he was in the act of putting the top stone to the
spire, and in falling crushed his dog that was on the ground
below. Hence a monument was erected to him with his dog at his
feet ! But it is worth observing that even in this tale the connection
between the effigy and the founder of the fabric of the church is
retained, and it may very possibly preserve the fact, that Sir
William de Wakebridge was a considerable benefactor to other parts
of the building besides the north aisle.
On the death of Sir William in 1372, his sister and heiress,
Cecilia, brought Wakebridge to Sir John Pole. The second son of
that match, Ealph, inherited this estate, the elder settling at
Radbourn. Thomas Pole, lord of Wakebridge in the reign of Edward
VI., was son and heir of Ealph, and Thomas was succeeded by his
son and heir, Ealph Pole, who married for his first wife, Beatrice,
the eldest of the six daughters of John Babington, of Dethick,t and
for his second wife, Anne, daughter of Philip Leche, of Chatsworth.
On the floor of the north aisle, near to Sir William's effigy, is an
alabaster stone, on which a small part of the marginal inscription
still remains, quite sufficient to prove it to be the memorial of
Ralph Pole and his wife, or wives : .... Watebrige et Beatrix
Jilia Johis Babyngton uxor fj.'
Thomas, the eldest son of Ealph Pole by his first wife/ died
without issue, and was succeeded by his brother, John Pole, who
by his first wife, Agnes, daughter of Thomas Bagshawe, of Eidge,
left issue, German Pole, who inherited the Wakebridge estate on the
death of his father in 1537. German Pole first married his distant
relative, Jane, daughter of German Pole, of Eadbourn, by whom
he had one daughter, Katharine, who died unmarried ; his second
wife, was Margaret, daughter of Edward Ferrers. His widow
afterwards married John Claye, of Crich.
An altar tomb to the memory of German Pole and his second
wife, used to stand at the east end of the north aisle. The upper
* A recent visitor went so far as to scribble in pencil the name of Sir Roger Beler
and the date of his death on the moulding of the arch,
f Niohols' Collectanea, vol. viii., p. 325.
CRICH. 57
slab was dismounted when the church was repewed about the
end of last century, and was then laid on the floor in the same
position. At the 1861 restoration, it was, with questionable pro-
priety, moved to the chancel, and is now fixed against the north
wall close to the east end. Upon it are depicted the figures of a
man in civilian costume and a woman, both wearing ruffs. The
man's feet rest on an eagle, those of the woman on a unicorn.
The inscription at the base of the figures is in Roman capitals,
but is much effaced, and parts are altogether missing. We are,
however, able to give a restored copy of the inscription from
notes of this church taken by J. Eeynolds, of Plaistow, April 25th,
1758, collecting them with the previous ones of Bassano : *
" Hie Situs est corpus Germain Poole dominus de Watebirge in comitatu
Darbie armigeri qui ab hoc seculo transmigravit xxvi Aprilis Anno a Virginis
partu 1588, dux it que uxorem Margaretain filiam Edwardi filii Johannis Ferrers
de Tamworth militis. Postea renupta predicta Margareta fait Johanni Claye
generoso et utrique steris erat 1392."
Steris is a contraction for sterilis, and 1392 is an obvious slip
for 1592.
On the stone are two shields, Pole quartering Wakebridge and
Ferrers. The Poles of Wakebridge did not become extinct owing
to German Pole's failure of issue, for his father, John Pole, had
by his second wife, a son, George Pole, of Spinkhill, in right of
his wife, heiress of Hazlehurst, of that place. The male lines of
Pole, through Francis and George, sons of George Pole, did not
become extinct till 1724 and 1750, respectively.
Below this slab, in the north-east corner of the chancel, is a
raised or altar tomb of alabaster, on which are incised the figures
of a man and his wife. In the middle of the tomb, across the
centre of the figures, is a quaint inscription, parts of which are
now wholly illegible,! but which we are able to give from the
previously named sources :
" Heere lieth John Clay gentleman and Mary whom he first did wive.
With her he lived near eight years space in which God gave them children five.
Daughter to William Caltoii Esquir who was unto that kinge of fame
Henrie the eight chief cock matcher and servante of his hawkes by name.
And as she had a former match, Charnell of Swarkston in Lestershire,
So she deceast this Clay did take the widow of German Poole, Esquire.
* Add. MSS , 6,101, is a folio of church notes entirely written by Mr. Eeynolds, to
which we have several times referred in these pages. His account of Crich was pub-
lished nearly in extenso in Nichols' Collectanea, vol. i., pp 42-51. There are also
some further notes on this church, by Eeynolds, in Add. MSS , 6,666, f. 585.
t Eeynolds says : " The tomb is so much worn with boys climbing upon it,
whilst the churchwardens suffered one Joseph Mather, a lame ignorant person, to
teach school in the chancel (which infamous practice was continued till about 1732),
that most of the writing is obliterated."
58 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
Daughter of Edward who was son to Sir Johu Ferrers of Tamworth, Knight.
Shee lies entombed in this Church with him to whom she first was plight.
And now this Claye is closed in Claye, the fairest flesh doth fade like grass.
He had on sister who unto Stuffyn of Shirbrook married was.
For deathe doth give an end to all and now this clay shall reste herein.
All claye to claye shall com at last by deathe the due reward of synne.
Thou deathe, his deathe, thy deathe is he whose soule doth live with Criste for
aye.
The stinge of death can no one flee, the greatest monarchs are but claye."
On the south side of the top of the tomb :
" Vivo tibi, moriorque tibi, tibi Christe, resurgam,
Christe, prohendo tuam justitiamque fide.
Hinc abeat mortis terror, tibi vivo, Redemptor,
Hors mihi jam lucrum est ; Tu, pie Christe, salus.
Laus Deo."
On the south-east corner of the tonib :
"Iste Johannes obiit mortem .... meusis Maii anno 1632 et ista Maria obiit
mortem 31 mensis Augusti anno 1583."
Between the legs of the portrait of the man :
" Hoc lutum Deo figulo. Eom. ix."
Nearer the east end, between his feet :
" Condita erat hsec tumba anno 1603."
On the top stone are three escutcheons : (1) Claye (>'{j., a
chevron engrailed between three trefoils slipped, sab ), (2) Claye
impaling Calton (sab., a saltire engrailed between four cross cross-
lets, or) and Ferrers (vaire), and (3) Calton alone. On the south
side of the tomb are three panels with the three daughters,
Susanna, Mary, and Penelope, kneeling. Behind Susanna and
Mary are drawn impaled shields, the dexter half left blank, showing
they were unmarried in 1603, but behind Penelope is a shield of
Brailsford (on a bend three cinquefoils pierced)* impaling Claye,
and on the cushion on which she kneels :
" Nupta erat Thome Brelsford de Senor, g'n'so."
At the west end of the tomb are portraits in relief of the two
sons, William and Theophilus, also kueeliug. By each of them is
written :
" Mortuus est,"
and under the cushions :
" Isti filii obierant in juventute sua."f
The Visitation pedigrees of Claye begin with one John Claye, of
Crich and Chapel-en-le-Frith, who married a daughter of Lathbury.
* The proper arms of Brailsford are : or, a cinquefoil, sab.
f Theophilus Claye was buried 2 March, 1590 ; Thomas Brailsford and Penelope
Claye were married 6 August, 1C01. Parish Register.
CRICH. 59
His son, Eobert Claye, married Emma, daughter of Simon Wood,
of Burton, Notts. They had two children, John, of this monument,
and his sister, Elizabeth, also mentioned in the inscription. The
daughters, Susanna and Mary, commemorated on the tomb, married
respectively Eobert Clarke, of Mansfield, and Timothy Pusey, of
Selstou.* Elizabeth, youngest of the three daughters, and co-heir
of Timothy Pusey, married William Willoughby, and their daughter,
Mary Willoughby, married Beaumont Dixie ; hence arose the pre-
viously mentioned claim of Sir Wolston Dixie to the advowson of
Crich vicarage, and also the claim of Sir Edward Wilmot, as
having purchased from Dixie.
This tomb of John Claye has always been in the chancel and
on the north side, though it used to stand close to the chancel
screen, and the present west end was to the east. He had a right
to this situation, having purchased the great tithes of Crich from
Anthony Babington in 1584.
Against the north wall of the chancel is fixed a board, with the
following lines painted on it in black letter ; this board used to
be fastened to the upper part of the rude screen on the chancel
side :
" Soules they are made of Heavenly Spirit :
From whence they come ye heavens inherite
Did know that bodyes made of Claye :
Death will devoure by night or daye
Tett is he as hee was I saye :
He living and dead remainth Claye.
His verye name that nature gave :
Is nowe as shal be in his Grave
Tymes doth teache, experience tryes :
That claye to duste the winde up dryes.
Then this a wonder coumpt we must :
That want of winde should make claye dust."t
In the south-east angle of the chancel is an altar tomb of
alabaster, on which is the incised effigy of a man La plate armour.
Bound the margin is :
Harl. MSS. 1093, f. 121; 5809, f. 47; Egerton MSS. 996, f. 42. In the Egertou
MSS. the issue of John Claye by his first wife, Maria, widow of Nicholas Charuell, is
by a mistake transposed to the credit of his second wife, Margaret.
( " 6 March 1778. A ceiled bedstead formerly belonging to John Claye of Crich in
Co. Derby, gent, was exposed to sale this day at John Ludlams, in Shirland. On the
middle pannel of the head thereof was inlaid in wood of proper colours his arms and
crest. The arms being Or, a chevron ingrailed, between three trefoils slipt, Sable.
Crest, on a wreath a p r of wings conjoined and elevated (which by some Heralds is
called a Vole). And on that on the dexter side is his arms impaling a Saltire between
4 cross crossletts. Sinister. His arms again impaling Varey, Argt. and Sable.
Being the respective coats of his 2 wives." Add. MSS., 6,705, f. 23. This is a small
4 to MS., in Reynolds' clear autograph.
60 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
" Hie jacet Godfridus Beresford gen' os* dudu' familiaris s'vic's Georgii honoran-
dissimi Comitis Salop ac filius et heres appare's Adini Beresford de Fenny bentley.
Qui obiit vicesimo nono die mensis Nove' bri A dni Mill d xiij."
On the stone is a nearly effaced coat that has borne Beresford
and Hassall quarterly. Aden Beresford was the eldest son of
Thomas Beresford and Agnes Hassall. By his wife, Elizabeth,
daughter of Eoger Eyre, of Holme, he had Godfrey of this
monument, and George, who succeeded him on his brother dying
childless.*
On the floor of the centre aisle of the nave is a brass plate,
bearing this inscription in black letter :
" Here under this stone the Bodies do lye
Of Robert Marshall and Margaret his wyfe.
Whiche in this town lyved quietlye
Above fyfty yearis withowt debate or stryfe.
x children they hade betwix theym in their lyfe
iij of theym doghters and sonnes were sevyn
God graunt all theyr soules reste & joy in Hevyn."
There is no date, but the style of lettering seems to be of the
third quarter of the fifteenth century.
In the same aisle is another small brass plate, with the following
in Eoman capitals :
" John Kirkeland, Yeaoman,
buried heare,
Whose ansesrs and hee
Lived in Weatcrost above five hundred yeare,
Till gentle death did end their dayes,
Yet wee will give our God the praies.
1652."
The family of Kirkland is said to have originally come from
Cumberland. They were certainly in Derbyshire as early as the
reign of Henry III. John Kirkland, by his will dated 22 July,
1650, devised unto Godfrey Clarke, of Somersall, his " dear and
nearest kinsman," all his lands, etc., in Wheatcroft, Plaistow, Crich,
"Winfield, Morewood, Hognaston, and elsewhere, reserving a rent
charge of 40s. a year, out of his capital messuage at Wheatcroft,
for the poor of Crich. t
Upon a very small brass plate affixed to the north wall of the
chancel, with an infant wrapped in grave clothes at the base, is
inscribed :
* See the account of the Beresfords under Fenny Bentley church, Churclies of
Derbyshire, vol. ii., pp. 463-9 ; also Harl. MSS., 5,809, f. 7 ; and 1,093, f. 49.
t Reliquary, vol. xiii., pp. 219-223.
CRICH. 6 1
" Noe sooner bloomed but blasted
Yet to revive with Thine
At the refreshing, Ephraim Shelmerdine.
March 1 1637."
This was an infant son of Thomas Shelmerdine, the Presbyterian,
who held this living during the Commonwealth, but removed to
Matlock rectory in 1656, whence he was ejected in 1662.* His son,
Daniel, as we have already seen, held the living of Barrow-ou-
Trent.
In Eeynolds' notes (1758) occurs the following notice of a monu-
ment that has now quite disappeared : " About the middle of this
chantry (being as now it . is in the alley going down the north
aisle) is a small grey marble stone, whereon is fixed two brass
plates, one of which has the portrait of a man in a long loose
garment drawn upon it, but the head is now taken away ; and the
other has the following inscription in antique letters, but without
date :
' Presbiter hie clausus Wodrof requiesco Will'm's
Qui cantarie custos vocor istius ante.
Ecce q'd esca paror pro o'mibus atque cadaver
Ut sum quisquis erit, nil manet, omne perit,
Corpus mane meum licet hie cub carne putrescat,
Attamen ora deum spiritus loca alma cupescat,
Cui des introitum deus ad tua regna refund!
Visurum salvatorem, michi spes erit ista.' "f
William Woderowe, Wodrof, or Woodruffe, was instituted to the
chantry of SS. Nicholas and Katharine in 1459, and died 1490.
In the outer north wall of this aisle, near the west end, is a
sepulchral arched recess, with bold foliation. In Bassano's time
(1710) upon the lid of the coffined receptacle within it was incised
a chalice. We have little doubt that this was designed for and
occupied by the first priest of the chantry Eichard Davy, who
died in 1370. In the eighteenth century this receptacle was coolly
reappropriated for the remains of one of the vicars of Crich, the
coffin lid reversed, and inscribed with the name of Thomas England,
who died Feb. 7th, 1730.
* Thomas Shelmerdine was of Lancashire birth and educated at Christ College,
Cambridge. " He was a diligent Preacher at Criche clivers years ; where he was
encompassed with many good old Puritans, that liv'd in that Parish and about it,
who streugthen'd his Hands much in his Work. He was a Man very cheerful in
Converse. A kind Husband to an Holy but very Melancholy Wife. From Crich he
remov'd to Matlock .... He remov'd thence when he was Silenc'd to a dwelling at
Wirksworth, where he did not long survive " Calamy's Ejected Ministers, vol. ii.,
p. 166. He was frequently Moderator of the Presbyterian Classis at Wirksworth, as
we learn from their MS. minute book.
f This is copied verbatim from Reynolds ; there are obviously several mistakes in
his transcription.
62 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
Bassano also mentions that there was then a north porch, as
well as one on the south side.
In Wry ley's copy (1592) of the Visitation of 1569 occur the
following notes respecting Crich, and the glass then extant in the
windows, the monuments, etc. : *
"Crech in the high peake, the tenure of that noble familie of Musard,
Hasculphus Musard the 20 of the conqueroure did hould Creche and Staveley in
the countie of Darbie, whoe had yssue Bitchard Musard Baron of Staveley, whoe
had yssue Hasculphus Musard Baron of Staveley, whoe had yssue Rauffe, whoe
had yssue Raffe (6 R : 1), who had yssue A[micia] M. married to [Anker]
Fretsvyle whoe held Crech and Staveley in his wyves richt. It now is in the
possession of the Earles of Srewesburie, and as it wear an appendix to their
honor of winkfeild, it enioyeth once in the year a fayer and som priviliges, it is
now the habitacion of John Cleay Gentleman, my verie good frend and kinsman.
It is seated on a hill, fertile and well stored both for wood and cole near the
ryver Darwen. In the church thes Armes."
1. Party per pale, gu. and sab., a lion rampant, arg. (Beler).
2. Am., two chevrons, or. (Fitz Ealph).f
3. England, with a label of three points, each charged with two
fleurs-de-lis.
4. Bary of six, arg. and az. (Grey of Codnor).
5. Do. do. a label of three points, gu.
6. Arg., a fesse, gu., between six lozenges, sab. (Wakebridge).
7. Az., a fesse, gu., between six lozenges, sab. (The more usual
coat of Wakebridge).
8. Az., a bend between six escallops, arg. (Frecheville).
9. Arg., a chevron between three crescents, gu. (Pole).
10. Quarterly, Pole and Wakebridge.
11. Pole and Wakebridge impaling Erm., on a chief, gu., three
bezants (Okeover).J
12. Pole and Wakebridge impaling Babington.
13. Pole and Wakebridge impaling Ferrers.
"These three escochions (speaking of the three last) belonged to the younger
famelie of the Poles, who married the daughter and heyr of Wakburge, of the
mannor of Wakeburge in the parrishe, build by Sir William Wakeburge, one of
the Justices of the Banche, and was a great benefactor to the Church of Creech
as by his Armes soe often sett up in the Church. He also builded a fyne chapell
at Wakeburg, garnishing with! orgayne and other costly devises."
Wyrley also makes mention of memorial windows and of a tomb
*Harl. MSS.,6592, f. 88.
t In Nichols' Collectanea these arms are here assigned to Fitz Ralph. They are
those usually given to Musard, but it is there stated (vol. i., p. 51) that no early
instance has yet been met with of the right of Musard to those arms.
J John Pole, of Hartiugton, who died 1524, married Jane, daughter of Humphrey
Okeover.
So that if the effigy is in legal costume, it may still be claimed for Sir William de
Wakebridge.
CRICH. 63
to John Clay and his two wives, which was an earlier one than
that now extant in the chancel :
" Tow fayr monimentes in the glasse wroughte in their vestiraentes with the
Armes of Fretsvile, wrytten under thus ' Gervase .... is Aneure .... pri et
Dur Armedel' .... Also on a monument: ' Hie jacent corpora Johanis Clay
et Maries primes uxoris quondam uxor Nicholai Charnels de Suarston, et Marias
qua relictce Germani Pole de Wakburge, filia Edwardi Ferrers de Tamworth.'"
Some notes taken ahout 1780 show that the only coats then
remaining were No. 7 in the middle window of the north aisle,
No. 2 in the east window of the south aisle, and No 8 in the east
chancel window. No. 2 is the solitary coat now remaining, but
there are a few fragments of old glass in the tracery of the fourth
chancel window, a small crowned head being distinguishable.
In the time of Bassano and also of Eeynolds, there were some
remains of a parclose or screen, shutting off the east end of the
north aisle. The rood screen, of Perpendicular date, across the
chancel arch, was ruthlessly turned out, together with some well
carved spandrels of the roof, at the injudicious "restoration" of
1861. Fortunately the Eev. W. Hope, vicar of S. Peter's, Derby,
caught sight of this fine screen in a timber merchant's yard, and
rescued it from demolition, and most happily set it up as a screen
across the chancel arch of S. Peter's, where it may now be seen.
In the vestry is a beam, removed from the old roof, on which are
recorded the names of :
" Thomas Shelmerdine, minister, 1640.
John Haslam )
John Smith | Churchwardens."
There is also in the vestry an old oak seat, handsomely carved,
and of the Perpendicular period. The ends, of considerable
elevation, terminate in " poppy-heads," on both sides of which are
carved human faces. Unless we are wrongly informed, one if not
more of these fine old church seats found their way to the house
at Chase Cliff, during the "restoration." If this is the case, we
venture to hope that they may be restored to God's House.
There is a ring of fine bells in the tower :
I. "John Dod, John Feepound C: Wardens, MDCCXXI."
II. "Feare God honor the King, 1671," and the bell mark of
George Oldfield.
III. " I. Saxton, G. Silvester, Churchwardens. I. Goddard,
Minister, 1771."
64 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
IV. " Hec Campana sacra fiat Trinitate beata, 1616," in Lom-
bardic capitals, highly decorated.*
V. "All men that heare my mornfull sound
Repent before you lye in ground. 1626."
There is also above these a small bell, that goes by the name
of the parson's bell There is no inscription or date upon it, and
it may possibly be the old sanctus bell that used to hang over the
east gable of the nave.
From some further notes of Eeynolds, we learn that the 3rd
bell (or, as he says, the 4th), which was broken and sent to
Eotherham to be recast, on Saturday, March 30th, 1771, formerly
bore " Jesus be oure spede B. E. B. W.," the founder's mark of
Henry Oldfield, and the date 1583 circumscribed within a small
circle. He also states, in a note dated 1770, that there were only
four bells in the steeple up to 1721, when the first one was cast.f
The same antiquary tells us, in another place, that :
" The weathercock upon Crich Church Spire was bought of one Birds of
Mansfield in the year 1692 by John Beardah sen 1 and Thomas Booner, church-
wardens. It cost 28 shillings and 12 shillings guilding, so that it lay the parish
in 40 shillings. A.D. 1769, this weathercock was taken down and fresh gilt by
David Woodhouse and George Bacon jun r , churchwardens. The steeple and spire
were also pointed at the same time. The old custom at Crich church of ringing
the sermon bell after chiming all the bells was disused in 1769, and the method
of ringing the sermon bell first, then chiming all the bells, and lastly ringing
the small bell called the Ting-Tang (which last had been dumb, viz. had no
clapper in it for 70 years) was introduced. At the time were John Walker, vicar,
Joseph Goddard, curate, and the above named Woodhouse and Bacon, church-
wardens. The inside of the church was whitewashed at the same time."J
Some further notes relative to this church, included in the
Wolley MSS., and taken about the beginning of the century,
mention that " the pillars continue to be hung with garlands in
honor of young maidens who died unmarried, " so that Crich may
be added to the list of those Derbyshire churches where this
interesting custom used to prevail. ||
In the letters from the incumbents in 1831,"* on which the
Parliamentary Eeturn as to parochial registers is based, we find
that the communication from Crich states that the earliest register,
* For illustrations of the lettering, etc., of this bell, see the Reliquary, vol. xiii.,
p. 231.
t Add. MSS., 6,670, ff. 411, 412.
I Add. MSS., 6,707, f. 18.
Add. MSS. 6668, f. 449.
|j On the subject of Funeral Garlands, see the accounts of the churches of South
Winfield, Ashford, and Matlock, in vols. i. and ii. of Churches of Derbyshire.
** Add. MSS , 9,355.
CUICH. 65
from 1617 to 1640, is " totally useless and illegible." Though this
is far too sweeping a statement, still it must be owned that the
volume is much damaged, badly written, and in a few places quite
illegible. There are defects in the subsequent registers from June
7th, 1708, to March 20th, 1712, and again from March 4th, 1768,
to September loth, 1764. Eeynolds' notes (1757) make mention
of an earlier register book than the one beginning in 1617, and it
was our good fortune, in the summer of 1877, to be instrumental
in its recovery, after an absence from the parish of about a
century. Mr. Hoveden, a gentleman resident at Croydon, purchased
at a London auction, in a lot of old papers, a portion of a
parochial register. It is a quarto paper book, extending from 1564 to
1593, with several leaves missing at the commencement, and no
name of parish or minister by which to identify. The cover is of
parchment, and has been part of an old Breviary. Suspecting it
to be of Derbyshire origin, Mr. Hoveden placed it in our hands
for identification, and the following entries, inter alia, convincing
us that it pertained to Crich, the owner was good enough, in the
true antiquarian spirit, to restore it to the parish chest :
" Marmeduke Babington sepultus fuit decimo septo Januarii, 1587."
" Germanus Poole de Wakebridge sepultus fuit vicessimo sexto die Aprilis,
1588."
" Theophilus Claye sepiiltus fuit secundo die Marcii, 1590."
" Petrus Poole sepultus fuit vicessimo die Septembris, 1590."
In the previous account of Crich we have chronicled the fact
that Sir William de Wakebridge built a chapel at his manor house
at WAKEBRIDGE, garnished with an " orgayne and other costly
devises." We are also able to give an inventory of the goods of
this chapel, as given in the Crich Chartulary, under date 1368 :
"Memorandum de ornamentis capelle de Wakebrugge. In primis j haire, Et
ij alterclothez cum frontellis bonis, Et j tapeta ad pendeudum ante altare, Et
ij peria de Ridel* cum apparat', Et ij vestimenta festivales, Et j vestimeiitum
feriale, Et j calix, Et j missale, Et alind missale vetus, Et j portiforium, Et
j psalterium, Et iij coporalia cum cases, Et j tabula depicta, Et j portiforium
quo dominus utitur, Et j mauuale de usu Lincolnie."f
* The Eidels (Fr. rideaux) were the curtains which fenced in the back and sides of
the altar.
t The " use " or ritual of Lincoln seems to have generally prevailed in the diocese
of Coventry and Lichfield. There were five distinct uses in England York, Lincoln,
Hereford, Bangor, and Salisbury. That of Lincoln prevailed also in many parts of
Scotland. The Sarum use was prescribed for the whole province of Canterbury in
1541, hence arose the general adoption of red for altar cloths, as red was the ordinary
colour of the Salisbury rite.
6
66 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
On the purchase of this estate by Peter Nightingale in 1771, the
fine old mansion, that had heen for so many centuries the seat of
the families of Wakehridge and Pole, was pulled down. The
chapel, which was a detached building, but had long been dese-
crated for farm purposes, did not then share the fate of the hall.
A writer of the year 1818, says : " The east window still remains
in the end of a barn, at the back of the house, which is the only
discernible indication of the chapel."* Some thirty years ago, the
remains of this chapel were still further modernised, and the
window mentioned by Mr. Moore, taken out, and removed to the
grounds of Mr. Nightingale's residence at Lea. That portion of
the large barn which now stands on the site of the chapel, has no
trace of antiquity, or any ecclesiastical feature about it. The
extensive foundations of the old manor house, can be traced under
the sward, behind the present farm-house. In the kitchen of the
house is an old oak door, handsomely panelled with the linen-fold
pattern. This is apparently the only relic of the departed grandeur
of Wakebridge.
N.B. Since the previous sheet passed through the press, we
have found an institution to Crich vicarage in the Lichfield
registers, under the year 1629. Owing probably to it being spelt
" Croich," it had escaped our previous notice. It is the institution
of Thomas Shelmerdine, on the death of Edwin Woolley, and John
Claye was then patron. This modifies the statements previously
made, with respect to the patronage, in one or two particulars.
* Moore's Picturesque Excursions, p. 70.
II Sainfs.
<I>uflrn5oiu
IJEFORE we particularise with respect to the different
churches of Derby, it will be necessary to make one or
two introductory remarks as to the number and names
of those churches. In the reign of Edward the Confessor, Derby
must have been an important centre of the Anglo-Saxon Church.
There were then within the borough, as we learn from the
Domesday Survey, no less than six churches. Two of these, which
were on the royal demesne, were of a colleg'iate character, the one
served by seven clerks, who held two carucates of land in (Little)
Chester, and the other by six clerks, who held nine oxgangs of
land in Cornun (Quarndou) and Detton.* The four other churches
were held respectively by Tochi, Leuric, Brun, and Coin.
At the time of the compilation of the Domesday Survey (1086),
these four, churches were the property of Geoffrey Alselin, Ralph
Fitzherbert, Norman de Lincolia, and Edric, the son of Coin. It
was also there recorded that " Osmer, the priest, has one oxgang
of laud with sac and soc ; and Godwin, the priest, in like manner,
one oxgaug of land."
The next mention of a Derby church occurs in connection with
the abbey of Burton. A bull of Pope Lucius III., dated 1185,
confirming grants to that abbey, makes mention of the gift by
William the Conqueror of the church of S. Mary in Derby, with
two mills, and land in that town. The chronicle of the Burton
* We believe the prefix of the " D " to this place-name to be an error of the
Norman scribe, and that it is intended for Eaton, i.e. Little Eaton. At all events,
lands at Little Eaton, that had pertained to the royal demesnes, were attached to one
of the Derby churches early in the twelfth century, and it would be strange if all
reference to them, was omitted from the Survey.
70 DKEBYSIIIKE CHURCHES.
monks enables us to say that this gift was made prior to the year
1085, for it took place when Leuricus, who died in that year, was
abhot. The property is therein described as the church of S.
Mary in Derby, with its appurtenances, viz. the sites of two mills,
one called Cope-castlemyln, with an island of the same name, and
the other Schirismylne, cum ceteris terris. The abbey also at the
same time received twelve acres of meadow, cum ceteris consitetudinihns
in Walwikstrete (Wardwick), in compensation for other lands that
the king took of the abbey.*
The six Derby churches mentioned in the Domesday Survey
were (we have no doubt) All Saints, S. Alkmund, S. Mary, S.
Werburgh, S. Peter, and S. Michael. The notion, favoured by
several Derby writers, that All Saints' was formerly known as S.
Mary's, seems to us untenable, and certainly has no documentary
evidence to uphold it. On the other hand, we know that All
Saints' was thus styled as early as the reign of Henry I. The
churches of S. James or S. Helen have also been suggested to
make up the complement of six, but, as we hope to hereafter show,
when writing of the monastic establishments of Derby, neither of
these conventual churches were then founded. Of the church of
S. Mary we know but little, beyond the fact of its gift to Burton.
It seems to have speedily fallen to decay, probably because of the
insufficiency of its endowments. At all events, neither Burton Abbey,
nor apparently any other body, possessed it in the thirteenth century.
The third chapter of the old chronicle of Dale Abbey says (writing
of a time about the beginning of the twelfth century) : ' ' There
was a baker in Derby in the street which is called S. Mary. At
that period S. Mary's was a large parish in Derby, and had under
its authority the church of Heanor, and also a chapel."t William
I. had included in his grant of the church of S. Mary to Burton
certain lands at Heauor, and hence arose the subsidiary position of
the church at Heanor to that at Derby. Beyond this somewhat
vague reference, we can glean nothing respecting S. Mary's. Pro-
bably it stood at the opposite end of S. Mary's Gate to All Saints'.
The parish seems to have been absorbed into that of All Saints'
and S. Alkmuud's, as we judge from the fact that the dean
of Lincoln owned the Castle and Shire mills of Derby in the
thirteenth century. Richard Robynson, by will dated October 17th,
1518, bequeaths "to oure lady stondyng in the chapell in sent
* Diifrdale'fl Monasticon, vol. i., p. 271-2.
t Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. ii., p. 617.
ALL SAINTS. 71
Mary gate xij to by her a kerchief," i.e., a veil to deck the image
of the Virgin.* He was of the parish of All Hallows, aud buried
in that church. Possibly "the chapell in sent Mary gate" was
the remains of, or at all events on the site of the old church of
S. Mary.
The church of All Saints, or All Hallows, was certainly one of
the two collegiate churches of Derby in the time of Edward the
Confessor, probably the one with seven clerks attached to it. This
church was given by Henry I., together with that of Wirksworth,
sometime between 1100 and 1113, to God and the church of S.
Mary at Lincoln, to be held in Piwbemlam, together with all the
adjacent rights. The charter expresses that the churches should
be held in the same honourable and quiet way that prevailed
in the time of Edward the Confessor and of William I., but
this does not seem to imply that they had formerly pertained to
Lincom.f
We have not been able to ascertain with precision, either from
the Lincoln muniments or elsewhere, the exact nature of the
control originally exercised over All Saints' by the cathedral church
of Lincoln, but it seems that the chapter of that city appointed
the dean of All Saints', and that the sub-dean and the remaining
six prebends, instead of being co-opted by their own chapter,
according to canon law, were also appointed directly by the dean
and chapter of Lincoln. We have, too, good reasons for thinking
that the position of dean was practically- in abeyance, from the
fourteenth century downwards, the office being held by the dean of
Lincoln. At all events, we have failed to find any mention of a
dean later than the middle of the thirteenth century, and various
subsequent conventions were concluded in the name of and under
the signature of the sub-dean.
Hugo, the founder of Darley Abbey, between 1161 and 1170, is
described in the charter as " Dean of Derby," and there can be no
doubt that this means that he was at the head of the collegiate
clergy of All Saints'. The Chartulary of the abbey also makes
* Probate Office, Lichfield, Wills 1516 Io26, f. 19.
t Lincoln Chapter MSS., liegistrum Antiquissium, f. 6a this is the charter given
in Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. iii., p. 264 ; also Decani Chartularium, f. 48, etc., etc.
Some of the earliest entries relative to this church amongst the Lincoln MSS.
describe it as All Saints, though others are content to name it as the church of Derby
being, no doubt, the one of fir.st importance.
72 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
mention of deans of the name of Henry and Robert, who appear
to Lave succeeded Hugo in the next century.*
In 1252 a dispute arose between the Canons of All Saints' and
the abbey of Darley, relative to tithes, and it was referred "to the
Pope. Innocent IV., following the usual precedent, issued a bull,
dated at Milan on the 4th of the Nones of September, in the 9th
year of his consecration, appointing Giles, archdeacon of Berkshire,
to act as arbitrator. The archdeacon, having summoned the repre-
sentatives and witnesses of both parties before him, gave his
decision in the cathedral of S. Frideswide, at Oxford, on the day
following the feast of S. John-at-the-Latin-Gate, 1253. The
Canons claimed, in the name of the churches of All Saints and
S. Alkmund, that the abbey should be compelled to pay tithes to
them, of all their demesne and other lands, of hay, of the profits
of the mills and fisheries, and of all other titheable articles within
the limits of the two parishes. They stated that the boundaries
of the parishes of All Saints and S. Alkmund were conterminous
with the royal demesne, that the abbey of Darley was erected and
lands bestowed upon it within those limits, and that they specially
claimed tithes of the cultivated land called Abbotsflat, between
Derby and the abbey on the west side of the Derwent, and of the
tilled land within the field of [Little] Chester on the other side of
the Derwent, similarly termed Abbotsflat, and also of all that part
of the pasture of King's Mead that pertained to them. The
Canons further protested that the monks of Darley obtruded them-
selves into their churches, where they celebrated Mass, heard
confessions, enjoined penances, performed the rites of sepulture,
and administered blessed bread, holy water, the Eucharist, and
extreme unction, not only to their own servants, but to certain
others. The archdeacon, associating with himself in his judgment
the prior of Frideswide and John the Constable, decided very con-
clusively against the abbey, ordering the monks to make an annual
payment of not less than one or more than two marks to the
* Cott. MSS. Titus, c. ix., ff. 55b, 56, 56b, etc., etc. The Chartulary makes inci-
dental meution of Henry, the son of Dean Hugo ; of Peter and Walter, the sons of
Dean Henry ; and of Robert, Peter, and Matilda, children of Dean Robert. Whether
tliis offspring of church dignitaries were born in wedlock or not is not stated, but we
conclude that they were legally begotten, owing to the distinct way in which their
paternity is recognised in these monastic charters. It seems probable that these
deans merely entered the minor sacerdotal orders in order to qualify themselves in
some measure for the holding of preferment, but did not actually pass into the
priesthood. There are various Canons of this period dealing with these abuses, and
laying down that only those who serve in priests' orders should for the future be
admitted to the office of prior or dean.
ALL SAINTS. 73
canons in recompense for the loss they had sustained, and a
further annual sum of twenty shillings to cover the cost of the
suit.* From this document we learn that S. Alkmund's was the
other collegiate church of the Domesday Survey, and that it was
by this time united to All Saints'.
The Patent Eolls, 53 Henry III., afford a proof of the dean
of Lincoln being regarded as dean, or at all events as the persona
of All Saints', even at that early date, for the Boll describes him
as: " Decanus Lincoln', Persona hujus Ecclesia pro se & canonicis
ejusdem libere capelle."
In the year 1269, the conjoint value of the canonries of All
Saints' was returned at sixty marks." The Taxation Roll of Pope
Nicholas IV. (1291), gives the annual value of the prebendal
church of All Saints at 25 6s. 8d., and in addition the dean of
Lincoln is credited with lands and rents at Little Chester, Little
Eaton, and Quai-ndon, to the annual value of 17 14s. 8d. An
account of the Lincoln chapter property in this county, taken in
1329, when Anthony Beck was dean, gives the united annual value
of their property in Little Eaton, Quarndon, and Little Chester,
including a water-mill and a quarry at the first named place, at
30 7s. Id.J In the year 1344, the same dean made good his
claim to free warren and other manorial rights over these three
estates, which had been granted to his predecessor, Philip de
Willoughby, who was dean from 1289 to 1305. The way in
which the chapter of Lincoln lost their rights of free warren over
these and other Derbyshire manors, is not a little curious. The
deau had, in his manorial court, punished offenders against the
statute whereby the price of bread and beer was fixed (51 Henry
III.) by fines, whereas the proper punishment for the court to
inflict was either by pillory or turnbrell.|| The imposing of
fines was held to be an infringement of the royal courts, and the
dean consequently forfeited his rights of free warren, etc., to ^he
crown.**
Little Chester, Little Eaton, and Quarudou, were thus undoubt-
* Cott. MSS., Titus, c. ix., f. 75b.
t Pegge's MSS., vol. v.
I Pegge's MSS., vol. iii., f. 196 frflm a Eoll penes Franc. Ferrand Foljambe.
S Placita de Quo Warranto, p. 161.
]| By the tumbrell in this place is meant the cucking-stool, which was not confined
to the punishment of scolds, as is often stated. " The tumbrell was a punishment
anciently inflicted upon Brewers and Bakers transgressing the laws, who were there-
upon in such a stool immerged over head and ears in stercore, some stinking water."
Cowell's Interpreter, sub voce.
** Pat, Rot... 8 Eic. II., 2nd part, rnemb. 36.
74 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
edly held by the dean of Lincoln as part of the emoluments
attaching to the prebeiidal church of All Saints, and on looking
back to the Domesday Book, it would appear that this was the
united property of the two churches on the royal demesne All
Saints' and S. Alkmund's, which must have coalesced as early as
the reign of Henry III. S. Alkmund's, to which parish Little
Eaton pertains, seems to have been granted to the canons as a
tributary church, and served by them, possessing no distinctive rights
of its own. The evidence of the Hundred Eolls, circa 1276, is
conclusive as to the coalition of the two. It is therein stated that
there were in Derby, in the time of Edward the Confessor, two
churches on the King's demesne, the one having seven clerks and
lands in Little Chester, and the other having six clerks and lands
in Quarndon and Eyton (Little Eaton), and that the dean of
Lincoln then held these manors, and gave seven prebends to the
two churches.*
In the reign of Edward I., there was considerable dispute relative
to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction over All Saints'. In the sixth
year of that reign, it was decided that the church of All Saints
was a free chapel of the King, exempt from all ordinary jurisdiction,
and immediately subject to the Pope. It was specially stated to
be exempt from all jurisdiction of the archdeacon, t A few years
later the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield tried to enforce
episcopal control over the Church, asserting that he and his
predecessors had always exercised it.
He was summoned to the court of the King at Winchester, for
contempt both of the royal authority and of the see of S. Peter.
The dean of Lincoln, who appeared in defence of the royal rights,
contended that the church had been, from time immemorial, free
from all ordinary jurisdiction, that when any prebend was vacant
he (the dean) instituted to it, that he held visitations there, and
was the ordinary for the correcting of abuses. The jury found
that the Bishops of Coventry and Lichfield (instancing Alexander
Stavenby, 1224-1240) had always had certain jurisdiction within
All Saints', as for example the holding of ordinations, the taking
of synodals, and the exercising discipline over the chaplains, clergy,
and parishioners but that the dean, of Lincoln had the power
of collating the prebendaries and instituting whomsoever he wished
without any presentation to the Bishop. ;{;
* Rot. Huudredorum, 4 Edw I., Com. Derb., No. 3, 2nd part.
t Pat. Rot., 6 Edw. I , meiiib. 17.
; Placita 13 and 14 Edw. III. rneiulj. 4. See Appendix, No. VI.
ALL SAINTS. 75
This decision with respect to the "Free Chapel"* of All Saints
seems to have heen carefully carried out. There is not a single
institution to All Saints', or to the subject church of S. Alkmuud,
to be found in the episcopal registers at Lichfield, but there are
several instances on record of the Bishops exercising other jurisdic-
tion. In 1301, good Bishop Langton held an ordination in the
church of All Saints, at which a large number of candidates were
admitted to the various grades of the sacerdotal office. t Several
other ordinations were subsequently held in the same building by
the Bishops of Coventry and Lichfield.
The Valor Ecclesiasticus (27 Henry VIII.), gives the clear yearly
value of this Collegiate church at 38 14s. The following are
the particulars :
Verus valor Eccl'ie Collegiat' Om'i' S'tor' Derb' & Prebendar' ib'm.
s. d
Oblacoes debit' ad festum Pashe valent coib' amiis ... v j o o
Decime Agno' & lani valent coib' annis ..... x o
Decime Granor' et feni valent coibus annis ----- xviij o o
Oblacoes ad quatuor anni termiuos vocat' offryug days valent
coib' annis ...-.-.-.- xxvj viij
Decime Canabi lini porcellor' et auc' ...... xxo
Pr'bend de Subdeac 1 in Parva Cestrie ------ iij vj viij
D'ns Will'mus Browne p'bend' ibm ------ xlo
D'ns Nicolaus Smytb p'bend' ibm - xiiij iii.
D'ns Thomas Lyllylow p'bend' --..... iij o o
D'ns Will'mus Cokland p'bend' ------- xiiij iiij
Magist' Liderlaud p'beud" ---..-.. xiiij iiij
Dom Eicus West p'bend' xlv viij
Et iude resolut' p' prox' & siuag' xviiji/.
S'ma clara valor' sup' diet' - - xxxviij xiiij o
X'rna inde Ixxvij v
The sub-dean of All Saints' also received an annual payment of
11 from Darley Abbey, according to an agreement made in the
previous century, between Eoger Newton, abbot, and John Lowe,
sub-dean. From the Darley Chartulary we find that this payment
was a composition for the tithes of grain on lands within the
parishes of All Saints and S. Alkmund, held by the abbey.
The following is the entry in the Chantry Boll, temp. Edward
VI., respecting this collegiate church and the chantries thereto
pertaining :
* Tbe expression " Free Chapel," usually meant that the church thus designated
stood on the royal demesne, and was therefore free from ordinary jurisdiction. But
in process of time, the term continued to be applied to several churches and chapels,
that had rc.vorU-d to episcopal control and were in no sense "peculiars."
t Churches uf Derbyshire, vol. ii., p 8.
76 DKKHYSHIKK CHUKCHKS.
' COLLEGE OB PAHSONAGE of All Hallowes in Derbie heyug the Kyngs fire
chapell collegiated there and founded by his progenitors. John Makeworth, dc.-uie
of Liucolue made an ordinance A Dom. M. iiij c xxxij. that the rnyiiysters shulde
daylye praye for the prosperous estate of the Kyng xxxviij/i. xiijs. clere value
xl/i. ix. jd. to iij Prystes called Curates xvj/i. eyther of them cvjs. viijd to ij
Prystes deacons iiijZi. and j clerke deacon to eyther xxvijs. viijd. for wine waxe
breade and other charges in the quyre Ixs. and the residue xvijZt. ix*. for the
lyvying of the Deane and vj prebeudaryes. It is a parishe churche where there
is xv c houselynge people of whose sowles the sub-dean hath care and charge. It
hath a mancyou comenly called the Colledge or Parsonage and is charged in the
rental at xiijs. iiij^. The jewels plate ornaments etc. be suche as have been
ordeyned by the parishioners and mayntayued by the same to serve the Cure
there.
" THE CHANTRYE OF OUR LADY, founded by the deane of Lincolue liijs. iiijd.
Clere value ciijs. vj.* Thos. Rayner chauutry Pryst. Stock Ijs. ijd.
"THE SERVICE founded by Will. Shore for a pryst at S. Nycholas Alter
iiijli. ij<. Stock lijs. vjd.
" The TRYNYTYE GUYLDE ordeyned by the Baylyffs and Burgesses of the
Borowe for a pryst to saye Masse att the Trynyte alter at v of the clock in the
mornyng and to pray for the lyves and sowles of all the brothers and systers of
the guylde, and that all persons travaylynge by the daye and all other inhabitants
myght have masse. Clere viijW. xjs. ijd. Stock Ixixs. iiijcZ."
The college was dissolved in the 2nd year of Edward VI., aud
its estates sold to Thomas Smith and Henry Newsam for the sum
of 346 13s. 4d. The rental of the collegiate house is given as
10s., and mention is also made of the rental of Is. 8d. for a
meadow in the town of Derby "in campo called Wardefeld." This
latter item is an additional proof of the endowments of the old
church of S. Mary having come into the hands of the canons of
All Saints', for a meadow by the Ward wick formed, as we have
already seen, part of the estate given with that church to the
abbey of Burton by the Conqueror. By far the greater part of the
property of the college, indeed the whole of the prebendal farms,
were situated in Little Chester. The farm of the prebendary,
lately held by Magister Eamsey, clerk, was then valued at 13s. 4d.,
those of Magister Elien and William Tailor at a like sum respec-
tively, that pertaining to Richard Weste at 46s. 8d., that of John
Wilkes at 40s., that of Thomas Smythe at 60s., and that pre-
bendary called " le Subdeans prebend or Stone prebend," 66s. 8d.
Other rents pertaining to the sub-dean, also at Little Chester, were
valued at 46s. 8d. The lead, bells, and advowson were to be
excepted from this purchase. At the same time, the tithes of
grain of the town of Derby that had belonged to the abbey of
Darley by agreement with All Saints', were sold to Eobert Carre
* The Valor Ecclesiasticus values this chantry at 4 marks per annum. Henry
Pott was then chantry priest. It is described as possessed of a mansion and other
ruinous houses.
ALL SAINTS. 77
and John Almonde for 200, being at the rate of 20 years'
purchase. Both these sums were pocketed by Edward VI., or
rather by his advisers, who seem to have made no provision
whatever for the spiritual needs of Derby, and the numerous
officiating priests were suddenly stripped of their stipends, without
any compensation.*
We find, however, a few years later, that Queen Mary provided
pensions for the dispossessed prebendaries, almost exactly corres-
ponding to their previous stipends. Robert Thacker, the late
sub-dean, received 6 13s. 4d., and the ex-prebendaries, William
Tailor 14s., George Glynne 14s. 4d., Richard (?) Wilkes 40s., and
Thomas S my the 60s. Roger Bartilmew, late chantry priest of the
Trinity Guild, also received 66s. 8d., and Lawrence Sponer, late
priest of the chantry of Our Lady, 5.t
In the first year of her reign Queen Mary did somewhat to
repair the mischief done to the parishes of All Saints and S.
Alkmund, that had formerly been served by the canons. So far
as All Saints' was concerned, she granted the farms of the sub-
deans or Stone-house prebend, two of the small prebends, and
other alienated property, together with certain premises that had
belonged to S. Mary's chantry and to the Trinity Guild, to the
Derby Corporation, on condition that the Bailiffs and Burgesses
should find two priests to officiate at All Saints', and that two
vicarages should be for them instituted in the said church, each
endowed with a house and an annuity of 17 6s. 8d. The clause
relative to this appointment runs as follows :
" And further we will for ourselves and our heirs and successors ordain and
grant that in the church of All Saints there shall be two perpetual vicars, to be
instituted and endowed, who shall have perpetual succession, and be instead of
rectors there, and maintain hospitality there, and have cure of souls of the
parishioners there, and do and execute all other things which are known to
belong to the office of rector or vicar."}
Iii 1502 a dispute arose between one William Buckley and the
Town of Derby, respecting certain property in the parishes of All
Saints, S. Alkmund, S. Michael, and S. Werburgh, which
Queen Elizabeth had granted him by letters patent. These grants
were contested, for they were one and all claimed as lands or
tenements used by the churchwardens for the repairs of their
* Augmentation Office Miscellaneous Books, vol. Ixvii., ff. 72 & 90.
t Add. MSS. 8,102, f. 49b. This is the interesting Pension Roll, '2 and 3 Philip and
Mary, which we give in extenso in the Appendix.
J The whole of this long grant of Queen Mary to the Corporation, consisting of 67
clauses, is given in Simpson's Derbyshire, pp. 67-Ts.
78 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
respective churches. The Court of Exchequer appointed John
Harpur, Francis Fitzherbert, Henry Duporte, Lawrence Wright,
and Robert Newton to act as arbitrators, and some interesting
evidence was produced before them. Amongst the witnesses, on
behalf of the Bailiffs and Burgesses, were Robert Stringer, gentle-
man, aged 60 William Both am, woollen-draper, who had been
twice churchwarden of All Saints' John Scattergood, husbandman,
of Little Chester, who had been four times churchwarden of S.
Alkmund's, aged 65 John Stafford, shoemaker, who had been
churchwarden of S. Werburgh's forty years ago, aged 72 and
Richard Doughty, aged 77. The last named deposed that "he
doth verie well remember that about primo or secundo Edwarde
the sixt there was a Commission directed to M r Beaumont then
M r of the Rolls of the Highe Courte of Chauncerie as to what
lands, tenements, etc., belonged to the King by the Statute made
for dissolving of Colleges, hospitalls, free chappells, and chanteries."
He further stated that all the churchwardens and sidesmen of
Derby were sworn to present all such property before the com-
mission, and that the commissioners urged him and his fellows to
find the property now in question for the King. But he then
proved before the commission, by the testimony of ancient men,
that it had been long used simply for the repair of the respective
fabrics. Eventually the arbitrators decided most thoroughly against
the rapacity of the Crown. They made an award that the fee
farm of two cottages, seven gardens, and fourteen acres of land in
Derby, formerly pertaining to the prebends of All Saints', should
pass within three years from Queen Elizabeth to the Town of
Derby ; and that the title to the tithes of certain church lands in
Derby, and to the chapel on the bridge, granted by letters patent
to William Buckley, was not a good title, seeing that they had
been enjoyed by the town for the space of six or seven score
years. The rest of the award, as it affected the other parishes,
was of the same character.*
Most of the church lands here mentioned, as well as much of
those granted by Queen Mary, were subsequently sold by the parish
of All Saints from time to time, whenever any unusually heavy
expense for the repair of the fabric fell upon them.
The Parliamentary Commissioners of 1650 say of All Saints'
that it ''is a donation, fourteenc tlnrteene foure granted by Queene
* From the original depositions (in a damaged and imperfect condition) now in the
pariah chest of All Saints'.
ALL SAINTS. 79
Marye and payed by the Corporation for the maynteyning of two
vicars." But we have failed to obtain any proof that the Corpora-
tion ever did maintain two vicars. They did, however, appoint
one minister or perpetual curate, giving him apparently the stipend
intended for two, and showing themselves for a long time most
jealous of any recognition of episcopal claims to institution. The
parish, out of the rates, provided in addition " a reader," whose
duty it was to say the daily morning and evening prayers com-
manded by the Church, and it was not until the year 1732 that
this wholesome practice was abandoned. When the Corporation
Reform Act became law (1835), it was no longer possible for
Corporations to retain property in advowsons, and All Saints'
was sold to the Simeon trustees.
The following is a list of the post-Reformation incumbents of
All Saints', chiefly taken from the parochial registers :
1664. John Houghton.
1576. Charles Wood.
1592. Edward Bennett.
1609. Richard Kilbie.
1617. John Chappell.
1621. Gervase Hall.
1632. Edward WiUimot, D.D.
1643. Joseph Swetnam. Ejected for nonconformity.*
1662. John Boylston, D.D.
1671. Samuel Willes ; prebendary of Bobenhull, Lichfield, 1682 ; died 1685.
1690 (?). Walter Horton.
1708 (?). Samuel Sturges.
1719 (?). Michael Hutchinson, D.D. ;f prebendary of Dasset-Parva, Lichfield, 1703 ;
rector of Cheadle, Stafford; also vicar of Packington, Leicester, where he
was buried in 1730.
1728. William Chambers.
. Joshua Winter.
1774. Charles Hope. On the presentation of the Mayor and Burgesses. I Charles
Hope was in the same year also instituted to the vicarage of S. Michael's,
and S. Werburgh's.
1798. Charles Stead Hope; patrons, the Mayor and Burgesses. "Licensed to
perform the office of chaplain, presbiter, and minister of the Free Chapel
or parish Church of All Saints. "
* " He was not formally put out by the Act of Uniformity, and yet really he was.
For foreseeing the commencement of that Act on Bartholomew-Day, he thought good
to make a mixtly voluntary Secession sometime before its taking Place, and so was
not, and yet was expelled by it. He was a Man very well qualify'd to fill so August a
Place as Alhallows in Derby. A very able Preacher; and great Master of Language."
Ejected Ministers, vol. ii., p. 164-5.
f We are not sure of the precise date of the institution of Dr. Hutchinson and his
two predecessors ; the dates given are the earliest mentions of the names that we can
find in the registers or parish books. Dr. Hutchinson resigned the living of Lilling-
tou-Dayuell in 1725, so it is probable that this was the year that he came to Derby.
I This was the first institution or licence to All Saints', made by the Bishop. See
Episcopal Registers, vol. xxiii., p. 65.
Episcopal Registers, vol. xxvii. , p. 34.
80 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
1841 . Edward Lillingston ; patrons, the Simeon trustees.
1848. David Anderson; patrons, the Simeon trustees.
1849. Edward Walwyn Foley ; patrons, the Simeon trustees.
1872. Sholto D. C. Douglas; patrons, the Simeon trustees.
The church consists of a remarkably fine tower of the late
Perpendicular style, and a modern classical body, built in 1723-5,
and forming a parallelogram, with an interior area of 122 ft. by
75 ft. That which Huttou wrote of Derby and the tower of All
Saints', nearly a hundred years ago, is still true : " The stranger,
who wanders through Derby in quest of objects worthy of remark,
will find some defects, and more beauties : but when he arrives
at All Saints', he arrives at the chief excellence the pride of the
place. It stands as a prince among subjects ; a giant among
dwarfs. Viewed at any distance, or in any attitude, the associated
ideas of taste, grandeur, and beauty fascinate the mind ; the eye is
captivated, and continually returns to its object, but never tires.
Some pride, more sense, and still more judgement must have
combined in our forefathers in the construction of this noble tower ;
they wrought, and we enjoy the credit of their labour."* Tho
tower is 174 feet high, exclusive of the pinnacles, which with
their vanes measure 36 feet from the roof. It is about 50 feet
square at the base and 40 feet square at the top. Notwithstanding
its great altitude (considerably surpassing S. Mary's, Tauuton,
Magdalen College, Oxford, and other towers of the same class),
it was originally intended to have been surmounted by a spire,
or rather perhaps by a lantern, like that at Boston. At least so
we gather from an inspection of the bell-chamber, or upper
storey of the tower, the roof of which is partially vaulted
in a massive manner with eight rows of bold moulding protruding
from the walls, leaving an octagonal opening in the centre, and
having four squinches or small arches in the angles. The body
of the tower is divided into three stages of nearly equal height,
by two bands or fascia beautifully moulded, the lower with octagon,
and the upper with quatrefoil tracery. The battlements, and
buttresses, and other parts of the tower, are also richly panelled
with tracery.
An inscription upon a fascia on the south side of the lower stage
of the tower, gives the words : footing -ffSitn anil ^Satt&tttg.
This inscription was restored when the tower was repaired in
1845, but the same words, in older orthography, also occur on
* Button's History of Derby, p 146-7.
ALL SAINTS. 81
the north side. Tradition says that the tower, up to that height,
was huilt at the expense of the youth of both sexes. This notion
has usually been ridiculed, and the supposition that the inscription
is the beginning of a quotation from Psalm cxlviii. generally
accepted. But it is impossible that the latter surmise can be
correct, or why should the same words appear on two sides ?
Moreover, the inscription is perfect in itself, for the west window
interferes with any continuation on that side of the tower, and
the body of the church does the same on the east. On the whole,
we see no reason to doubt the truth of this tradition, and it is
some confirmation to find that the bachelors of the town subse-
quently subscribed to provide one of the bells.
Various conflicting statements have been made with respect to
the exact age of this grand tower, some assigning it to as late a
date as the reign of Queen Mary ; but the truth is that the
process of building, like BO many of the best masterpieces of
Gothic art, was a slow one, and that its erection extended over a
considerable period. Fortunately we are able to give some interest-
ing documentary evidence, hitherto unknown and unpublished, on
this very point. From the first volume of the churchwardens'
minute books* (which actually begin in the year 1466), we gather
that the works of the tower were in progress in the second year
of Henry VIII. (1510-11):
" And the said John Newton John Elistone and Christopher Thakkar church-
wardens are discharged of y* saide xijs. In so moche they be charged w' anoy'
boke of the comptes of the Werkes of the Steple that yere And all thynges
charged in the saide accoinpte and accompted of the werkes of the steple that
yere And all thynges allowed and to be allowed. The sayde Comptantes were
fonde in supplusage xviijs. vd. Thys Accompte was made the xiiij day of Aprill
the thyrd yere of Kyng Henry the viij."
The next entry relative to the tower or steeple, occurs some ten
years later :
"Anno Dui M DXX.
M d y* s r George bodon p'ste have payed to William baroe and thos
oxle to the bildyng of y e steple, Bog" mor' and thos Walkar the ballyves, xij<i.
M d y* s r George bodon p'ste have payed In the yeare of o r lorde
jtoxxiij to John david to the byldyng of alhaloes steple - - - . xij<Z.
Also payed by the said s r George bouden the year of o r lorde aroxxiiij
to the churchwardens to y e byldyng of the steple - - - - - xijd.
And In the yere of o r lorde MDXXV payed sr George bouden p'ste to
the churchwardyns John Sborariot oy' to y e bildyg of y* steple - - . - xii<2.
* The churchwardens' accounts and the minute books of All Saints', together with
numerous other papers in the parish chest, are of such exceptional and voluminous
interest, that it was found to be quite impossible to do more than give some brief
extracts from them in this work. They will, however, be thoroughly analysed and
annotated in a monograph on this church, now in course of preparation.
7
82 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
And In the yere of o r lorde MDXXVJ the iij d day of February Sy r George
bouden p'ste payed to the churchwardyns Thomas Parre, Roberts
farynton, and oder to y 6 bildyng of the Steple by the hands of the pson
of alhaloes ....------.---' xijcZ.
We Roger Hawe and Edward Coke w'od' churchwardens have
Item Rec' by the hands of Thos tulenson of Chaleston executor to s r George
Boedon of y 6 saide Chaleston xs. Jid. in parte of paymente for hys bequeth Wiche
ys xls. gyffen by hys last will to the steple of All sauctes in derby."
From the accounts of the year 1527, it appears that Kobert
Liversage, dyer, of S. Peter's parish, who two years after founded
an important charity, was also a munificent benefactor to the
steeple of All Hallows :
Anno dni M quingen xxvij
PAYMETES As FOLOETH payed to John Otes fremason fonde of charite by
Roberte lyv'sege of Sancte pet r parishe Diar to y" byldyng of Alhaloes steple In
the yer' of o r lorde above saide,
In pms payed to the said mason the next hole weke aft r passion
sonday for hys wages - - - -.- - - - - - iijs. iiijd!.
It' to the saide mason y e weke aft r palme sonday ----- xx<.
It' payed to the saide maso' the weke aft r low sonday - - - - ijs. xd.
It' payed to the saide John Otes maso' y e thridde weke aft 1 pasche
for hys wages ----------- iijs. iiijd.
It' payed to the saide mason y 6 forth weke aft* pasche for hys wages iijs. iiijd.
It'm payed to y 6 saide John Otes mason the fyfte weke aftr pasche
for hys wages ....-.----- iijs. Hijd.
Itm' payed to the saide John in crosse weke for hys wages - - - iijs. iiijd.
It' payed to saide John Otes for hys wages the weke aft r thascencion
day iijs. iiijd.
Itm' petecost weke ........ xxd.
It' payed to the saide mason the weke aft 1 trinite sonday - - - iijs. iiijd.
It' payed to y e saide maso' the weke aft r corps Xti day - . - ijs. x<.
It' payed to the fore saide maso' for hys wages the weke aft r the
feste of pet 1 " and paule .._...--- iijs. iiij<i.
It" payed to the fore saide John Otes for hys wages the weke aft r
Relike sonday --..--...-- iijs. iiijd.
It' payed to the saide maso' for hys wages in Sancte James weke - xxd!.
It' payed to the saide John Otes the mason for the weke next aft 1 "
James day iijs. iiijd.
It' payed to the saide maso' the weke before o r lady day assupcon for
hys wages --_.-__.__-. iijs. iiijd.
It' payed to the sayed mason by y e hade of mast, pson in o r lady day
assupcon weke for hys wages -------- iijs. iiijd.
It' payed to_ the saide mason for hys wages the next weke aft r o r lady
day assupcon by the haude of the saide m r pson - iijs. iiijd.
Itm' payed to the saide mason the weke aft r sancte bartolmewe Day
by the hands of thos warde -------- iijs. iiijd.
Sma - - - Ivijs. iiijd.
It' payed to the saide mason by the hands of thos Warde the sat r day
o r lady Ae' nativite --. ....... iijs. iiijd.
It' payed to the saide mason by the sayde thos Warde the Sat r day in
feste of exaltacon of y holy cros in y e name and for y e saide
Robert Lyversege iijs. iiijd.
ALL SAINTS. 83
Itm' to the sayde John Otes fremason for hys wages the Saturday
Sancte Mathewe day by the haude of thos "Warde - iijs. iiij^.
Itm' payed to y e saide mason for hys wages the safday michaelmas
even by the hands of the pson of Alhaloes iijs. iiijd.
Itm' payed to y e saide mason the safday aft r Michaelmas day by y 6
hands of y e said pson --------- . iijs. iiij^.
It' payed to the saide maso' for hys wages the safday Sancte Edwarde
eve kyng and confessor by y e hands of thos Warde - iijs. iiij<2.
Itm' payed to the said maso' the safday aft 1 Sancte Luke day for
hys wages by the hands of the saide thos ----- iijs. iiij^.
It' payed to the saide mason the safday before alholowe day for hys
wages by the hands of they thos ........ iijs. iiijd.
Sm xxvjs. viijd.
Sm to li3 solut' pro diet' Roberto Lyv'sege iiijZi. iiijs.
Eeceyved of the saide Eoberte lyv'sege the Wedynsday nexte befor' palme
sonday the xx yer' of kynge henry the viij by the hands of m r ballyve warde
And Raufe ley the saide m r lyv'sege p'ste xxijs. viijd. And delyvered to the
churchwardyns Elsie symson John steade John sowtar and Willm yates to the
byldyng of the alhaloes steple.
Also receyved by the saide churchwardyns of the said church of All Saints
upon sancte Anne day next aff the saide date xxvjs. viijd. for the saide Robert
lyv'sege to the byldyng of y saide steple.
The nolle Sm gySen to the saide steple by the saide Robert lyv'sege
vli. xiijs. iiijd.
Under the year 1532, occur the following entries, which we have
no doubt relate to efforts made in other parts of Derbyshire
towards obtaining funds for the completion of the tower :
" The Aell of Chaddesdyn.
Made by Thos. parker, thos. Hornby, whose sm mounted to xxvM. viijs. vjd.
thereof spendeth there i necessary expences xxxiiijs. xd.
The Aell at BrayUsford.
Made by Edmund Tomer, Ric. plesley, whoos sm mownteth to xjfo'. iiis. iiijd.
The sm spended there xiiijs. vd.
The Aell made at Worsworth.
Made by Xfor Thakkar, Wyllm Seybmg, whoos sm mowntith Spended of this
same sm for necessarys xxviijs. ijd."
The Church-Ale of our ancestors was an important method of
raising funds for church expenses. In some parishes it was the
habit to resort to one or more of these entertainments every year
(as we shall see in our subsequent account of Ockbrook), but it was
also usual to bring them into operation when certain extraordinary
funds were required for church repair. Two men were chosen by
the parish to act as wardens and masters of the feast. It was
their duty to collect malt for brewing, corn for baking, and any-
thing for the purpose of the entertainment that they could persuade
the householders to furnish. "When the ale was brewed and the
cakes baked, arrangements were made to provide mystery-plays,
84 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
morris-dancing, cudgel-playing, shooting at the butts, and other
such like sports that pertained to mediaeval fairs. All the comes-
tibles, and especially the ale, were sold at good prices ; charges
were made for the sports, and contributions invited from the
country gentlemen and others who might visit the fair-ground from
curiosity or good-will. Thus handsome sums were often realised
for the object specified, as was the case with the " Aell of
Chaddesdyn." The church- ale would, no doubt, be sometimes abused
for purposes of dissipation, but it hardly becomes us to wax
indignant with it as an unworthy method of raising funds, when
we of the nineteenth century are not ashamed to resort to the
church-bazaar, with its refreshment bar, and divers forms of
amusement. It is peculiarly interesting to find that church-ales
for the purpose of building the tower of All Saints' were held in
different parts of the county (of which the three given above
are probably only instances that occurred in one year and
were accidentally inserted in the minute book), for it shows that
this church was considered to be the concern of more than the
mere parish or borough. Being of imposing size, most richly
furnished with all the ornaments of worship, served by a large
coUege of priests and chantry chaplains, and chosen by the Bishop
for ordinations and other important functions, it is not surprising
to learn the collegiate church of All Hallows was regarded some-
what in the light of a minster for all Derbyshire.
The height of this tower has rendered the lofty pinnacles
unusually susceptible to strain and decay. They were entirely
renewed in 1715 at an expense of 55, and again in 1823 at an
expense of 118 19s. 6d. The smaller intermediate pinnacles were
renewed in 1858, and as we write (August, 1878) the large south-
east pinnacle is in course of reconstruction. The tower itself
underwent substantial, and on the whole careful, repair and
restoration in 1845, at a cost of 1,113 15s. The tower contains
a fine ring of ten bells, of which the tenor is the only one of
mediaeval date.
I. " God save his Church. Fra. Thacker, J. Ragg, 1678," and
the initials " W. N." for William Newcombe, a Leicester bell-
founder.
II. "God save his church, 1687, F. Thackar, G. Saracole."
III. "Let Darby bee ever happy. Nat Prime, Tho. Chapman,
Wardens, 1693."
IV. "Coelum remuneret benefactoribus meis."
ALL SAINTS. 85
V. " Batchelers Bell, 1620," and the founder's mark of George
Oldfield.
VI. " Hec campana sacra fiat Triuitata beata, 1607." On the
waist these initials : "I. B. E. P. H. 0. H. B. G. B. T. W."
VII. " Non nobis Domine non nobis sed nomine tuo da gloriarn,
E. W. I. S., 1629, Wardens, G. B."
VIII "God save the Church, 1632."
IX. " Glory be to God on high, 1655," and the founder's mark
of George Oldfield.
X. "Hec campana sacra fiat Trinitate beata."
The old church of All Saints was peculiarly rich in church
ornaments, as will be gathered from the following verbatim inven-
tory, which, so far as parish churches are concerned, is unique
both for its early date and its fulness : *
LlBEB COPOTUS PTINE
CAPELLE REGIE COLLEGIA
STOB IN DEBBEIA.
Memorand, that In the y r of o r Lorde M cccclxvj introed' George Styholme to
be clerke In the saide collegiate chapelle of All Saints Then beyiuge churche
wardens Henry cartewright and John Mabley wiche saide John and Henry
delyvered to the saide George to Kepe the ornaments And joeles of the saide
collegiate chapell or churche with all charges to the belongynge duryng all the
tyme of his clerkeshype As here aft 1 foloethe.
BOKES
INPBIMIS ij missals or masbokes, one gospelar, viij Antiphonars, ij manuelles,
iiij processionars, one Collector, iij greles, ij ordinales one gudde the oder of
smalle valore.
JOCALIA
Imprimis iij chaleses, one of them y e sylver and gylte, two censars of sylver, one
sylver shippe, ij lytel sylver spones, one pixe of sylver and gylte, Another lesse
pixe of sylver and gylte, hengyngs on the hyghe altar that m r Heughe Wil-
loughby Esquiar boghte, iiij candilstykks of lattyn, one lesse pere, thoder (the
other) more, one g of lattyn, ij cristamatories of lattyn, one
thoder more. ITEM iiij crosses, one of sylver and gylte, Another of tymbur and
plate thrydde of lattyn and sylver, The forthe .... plated sylver and
gylte sette with stones lente tyme. ITEM one shryne of tyn and
one gylte, And one payre of organes another small payre of orgones.
OBNAMENTA IBIDE.
INPRIMIS A grene sute of Vestementes that M r Mydylton of london gaffe, A
chesabull, ij tyuacles, iij Albes, iij Amysses with stoles and fananxes thereunto,
one Eede Cope to the same sute. ITEM A red sute next to the beste, A
chesabull, ij albes, iij amyses, ij tenacles with stoles and faunauxes to the ....
Eede purpull sewte with iij albes iij Ameses ij tynaculs and fanancs to
them of blak sarsenett yt parson bayns gaff, and ij tyuacles. Item an
* We give this inventory just as it stands, reserving our notes for the monograph
on this church. Another inventory of the year 1483, considerably fuller than its
predecessor, and several of a later date, will also theu be given. The dotted lines in
the text imply places where the edges of the book have been torn away.
86 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
olde Rede sute with iij albes iij amyses a chesabull ij tenacles with stoles and
fanancs to them, and another chesable of Rede yt the syng The masse in, and
a chesabull of grene yoloe sylke.
COPES.
ITEM a blak cope of wulsted with braunches of golde opon hytt, ITEM one grene
cope with lyons of golde brotherde. Item one Redde cope, And another Rede
cope for worke dayes, And one Rede purpulle cope.
ITEM one veyle for lente, And one SepultP" clothe, with one crisonne cloth wroght
with y e nylde to henge att the hoele of y e saide sepulf clothe.
COEPOEAX CASES.
ITEM a corporax case of blak velvette yt Richard Day wyffe gaffe.
Alsoe anoyther corporax case of clothe of golde that longley wyffe gaffe. Item a
corporax case of Rede damask and blew, Anoyther of blak satten, Anoyther of
Rede sylke.
PELOES.
INPEIMIS ij peloes of clothe golde for the hye altar, Item one piloe of Rede under
the gospelar, and Anoyther Rede piloe, and other ij piloes for weddyngs.
ITEM a banare clothe of sylke havyng opon hyt the Image of the assupcion of
o r lady that m r John Newton gaffe.
CKOSSE STAVES.
ITEM one crosse staffe of tymbur stiched with pocok feders and golde leddur
Item another crosse staffe poynted and layde with silver in the one parte thereof
yt the sade mr John Newton gaffe.
ITEM one crosse of sylver and gylte waying Ixxx unces and iij qrters the pryce
thereof xxijM. that was boghte when Adam prynce and Richerde Standeley were
churchwardyns, wich was in ye yere of o r Lorde Mcccclxix.
ITEM one grette pare candestykks of la in the chaunsell boghte in Robert
Somer and thomas Knolles dayes ye .... of the iiij .... ij of viij.
Item another payre of smaller candelstikks standyng in the saide quere.
ITEM ij cushens of cowched worke that m r William Wulsette gaffe.
THE HYE ALTAB.
ITEM to the hye altar belongeth viij altar clothes, ij frontels one of velvette,
Anoyther off wulstyde, ij towels of twyll, And iij of playn Irishe clothe, Item ij
paynted clothes att the hye altar ende, Item ij clothes before the hye altar one
of blew and yeloe, Another of Rede, Another with ye iiij evangelists of yt, and
another with the beste of damaske worke.
Item paynted clothes hengynge above the stalls in the quere, one of stories of ye
newe lawe, and another of storyse of the olde lawe.
Item a super altare that thomas Sharpuls gaffe.
Item one Resurrecton.
MEMOBANDUM that in the yere of o r lorde Meccclxvj that lawrece Luchurche
candelighter and thomas leys sonne made ye accopte to the saide Henry carte-
wrighte and John Makley churchwardens of the joels and ornaments that they
had in kepyng and were charged with as hereafter foloeth
IXPBIMIS xj altar clothes, xj towells of twill, Item vj towells of playn, iij shets,
and one cloth to the fonte, Item one Red cov' lede, ITEM all the clothes yt cover
or hylle the Images in lente, Item a grete clothe that coverethe the Rode, Item
one blewe clothe that hengs before Sancte Caterne tabull, item iij pelose to the
same off blak sylke brotherde, Another of purpull sylke, the thrydde of
whyte clothe samplar warke. ITEM one altar clothe to the same altar made with
flow's and braunches of golde opon hytt, and another paynted clothe yt serves for
worke dayes.
ITEM to the trinite alter y r a stened cloth with flowers opon yt, and another
paynted clothe for worke dayes, and one frontelle yt hengs under the trinite.
ALL SAINTS. 87
ITEM to the passyon altar belongeth a newe started clothe with flowers, and an
old paynted clothe for worke dayes.
ITEM vj bannar clothes, ij pendants or straymers, and vj shaffetes or banar polles
to them.
IN WAXE.
INPEIMIS Ix serges* more or lesse.
SEPULCUR SEKGBS.
IXPRIMIS one sepulcur serge upholden by John Hardyng, and after npholden and
kepte by Eichard Stayngar.
ITEM another in the berying of William Cowper and after delyverde to conay
barger by the churchewardens, and after hym to Edmunde Bavlynson.
ITEM in the holding of John Hoghton and after delyverde by the churchewardyns
to John Newton.
ITEM another sepulf serge in the kepying of Boberte Weste delyverde to thorns
bradshae, And after hym to Eicherde hatfelde by Adam prikprowde and Eicherd
Standelay churchwardyns, Or else hadde or wolde Elise stable that weddet thorns
bradshawe wyffe take yt away after decesse to Sancte Warbur church When he
dwelled at thabbe barnes.
ITEM another sepulf serge in the holdynge of John Wodcok that nowe Eicherde
day kepeth.
ITEM another sepult r serge in the holdynge of John day that now Edmunde dey
kepeth.
ITEM another in the holdyng of Eoberte Shore that nowe Edmuude dey sus-
tenothe.
ITEM another sepulf serge in the holdyng of Eoberte Mundy, And after in the
sustenyng or upholdyng of Eicherde Mownforde.
AND LYKEWYSE of oder sepult 1 ' serges sustened of charite by oder of the parishe
whose names shulde lykewyse be hed expressed botte that some wyked creature
hath bytte the lefe furthe of the olde boke.
ITEM payed for washynge of all clothes to the alteres to thos laurence wyffe, xijd.
Almost the whole of the ornaments and vestments of the church
would doubtless he confiscated to the crown in the time of Edward
VI., as coming within the statute for the suppression of colleges,
etc., but in the second year of Queen Elizabeth, 1559-60, we find
that the church possessed inter alia, " a brasse crosse an holy
water can of brase a Cowpe of blak Vellyvet and 1 fyne Vest-
ment." In the following year, in addition to the above, mention
is also made of a suit of vestments of black velvet. In 1563-4,
an albe and an amice, a cope of black velvet, three surplices, and
a cope of blue chamlet. These copes are mentioned repeatedly in
subsequent inventories, and an albe is emunerated year by year
up to 1576.f
From the various pre-Keformation entries, we find that the old
* Serges, i.e. large tapers.
t Those interested in the " Vestment Controversy," will find herein a remarkable
corroboration of the common sense view of the question, viz., that vestments were
certainly not prohibited but understood to be sanctioned by the " Ornaments Eubric,"
yet that in course of time their use gradually died out in almost all churches, owing
to the ascendancy of a puritan spirit, and the great cost necessary for their mainten-
ance. It will be noted that vestments were used in All Saints' for more than a
decade after the alleged '' Advertisements " of Privy Council fame.
88 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
church used to possess, in addition to the the high altar, altars
to Our Lady, to Our Lady of Pity, to the Holy Trinity, to the
Holy Eood, and to SS. Catharine, Nicholas, George, Clement,
Edmund, and John the Baptist. The churchwardens' accounts of
a later date, make mention of the bailiffs' seat used by the recorder,
of the beadswomen's seat in the chancel, of the judges' pew, of the
batchelors' pew, of " a longe seat for maides," of the service seat,
of a pew for the parson's wife, of the reading desk, and of the
pulpit with an hour-glass. It had a chancel door, north door,
south door, great west door, and consistory door. There were
three aisles of equal length, extending as chancel chapels on each
side of the central quire. There was a south porch, with a sundial
over it, and pinnacles both on the porch and on the body of the
church. The churchyard was planted with trees and had large
iron gates, but was also traversed by a public paved causeway,
access to which was gained by a turn-stile at each end.
Some notes taken by Elias Ashmole in this church, on August
9th, 1662,* make mention of (in addition to monuments now
extant) the following inscription on an alabaster stone at the
entrance into the chancel :
" Beader if thou desirous be to know whose Corps I cover
A Merchant borne in this Towne, to God, Church, Poore was lover
The tyme w ch here on Earth he spent was three score years and five
Nyne Children God unto him lent, dead six, and three alive
He liv'd belov'd, and lov'd to live in gentle sort and fashion
An humble minde God did him give to hate vaine ostentacon
Reader farewell desire I can thee to be such a one
In lyfe and death to God and man as this Paule Ballidon.
He died the 15 th day of Aug: A dni. 1636.
William, John, Nathaniell, Andrew, Paule, Edward, Jane, Mary, Paule."
Another alabaster stone, between the south aisle and the chancel,
bore :
" Heere lyeth the body of Edward Beaumont gent, sometyme Coroner of the
County of Derby who had two wifes, the first called Eliz : by whome he had
yssue two Sons yet living, the second called Alice sometyme wife of Humfry
Sutton, w 011 Alice caused this Monument to be made, the said Edward deceased
the 17 th day of Octob : in the year of o r Lord God 1581 and the said, Alice
deceased the day of 15 ..."
Within the arch at the foot of this stone, was a raised tomb of
alabaster to Eichard Fletcher, thrice bailiff of Derby, who died
January 13th, 1606. On the left hand of the east window of the
south aisle were the kneeling effigies of a man and woman in
* Ashm. MSS., 854, Bodleian Library ; also see Dugdale's Visitation of 1662-3, at
the College of Arms.
ALL SAINTS. 89
alabaster, but without any inscription. On the wall above
the figures was the following quartered coat : (1) or, a lion
rampant double-queued, vert, (2) arg., a chevron between three
bugles, sab., (3) arg., a chevron between three crosses patee, sab.,
(4) or, a chief, gu., and the crest of a demi-lion double-queued,
vert, within a ducal crown. Also another crest or badge near by,
described as "3 anuletts ennected or." These were the arms,
quarterings, and crests of Button ; viz., Button, Bassett, Morton,
and Worsley.* Over the heads of the man and woman were three
coats, representing Sutton impaling [1] or, a chief, gu., over all a
bend engrailed, sab., (Bridge), [2] vaire, on a chief, gu,, an escallop
between two mullets, or (Barnard), and [3] or, a lion rampant, sab.,
within a bordure of the second (Burnell). Below them were the
same three impaled coats, as well as three additional impalements
of Sutton, viz. : [1] or, three heads of garlick, proper (Needham),
[2] or, two bendlets, sab., (Eadcliff), and [3] quarterly per fesse
indented, or and az., a bend, gu. (Blundeville).
Foulk Sutton, second son of Sutton, of Sutton in Cheshire,
settled at Over-Haddon in this county, 16 Henry -VI. He married
Bridget, daughter of Alexander Kadcliffe. Their son, Eichard,
married the daughter of Eichard Needham, and had by her Alan
Sutton, who took to wife Alice, daughter of Bridge, of Bridgehall,
co. Cheshire. They had one son, Thomas, who married Agnes,
daughter of Eichard Barnard, of London, by whom he had two
sons, George Sutton, of Over-Haddon, and Thomas Sutton, of
King's Mead, Derby. Thomas Sutton, of King's Mead, who was
84 years old at the Visitation of 1611, married Constance, daugh-
ter of William Burnell, by Constance, daughter of Edward Blunde-
ville. t The interesting Sutton monument in this church, now
alas ! no more, was clearly to the memory of Thomas Sutton, of
King's Mead, and Constance, his wife, as is shown by the
heraldry.
The gallery at the west end of the church was inscribed :
" This frame and seates was erected and garnished at the only
proper cost and charge of Thomas Sutton, of Kings Meade neere
* " It was agreed at a Chapter holden the 23 of October 1566 A D Elizabeth
Reginse That it shalbe at the Choyce of| Thomas Sutton of Overhaddon in Com.
Derb Esq to beare for his Crest theyre lions within the Crowne as being descended
from Sutton of Sutton nigh Maxfield or els on a torse Argent & Azure 3 annuletts
ennected gould. Dat. 26 Novembr A 4 E. 6." Visitation of Derby, 1611, C. 4, f. 5,
College of Arms.
t Visitation of Derbii, 1611, CoUege of Arms; Harl. MSS., 1537, f. 85b; Egerton
MSS., 996, f. 7b.
90 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
Derby Esq r An Dm 1614." * There was also another gallery, in
the north aisle, which bore : " M r Paul Ballidon of this Towne
of Derby Merchant gave this Loft in the yeare of o r Lord God
1636."
Bassano's church notes, taken in 1710, also give a large number
of seventeenth century inscriptions, of more or less importance,
which have since disappeared.
At a parish meeting, held November 2nd, 1713, it was
" Ordered that the Churchwardens of this parish doe waite upon M r Mayor of
this Borough and desire him to acquaint the Comon Councell of this Borrough
that All S ts Chancell w ch they ought to repare is much out of repare And All S ts
Church is much oute of repare and ought to be repared by the parishe therefore
desire him to lett us know whether the Corporacon will Joyue w th the parishe to
obtaine a Briefe from the Queene for repare of both Church and Chancell."
An entry of July 9th, 1714, certifies that the desired Brief had
been obtained. The Brief only realised some 500 ; but before this
sum could be utilised for repairs, the idea was started of pulling
down the whole of the old fabric, and building a new church.
It may here be remarked that we possess no accurate plan or
information respecting the body of the old church. If a painting
of the time of Charles lit can be trusted, there were two high
pitched gables at the east end, pertaining to the central -chancel
and to the continuation of the south aisle, or quire of S. Catharine.
The former seems to be lighted by a wide seven-light Perpendi-
cular window, with a debased square-headed window of four lights
over it, and the latter by a good Decorated window of six lights.
The north aisle is hid from view ; it apparently did not then
possess a gable of its own, but had only a lean-to roof.
Dr. Hutchinson a grandson of Bishop Hacket, and Canon of
Lichfield who had been recently elected by the Corporation as
minister of All Saints', threw himself with ardour into the rebuild-
ing scheme. In 1719, negotiations were entered into with Mr.
Smith, a builder, of Warwick, for taking down the old church and
building a new one ; but the conservative instincts of the majority
of the parishioners and of the Corporation prevailed, and Dr.
Hutchinson and his party repeatedly failed, after various endea-
vours, to secure the acceptance of their proposal. The Doctor seems
* Bassano adds to this inscription " and beautifyed in ye yeare 1(598."
f We have not seen the original, which is described by Glover as being in the pos-
session of Mr. Harwood, of St. Peter's Street, but Mr. Meynell has a large water-
colour copy of it. A small engraving from this painting was given as the frontispiece
to Wilkius' Walk through Derby, 1827.
ALL SAINTS. 91
to have been of an imperious and hasty temper, and, irritated with
opposition, most unfortunately determined to take the law into
his own hands. On the night of February 18th, 1723, the Doctor
admitted into the church a large body of workmen, who, by the
break of day, had demolished the interior fittings, thrown over the
roofs, and were expeditiously at work in levelling the fabric itself.
Thus did the impetuosity of a single will succeed within a few
hours in irretrievably wrecking the outcome of centuries of pious
toil. An apparently hasty vote of a sparsely attended vestry had
been secured to give a colour of legality to the proceedings, but it
was in direct opposition to the decision of the Corporation, who
were custodians of the fabric of the chancel, which, with its two
side quires, seems to have rivalled the nave in its dimensions.
The town, when they found their chancel levelled with the
ground, wisely determined to condone the rashness of the act, and
to make the best of their misfortune.
The Doctor, on his part, having by stratagem obtained his
way, could afford to be magnanimous, and took upon himself the
responsibility of finding the money for the new church. He had
circulars printed, with a copperplate engraving of the proposed
building, which were forwarded to all the principal persons of the
kingdom. He also gave himself up with unwearied assiduity to the
personal collection of subscriptions. The subscribers included men
of such diverse celebrity as Sir Eobert Walpole and Sir Isaac
Newton. But all his exertions only produced a little over 3,000,
including a grant of 210 from the Corporation. This, in addition
to the Brief money, left a deficit of several hundred pounds, and
the Doctor decided to obtain this money by selling forty of the
principal seats. But the church had hitherto been unappropriated
and free to all the parishioners, and this proposition was strenu-
ously resisted. At last, after great heat had been engendered, a
compromise was arrived at, by which it was agreed to sell by
auction eight double seats in the best part of the church. The
sale realised .475 13s. Od. The difference of opinion on this point
between Dr. Hutchinson and the Corporation (supported by the
majority of the parishioners) led to many unseemly disputes, in
which the former showed to considerable disadvantage. At last, the
Doctor definitely and in writing resigned his living, but, on the
Corporation electing a successor (Rev. W. Chambers), withdrew his
resignation. The affair culminated on Sunday, April 16fch, 1727,
92 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
when the Mayor (acting on legal advice), attended by the Alder-
men in their fur gowns, preceded by the mace-bearer, and in all
the paraphernalia of his office, attended service at All Saints', and
directed Mr. Chambers to preach refusing the pulpit to the Rev.
H. Cantrell, the vicar of S. Alkmund's, whom Dr. Hutchinson
had appointed to officiate during his absence. The Mayor was
summoned in the Ecclesiastical Courts for brawling ; Dr. Hutchiu-
son was served with notice of ejectment from his living; the Cor-
poration withheld his stipend ; fierce party pamphlets were dis-
seminated on one side and the other ; and the whole town seems
to have been set by the ears by this unseemly contest. At
last, in 1728, the matter was settled by Dr. Hutchinson fulfilling
his repeatedly-made engagement to resign, and the town had
peace.*
The new church was opened November 25th, 1725. The design
was furnished by Mr. Gibbs the architect of S. Martin's, London,
and of the Radcliffe Library, Oxford for which he was paid 25,
and the builder was Mr. Smith, of Warwick. The circular-headed
windows are large and handsome of their sort, and the roof is
supported by five columns on each side. When first the new
building was erected, the fine arch into the tower and the west
window were visible, but in 1732 they were, unhappily, blocked up
by a large west gallery, which still remains. The most charac-
teristic feature of the church was the beautifully-wrought iron
screen-work, which divided off the east end of the building into
three parts that in the centre for the chancel proper ; that on
the north side for the vestry and corporation purposes ; and that
on the south for the Cavendish chapel. This was the work of an
artist named Bake well, who received 181 from Dr. Hutchinson's
fund, as well as some JE15 as the balance of his account from
subsequent payments made out of the rates. The parish also paid
him 50 for the western gates to the churchyard. t
* In our Subsequent publication, The Chronicles of All Saints', we hope to give
many particulars relative to this dispute, as much light will thereby be thrown on
the social and ecclesiastical customs of Derby at that period. Hitherto, our Derby
historians have followed Hutton in pitying Dr. Hutchinson for the envious rancour
shewn him. But we are confident that if any one was to impartially go through the
parish papers to which we have had access, and read the pamphlets on one side and
the other, his opinion would, on the whole, coincide with our own, viz., that the
Doctor was by far the most to blame for his thoroughly disingenuous treatment of
the Corporation from first to last. We have to thank Mr. Godfrey Meyiiell for the
loan of copies of the now almost unique pamphlets bearing on this strife.
t These gates were, we are sorry to say, removed during the recent alterations, and
sold by auction.
ALL SAINTS. 93
In 1873 the church was entirely re-seated, re-painted, and other-
wise " beautified." The alterations included the huilding of a com-
modious vestry at the east end of the church, and the utilising for
seats of the two sides of the chancel. But this plan unfortunately
involved the disturbance and loss of much of Bakewell's excellent
ironwork,* and the rendering ridiculous of the elaborate Cavendish
monument. A little more ingenuity might have avoided both these
blunders and spared the original design of the church, as well
as its most remarkable monument, with no sacrifice of sitting
accommodation.
The altar, which consisted of a large slab of Derbyshire marble
supported on an iron framework, was removed, and an oak table, t
which stood in the vestry, and which in all probability had served
as the Communion Table of the previous church in post-Reformation
days, put in its place. We should not have been disposed to
quarrel with this reversion to the old Table, had not the marble
slab, from which the Holy Eucharist had been administered to
Derby churchmen for upwards of 150 years, been prominently
affixed to the wall by the north-east door, and, with almost
inconceivably bad taste and lack of reverence, incised in large
Roman characters with the following inscription :
"This slab, supported on ornamental ironwork, was for .many years used
instead of a communion table, but was removed when the present table was
found in the church and restored to its original use.
SHOLTO D. C. DOUGLAS, Vicar.
GEOKGE HAYWOOD,
tJEORGE HAYWOOD, \
WALTEB KANDALL, J Churchwardens, A.D. 1873.
' Wishing a godly unity to be observed in all our diocese, and for that the form
of a table may more move and turn the simple from the old superstitious opinions
of the popish mass, and to the right use of the Lord's Supper. We exhort the
curates, churchwardens, and questmen here present to erect and set up the Lord's
board after the form of an honest table decently covered.' Bishop Eidley's
injunction, A.D. 1550, in his visitation of the Diocese of London.
" As to the illegality of stone altars instead of moveable tables of wood, see
Falkiier v. Litchfield."
* Considerable opposition was made to the interfence with the ironwork by several
of the most influential parishioners. An opposition to the grant of Faculty was
entered in the Consistory Court, Lichfield, but eventually a compromise was come to,
by which it was agreed that ; ' the side railings and gates" of the Devonshire chapel
and vestry should be placed on the north and south sides of " the Communion space."
This agreement has not been carried out. The railings were thus placed, but the gates
have been sold or otherwise disposed of; moreover, the old gates of the chancel
itself have been illegally removed, and now lie with a lot of exposed human remains
and other debris in the the town vault. Other parts of the ironwork are also missing.
t The Churchwardens' accounts for 1620 have an entry which most likely gives us
the cost of this table " Paid for a Communion Table and painting the feete thereof
'1 5s. Gd."
94 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
With respect to this inscription (apart from the question of
taste), it may be remarked that it is rather singular to quote
from the injunction of a Bishop of another see, that which could
only apply to his own diocese that it is still more singular to
affix the words of a Bishop's injunction to the walls of a church
that was to so considerable an extent extra-episcopal that the word
"honest" at that time meant nothing more or less than decent or
comely that the Church of England has used the words " table "
and " altar " as synonymous terms both before and since the
Eeformation* that the material of which the Holy Table must be
made is nowhere prescribed by any binding authority and finally
that the table of iron and marble placed in the chancel in 1725
was as absolutely and undeniably legal as the table of wood now
in use.f
Some opposition being made to the removal of the altar, a
faculty was obtained after the event, dated May 23rd, 1873, con-
firming the change, and other alterations, but we do not find any
faculty for affixing the old slab to the wall or graving it with the
inscription that we have just quoted. In the body of this faculty
we find that the Consistory Court of Lichfield were gravely assured
by the applicants that the old church of All Saints " was burnt
down in or about the year 1722 !" Whence the vicar and church-
wardens obtained this startling information we are at a loss to
conceive.
The same faculty obtained a confirmation for the removal of
the pulpit and reading desk to that most thoroughly unsuitable
position, the centre of the middle aisle, so as to block out all view
of the Holy Table from many of the congregation. We notice it,
because misleading statements are made in the faculty as to the
former position of the pulpit. It is true that the pulpit, when the
church was rebxiilt, was originally placed in the middle aisle, but
it only remained there for a year, for in 1726 the parish resolved
to remove it " to y e South Pillar next to it." The old pulpit,
though of good oak, was discarded during the recent alterations,
and sold by auction. It was rescued out of a second-hand dealer's
* The previously quoted fifteenth century inventory of this very church uses the
expressions " altar" and "table," in consecutive lines, as applied to that portion of
church furniture on which the Holy Eucharist was celebrated in the quire of S.
Katharine.
f We should not speak thus positively unless we had high diocesan authority in
support of our assertion. With respect to the consecration of an altar at Foremark
by Bishop Hacket, in 1662, the slab of which consists of grey marble, see Churches
of Derbyshire, vol. iii., p. 445.
ALL SAINTS. 95
shop, and is now, we are glad to say, utilised, with certain
necessary alterations, in the parish church of Pleasley.
The font, at the west end of the church, is of octagon shape
and debased design. It is 45 inches high, and 28 inches in
diameter. We suppose it to be the one supplied to the old church
in 1662 : " Item to Elias Grice for makinge the font per agrement
3-11-8."
The destruction of monuments at the time of the rebuilding of
the church was simply shameful. Not only were many of con-
siderable antiquity and interest destroyed, but even some which
had been erected to persons of distinction within a few years of
the pulling down of the old fabric. An ignorant and bigoted poem
on All Saints', by John Edwards, published in 1805, is good
enough to attribute the lack of ancient " foolish epitaphs " to a
much earlier period :
" Here with purifying wand,
The Angel of the Reformation stood,
And swept them, to oblivion."
But the angel of destruction was busier in the eighteenth than
in the sixteenth century.
The oldest monument is a large incised slab of alabaster,
against the north wall, representing a priest standing under a
richly adorned canopy, habited in albe, surplice, canonical almuce,
his right hand upraised and holding in his left hand a chalice.
Bound the edge of the slab is this inscription :
" Subtus me jacet Johannes Law quondam Canonicus Ecclesie Colegiate
Omniu Scor Derbe ac subdecanus ejusdem qui obiit anno Dni Millimo
cccc mo cuj aie ppicietur Deus Amen."
This was evidently cut during the lifetime of the sub -dean, and
the spaces left for the exact date of his death were never filled in.
John Law was living in 1440, when he was present at the
concluding of an agreement between S. Michael's and the chapelry
of Alvaston, to which we shall subsequently allude. Over his head
are two fillets, bearing this legend :
"Dne Jsu Xte fili dei miserere mei."
The stone was repaired in 1854, and now bears at the base
this additional inscription :
" Eestitutum cura et impensis T. 0. Bateman A.D. MDCCCLIV."
Bassano (1710) says: "In the east end of the north aisle is
96 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
a tombe all of wood erected 4 feet high. On it is the full propor-
tion of a man in Priests orders in full canonical robes, supposed
to be an Abbot of Darley, a dog at his feet collared and looking
mournfully up at his master. Upon y e side of y e tomb cut on y e
wood are y e effigies of 13 monks in praying posture and under
ym cut on wood lyeth a man on his left side and wrapped up in
his winding sheet with a cross patee on his left breast." This
monument was not actually destroyed in 1723-5, but it was divided
up into its component parts. The wooden effigy, and also the
cadaver, or shrouded figure below it, found refuge in the " town
vault," below the north side of the church. Here, alas, they still
remain. A century and a half of damp and neglect has eaten away
and much defaced both effigy and cadaver, and within the last three
years the head of the former, which was in a fair state of pre-
servation, has been dragged off and abstracted. The effigy, which
is 5 ft. 10 in. long by 2 ft. wide, is clad in albe, surplice, canonical
almuce, and over all a processional cope a most interesting and
exceptional combination of vestments. (Plate IV.) We earnestly
hope that the worm-eaten remains of this effigy will not be suffered
to go to complete decay. The effigy is not, of course, to an Abbot
of Darley, but pertains to a fifteenth century canon of All Saints',
probably another sub-dean. When Mr. Eawlins was here, in 1831,
he noted the side of this tomb with the thirteen monks (which he
considered to be S. Paul and the twelve apostles) underneath the
east window against the wall. Tradition, he tells us, ascribed it
to the apex of the arch over the south porch door of the old
church, but he did not agree with this surmise, but thought it the
upper part of a door-case leading into a confessional ! This piece
_of carving, in good condition, now forms part of the panelling in
front of the consistory seat on the north side of the church.
(Plate IV.) On a panel of this seat is inscribed :
" The old Church was begun to be taken down Feb y e 18 th 172f. The first
Sermon was preached in the new Church Novem the 21 st 1725 by y* Rev. Dr.
Hutchinson."
Against the east wall, by the north-east door, are three brass
plates fixed in oak frames. The epitaphs on them are as follows :
"Hoc lapide marmoreo tegitur Corpus Joh'is Walton Sacra Theol : Baccal:
quondam archi'ni Derbien : prebend : p'bendae : de Wellington in eccle'a Cathi :
Lick : et Rectoris Ecclesiar : de Breadsall & Gedling : qui testamento suo dedit
C 1 ad augendum hujus eccl'ias ministri stipeudium Et xxl. ad emendum duos
inauratos crateras in usum Ballinor : hujus burgi Derb : atque c 1 mutuo dandas
ee a 4'or in 4'or aimos in perpetuum x hujus burgi artificib : iuopia laborantib : ac
ALL SAINTS. 97
xx 1. code modo dandas ee mutuo 4'or egenis artificib : Dunelmi habitautib : et
Lxxx 1. in uberiorem sustentationem pauperura in villis de Breadsall & Gedling
prsedictis. Obiit 1' die Junii A"' D' ni 1603. ^Etatis suas 57."
"Hereby lyeth the body of Jane late wife of the said Jo: Walton. She gave
by will c 1. for releefe of Schollers in St. John's Coll : Cambridge : 40 1 for
Benefit of the Schoolm'r of Derby : 40 1 for releefe of Poore in Derby : 20 1. to
be lent to four tradsmen in Durham Gratis : 20 1. for releefe of Almswomen in
Lichfeld : 20 1. for releefe of Poor in Chesterfield, & 20 1. for releefe of Poore and
repayre of the Church of St. Alkmud in Derby. In which p'rsh she dyed the
xxii of Januarie 1605, beinge 80 yeares of age."
"Loe Richard Kilby lieth here
Which lately was our ministere.
To th' poore he ever was a frend,
And gave them all hee had at's end.
This towne must twenty shillings pay
To them for him ech Good Friday.
God graunt all Pastors his good mind
Thatt they may leave good deeds behind.
Hee dyed the xxi st of October, 1617."
When the church was taken down these plates were stolen.
They were recovered by Mr. Cantrell, vicar of S. Alkmund's, and
restored to the church on condition of the churchwardens "fixing
them on strong frames of wood in the new church."
Against the south wall is the fine mural monument to the cele-
brated Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury better known as "Bess
of Hardwick" erected during her lifetime, and liberally endowed
for its perpetual repair. In a recess in the lower part is her
effigy, arrayed in the costly full dress of the times, with a coronet
on her head, and her hands joined in prayer. Beneath is the fol-
lowing inscription:
"P. M. Elizabetha Johannis Hardwicke de Hardwicke in agro Derbi : Armi-
geri filiae, fratrique Johanni tandem cohoeredi, primo Roberto Barley de Barley in
dicto com: Derb : armig: nuptae, postea Will'o Cavendish de Chatsworth equ : aur:
(thesaurario cameras regibus Henrico VIII. Edvardo VI. ac Maries reginae, quibus
etiam fuit a secretioribus consiliis.) Deinde Will'o St, Low militi regii satellitij
Capitaneo. Ac ultimo prsenobili Georgia Comiti Salopiae desponsatae. Per quern
Will'm Cavendish prolem solummodo habuit, filios tres, scil p Henricum Cavendish
de Tutbury in agro Staff : arinig : (Qui Qraciam dicti Georgii Comitis Salopice
filiarn in uxorem duxit,) sine prole legitima defunctum ; Will'm, in baronem
Cavendish de Hardwicke, uecnon in Comite Devonie perserenissimu nuper rege
Jacobum evectum. Et Carolum Cavendish de Welbek Eq : Aur: patrem honora-
tissimi Will'i Cavendish de Balneo militis, Bar: Ogle jure matemo, et in Vicecom:
Mansfeild, Comitem, Marchioue, ac Ducem de Novo Castro super Tinam, et
Comite de Ogle merito creati ; totidemque filios, scil't Francescam Henrico Pier-
repont JEq: aurato ; Elizabetham Carolo Stuarto Lenoxias Comiti; & Mariain
Gilberto Comiti Salopice enuptas, Hasc inclitissima Elizabetha Salopiaa Comitissa
.ZEdium de Chatsworth, Hardwick, & Oldcotes magnificentia clarissimarum fabri-
catrix. Vitam hanc transitoriam XIII. die mensis Februarij Anno ab incarna-
tione D'ni M D C VII. ac circa annum ^Etatis sum Lxxxvij finivit, et gloriosaui
expectans resurrectionem subtus jacet tumulata."
8
98 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
The arms on the monument are Hard wick impaling Leeke,*
and a twelve- quartered coat of Talbot impaling Hardwick quarter-
ing Leigh.
In the centre of the Cavendish chapel, in the south-east angle
of the church, used to stand, before the recent restoration, a large
monument, twelve feet high, to the memory of William, Earl of
Devonshire, who died in 1628, and Christian, his countess, the
only daughter of Lord Bruce of Kinlop. It is thus described by
Simpson : " Each side of this monument is open, and in the
middle, under a dome, are whole-length figures, in white marble,
of the Earl and his Lady, standing upright. The angles on the
outside are ornamented with busts of their four children ; William,
the eldest, successor to the Earl ; Charles, Lieutenant-General of
Horse in the civil wars ; Henry, who died young ; and Anne,
married to Eobert, Lord Eich, son and heir to Robert, Earl of
Warwick." These figures and busts now stand in a row against
the south wall, and present anything but a graceful appearance.
On the plinth is inscribed :
" The interior of this Church was restored in the year of our Lord
MDCCCLXXVI and in order to provide additional space for the increased popu-
lation of the parish it became necessary to remove the large monument erected
to William 2 nd Earl of Devonshire who died June 20 tb , 1628, whose remains rest
in the vault below. The figures above this slab are those of William, 2 nd Earl of
Devonshire and Christian his Countess ; with busts of their sons William,
Charles, and Henry, and Anne their daughter, which formed part of the monu-
ment removed."
Against the same wall are monuments to William Pousonby,
Earl of Bessborough, 1792 ; to Caroline, Countess of Bessborough,
1760 : and on the opposite side of the church are monuments to
William Allestry, Recorder of Derby, 1655 ; to Richard Crowshawe,
a great benefactor to the parish, 1631 ; and to Thomas Chambers,
1726.t
The first volume of the registers begins in the year 1558 and
ends in 1711. It is a long narrow folio of parchment in fair
condition, and copied from an older register (not now extant) up
to September, 1598.
On the leaf opposite the initial page is written, but in a hand
.at least fifty years later than the event :
* John Hardwick, the father of the countess, married Elizabeth, daughter of
Thomas Leeke. See Churches of Derbyshire, vol. i. p. 246.
t Space only permits to name two or three of the more remarkable monuments.
There are many other monuments of some interest, both of the seventeenth and eigh-
teenth centuries. Every inscription in this church will be given verbatim in our
monograph on All Saints'.
ALL SAINTS. 99
A Poore Blinde Woman called Joane Waste of this parish a Marter Burned
in Windmill pitt I 8t of Aug st 1556.*
1562. May, June, July, August, September, October, and all thinges concerning
this booke are wantinge in the old booke.
1564. John Houghton, Clarke, entered to the Cure and Pastorall charge of the
parish of All Sts iu Darby the 9th day of July Ann. Do. 1564.
1570. The true coppie of this Booke from the xxv th day of March 1567 unto the
first day of July Anno Do. 1570 was exhibited in the Lord Bishops
Visitacion houlden in the parishe Churche of All Sts in Derby the first of
July Anno Do. 1570. f
1576. Charles Woode minister entred to the cure and pastorall charge of the
parishe of All Sts in Darby the xx th day of January Anno Do. 1576.
1577. From November Ann. Do. 1577 till January Ann. Do. 1579 the Register is
wantinge : so y 4 some part of 1577 is wantinge and all 1578 and 1579 till
January in default of M r Woode the minister of All Sts in Darby.
1580. All the next of Ann. Do. 1581 is not in the old Register ; and some partt of
Ann. Do. 1581 is wantinge in default of M r Wood then minister of All Sts
in Derby.
1583. Sep. Wilms Beynbrigge unus ex numero fratru Darbie, May 5.J
1592. Edwarde Bennett minister and preacher of gods woorde was admitted to the
Cure and pastorall charge of the parishe of All Sts in Darby by the
Common consentt and assentt of the whole governmentt of the Towne the
28 th day of June Ann. Do. 1592.
Sep. 31 Ricus films Wilmi Sowter sep. 31 die ex peste. The Plauge
began in Darby in the house of William Sowter bootcher, in the parishe of
All Sts in Darby, Robertt Woode Ironmonger & Eobertt Brookhouse y e
Tanner beinge then bayliffes and so continued in the Towne the space of
12 moneths at y least as by the Eegister may appeare.
1593. Oct. 29. About this tyme the plauge of pestilence, by the great mercy and
goodness of almighty god, stayed past all expectacion of man, for it ceased
upon a sodayne at what time it was dispersed in every corner of this whole
parishe, there was not two houses together free from it, and yet the Lord
had the augell stey as in David's tyme, his name be blessed for ytt.
Edward Bennett, minister.
1598. Sept. 27. .This whole booke was written over out of the old regester booke
by Edward Bennett minister of All Sts in Darby the 40 yeare of the rayne
* Hutton describes Windmill pit as being " near the Turnpike, upon the Burton
road, about a mile from the church." For a detailed and apparently accurate account
of this martyrdom, see Glover's Derbyshire, vol. ii., p. 61)4.
t Like entries occur, mentioning Episcopal Visitations in this church, in June,
1573, June, 1576, May. 1589, June, 1592, November, 1594, and September, 1597.,
I Henry Woorden and William Bradshawe, who died in 1592, and Ralph Bentley,
in 1593, are entered in a similar way. We are inclined to think that the term is
equivalent to burgess.
The plague was very destructive in the house where it first broke out. Alice, wife
of William Sowter, died of the plague on November 25th; Edward and Maria, his
children, on the 29th ; his son, Johu, on December 5th ; and the father himself on
December 8th. There are 255 entries of death from the plague in this parish, from
September 31st, 1592, to October 29th, 1593. The registers of S. Alkmund's record 91
. deaths from the plague during this year, those of S. Michael 21, and those of SS Peter
and Werburgh, though not specifying the plague, have 50 and 57 entries of death for
1593, the average of adjacent years being only five. In 1637, there are nine deaths from
plague entered in S. Alkmund's registers, and 59 in those of All Saints'. The regis-
ters of S. Peter also record 16 deaths from the same cause in 1586, and 63 in 1645. In
the latter year, we are told that "the plague was in Derby and the assizes kept in
Fryer's close." But Hutton is clearly wrong in giving a graphic account of the con-
dition of Derby during the plague in 1665, which he says visited this town at the same
time that it devastated London. The death-rate for that year did not exceed the
average. His account probably applies to 1593, which seems to have been by far the
most severe that was felt in Derby, next to the general visitation of the Black Death
in 1349.
100 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
of Queeiie Elizabeth Ann. Do. 1598 by vertue of a Camion concluded in a
parliraentt hould in that yeare.
1601. Elizabetha Parkinson pauper dimersas in flumine Darwini, sep. 30 die
februarii.
1609. Eichard Kilbie, minister and Preache of Gods worde, was admitted to 1he
Cure and pastorale charge of the parish of All Sts in Dearbie, by the
common consent and assent of the whole government of the towne the
29 th of Sep.
16 !0. I see no reason why a register for English people should be written in
latine. Ric Kilby. minister of All hallowes in Derby.
Feb. 5. Buryed William Norman wch was drowned god knoweth howe,
o god be mercifull unto us sinners that we maie feare thee, and be allwaies
prepared to die well, Amen.
March 9. Buryed one Peter Manser who being a servant to M r Grieslie
an esqiiire of Staffordshier was here slaine in an ungodlie fight being
wounded in the back.*
1614. July 8. Buried Elizabeth Langley who strangled herself.
1620. Jan. 14. Sep. Mr Robert Wood Quater Balivus Derbie.t
1632. June 15. At this tyme Mr Hall left this place & D" 1 Williamot was elected
minister of All Sts in his stid.
1636. Aug. 15 th . Sep. George Hillman King Charlls his baker whoe Came w th his
Ma tie one his progresse to this towne, and dyed heare of a spotted fever.
1637. June 26. Sep. Henry Stawman supposed the first of the Plague. J
1638. June 31. Bap. Robert son of Mr Edward Willimott D* in Divinity & of
Dorothy his wif, daughter to S r George Greasley Knight Barronett.
Feb. 7. Sep. M r Henry Mellor first maior of Darby.
Mem d 1638. Derby made a maior towne, Mr Henry Mellor y e first maior
died in his maiTty, and M r John Hope chosen to be maior till Michaelmas
1640.
1641. Oct. This month begun y 8 Rebellion in Irelande, y 8 Papists making head
against y 8 Kinges Loyall subjects, wch Rebellion was fild w th most Bar-
barouse & cruell deeds.
1642. The 22 of this August errectum fait Notinghamias Vexillum Regale. Matt.
xii. 25.
Oct. Bat. at Kinton (Edgehill) 23 day.
Nov. Bat. Branford (Brentford) 12 day.
Jan. Bat. at Swarston Bridge 5 day.
Ashbie y e 17.
Feb. 11. Sep. William Parker, souldier under Cap: Sanders.
March. The 20 th day y 6 Hon: Lord Brooke slaine at y e Siege against
Lichfield Close, it was yelded up y 8 5 th day. Y 8 19 day the battell at
Stafford, E. of Northampton was slaine.
1643. April. The 8 day Prince Rupert Beseiged y 6 Close at Lichfield wch close
was valiently mentained till y e 21 & y e took free quarter & with great
honor marcht away.
June 4. The body of Lord Erie of Northampton formerly slayne at
Stafford was now buried in the familie vault belonging to the Hou ble house
of the Lord Cavendish Erie of Devon, in wch there now lyeth Elizab.
Countess Shreusbi and William Erie of Devon.
* " So violent a quarrel took place between the electioneering parties of Sir Philip
Stanhope and Sir George Gresley, of two ancient families in the neighbourhood, that
the assizes were held at Ashbourn." Button's Derbyshire, p. 227.
t Robert Wood was one of the bailiffs of Derby in 1584, ] 592, in 1600, and again in
1607.
t Fifty-nine deaths from the plague are entered during this visitation, the last
being on the 18th of the following January.
ALL SAINTS. 101
I'i44. April 2. Sep. Catherine Gower killed w th a pistoll bullet, shot through the
head by a accedeiit.
1*353. \[em d that according to an act of Parliament bearinge date the 24 th day of
August, 1653 George Blagreave the yotuiger was Elected Register of the
parish of All Sfcs in Derby before Thomas Youle Maior of the burrough of
Derby and Justice of peace there. Thomas Yoole, maior.
1674. Feb. 17. Interred CorrnelT Charles Caudish.
Feb. 18. Interred Oulde Christiana the Countes of Devonshire.
1676. Jan. 26. Sep. George Blagrave Cl.irk of All Saints.
1700. May 19. Sep* The Right Hon ble The Lord Henry Cavendish 2 d Son of y e
most Noble William Duke of Deavoushire Dyed y* 10 of this month.
May 19. Sep* Interred the Lady Mary his Daughter the same day, who
Dyed April! y e 1 st , 1693, and had been buried at London y e time before and
aged 3 weekes.
June 13. John Ault an apprentis Murdered by his master Gabriel Mansffield.
1707. Sept. 5. The Illustrious Prince William Duke and Earl of Devon, Marquis
of Hartington, Baron Cavendish of Hardwick, Lord Lieutenant and Gustos
Rotulorum of the County of Derby, Chief Justice in Eyre over all the
forrosts on the North side Trent, one of her Majesty's Privy Counsellors,
and Lord High Steward of her Majesty's household and Knight of the
Noble order of the Garter and Lord High Steward of the town of Derby
dyed at his house in London Aug. xviii MDCCVII anno ^Etatis LXVII ineunte.
He was bury'd in his Vault in All Hillovvds Church in Derby Sept. 5 th , by
tho Reverend M r Walter Hortou Minister of that Church.
The last three pages of the register book contain the deaths of
the inmates of the Devonshire Alrnhouses, entered separately, in
order to secure the appointment by the town to every third
vacancy, the other vacancies being filled up by the heirs of the
founder the Countess of Shrewsbury. 1 "
The collegiate house, in which the Canons of All Saints' resided,
was situated close to the church, on its north side. The modern
house on that site is still designated " The College."
* The statutes of these almshouses, founded in 1599, for eight poor men and four
poor women, are given in full in Simpson's Derby, pp. 48S-511. The inmates were
ordered to resort to daily morning and evening prayer witliin the church of All Saints.
102 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
of
HE ancient chapel of S. Mary-on-the-Bridge is one of the
most valuable relics of old Derby. An interesting
St-"H!il history of the bridge of S. Mary might be compiled,
but that would be foreign to our purpose. Suffice it here to say,
that we know there was a bridge rebuilt or repaired on or about
this site in the reign of John, which may probably have dated
back to the time when the Anglo-Saxons finally expelled the
marauding Danes from the borough of Derby. The Eoman
bridge, leading to Little Chester, was higher up the river.
The pious custom of having chapels erected on bridges, or
forming component parts of the structure, seems to have generally
prevailed with all bridges of importance. The building of bridges
was regarded as a peculiarly religious work, and the founder some-
times left his body to be interred in the bridge-chapel, and
endowed a priest to there sing masses for his soul. Peter de
Colechurch who began the first London bridge of stone in 1176,
dying in 1205, was buried in the chapel of S, Thomas-on-the-
Bridge.* One of the most remarkable examples of these structures,
was on the bridge at Droitwich, where the roadway actually
passed through the chapel and separated the priest from his
congregation. t Several instances of English bridge-chapels, in a
more or less dilapidated condition, yet remain, but a considerable
number have disappeared during the improvements of the present
century. We have already drawn attention to the old chapel
formerly on Swarkeston bridge.^ S. Mary's Bridge by which access
was gained from Nottingham and the south into the town of
Derby, through whose streets lay one of the most important
* Annals of Waverley, p, 168; Chronicles of London Bridge, p. 65, etc.
t Nash's Worcestershire, vol. i., p. 329.
J Churches of Derbyshire, vol. iii., p. 471.
S. MAKY-ON-THE-BRIDGE. 103
thoroughfares from London to the north must in medieval days
have been of considerable importance. It is pleasant to think of
the busy burgesses or men-at-arms turning aside into the chapel
of Our Lady for a brief silent prayer, before crossing the Derwent
and plunging into the forests that stretched out before them on
the other side of the river.*
Hutton, writing in 1791, speaks of this chapel as being ''per-
fectly in the Saxon style," and adds : " It stands upon the verge
of the river ; forms part of the bridge, with which it is inter-
woven, as if erected with it ; and was in my time converted into
little dwellings." t At that time "Saxon" was used to express
what we now know to be Norman architecture/ and possibly, though
not at all probably, Hutton may have seen within the chapel, be-
fore its conversion into dwellings, some arches or other traces of
Norman work that may have pertained to the reign of John. The
old bridge of S. Mary was begun to be taken down, and the present
one built ten yards higher up the stream, in the year 1789. From
the long account given of this bridge by Hutton (into which we
must not wander), from several shorter but earlier accounts, and
from the remains of the bridge on which the chapel stands, toge-
ther with the foundations of the old piers that are exposed when
the river is very low, we are inclined to think that the bridge then
taken down pertained in the main to the 14th century. But we
advance this opinion with some diffidence. If this is the case, it
is hardly likely that any of the masonry of the chapel itself is
older than that date. One of the timbers of the high-pitched roof,
now underdrawn, is beautifully moulded with a running pattern
(Plate IV.) having a strong resemblance to the band of moulding
below the parapets of the towers of Chesterfield, Crich, and Deuby,
and is, undoubtedly, of the Decorated style. The four light east
window which is about the only old ecclesiastical feature now
remaining is, however of later date, being of the Perpendicular
style, and probably not earlier than the time of Edward IV. It is
divided by a transom into two parts ; the upper sections have had
cinquefoil heads, now broken away into trefoils ; and the lower are
trefoiled. The inner area of the chapel is about 45 ft. by 15 ft.
* That this is no fanciful picture can be testified by those who have watched the
unobtrusive piety of the frequenters of similar chapels in the Catholic countries ofthe
continent. May we be excused for expressing a strong hope that this chapel, restored
once more to sacred purposes, may soon be left open (instead of being jealously
locked), so that wayfarers and the frequenters of the markets may at all events have
the chance of a few moments of uninterrupted prayer ?
t Button's Histnrij of Derby, p. 183.
104 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
The present boarded floor is nearly three feet above the original
level.
The earliest record that we have seen of this chapel is an In-
ventory of great interest, drawn up in 1488 by the churchwardens
of All Saints', which is a proof that it was then considered to per-
tain to that parish, and not to St. Alkmund's. This Inventory
makes it quite clear that the chapel had a special priest of its own
and regular service.
OUBE LADY OF THE BEYGE
. And the saide John and thos oxle the same tyme made accompt to the saide
Auditors of all juels and ornamentes beyinge att the mary of brigge that be in
the custody of John Shenton Armett and hys wyffe Syr John Dale then there
pste.
Inprm one cote of crymyson velvett endented with golde that my lady Gray
gaffe, and opon hytt ys Ixvj penyes ij gilte peuies, one gylte ob (farthing), ij
penese of ij d , one grotte, An' Be of silver, ij shelles of sylver, one herte of silver,
a mound of silver, one broche of copur and gylte, ij shafts of silver, one cristall
stone inclosed in silver.
Also one cote of blewe velvett y* my lady chamburlayne gaffe, Thereupon ys a
crowen of sylver and gylte that John boroes gaffe. Itm' A grette broche of silver
and gylte with a stonne in hytt. Also one casse of Redde satten with buttons
of silver and gilte. Itm Ix penes iij gylt penes, one peny of ij d , one crosse of
sylver. Itm' a casse of velvett, one broche, and one peny of hytt, and a crystall
stonne.
Itm' one Garment y l my lady longforth gaff of blewe velvett and Rede And
one yt ys a crucifix of silver and gylte with a rynge of golde that maistres
bonynton gaffe, Also a rynge of silver and gilte, another of cop r , vj stey d a iiij d
and vj halfepens, iij grotes, iij pens of ij d , vi flewes of silver and gilte, Itm' x
Curall bedes with ij silver Gawdyse.
Itm' one Cote to o r lorde of Crymysyn velvett furred with many ver' y* my
lady longforth gaff, Opon hytt ys a shylde of sylver with v bende pens, Itm' xj
pens, and v gylte pens, a peny of ij d , Itm' one payr of bedes of silver gaudied
with chorall yt oxle wyff gaff, Itm' one stone closed in silver with one cros of
silver, one broch of silver, ij other broches of silver and gilte with one colar of
blak perle with xvij belles of silver and gylte.
ITM one payre of bedes of corall gaudede, havynge gaudeses of silver and gilte
with iiij rynges and ij not fixed of silver and gilte with a cristall stone sett in
silver and a stone of corall that Richard Baker (" Sale" erased) wyfe gaffe.
Itm' another payre of bedes of Corall with gaudese of silver and gylte with
one golde rynge and ij rengs of silver and gilte with ij crucifixes of sylver and
gylte that richard Sale wyfe gaffe.
Itm' one payre of bedes of corall gaudede with sylver yt Richard Colyar wyffe
gaffe.
Itm' one payre of bedes of blak jette.
Itm' one payre of bedes of corall with a crose stone with xxv gaudies of silver
with a tufte sett with perles y* Rog r Justice wyfe gaffe.
Itm' one gylte gyrdel y fc maistres entwysel gaffe.
Itm' one purpulle gyrdel y l Edmnde dey wyfe gaffe.
Itm' one blewe gyrdell hernest with vij studdes on hytt y* John Hyll wyffe
gaffe.
ITE one whyte vestemente of damaske with all thynges that lougeth to yt and
ij corporaxes of Rede velvett.
S. MARY -ON-THE- BRIDGE. 105
It' v alt* clothes ij of them of twille. It' v towells one of them of twylle, and
ij pax bredes.
Itm' iiij frontels one of blewe say with sterres on hytt y* S r James Blounte
Knyght gaffe.
ITEM in the chapelle ys ij masbokes, j sawt r , one chalice of silver and gylte,
ij cruettes, one coper, ij cushens of tapstre warke that Alesone Sonkye gaff, one
pyloe of corall, ij cappes to o r lorde, one blewe velvett with one peyre of bedes
gaudede with perle with iij stones of corall and one peny of hytt, Itm' another
of blak with crowned of ytt and one flower of silver and gylte, Itm' ij
candelstikkes of latten and xix tapurs of wax.
The chapel seems to have been desecrated and divine service
abandoned at the time of the Eeformation, but the building and
its appurtenances were transferred to the town of Derby. They
used the rents in the repairs of the churches whose advowsons
had been given to them by Queen Mary. Queen Elizabeth, how-
ever, treating the property as confiscated to the Crown, granted
it by letters patent to one William Buckley, and it formed part
of the disputed property about which a Special Commission sat at
Derby in 1592, as already narrated. Before that commission
Richard Stringer, gentleman, aged threescore, deposed :
" That he hath knowen the Chappell of the Brigge mentioned in the interroga-
tion and the howse orchard and yarde therto adjoyninge to have bene letten
duringe all the tyme of his remembrance by the Chamberlens of the said Towne
w th the consent of the Bailiffes and Burgesses of the Towne of Derbie And the
said Chamberlens of the said Towne have during the said tyme received the said
Eente due for the same to the use of the Burgesses of the said Towne of Derbie."
In another part of these papers it is described as " The chappie
of the Bridge w th all edifisyse gardens etc. in the occupation of
Ellis Bradshaw to the colledge or free chappie belounginge." The
Commissioners decided that it had been proved that the chapel on
the bridge and its appurtenances had, inter alia, belonged to the
Bailiffs and Burgesses of the town for six or seven score years last
passed, and that therefore the letters patent to William Buckley
were of no effect.* The Commissioners considerably ante-dated the
time at which the chapel, etc., came into the hands of the town,
for they had nothing to do with it until after the dissolution of the
College of All Saints in the time of Edward VI.
The bridge of S. Mary would undoubtedly in the old days have
a gatehouse for the purposes of defence, as well as for the levying
of tolls and other town dues, and it seems to us that this stood at
the left-hand side of the chapel on leaving the town, with one
side built into or formed by the chapel itself. It would be on this
gatehouse, if not on the actual chapel, that the heads and quarters
* Old papers in the chest at All Saints'.
106 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
of the priests who were martyred at Derby, July 25th, 1588, were
impaled, and whence they were shortly afterwards piously stolen
for burial by " two resolute Catholic gentlemen." *
After S. Bartholomew's day, 1662, the Presbyterians of Derby
were not a little harassed and persecuted, but Bishop Hacket at
length, according to Hutton,f sanctioned their assembling for wor-
ship in this old chapel. But they did not long avail themselves of
this permission, for in the reign of James II. they housed them-
selves in a wide yard on the east side of Irongate. Towards the
end of last century, as we have already seen, the chapel was con-
verted into small dwellings. Subsequently it was used as a car-
penter's shop. Most of the woodwork for the new church of
S. Michael's was herein constructed in the year 1857. Within the
last few years an effort was happily made by a few Churchmen J
to recover it for the use 'of the Church, and eventually, on Sep-
tember 17th, 1873, the Bishop's license was obtained for a renewal
of services within its walls. It is simply but appropriately fur-
nished, and is served by the clergy of S. Alknaund's.
We have not met with any view of this building earlier than a
sketch taken by Mr. Meynell in 1812, when it was in almost pre-
cisely the condition represented on Plate IV.
* Churches of Derbyshire, vol ii., p. 251.
f Button's History of Derby, p. 168.
J At the instigation of the Rev. W. Beresford, of S. Chad's, Stafford, then curate at
S. Alkmund's.
QUARNDON. 107
C^apeto of (Etuarntrou,
jjHE chapel of Quarndon pertained to the parish of All
Saints'. The manor of Quarndon, as we have already
seen, was at an early date in the hands of the Dean and
Chapter of Lincoln, as patrons of the collegiate church of All
Saints. That there was a chapel here in the Norman period, we
know from the old fabric. It was doubtless served by a chaplain
appointed by the college, or else by one of the canons themselves.
The earliest documentary proof of the existence of this chapel
that we have seen, is contained in the Inventory of Church Goods
drawn up in the reign of Edward VI. :
"Querndon, Oct. 6. ij bells in the steple j chales of sylver parcel! gilte ij
vestments wherof j of whyte fustyan the other paned with fustyan and crule ij
surplesses j hand bell j cruet of tyn j crosse of wodd covered with laten."
In 1555, when Queen Mary made her large grant to the Bailiffs
and Burgessses of Derby of church lands, etc., that had been
confiscated by Edward VI., " all tythes of corn, hay, wool, and
lambs, and all other tythes whatsoever in Quarndon, in the tenure
of Eichard Cotton, Esq.," were handed over to the town.*
From the old parish books of All Saints' we find that it was the
custom, for a long period, to select a churchwarden for Quarndon
at the Easter vestry meeting of the mother church. The first
entry to that effect occurs in 1617, and the custom seems to have
prevailed for exactly a century at least, we have found no entry
of that description later than 1717.
There were various disputes between Quarndon and the mother
church about the proportion due from the chapelry for the repairs
of All Saints'. In 1620 it was decided that Quarndon was to pay
* Vide 10th section of the grant. Simpson's History of Derby, p. 68.
108 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
one-tenth of the annual assessment. The following entries in the
churchwarden's accounts for that year relate to this dispute :
s. d.
Paid for 4 processes and serving 3 on them of Quarndon and in Sute ... 6
Paid for a quart of Sack given to the arbitrators twixt us and Quarn ... 1 2
In 1637 it was necessary to effect considerable repairs in the
chancel of the old church of All Saints, when a further dispute
arose between the churchwardens and certain inhabitants of Quarn-
don as to their liability. The matter was referred to the arbitration
of William Allestry and Eichard Brandreth, who gave in their
award on April 10th. The churchwardens had already expended
8 6s. 8d., and the arbitrators say:
" We do order that the said John Walker, Richard Smyth (and other inhabi-
tants of Quarndon) shall forthwith pay the one halfe thereof to the said John
Lowe and Abell Toplisse (churchwardens of All Saints), in regarde that wee
conceive that the tythes of Quandon are of equall value to all the tythes, and
other ecclesiastical dutyes ariseiuge within Derby, that belonge to the rectory of
All Saints, saveinge the mortuaries or other dutyes that shall arise or become
payable for burialls within the said Chancell. And for the avoydeinge of all
further trebles for anythinge that is past, we do order that the owners of the
tythes within Quarndon shall not be questioned for the payment of any thinge
concerninge the reparasons of the said Chancell for the tyrne past, but that for
the tyme to come they shall ever be at the one halfe of the charges to be
expended about the same. And the Churchwarden of Quarndon shall be ac-
quainted and made privey to the disbursements about the same, if hee please.
And we do further order that they the said Inhabitants of Quarndon shall from
the tyme of the date hereof be allowed unto them, and shall be lawfull for them
to take to themselves the moyetye of all such sumes of money as shall be
hereafter payed or due to be payed for any buryall within the said Chancell in
regard they are to be at the one half of the expences about the repayre thereof,
but shall for anythinge before that tyme paid for any buryalls there no thinge
shall be allowed unto them." *
The Parliamentary Commissioners, of 1650, say : " Quarne is a
chappel apperteyning (to All Saints) two myles distant and maye
conveniently be united to Kedlestone it lying neare. M r Joseph
Swettnam officiates." The post-Beforination services at Quarndon
chapel seem to have been of the most meagre and fitful description.
In 1697, " as the Spaw was frequented," the Bishop forwarded a
letter to the clergy of Derby and the district, directing that there
should be service every Sunday during the summer months. It
was arranged that the duty should be shared between sixteen
different clergymen. Their names were : " Messrs. Horton, Walker,
Osburn, Bold, Wilton, Pool of Brailsford, Pool of Mugginton,
* Documents in parish chest, All Saints'.
QUARNDON. 109
Cuuliffe, Ward of Over, Hawford, Greaterix of Hallam, Paploe,
Ward of Eatlbourne, Cautrell, Blackwell, and Horsington." *
Mr. Adrian Mundy, who died 23rd April, 1677, and was church-
warden at the time of his death, left, inter alia, 3 a year " to be
employed towards the living of a minister to read divine service at
the chapel," providing that the money was to be divided among
the poor if there should be no minister.t
Sir John Curzon, of Kedleston, by will dated 10th May, 1725,
endowed a school, and left the master, whom he stated lie would
have in orders, 10 per annum to read prayers and to preach in
Quarndon chapel, j
In 1793 an augmentation of 200 fell by lot to Quarndon from
Queen Anne's Bounty, but the Governors naturally declined to
confirm the grant unless the curate would agree to do duty once
every Sunday. Mr. Manlove, vicar of S. Alkmund's, who then
held this curacy, declined to accede to this stipulation, and the
augmentation passed to another benefice. Mr. Cantrell, his prede-
cessor in the vicarage of S. Alkmund's, had also held the cure of
Quarndon. Mr. Cantrell, in 1736, purchased some laud in the
parish of Markfield, Leicestershire, for the endowment of this cure,
for the sum of 400. Half of this money was procured from Mrs.
Wills, a friend of his first wife's, and the other half was advanced
from Queen Anne's Bounty. From the time of this purchase up
to 1772, Quarndou baptisms were entered in the S. Alkmund
registers. In the latter year a separate register book was pur-
chased for Quarndon, which from the time of its endowment in
1736 had come to be regarded as a distinct parish. The marriage
register begins in 1755. There were no burials at Quarndon till
1821, when the churchyard was consecrated.
At the end of a Terrier of 1751 is the following inventory :
" A True and Perfect Note of all and singular the Goods Books Ornaments
and Utensils belonging to the Parish and Parish Church of Quarne in the County
of Derby and Diocese of Lichfleld and Coventry. Inprimis one Pewter Flaggon
Item One Chalice with a Cover of Pewter One Salver of Pewter One Plate of
* Pegge's MSS., vol. v., f. 163.
f Charity Commissioners' Reports (1827), vol. xvii., p. 137. One branch of the
Muiidy family had for a long period an estate and mansion at Quarndon. In default
of male issue, it passed by marriage to Musters, of Colwick. The old hall stood close
to the churchyard on the south side. There was much stained heraldic glass in the
windows. It was pulled down by Lord Scarsdale in 1812, and the glass takeii to
Kedleston. Meyiiell MSS.
{ Charity Commissioners' Eeports, vol. xvii., p. 2 ft 7.
For these and other particulars, taken from the parish registers of Quarudon we
de-ire to express our indebtedness to the Hon. W. M. Jervis.
110 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
Pewter One Linnen Cloth for the Communion Table and one Napkin One
large Bason of Pewter to be set upon the Font Stone at Baptisms One Red
Velvet Pulpit Cushion curiously wrought and one old Cushion One Holland
Surplice Two Common Prayer Books One large Bible of the last Translation
One Chest Two Boles (? Bowls) with their Frames."
The old church or chapel of Qnarndon, dedicated, like its suc-
cessor, to S. Paul,* was taken down in 1874-5, a new church
having been previously erected in quite another part of the village,
at a cost of 4,000. The chapel underwent considerable repairs in
1790. From a south-east view and a description taken by Mr.
Eawlins in 1824, as well as from another view and account taken
a little earlier by Mr. Meynell, we find that it then consisted of a
parallelogram, 44 ft. 7 in. by 15 ft. It had a small square tower
at the west end, not disengaged from the rest of the building, but
risiug out of the roof of the west gable. This tower was surmounted
by a short four-sided spire, covered with lead. There was a good
Norman south doorway, and two projecting heads of a corbel- table
of that date. There was a small pointed priest's door blocked up,
and the buttresses at the angle of the east end were clearly of
Early English character. The east window was a two-light de-
based one with a square head, and there were three other windows
of like style in the south wall. Mr. Eawlins says : " Over the
altar is a niche, most probably to place the statue of the Virgin or
tutelar saint in, but neither is seen at the present day." From
Mr. Meynell' s account, we learn that this niche was on the north
side of the altar.
About 1835 the church was considerably enlarged. A bell tower
was added at the west end about the same time. This tower,
picturesquely mantled in ivy, is all that was left standing when
the building was taken down. The south Norman doorway, which
afforded proof of the careful provision of the church for the
spiritual needs of a small hamlet like Quarndon at least as early
as the reign of Henry I., though in fairly good condition, was
most unfortunately then destroyed. It should certainly have been
left standing, or removed to the new church.
* The Liber Regis, and other authorities, are silent as to the dedication of this
chapel, but there is an undisputed tradition that it was dedicated to S. Paul. We
learn from the present vicar, Rev. W. G. Nourse, and also from Mr. C. Hampshire,
whose family have been long resident at Quarndon, that there was an inscription
mentioning this dedication in the old belfry. The wakes, however, are regulated by
All Saints' day.
EUununb'i.
jLKMUND was the son of Alcred, king of Northumbria. In
774, when a mere youth, he was obliged to fly with his
father from the hands of his rebellious subjects, who con-
tracted a league with the Danes. For twenty years the father and
son lived among the Picts, when his people, growing tired of the
tyranny of the Northmen, were anxious to recall their former sove-
reign. Alkmund put himself at the head of this party, and won
several battles. How he lost his life is a matter of dispute among
his chroniclers. By some it is stated that he was put to death by
Ardulph, the reigning prince, in 800, by others that he was killed
in the battle of Kempsford in that year ; but it seems more pro-
bable that he was treacherously slain by the Danes in 819.* Be
this as it may, he soon earned the honours of saint and martyr.
Fuller sneers at his claim to sanctity, and his sneers have been
quoted and amplified by several subsequent writers ; but when we
find so much uncertainty about even the mode of his death, we
may surely give our Anglo-Saxon ancestors and the Catholic Church
of those days some credit for being acquainted with details of his
sanctity that justified them in his canonisation, but which have not
come down to our days. It is not as if he had been canonised,
and then shortly afterwards dropped into oblivion, as was some-
times the case with these early saints ; for he was evidently most
highly esteemed by the pious of his countrymen, and his shrine
remained .in peculiar honour up to the time of the Reformation.
S. Alkmund was buried at Lilleshall, in Shropshire, where a
church was either built over his relics, or else his body was placed
in a church that previously existed. But not long afterwards,
* See Histories of John of Gla<;tonbury and Matthew of Westminster, etc., etc.; also
Acta Sanctorum, Heuscheinus, Mart. vol. iii., p. 47.
Ill DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
through fear of an incursion of the Danes, his remains were hastily
removed, and translated to Derby, where he was honoured on
March 19th (the day of his translation) with great devotion as
patron saint of the town. Alban Butler tells us that an old MS.
sermon preached in S. Alkmund's Church at Derby, about the year
1140, gives a particular history of this translation of his relics to
Derby, where his shrine became famous for miracles and for the
resort of pilgrims.* Situated close by the side of one of the most
important and frequented routes between the north and south of
the kingdom, the fame of S. Alkmund's shrine appears to have been
retained in all its^freshness up to the time of the Reformation.
Mr. Cantrell, the vicar of S. Alkmund's, writing to Dr. Pegge on
this subject in 1760, says : " Fuller in his ' Worthies ' reports of
miracles here I add that it has been commonly said here that the
north countrymen inquire for this tomb, and rest their packs upon
it."t A well, a short distance to the north of the church, is still
known by the name of " S. Alkmund's well." The ancient custom
of dressing this well with flowers was revived in 1870, and is now
annually observed, the clergy and choir of S. Alkmund's meeting
at the church and walking there in procession. { The street leading
down to S. Mary's Bridge past S. Alkmund's formed, until quite a
recent date, the northern boundary of the town. The well is
beyond this outside the walls of the old borough. It is said that
when the pious company bearing the relics of S. Alkmund reached
the outskirts of the town, they laid down their precious burden by
the side of this well, whilst they treated with the townspeople for
their safe admission within the walls. From that time the waters
* The following is the account given by Butler of the character and death of S.
Alkmund (Lives of the Saints, vol. ii., p. 370) : " During his temporal prosperity, the
greater he was in power so much the more meek and humble was he in his heart, and
so much the more affable to others. He was poor amidst riches, because he knew no
greater pleasure than to strip himself for the relief of the distressed. Being driven
from his kingdom, together with his father, by rebellious subjects in league with
Danish plunderers, he lived among the Picts above twenty years in banishment;
learning more heartily to despise earthly vanities, and making it his whole study to
serve the King of kings. His subjects groaniug under the yoke of an unsupportable
tyranny, took up arms against their oppressors, and induced the royal prince, upon
motives of compassion for their disti'ess and a holy zeal for religion, to put himself at
their head. Several battles were prosperously fought ; but at length the pious prince
was murdered by the contrivance of King Bardulf, the usurper, as Matthew of West-
minster, Simeon of Durham, and Florence of Worcester say." We have made every
effort to trace the MS. book of sermons from which this learned hagiologist quoted,
and have met with much courtesy in our applications in several quarters. It is not
in any of the Eoman Catholic libraries in this country, and the only remaining chance
seems to be at the Public Library, Douay. It was at Douay that the Lives of the
Saints was written.
t Pegge's MSS., vol. iii. Mr. Cantrell speaks of having found two bodies a man
and woman under a tombstone closely adjoining the east chancel wall, but wisely
adds, that the body of S. Alkmund would be within the walls.
J It is rather unfortunate that Whiten n Tuesday has been chosen for the renewal of
this observance. It would surely be better to revert to the historical day March 19th.
s. ALKMUND'S. 115
of the well were blessed with special curative powers., and the well
itself has been ever since known by the name of S. Alkmund.
Long after the Eeformation, a belief in the special virtues of this
water lingered in the minds of even well-educated people a belief
not altogether exploded at the present day. Mr. Cantrell, in the
letter just quoted, records how the late vicar of S. Werburgh's
(Rev. William Lockett), being in a low consumption, constantly
drank water of S. Alkmund's well, and recovered his health.
The well (font) of S. Alkmund is mentioned in a fourteenth
century charter, between the abbey of Darley and the hospital of
S. Helen, wherein it is described as lying between the well of S.
Helen and a meadow pertaining to one William Greene.*
The townsfolk, when they knew that the relics of S. Alkmund
were outside their walls, received the same with joy, and the church
that still bears his name was erected over the shrine.t It stood
upon the royal demesne, and in the time of Edward the Confessor
was served by a colfege of six priests, who were endowed with nine
oxgangs of land in Little Eaton and Quarndou. These lands, as
we have already shown, subsequently came into the hands of the
Dean and Chapter of Lincoln, as the patrons of the College of
All Saints, and the parish church became, as it were, appropriated
to or amalgamated with that collegiate establishment, and would
be served by the canons of All Saints'. The statement originally
started by Hutton, and copied by ah 1 subsequent writers on Derby,
that S. Alkmund's was appropriated to Darley Abbey, is without
any foundation.
S. Alkmund's, as included in the college of All Saints, was
stript of every fraction of endowment in the time of Edward VI.
Queen Mary, when she made her magnificent grant to the bailiffs
and burgesses of Derby, in 1555, gave them the advowson of
S. Alkmuud's, arid stipulated that they should provide the vicar
with a mansion house and a yearly stipend of 7 6s. 8d.J The
* Cott. MSS., Titus C. ix., f, 77.
f The following are the eight English churches dedicated to this saint: Derby,
Duffield, Shrewsbury, Ateham and Whitchurch (Shropshire), and Bliburgh (Lincoln).
Aymestrey (Hereford), is conjointly dedicated to SS. John and Alkmund ; and Worm-
bridge (Shropshire) to SS. Mary and Alkmund.
J The great ingenuity of this grant of Queen Mary to the town of Derby, which
resembles several similar ones in other parts of the country, is worth noting. The
Queen probably forsaw the reversion of the national religion to that which prevailed
in the time of her predecessor. Had she simply re-established the canons of All
Saints' and given them back their own lands, they would again have lost all, but by
grants of lands that had pertained to colleges and religious houses, to bodies of free
burgesses, subject to the finding of certain priests, she interested the middle class in
the retention of these grants and secured at all events some share of the plunder to the
church.
116 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
endowment was found to be insufficient, and the services at S.
Alkmund were -very fitful. Woolley, writing in the reign of Anne,
says " it had no constant preaching in it of late," and Hutton adds
that "in the reign of George I. divine service was performed but
once a quarter." Though nominally a vicarage, it seems not to
have been regarded in that light, and was often served by the
same minister as All Saints'. In 1712, the living was materially
augmented. The story of this benefaction is thus told by satirical
Hutton : " An old batchelor of the name of Goodwin, of an
ancient family in Derby, possessed an estate of 60 a year. ' How
will you dispose of your fortune?' says Mr. Cantril, minister of
S. Alkmund's. ' I am at a loss,' replied Goodwin, ' for I have no
near relations.' Here, my dear Eeader, was a fine opening for
Cantril to increase his income, and for Goodwin to save his soul
by giving that property to pious uses which he could keep no
longer. Eloquence is seldom wanting to promote our interest.
' My church,' says the parson, ' stands desolate, instead of being
a place of regular worship, it is only a nursery for owls and bats.
No act of charity can surpass that of promoting religion.' ' Then
I will give 10 per annum to S. Alkmuud's at my death,'
says Goodwin, 'and the residue at the death of my nephew;'
which last happened about the year 1734."* This estate, which
has very largely increased in value, is situate at Plumley and
Mosborough, in the parish of Eckington. The deed of endow-
ment of Samuel Goodwin was forwarded to the Bishop by the
mayor and burgesses, with a prayer that he would create S.
Alkmund's a vicarage, and nominating Henry Cantrell as vicar.
The Bishop by letters dated March 5th, 1712, constituted S.
Alkmund's a vicarage and instituted Mr. CantreU.f Up to that
date, the church, like that of All Saints', had been extra-episcopal.
The advowson remained with the Corporation till the Municipal
Reform Act of 1835, when all such benefices were sold ; S. Alk-
mund's was purchased by Mr. Jedediah Strutt, who subsequently
gave it the vicar. On May 24th, 1877, the living was sold at
public auction in London, when it was purchased by the Simeon
Trustees. |
The following list of post-Reformation vicars or ministers is
compiled from the parish registers :
* Button's History of Derby, pp. 138-9.
+ Episcopal Registers, vol. xvii.
J For certain peculiar circumstances attending this sale of the cure of souls, see
Purchase in the Church (Simpkiu, Marshall, and Co.), pp. 187-190.
s. ALKMUND'S. 117
1539. John Bath, buried June 24th.
1540. Thomas Ragge, buried February 19th.
1541. Nicholas Jones, buried April 10th.
1551. William Elton, buried September 25th.
1556. " Sepultus est Johannes Mariotte pastor hujus Ecclesice post quam sese
laqueo videlicit funiculo minim* campanae suspeuderat vitamque miseriine
finierat Junii 14. Deus dat aliis meliorem gratias mensuram. Nota, fregit
campanam corporis gravitate et casu."*
1560. Roger Bartholomew, buried May 29th.
1560. Dns Moore, appointed this year.
1586. Thomas Swetnam. On the resignation of Moore. He was appointed
"suffragio et permissu Balivorum tune existeutium Burgessorum totius
deuique parochise."
1605. John Hollingham.
162 . Henry Coke. He was deposed in 1645.
1658. "Isaac Selden, clerke, came to Derby on Saturday the 14th day of August
Ano Dni 1658, and by mutual consent was selected and chosen Minister of
the Parish Churches of St. Alkmund and St. Michael's in Derby."
1712. Henry Cantrell. The first parson of S. Alkmund's instituted by the
Bishop, f
1773. Thomas Manlove. On the death of H. C.
1802. Charles Stead Hope. On the death of T. M.
1841. Edward Henry Abney ; patron, Jedediah Strutt.
* This John Marriott, of so miserable an end, was the dispossessed priest of the
wealthy chantry of SS. Nicholas and Catharine at Crich ; see our previous account
of that church.
f The following interesting letter from Rev. Henry Cantrell, respecting the endow-
ment and presentation has been kindly put into our hands by Mr. Wallis from his
private MSS. It is endorsed " My own Letter to my Father ab 1 S* Alk." Addressed
To Mr. Cantrell at his House upon Nun Green in Derby These.
London May y e 8 th 1711.
" Honour'd Father and Mother
" In my last I told you I should give an account of my interview with my L d Keeper.
The Reverend The Dean introduced me to his Lordship, who receiv'd me (upon The
Dean's recommendation) w th abundance of civility, and has declar'd me The Vicar of
S 1 Alkmuuds, and given all imaginable assurance that the presentation shall be
transmitted to me upon Mr. Goodwin's endowment.
" The reason why it is not now put into my hands is, because should I now receive it
as a donative, I must be obliged, after th' endowment, to take out another presentation
as a Vicarage. This is so plainly irade appear to me y* I am very well satisfy 'd. All
yt remains, therefore, is y l my good friend Mr. Goodwin should settle what he intends,
and y e sooner the better for my L d tells me y* as soon as he hears it is done, all shall
be connrm'd here.
" The Dean designs to write to Mr. Goodwin to give him account what progress is
made in this affair and w* great approbation his pious design meets with. I have by
the advice of The Dean wrote a letter to Dr. Goodwin Archdeacon of Derby, request-
ing him to acquaint The Bishop with the intended endowment, y* He may give notice
to his officers to have all Instruments ready at Derby at the Visitation ; Sunday next
I am to preach for The Dean and then I design to set out for home.
" I am very glad y* I came to town, for otherwise this business had, in all probability,
been as far from being settled as ever; but I must say The Dean and Mr. Willes (a)
have been at a vast deal of trouble about it which was occasioned by the great opposi-
tion L. C. J. P. (b) made ; but he is now in a better mind, and has promised The
Dean he will not offer to hinder it any longer.
" Pray present my respects to Mr. Goodwin, and Mr. Parker (c), and the rest of my
good friends and accept y e same
from y r dutiful Son
Hen : Cantrell."
(a) Mr. Willes, son of the late minister of All Saints', the Rev. Samuel Willes. There is n
monument to his memory in this church.
(b) L. C. J. P. Lord Chief Justice Parker, afterwards Earl of Macclesfield, who rssided in Bridge
Gate near the bridge foot.
(c) Benjamin Parker married Lucy, dau. of Rev. S. Willes. She died 6y6 in the ilst year of her
age.
118 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
In 1841 it was most unfortunately resolved to pull down the
venerable old church, and to build a new one on the site. At first
it was intended to retain at all events the lower part of the old
tower, but it was found to be too insecure to support new work.
The last service in the old building was on the evening of January
1st, 1844, when a " Grand selection of sacred music by the Derby
Choral Society " was performed, admission sixpence. The work of
demolition commenced immediately afterwards. On February 20th
of that year the Committee resolved that the west face of the tower
of the new church should project 10 ft. 6 in. beyond the exterior
projection of the buttresses of the old tower, and that the increased
length be appropriated for a chancel. By this lengthening of the
church the principal view of the beautiful tower of S. Mary's the
Eoman Catholic church erected a few years before, and one of the
most successful efforts of Pugin was effectually concealed ; and it
is creditable to the good sense and taste of Derby that this unne-
cessary obstruction of a real work of art, though unfortunately
carried out, met with much opposition.*
The first stone of the present building was laid on May 6th.
The new church was erected at a cost of about 7000, exclusive of
the spire, which cost another 700.
We have been able to get together various particulars relative to
the old building from different sources. It consisted of a nave, with
side aisles and south porch; a chancel; and a tower at the west
end, not disengaged from the building, but open to the aisles and
nave by three pointed arches. The dimensions, as taken by Mr.
Eawlins in 1826, were : Nave, 63 ft. 7 in. by 17 ft. ; south aisle,
63 ft. 7 in. by 12 ft. 9 in. ; north aisle, the same length by 10 ft.
8 in. ; and chancel, 34 ft. 3 in. by 12 ft. 4 in. From woodcuts in the
works of Hutton and Glover, and from drawings made by Messrs.
Meynell and Eawlins, we find that the external characteristics of
the building were almost entirely of the Perpendicular period.
The nave, aisles, and tower had all embattled parapets. The tower
had double belfry windows on each side. The three pointed
windows of the south aisle and the east chancel window were
filled with Perpendicular tracery ; and the square-headed east
window of the south aisle, of the south side of the chancel, and
the clerestory windows were of the same style. The embattled
* The present Lord Belper, then member for Derby, was a warm opponent of this
change of plan which was rightly or wrongly regarded as a piece of Protestant
spite and withdrew his subscription of i'2(JO, dividing it between the Derby In-
firmary and the Derby British Schools.
s. ALKMUND'S. 119
porch seems also to have been of that date. Hutton's view (1798)
shows a crocketed pinnacle on the apex of the porch, and two
crosses on the respective gables of the nave and chancel. Eawlins'
sketch (1826) shows a large niche over the porch doorway, and also
a doorway through one of the lights of the south aisle window
nearest the east, access to which was gained by a flight of three
steps: this probably was the approach to a south gallery. The nave,
according to Mr. Eawlins, was separated from the aisles on each
side by three pointed arches supported on " circular columns with
capitals of the Doric order." From this description it seems pos-
sible that the pillars were Norman, and the rounded arches subse-
quently replaced by pointed ones. Another account tells us that
there were several Norman details about the church, especially in
the chancel.*
But the brief account given of this church by Sir Stephen
Glynn, circa 1830, is clearly the most correct. We reproduce it
verbatim from his MSS. :
" This church is principally Bectilinear, and consists of a west tower, a nave
with side aisles, and a chancel. The tower is embattled, with double belfry win-
dows, and stands engaged with the aisles ; it has also on each side a square-
headed window ranging with those of the clerestory. The nave, aisles, and south
porch are all embattled, and the buttresses on the north side surmounted by pin-
nacles. The chancel is finely mantled with ivy. The nave is divided from each
aisle by three pointed arches, with circular piers having square capitals, appa-
rently modern. The tower opens to the nave and to the side aisles by three good
pointed arches with mouldings carried all down. The windows of the aisles and
of the chancel are late Rectilinear, those of the clerestory square-headed. The
chancel arch springs from octagonal shafts resting on heads. In the chancel,
south of the altar, are two mutilated stalls of Norman work, the shaft having a
good sculptured capital and square base. There is an organ in the west gallery,
and at the east end of the south aisle a rich alabaster tomb with arabesque cor-
nice and sculptured figures. The font is an octagon, with panneliug."
At the time of the Herald's Visitation, in 1611,t the arms of
Mackworth (per pale, indented, sab. and erm., a chevron, gu, fretty,
or) appeared twice in the windows. There was also a monument,
on which were the arms of Lister (erm., on a fesse, sab., three
mullets, <m/.) impaling ary., a bend, sab., and the following
inscription :
" Anthony Lister gentleman, and Alice his wife, they had issue Henry Lister,
which Anthony died the 30 day of November 1592, and Alice his wife who died
A Dni 1600, and left 4 souues and 4 daughters, viz* Anthony, Henry, Richard,
William, Alice, Elizabeth, Ellen, Mary."
* Bagshaw's Gazetteer of Derbyshire, p. 54.
t Harl. MSS. 148(5 f. 10 58uy, f. 12 ; 1098, f. 7 b .
120 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
Alice, the wife of Anthony, was the daughter of William Trub-
shawe, of Thurvaston, and the impaled arms given above are not
those of that family. The coat was borne by at least a dozen dif-
ferent families. John Lister, the father of Anthony, married the
heiress of Meysham, of Little Eaton, and it may betoken that
marriage. The family of Lister held lands at Little Eaton at an
early date. There are eight generations given in the Visitation
pedigree of 1611, concluding with John, son and heir of Anthony,
son of Anthony of the monument, then aged 9.* The monument
of Lister has quite disappeared.
Mr. Cantrell, writing in 1760, says, " there was painted glass in
the windows, which has been taken away by the glasiers," and
specifies "a woman veiled in the belfry," and "in the east window
over the altar a beautiful head with a mitre upon it." He
describes roses as being represented in various parts of the building,
in stone over the belfry window and on the font, and in wood on
the old seat doors and on the roof of the nave, where they were
gilded and picked out with white, " which perhaps may signify that
the roof at least was laid on in the time of the contest for the
Crown between the houses of York and Lancaster." It certainly
seems as if the church had been rebuilt throughout in the time of
Henry VII. He also adds : ' ' I cannot omit to mention that
when the old seats were taken away and new ones erected, soon
after my induction (1713), several old pieces of money were found
in the dust, with the effigy of a king, and, as I remember, in
Saxon characters." Cantrell further noticed the altar tomb to
John Bullock, of Parley Abbey, which then stood in the quire f at
the east end of the south aisle. This family was a younger
branch of the Bullocks of Unston. After the dissolution of the
abbey, the site was granted to Sir William West, who built himself
a residence out of the conventual buildings. His son sold it to
John Bullock in 1574, and the Bullocks resided there for about
eighty years. This tomb now stands at the west end of the south
aisle of the new church. On it rests the effigy in alabaster of a
man in a long gown with a book in his left hand. The head is
* Harl. MSS. 5,809, f . 4b ; 1,486, f . 3b. Of the children mentioned on the monument,
Anthony married Elena, eldest daughter of Edmund Parker, of Little Eaton; Henry
married the daughter of Kempe, second officer of the King's Bench, and resided at
Hathersage ; Eichard resided at Sheffield ; and the three daughters, Alice, Eliza-
beth, and Mary, married respectively Wydmerpole, of Wydmerpole, Notts. ; Brian
Dawson, of King's Newton ; and William Leigh, of Egginton.
t From this expression it would seem that the east end of this aisle was divided
from the rest of the church by a screen or parclose.
s. ALKMUND'S. 121
a good deal attenuated. On two panels in front of the tomb was
formerly a long inscription in gold letters, but it was illegible even
in Bassano's time (1710). John Bullock, according to the register,
was buried October 13th, 1607. On the north end of the tomb
are the arms of Bullock (Erm., a chief, gu., a label of five points,
or) impaling a fesse engrailed between six cross crosslets, and the
crest, a sheaf of battleaxes encircled by a mural crown. Bassano
noted near to this tomb an alabaster stone, not now extant, on
which was inscribed :
" ' Here lyeth Elizabeth, late wife of John Bullock, of Darley, Esq., which
Elizabeth dyed the llth day of August 1582. She had issue 3 sons and '6
daughters, 2 of which daughters dyed before her, and lye here by their uncle :
Elizabeth was daughter of William Pireson, of London, and Anne his wife,
daughter of William Carkerke, Gent : William and Anne had issue 5 sons and 3
daughters. Anne after married Sir Thomas Chamberlayne, Knight, and had issue
by him one son.' Upon the face of the stone is a verse of God's word. Job. ix.
19. And under it ' Vincet (?) post funera virtus.' "
The rest of the tombs, which chiefly occupy the west ends of the
aisles of the new clmrch, are of comparatively modern date and of
no special interest.
In the vestry, on the south side of the chancel, is the following
inscription, which used to be in the middle aisle opposite the
pulpit :
"Whereas for near fifty years Divine Service hath been seldom performed in
this parish church for want of a sufficient maintenance to support a resideing
Minister, the evil consequences whereof Mr. Samuel Goodwin of this parish,
piously considering hath procured the Church to be made a Vicaridge and
endowed it with an estate in the parish of Eckington in this county upward of
the annual sum of fourty pounds, and also with a house in the parish of St.
Werburgh. This is therefore set up with the concurring voice of the Parishioners
to be an eternal monument of their gratitude, and to inform posterity hereof, that
his memory may be always blessed among 'em as we pray he may for ever be in
the kingdom, of heaven MDCCXII."
The old font, with the usual lack of taste and reverence, was
removed from the church when demolished, and has ever since
served as an ornamental vase in the vicarage garden. It is of
rather small size, and octagon shape, three sides of which are in
very good preservation. From the arches sculptured on its sides,
and from the general mouldings, we take it to be of fourteenth
century date.*
But by far the most interesting details that were brought to
light during the work of demolition, were several stones, built into
* The He.liquary, vol. xi., p. 109, gives a wood-cut of this font. The Tudor roses
on this font, mentioned by Mr. Cautrell, have been by error omitted by the engraver,
and small lancets inserted.
122 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
the window -jambs, doorways, etc., which undoubtedly pertained to
the original Saxon church. (Plate V.) One of these seems to be
the lower limb of a finial or gable cross ; it is a massive stone of
sexagon shape, and each side (excepting one that has been
subsequently dressed smooth) has a knot-work pattern sculptured
upon it (fig. rt). Two other pieces have pertained to a church-yard
cross, much after the fashion of the one now standing at Hope ;*
it must have been quite twelve feet above the ground, and an
exceptionally fine cross when perfect (figs, b and c). The largest
piece is 86 in. long, and tapers on the wide side from 16 in. to
13 in., and on the narrow sides from 13 in. to 10 in. The
ornaments of these fragments consist exclusively of various inter-
laced patterns and chimerical animals. These stones are at the
Derby Museum. A piece of another cross, on one side of which
were two figures, perhaps intended for the Annunciation, and on
the other a Virgin and Child, was cut in two, and the parts
built into the new porch. The Virgin holds a most singular
instrument in her right hand, of which we can give no explana-
tion (fig. d). The two most interesting and unique stones seem to
have been lost, but there is a cast of one of them in the Museum,
and drawings were given in an early number of the Journal of
the Archaeological Association,^ the more remarkable of which is
reproduced on our plate (fig. e). These conical capitals, about a
foot square, must have pertained to some small arch, or probably
arched recess, and it is by no means improbable that they may
have formed a sort of canopied niche at the back of the high
altar, upon which would most likely rest the movable shrine
encasing the relics of S. Alkmuud. The cross on the side of one
of the capitals should be compared with one on a slab at Alvaston
(Plate VI.) Another cast of a missing stone is part of a third
cross of freer pattern (fig. /). These stones are all of a coarse
reddish gritstone.
In the churchyard, by the vestry door, is another interesting
memorial of the old church, which was found in the foundation of
the chancel. It is a massive tapering stone, 6 ft. G in. long, by
27 in. at the head, and 17 in. at the foot, and 10 in. thick. The
upper surface is smooth, but both sides are carved with a plain
arcade of Norman arches. Its date seems to be of the early Nor-
man period, temp. William I. or II. Both the ends are plain ; so
* See Churches of Derbyshire, vol. ii., plate XII.
t Vol. ii., p. 87.
PLATE v
s. ALKMUND'S. 123
that it probably fitted into a low sepulchral arch within the wall,
and formed the substantial lid of a stone coffin, in which rested
the remains of a founder, or rather of a rebuilder of the original
Saxon Church. This stone has been erroneously spoken of as
" the shrine of S. Alkmund ;" but this is an obvious misnomer,
for not only is it some two centuries later in date than the time
when S. Alkmund's relics were brought to Derby, but the shrine
of a saint, properly speaking, was a portable coffer containing his
relics, which at certain times was carried in procession. It is,
however, just possible that the shrine may have been placed on
this stone, within a recess, when the church was rebuilt in the
Norman epoch. But it is much more likely that the bones of
S. Alkmund would be placed, if buried, immediately beneath the
high altar ; or, if in a portable shrine, within a coffer immediately
over or resting on that altar ; for it should be remembered that
this church was originally built for the safe custody of his relics,
and did not subsequently become possessed of them.
From an old Parish Book of S. Alkmuud's, extending from 1698
to 1783, some interesting details relative to the structure and sur-
rounding of the church and parish can be gleaned.
In 1712 "the Vicar with some persons did perambulate the
Liberties of Little Eaton without consent of the Churchwardens ;"
so that it was resolved that this should not be regarded as a pre-
cedent, and that hereafter they will not be liable for any charge
unless previous consent has been given at a regular parish meeting.
In 1719 it was resolved that "when the Parson and Churchwar-
dens have a mind to goe the Perambulation," they should only
have 5s. to spend at Darley Hill, provided they went every year,
but 15s. if they went only once in three years.*
At a parish meeting, held March 7th, 1738, it was ordered that
a letter should be written to the Bishop, representing " that y e
Trees lately planted by Mr. Cantrell in y e Churchyard very much
darken y e Church and straiten y e Burying Ground, and y* y e other
trees are got so large y* Books build in them and are a great
nuisance to y e inhabitants in y e Churchyard and y e people y* pass
through it being a great thorofair w cb y e s d Mr. Cantrell will not
suffer to be remidied and threatens the Churchwardens if they
* Cantrell, writing to Dr. Pegge about Darley Abbey, in 1760, says : " Tradition
speaks of a church to S. Mary near the Abbey, but outside, long since demolished, but
some of the ruins were visible in my recollection. At every perambulation it was
the custom to read a gospel and sing a psalm at this spot, as in this very year in
Eogation week." Pegge's MSS., vol. iii.
124 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
presume to meddle." An order of the Chancellor's Court at Lich-
field, dated December 1st, 1741, directed that three elm trees on
the west side of the church, four on the south, and two on the
east should be " lopped cult and crop'd " in such a manner as to
prevent them being rookeries ; and that the twenty lime trees on
the south side, planted a few years ago by Mr. Cantrell, should be
taken up with as little damage as may be, and " delivered to the
Vicar if he would have them, and otherwise to apply them to any
parochial use."
Mr. Cantrell, during his long occupancy of this vicarage, seems
to have been remarkably litigious. We know from other sources
with what warmth and lack of judgment he threw himself into the
quarrel between Dr. Hutchinson and the Corporation, and this
book bears witness that he was for ever at loggerheads with his
parishioners, about every conceivable detail of parochial and minis-
terial rights, such as the choice of parish clerk, the election of
churchwardens, the distribution of the offertory money, and the
appropriation of seats.
From a minute of the year 1710, about keeping the leads and
windows in repair, it appears that one part of the church, which
was excepted from the general agreement, was known as "Darley
Quire." This must have been at the east end of the south aisle.
In 1729 one Thomas Hall, of Longford, agreed, in consideration
of 6 10s. and the old clock, to make " an absolute good and
substantial Clock and Iron Frame as good as can or need to be
made to go 28 hours and to sett the Two Fingers to go Eight,"
etc. There is an entry in 1721 appointing a committee to assist
the churchwardens about " buildinge and finishing the steeple," but
this can only refer to some repairs, perhaps of an extensive
character ; for the tower or steeple, at the time of its demolition,
undoubtedly pertained to the Perpendicular period.
The present tower contains a ring of eight bells, thus lettered :
I. and II. " C. & G. Mears, founders, London, 1846. This bell
was added by voluntary subscription on the rebuilding of the
Parish Church A.D. 1846. The following were the building Com-
mittee, The Eev. Edward Henry Abney B.A. Vicar, Henry Cox,
John Harrison, John Whitehurst, James Thomason, John Johnson,
John Gamble, William Smith ; George Bridgart, William Stevenson,
Churchwardens."
III. " C. & G. Mears, founders, London. The old Parish Church
was taken down A.D. 1844, and rebuilt by voluntary subscription
s. ALKMUND'S. 125
A.D. 1846. The Eev. Edw. Heiiry Abuey B.A. Vicar, John Gamble,
Joseph Walker, Churchwardens."
IV. " God save oure Church," and the bell-mark of Henry
Oldfield.
V. "Eccho dulcis sonans jam voco jarnque veni 1588. Eecast
1846 by C. & G. Mears, London."
VI. " Ut tuba sic resono ad templa venite pii 1586," and the
bell-mark of Henry Oidfield.
VII. "All glori be to God on high, 1624."
VIII. "J. Taylor & Co., Bell founders, Loughborough, 1872.
Eecast 1872. Edward Henry Abney B.A. Vicar, Walter G. Cope-
stake, Frank Campion, Churchwardens."
The inscription on the last bell used to be ' ' Triuitate sacra
fiat hec campana beata."
The registers of S. Alkmund's begin in 1538 ; the oldest volume
is a neat parchment book extending from that date to 1751, but
the real date of the book is 1598, the entries prior to that date
having been copied from an older one. Ninety-one persons died
of the plague in this parish, between February 2nd, 1592, and
October 4th, 1 593, and there were nine deaths from the same
cause in 1637.* Several entries occur shortly after the Eeforma-
tion, in which the interred person is described as "Presbiter."
They were probably dispossessed chantry priests, or monks of some
of the dissolved abbeys and priories. One of them, Thomas Har-
rison, who died in 1558, will be found in the roll of Philip and
Mary (Appendix I.) as a pensioned monk of Darley. The following
are some of the more interesting excerpts : t
1597. Concessit fato Johannes Wooddiwisse servnlus pv8B_CestrisB, non sepultus,
quia laqueo seipsu suspendit. Deus dat aliis meliore gratia, Apr. 3.
1601. An account of the fall of S. Werburgh's tower ; see the description of that
church.
1620. A certayne prisoner brought into y e -gaole and guarded .... comming over
the Mary bridge leapte over into the water and drowde himselfe and was
buried by the highwayside close at the foote of the bridge, June 28.
1624. Mense Augusti Campanarium J Sanct' Alkmundi denuo reconditum est, et
Campana quarta refusta. Henrico Coke ministro, Thoma Burne et Samuel
Storer CEconomis, Roberto Caddow et Josepho Eeeve operariis et fiuitum
est opus integrum decimo quarto die ejusdem meusis Augusti 1624, quo die
Rex Jacobus una cum Carolo Principe villam Derbeyam in progressu
iutraverunt et duos noctes in eadem villa . . . tantes.
* See previous notes on All Saints' registers.
t The readers who desire to know more of these registers should refer to the able
and exhaustive articles thereon, from the pen of Rev. W. Beresford, in vols. x., xi.,
and xii. of the Reliquary. We desire here to express our obligations to Mr. Beresford
for much information that he has kindly placed at our disposal.
I I.e. the belfry or bell chamber, not the tower.
126 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
1632. 19 March. Whereas Katherine y 6 wife of Nathanael Bate of Little Chester,
within ye parish of St Alkmund's, Derby, being great with child and (by
reason of her health) infirm and weak, and therefore not able to feed upon
fish meats without apparent damage (as I am credibly informed) I doe
therefore by these presents permit (so farr forth as by the statutes of the
kingdom I may) unto y 6 said K. B. to provide for herself and to feed upon
such flesh meates, as by the said statute are licensed, in this case during
all y e time of her sicknesse and noe longer. In Witnesse whereof I have
hereunto set my hand H. Coke, Minister and Preacher of the Word of God
in the parish of St Alkmund's aforesaid. Test. Thomse Nash.*
679. Bur. Margaret James, who drowned herself in Darley mill close, and was
found floating upon y e water y* same day with her undercoat tyed about
her hammes. God give others better grace.
1721. Aug. 30. Bur. Jane Cressop, who was killed by the Coloquintida, or Bitter
Apple, which she had taken to procure an abortion. God give others better
grace.
1740. Dec. 27. Bap. by hypothetical Baptism, George Willincote, a convert from
schism.
* On the following day. a similar license was granted to John Bullock, of Darley
Abbey, being " somethinge diseased " as '' certified by y 8 judgement of a learned
Phisitiau." T. Nash was one of the churchwardens.
LITTLE EATON. 127
of UtttU
jHEEE was an old chapel at Little Eaton dedicated to
S. Paul. The Parliamentary Commissioners, of 1650,
say : " Little Eaton is a member [of S. Allan uud's] two
myles distant, fitt to be united to Birdsall, an augmentason of the
Deaues farme in Chester, Eaton, and Quarne sequestered from
John Bullocke granted by the Lords and Commons, worth three
score pounds per annum for the maintenance of these two last
mencioned Churches untill further order."
A terrier of S. Alkmund's, of the year 1735, in the handwriting
of the vicar, Mr. Cantrell, says : " There is a chapel at Little
Eaton in this parish; the church [? chancel] part is in good repair,
but the other in a decaying condition. From the fair font now
standing in it, and from other considerable circumstances, it
appears to have been a considerable place, but it is now profaned,
as also is the chapel-yard, and converted to a private use, and
now in the possession of Simon Degge Esq., or his under tenant."
The existence of a font proves that the chapel had baptismal rights
attached to it at an early date, but it does not appear to have
possessed any rights of sepulture until the building of the new
church.
Writing in 1760, Mr. Cantrell again mentions the chapel as being
in a ruinous condition. For a long time it was actually used as
a blacksmith's shop, but in 1791 it was taken down, and a new
chapel, on a small scale, built in its place. Mr. Eawlins (1821)
gives its dimensions as 35 ft. 10 in. by 19 ft. 11 in. The only
128 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
entrance was under a gallery at the west end. " At the east end
is placed the altar in a circular recess." Mr. Rawlins' drawing
shows two circular-headed windows on the south side, a shallow
apse at the end, and a wooden bell-turret on the west gable. This
chapel was enlarged in 1837, but the present building, a rather
feeble imitation of the Norman style, consisting of nave, aisles,
chancel, and west tower, though on a small scale, was built in
1851. There is a single bell, bearing the date 1791, but no other
lettering or ornament.
. iBfrfarl's.
SElfcagfon.
10
jS.
MICHAEL'S church belonged to Tochi in the time of
Edward the Confessor, and to Geoffrey Alselin at the
time of the Domesday Survey (1086).* But shortly
afterwards it passed into the hands of William Fitzralph, Senes-
chal of Normandy, who is described as then being of Alvaston,
and he bestowed it on the abbey of Darley .t This grant, which
originally consisted only of the advowson of the church, was con-
firmed by Eobert, the son of the donor ; by Walter Durdent,
Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield (1149-61) ; and by several later
charters, both royal and episcopal. J We do not know the precise
date when S. Michael's was constituted a vicarage, and the great
tithes appropriated to the monks ; but it must have been not
long after the original gift, for we find that there was a vicar in
the year 1170. At that time Hugo, Dean of Derby (of whom we
have already spoken under " All Saints' ") sold for the sum of
three marks to William de Wilne, vicar of S. Michael's, for his
own use and for the use of all successive vicars, one toft or mes-
suage, with its appurtenances, situated in the angle of the church-
yard on the east side, between the land that formerly belonged to
Harno and the land of John Ferrers.
The taxation roll of Pope Nicholas IV. (1291) gives the annual
value of the church or rectory of S. Michael, together with the
* That S. Michael's was the church of Tochi, and subsequently of Geoffrey Alselin,
we have no doubt, as the latter proprietor was also lord, inter alia, of Alvaston. For
a further account of Alselin, see our description of Elvaston church.
t Darley Chartulary, Cott. MSS. Titus, C. ix., f. 148. Thoroton and "Wolley are
wrong in supposing that William Fitzralph was the son of Ealph Fitzherbert, and
brother of Ealph Fitzralph (donor of the church of Crich to the abbey) ; see Nichols'
Collectanea, vol. iv., p. 9.
J Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. iii., p. 61 ; Darlev Chartulary, f. 155b, et passim.
Darley Chartulary, f. 67.
132 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
chapelry of Alvaston, at ,10 13s. 4d., but makes no mention of
the value of the vicarage.
Owing to the gift of the church of Elvaston, together with various
lands in Alvaston and elsewhere, to the priory of Shelford, by a
descendant of Geoffrey Alseliu, the priors were frequently in col-
lision with the abbots of Darley as to their mutual rights. At one
time they not only laid claim to the church or chapel of Alvaston,
but also to the church of 8. Michael, Derby ; and it was not until
the time of prior Alexander, who died in 1849, that Shelford
finally and formally renounced all claim to S. Michael's.*
Various other documents pertaining to the connection of this
church with Alvaston are given in our account of that chapelry.
The Valor Ecclesiasticus (27 Henry VIII.) gives the total annual
value of the vicarage at the small sum of 14s. lid. We
cannot tell the exact value of the rectory of S. Michael's at that
date, as the return only gives the joint total of the rectories of
S. Peter's, S. Michael's, and Shirley, which amounted to the annual
sum of 17 16s. Od.
On the dissolution of Darley Abbey the advowson of S. Michael
passed to the crown. Queen Mary bestowed it on the bailiffs and
burgesses of the town of Derby, together with some of the despoiled
tithes pertaining to the parish.t They presented once to the
vicarage, but soon afterwards, from some cause which we cannot
explain, the advowson reverted to the crown.
The Parliamentary Commissioners of 1650 thus report of this
parish :
" Item Michaells is a viccaridge really worth eight pounds per annum.
Alvastone is a member and hath a chappell apperteyning two myles distant
(vizt). Michaells itselfe ffive pounds per annum and Alvaston payes the said
Viccar of Michaells three pounds per annum vpon a composison made by the
abbatt of Derlye.
" Michaells is fitt to be disused and vnited to the parish of All Saints,
Alvastone is really worth in vicarall Tythes besides the three pounds paid to
Michaells six pounds thirteene shillings and ffoure pence per annum and fitt to
be vnited to Elvastone."
The following list of Vicars is chiefly taken from the Episcopal
Registers : as the patron, in each case up to its dissolution, was
the abbot of Darley, it was thought unnecessary to repeat the
name :
1170. William de Winl' (? Wilne). Darley Chartulary.
1253. John Blundus. Darley Chartulary.
1313. John de Lely.
* Darley Chartulary, f. 80
t Patent Boll, 1 Mary, pt. 1*0, meinb. 1.
s. MICHAEL'S. 133
1342. Roger Silcok de Potlok. Collated by the Bishop, by leave of the abbot of
Darley.
1349. William de Clifton; on the death of E. S.
. William de Heanor; on the resignation of W. de C.
1368. Francis "de Wylne; on the death of W. de H.
1380. John Bradewell, rector of Cotgrave; exchanged benefices with F. de W.,
vicar of S. Michael's.
1422.*John Lowe.
1430. Gilbert Boturworth; on the resignation of J. L.
. John More.
1438. Robert Godelyng ; on the death of J. M.
. Nicholas Chalisworth.
1487. John Lenton; on the death of N. C.
1491. Roger Arnold ; * on the death of J. L.
1492. Thomas Kendall; on the death of E. A.
. Robert Johnson; on the resignation of T. K.
1529. Laurence Hourabyn ; on the death of E. J.
1530. Nicholas f Bartimlew ; on the resignation of L. H. Eeiustituted in 1536,
on the presentation of the King.
1543. Thomas Myln ; patron, Eoger Byrde de Yolgreave, by arrangement between
him and the lately dissolved abbey. On the death of N. B.
1563. Richard Buntinge ; patrons, Eichard Ward, and William Bainbrygge,
bailiffs, and the burgesses of Derby. On the death of T. M.
. Joseph Booth. "
1613. George Dale.
1619. Henry Coke.
1620. Thomas Duxbury I ; patron, the King.
1660. Isaac jSelden.
1662. Nathaniel Macham, " per sigillum magnum."
1685. Francis Ward; on the deafh of N. M.
1689. James Walker.
1710. John Bradbury.
1719. Henry Burton.
1722. William Lockett.
1752. John Seale.
1774. Charles Hope; on the death of J. S.
1799. Nicholas Bayley.
1816. John Garton Howard.
1847. R. M. Hope ; on the resignation of J. Q-. H.
1856. J. Erskine Clarke ; on the resignation of E. M. H.
1867. W. J. M. Ellison; on the resignation of J. E. C.
1876. T. Howard Twist; on the resignation of W. J. M. E. Patron, the Bishop
of Lichfleld.
It is worth noting that this church was used by the congrega-
tion of All Saints' when their own church was re-building in 1723-5.
It was ordered that all the services should be continued ; that All
Saints' bells should be rung at the usual time, but that the people
* In the margin of the registers this institution is referred to S. Peter's, but in the
institution itself it is rightly associated with S. Michael. Episcopal Eegisters, vol.
xiii., f. 121.
t The name in the Valor Ecclesiasticus is given as " Richard Bartylmewe."
J Spelt " Ducksburie " in the parish registers.
The patronage was transferred, by exchange, from the Lord Chancellor to the
Bishop, in 1873.
134 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
should worship in S. Michael's. The services at Derby's minster
church, exclusive of Sunday, were, even then, daily morning prayer,
and hoth matins and evensong on saints' days, and on every day
in the week preceding the celebration of Holy Communion.
The old church of S. Michael consisted of nave, side aisles,
south porch, chancel, and west tower. From the cuts given by
Hutton, Simpson, and Glover, as well as from the sketches and
descriptions of Mr. Eawlins, Mr. Meynell, and Sir Stephen Glynn,
we can describe it with sufficient accuracy. There are also in the
vestry of the new church three photographs of the old building,
and a water-colour drawing of the interior. The dimensions of the
nave were 22 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 4 in. ; of the north aisle, 36 ft.
10 in. by 12 ft. 6 in. ; of the south aisle, 33 ft. 4 in. by 12 ft. 10 in.;
and of the chancel, 22 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft. 4 in. These are from the
measurements of Mr. Rawliiis, who adds writing in 1826: "The
space occupied by the base of the tower appears to form part of
the church, and when you stand near the reading-desk, from the
circumstance of the arches which support it being open ou every
side, they have an agreeable effect, being all of the pointed order,
as is likewise the one on each side, although of a larger span,
separating the nave from the two aisles."
There was a carved oak screen of Perpendicular date across the
chancel arch, and some more traceried carving had been utilised in
the reading-desk. Mr. Rawlins, who detected a confessional in
everything he could not explain, says : "Behind the pulpit is a
small circular arch, cut through the wall, as if intended to form
an entrance into a kind of confessional." If the pulpit was then
on the south side of the church, this was probably a doorway
that led on to the rood-loft. The doorway and staircase leading up
to it from the south aisle were exposed in demolishing the church.
The font was of comparatively modern date, and described as
" consisting of a fluted shaft, on which is a circular vase." * Sir
Stephen Glynn's notes of 1833 mention that the roof was panelled
in wood. The church, both externally and internally, was almost
exclusively of the Perpendicular period, about the time of Henry
VII. The tower and aisles were embattled. The clerestory win-
dows two on each side were of three lights, and much resembled
those of S. Peter's. The windows of the aisles were square-headed
examples of Perpendicular work. The porch was of debased
* " Bapt. Elizabeth the Douter of Mr. Samuell Cooper the first in the new font,
July (he 8th, 1728." -Parish Register.
s. MICHAEL'S. 135
design, and so were the windows of the chancel. The chancel
had a high-pitched roof, and the gable over the east window was
covered with overlapping planks of timber.
On August 17th, 1856, a considerable portion of the chancel
fell an accident which was thus described in the next issue of
the Derby Mercury :
" Between five and ten minutes to 12 o'clock on Sunday morning last, shortly
before the conclusion of the sermon, the gable end of the chancel of S. Michael's
church, Derby, gave way, and the casing fell with a heavy crash into the church-
yard. The fall of the material shook the fabric of the church, and, as might be
expected, spread consternation through those assembled within its walls. The
service was prematurely concluded, and the congregation, in a state of great terror
and alarm, hurried out of the sacred edifice. Fortunately no accident was sus-
tained. Service has been since suspended, and some little time, it it supposed,
will elapse before it is resumed."
It was eventually decided to build a new church on the same
site and of much the same proportions. On the south-east pier
of the tower is a brass plate, thus inscribed :
" To the glory of God and for the souls of men this Church was rebuilt on the
site of the ancient parish church of unknown antiquity, the chancel of which fell
during divine service on Aug. 17th, 1856.
" The foundation stone beneath this brass was laid by T. W. Evans, Esq., M.P.,
on April 16th, 1857, and the church was reopened by the Et. Eev. the Lord
Bishop of Lichfield on April 18th, 1858.
J. Erskine Clarke, Vicar.
Thomas Branton, 1
B. Hemmingway, S Churchwardens.
Committee
S. Brookes J. Holmes
S. Cropper H. M. Holmes
W. Cubley J. F. King
M. Eggleston H. Lougdon
E. Thompson.
H. I. Stevens, architect."
Neither the present church nor its predecessor contained any
monument of age or interest. Bassano looked into the church in
1710, and all he had to say was: "Here is nothing in y 8 church
save only y e charities hung up in 3 frames."
There were three bells in this church. The two smaller ones,
being broken, were recast by George Oldfield, in 1765, at an
expense of <9 5s. Od. There is now only one, inscribed :
"Eev. N. Bayley, Vicar. W. Berkin, D. Walker, Wardens. 1809. Thomas
Mears & Son of London, fecit."
two of them having been sold when the church was rebuilt.
136 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
The earliest register book is a small, thin parchment volume,
very well kept and in good condition, beginning November 9th,
1559. There are no entries between 1586 and 1593, There are
twenty-one entries of death from the plague * between May and
August, 1593, but nothing else worthy of special record.
The church possesses some remarkably fine and massive Euchar-
istic plate, consisting of a large flagon, chalice, and paten. They
all bear the arms of Parker, and this inscription : " The gift of
Francis Parker, of St. Michael's parish in Derby, 1765."
* See note on All Saints' registers.
ALVASTON. 137
jjHE gift to Darley Abbey of the church of S. Michael,
by William Fitzralph, included the chapel of Alvasto
Geoffrey Alselin held the manor of Alvaston, as well as
Elvaston, etc., at the time of the Domesday Survey, but by some
means it soon afterwards passed to Fitzralph. His daughter,
Edelina, was the first wife of Hubert Fitzralph, Baron of Crich,*
and brought to her husband the manor of Alvaston. Their
daughter and heiress, Juliana, married Anker de Frecheville,t and
the earliest extended information pertaining to Alvaston church or
chapel, that we have met with, relates to Anker de Frecheville,
their grandson. The Frechevilles appear to have laid claim to
the advowson, and in 1257 an agreement was entered into,
between Walter de Walton, abbot of Darley, and Anker de Freche-
ville, by which the latter consents to recognise the church of
Alvaston tl tanquam capelV perdnentem ad matricem Ec>-lesiam suam
Sci Michael Derb'," and the abbot gives Anker 15 marks for freely
giving up his claim. J
In 1262 a memorandum was drawn up between the abbot of
Darley and the prior of Shelford, respecting the tithes of Elvaston
and Alvaston, the former as rectors of Alvaston, and the latter
as rectors of Elvastou. The point at issue was with respect to
a field called Mulnefield, which seems to have been partly in
the parish of Elvaston and partly in that of S. Michael's. It
is described as being on the east of the way called Nunnedik,
leading from the town of Alvaston to the mill of Burchmulne.
The matter was referred to the arbitration of John de Weston, and
William, rector of the church of S. Michael, Nottingham, who
delivered their decision in the church of All Saints, Derby, on
* See the previous account of Crich.
t Nichols' Collectanea, vol. i.. p. i, etc.
I Darley Chartulary, Cole MSS., vol. xxi., p. 179.
138 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
S. Matthew's day, 1262. The judgment was to the effect that the
priory (subject to a penalty of ten marks) was to have the tithes,
but on condition of paying annually 12J. to the abbey on the feast
of S. Michael.*
The following agreement was entered into in 1279, between the
abbey of Darley and the parishioners of the chapelry of Alvaston,
relative to the re-building or repair of the chancel, and the finding
of books and ornaments for the chancel altar, and also concern-
ing a meadow, called Prestesmedue (priest's meadow), which the
parishioners asserted had been given to the chapel for keeping a
lamp burning. The case having been argued before John Peck-
ham, Archbishop of Canterbury, it was decided that half of the
cost of the repairs or re-building that might be requisite from
time to time in the fabric, as well as of providing books, a chalice,
and proper vestments for the altar of the chancel, should be borne
by the abbey, and half by the parishioners that the priest's
meadow, then in possession of the abbey, should remain with them
but only on the condition that the abbot should pay yearly for
the lamps of the chapel, two shillings on the feast of S. Michael
and that, with respect to the five marks and a half already handed
over by the abbey to the parishioners for the repair of the chancel,
whatever has not been thus spent should be returned to the abbot,
and the parish were to expend a like sum whenever repairs were
necessary, before calling on the abbey for any further money .f
The monks of Darley in 1440 petitioned William Heyworth,
Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, to unite the chapelry of Alvas-
ton to the parish church, on the grounds that the inhabitants of
Alvaston were not so numerous as to require two priests, that the
distance to the mother church was not inconveniently great, and
that S. Michael's was so poor that the profits were not sufficient
for the due support of a vicar. A commission was accordingly
issued, on September 16th, to Gregory Newporte, rector of Hanbury,
to inquire into and settle the matter as the Bishop's commissary.
His decision was to the effect that the inhabitants of Alvaston
should thenceforth attend divine service at S. Michael's, and receive
the Sacraments at the hands of the vicar, and that the abbey and
vicar should be exonerated from finding a chaplain or chaplains to
serve at the chapel of Alvaston. This sentence was published in
the church of S. Peter, Derby, on December 16th, 1440, in the
* Darley Chartulary, Cott. MSS., Titus, C. ix., f. 80.
t Ibid., f. 91.
ALVASTON. 139
presence of John Lawe, canon and sub dean of All Saints' ; John
Ryggeway, vicar of S. Peter's ; and John Yvo, chantry priest of
Chaddesden. *
In course of time the inhabitants of Alvaston appear to have
become dissatisfied with the arrangement by which they were
deprived of their chaplain no doubt through the inconvenience of
attending a church three miles distant. Various disputes arising
out of this state of affairs between the abbot and the parishioners,
the matter was in 1499 again referred to the Bishop of the diocese
(then John Arundel), who on the 10th of March affixed his official
seal to the following agreement : That the abbot should have, as
heretofore, the tithes of corn in Alvaston ; that there should be
perpetually a chaplain in the chapel of Alvaston, sustained by the
lesser tithes and oblations of that place ; that he should serve the
cure and administer the Sacraments under the vicar of S. Michael,
by whom he was to be appointed on the nomination of the
parishioners ; that if the parishioners neglected to nominate within
three weeks of the death or removal of the last chaplain, the
nomination should pass to the vicar ; that all the lesser tithes
were to be collected by the inhabitants for the chaplain, except the
tithes of hay which were to go to the abbot ; that the vicar of
S. Michael's, as compensation, was to receive annually 3 of the
inhabitants of Alvaston ; and that the inhabitants were to attend
S. Michael's once a year viz., on the Feast of Beliques. Heavy
penalties were provided to ensure the fulfilment of the last two
clauses.
The Valor Ecclesiasticus (27 Henry VIII.) gives the annual clear
value of the curacy at 4 4s. Od., being derived from a mansion,
Easter dues, and the tithes of lambs, wool, flax, pigs, and geese.
The Chantry Roll, 1 and 2 Edward IV., has the following entry
pertaining to Alvaston :
" S* MYGHELL'S DEBBIE. The Service of James Tylleslye clerke in the Chappell
of Alvaston presented appointed and lymyted att the will and pleasure of the
Church masters and inhabitants. There dothe mynystre all maner of Sacraments
and Sacramentalls. The Pryste hathe towards hys lyvyng all maner of tythes
and duties belongynge to the Chappell except tythe corne and haye w b belonge
to the Vicar there iiijZi. iiijs. clere iiijZi. iiijs. James Tylleslye preste. It hathe
bene called the parishe churche tyme owte of remembraunce whereunto resortyth
iiij xx howselynge people. Chalys plate Jewells or ornaments butt suche as the
iuhabitauntss did by and fynde."
* Lichfield Episcopal Registers, vol. xv., f. 58. There is a full translation of this
and the next quoted document in vol. iii. of the Reliquary, from the pen of Rev. B.
Poole, incumbent of Alvaston and Boulton. We desire to express pur grateful
acknowledgments to that gentleman for kindly furnishing us with much information.
140 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
The ^Commissioners for Church Goods, 6 Edward IV., thus
report :
" Alvaston, Oct. 5. Sir Thos. Pegge curat. j chalece parcell gylte of sylver
ij bells in the frame ij vestments, j of blew sylke and j of twylle ij albes ij
amysses j hand bell ij alter clotthe j crosse of wood coveryd with brasse
j towell j coope of twylle j sacryng bell j crewett of puter j old eurples
j corporas with a case."
1499 - down wards the inhabitants have appointed their own
minister, and the cure has generally been held together with that
of the closely-adjacent chapel of Boulton, in S. Peter's parish.
The two townships intersect one another in a most intricate
manner. The oldest register book, commencing in 1614, is
described as the joint register of Alvaston and Boulton. The fol-
lowing list of the curates or incumbents of Alvaston is chiefly
taken from these registers :
Thomas Hyechynson. Valor Ecclesiasticus, 1535.
James Tylleslye, 1548.
Thomas Pegge, 1553.
John Edmunds, commenced the register 1614, buried 1639.
Thomas Pallfreman, mentioned in 1663.
T. V. Grongnet, mentioned in 1698.
Hugh Broome" came hither Easter, 1702."
Charles Williamott, mentioned 1715.
William Lockett, " came hither March 29th, 1716," resigned October 16th, 1722.
Thomas Shipton, "came hither at Michaelmas,* 1722," died in 1774.
Joseph Smith, "licensed to Alvaston, Boulton, and Osmaston, 29th of July,
1774."
William Spencer, 1809, on the death of J. S.
Edward Poole, 1843, on the death of W. S.f
That there was a church or chapel here in the Saxon times,
with burial rights attached to it, is proved by the remarkable
sepulchral slab (Plate VII., fig. 2) found under the foundations of
the old tower, and which has within the present year (1878) been
happily placed within the shelter of the porch, after many years'
exposure to the weather in the churchyard. We have never yet
met with a similar pattern on a sepulchral slab, or found one
depicted in works such as those of Cutts or Boutell. It should be
compared with the cross on the side of the conical Saxon capital
of old S. Alkmund's (Plate V.). Its design seems to have been
taken from a jewelled processional cross. Another slab, having an
* This is the first incumbent of Alvaston whose name we have met with in the
Episcopal Registers.
f On the death of Mr. Spencer (who was also vicar of Dronfield), there were two
nominations for the Bishop's licence, viz. Mr. Poole on the nomination of the parish-
ioners generally, and Mr. Highmore on the nomination of freeholders only. The
matter was referred to arbitration, and the decision given in favour of the former.
ALVASTON. 141
incised cross, but with a circular bead and of no unusual pattern,
was found at the same time. It is of twelfth-century date, and
has also now been fixed against the inner wall of the porch.
The present church which consists of nave, side aisles, chancel,
and west tower was built, in the Perpendicular style, on the site
of the old building in the year 1856, at a cost of about 2,200.
At the east end of the north aisle is a plate thus inscribed :
" The foundation stone of this new parish church of Alvaston was laid in faith
and hope A.D. 1855. The head stone was brought forth in love and praise June
25th, 1856.
Building Committee :
Edward Poole, Incumbent.
Charles Holbrooke
Richard Henshaw
James Osborne, James Hollingworth.
Chronicles xxix. 9.'
j Church Wardens.
Against the east wall of the south aisle is an alabaster slab,
bearing the following inscription :
" Here beneath lieth buried the body of Eaphe Newham late of Alvaston
yeoman who had in lawfull marriage two wives, Margaret the daughter of John
Hill of Alvaston, by the which Margery hee had issue foure sonnes, and shee died
the 27 of August 1579. Also hee had Margret the daughter of Raphe Bencroft of
Chellerston, by whom hee had issue five sonnes and nine daughters, and the said
Raphe died the 17 of October 1617."
In the chancel are eighteenth century monuments to the Alles-
trees and Borrows. Over the altar is a remarkably good specimen
of beaten-iron work (Plate VI.), supposed by competent judges to
be the handiwork of the celebrated artificer, Huntingdon Shaw ;
but we are inclined to give the credit to a Derby craftsman, Bake-
well, who executed the iron work at All Saints'. It consists of the
figure of an angel with a trumpet probably intended for the
Archangel Michael surrounded by scroll work, and the verse,
" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill
towards men," inscribed below. This reredos of iron work was
given to the church by one Charles Benskin, of Alvaston, about
the beginning of last century, as well as an altar cloth of fine
crimson velvet, with heavy bullion fringe, still in use. He contri-
buted munificently towards the augmentation of the curacies of
Alvaston, Boulton, and Osmaston, and he was also a benefactor to
S. Werburgh's Church, Derby as we afterwards note and lies
buried under a weighty uninscribed tomb close to the west side of
the tower. We find, from the registers, that he was buried on
April 17th, 1739.
In the south chancel wall is a small piscina in an ogee-shaped
142 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
recess, and having an octagon drain. It is of fourteenth century
date. On the opposite side of the chancel is a vestry, wherein is
a cupboard made of the oak of the pulpit and other panels of
the former church. On it is inscribed : "Hugh Broome Cura* Ano.
Do. 1703," and in another place, " C.B. R.N. C.W. 1714."
The tower contains two bells :
I. "God save his Church, 1662," and the bell-mark of George
Oldfield. Diameter at mouth, twenty-eight inches,
II. " In honore beate Marie," a mediaeval bell, with inscription
in Lombardic capitals. Diameter, thirty-two inches.
Having now made mention of all the details removed to the
present building from the old church, it remains for us to say a
few words respecting the fabric of its predecessor ; and this we
are enabled to do with some accuracy, from the drawings and
descriptions of Mr. Rawlins and Mr. Meynell. It consisted of a
nave and chancel whose united area was 65 ft. 5 in. by 16 ft., a
south porch, and a tower at the east end. This tower, Mr. Mey-
nell, writing about 1812, says had been then erected about forty
years; its predecessor is supposed to have suffered much injury
from either a severe storm or from a shock of earthquake. The
roofs of both nave and chancel were fiat and unembattled. There
were three square-headed Perpendicular windows in the south nave
wall, pointing to a general restoration of the building when
regular service was resumed here in 1499. The side windows and
priest's door of the chancel were of a plain debased character.
The three-light east window was of an exceptionally chaste design,
pertaining to the Decorated period, about the middle of the four-
teenth century. The beautiful tracery of this window, in a fairly
perfect condition, was re-erected in the grounds of a house not far
from the church. We give a drawing of it on Plate VI.*
The dedication of this church has generally been considered to
be unknown. But the same dedication as the mother church (S.
Michael) is given in Ecton's 'lliesaurus (1742), and this is repeated
by Mr. Eawlins, whom we have always found to be scrupulously
accurate in this particular. We have therefore no hesitation in
assigning it to S. Michael.
The registers, which relate jointly to Alvaston and Boulton,
begin in 1614.
* For the drawings of several details of the churches of Alvaston and Boulton, we
are indebted to the kindness of Mr. Jobson, chtirchwarden of Alvaston. It was at that
gentleman's expense that the ancient slabs were recently removed for preservation to
the porch.
TQonnanfon,
|HE church of S. Peter, Derby, in the time of Edward
the Confessor, pertained to one Leuric, and at the time
of the compilation of the Domesday Survey (1086) it
was in the hands of Ealph FitzHubert.* Eobert, Earl Ferrers,
one of the chief benefactors of the abbey of Darley, gave the
church of S. Peter to that abbey in the reign of Stephen, accord-
ing to one charter ; but this was probably only as feudal lord, and
not as the immediate donor, t In the first year of Henry II., an
inquisition was held at Derby before a mixed jury of clergy and
laity, who decided that the church of S. Peter had been founded
and built on the patrimony of Hugh, dean of Derby (i.e., of All
Saints'), and that to him pertained the advowson of the church.|
This Hugh probably a descendant of Ealph FitzHubert was the
donor of the site of Darley abbey, in fact its chief founder, and
before this date he had conveyed the advowson to the abbey. The
charter detailing this gift having been accidentally burnt, a new deed
was made out, and the grant confirmed in the names of three of the
burgesses of the town John de Londiniis, Peter Ingram, and John
de la Cornere, who were descendants of Dean Hugh. The grant
was also confirmed by Walter Durdent, who held the see of
Coventry and Lichfield from 1149 to 1161.
The gift of this church seemed, almost from the outset, to imply
more than placing the advowson in the hands of the monks, for
* Ealph Fitzhubert held the manor of Boulton in this parish, so that we have little
or no hesitation in identifying his Derby church with S. Peter's.
t Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. i., p. 231.
t Chartulary of Darley Abbey, Cotfc. MSS., Titus C. ix., f. 56. See Appendix
No. VII.
Ibid, f. 16b.
11
146 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
as early as the time of Henry II. there was a vicar of S. Peter's.
The vicar was endowed with the usual small tithes, such as lambs,
wool, hay, etc., and was also entitled to receive all the altar fees
and offerings ; but for the latter privilege he was to pay annually
to the abbey the sum of three marks, an arrangement which
received the episcopal sanction of Bishops Geoffrey (1198-1215)
and William (1215-24).* As Derby increased in population, the
offerings and fees at S. Peter's became of more value, and the
abbey procured the episcopal consent to an alteration of this
arrangement, by which the abbot was to receive five instead of
three marks annually. It was stated that this sum was to be paid
without fail, and that no plea of poverty arising from war or the
barrenness of the land would be admitted as an excuse. The
abbot, on his side, pledged himself to pay all the episcopal and
synodical dues as rector, and to provide a pension for any vicar
who might be disabled from sickness or any personal infirmity.t
Robert de Hylton, who was vicar of S. Peter's circa 1270, gave
a mediety of a toft and buildings in Walle Street, Derby, to the
abbey of Darley ; and we find that the property was subsequently
held on the tenure of paying 6d. annually to the sacristan of
Darley Abbey, and the like sum annually towards the maintenance
of a lamp before the high altar of S. Peter 's.J
The Valor of Pope Nicholas (1291) estimated the total annual
revenues of this church at 13 6s. 8d. The clear annual value
of the vicarage in the time of Henry VIII. was 8.
The monks of Darley, foreseeing their speedy dissolution, sold
the next presentation to S. Peter's vicarage, to Peter Marten, of
Stapelford. His executors were allowed to present in 1552 ; but it
was then resumed by the crown, and granted by letters patent to
the Babingtons. But on the accession of Queen Mary, the advow-
son of S. Peter's was included in her munificent grant to the
Bailiffs and Burgesses of the town of Derby. Queen Elizabeth
seems to have set aside this grant of Queen Mary ; and on the
forfeiture of the Babington estates in 1588, through a charge of
high treason, the advowson was granted by the crown to Sir
Francis Beaumont, of Gracedieu, justice of the Common Pleas.
Sir Henry Beaumont, son and heir of Sir Francis, dying in 1605,
his principal estates, including this advowson, passed to his post-
Ibid, ft. 155, 155b.
t Ibid, f. 156.
{ Ibid, f . 83b.
s. PETER'S. 147
humous daughter, Barbara, who married (1) Sir John Harpur, by
which alliance there was no issue, and (2) Sir Wolstau Dixie. :;:
When the living became vacant on the death of John Bay lie in
1628, the town of Derby claimed the right to present under Queen
Mary's charter. The claim was resisted, though not successfully ;
but at the time of the Eestoration, the Dixie family obtained undis-
puted possession of it, and continued to present until the present
century, when the living was sold to trustees.
In the time of the 'Commonwealth the living was considerably
augmented. The following is the report of the Parliamentary
Commissioners of 1650: " Peeters is a vicca ridge really worth
fortye pounds per annum, and an augmentacou of eight and thirtye
pounds per annum forth of the said Rectory of Glossop,f and the
tytlie haye of Litchurch sequestred from the Earle of Newcastle
worth twelve pound per annum, divers chappels apperteyning."
The following list of vicars is chiefly compiled from the Lich-
field registers and the returns of the First Fruits Office : -
1155. circa, Ralph. Barley Chartulary.
1245. circa, Peter. Barley Chartulary.
1270. circa, Robert de Hylton. Barley Chartulary.
1305. Robert de Alsop.
. Thomas
1349. William de Clifton ; on the death of T. W. de C. resigned S. Michael's to
accept this preferment.
1357. John de Norton. On the death of W. de C.
. Richard de Crumleye.
1360. William de Burton. On the resignation of R. de C.
. John Duffleld.
1433. John Ryggeway. On the resignation of J. B.
1475. John Loughborow. On the death of J. R.
1489. Richard Dermeyne. On the death of J. L. Collated by the Bishop.
1497. Nicholas Kay. On the resignation of R. B., to whom a pension of four
marks was assigned under the episcopal seal.
1528. William Collier ; patron, Ralph "Whitened, for this turn, by leave of the
abbot of Barley. On the death of N. K.
1552. William Stanbanke ; patrons, John Martell alias Marten, and Richard
Marten, executors? of Peter Marten, of Stapelforth, by arrangement with
the lately dissolved abbey. On the death of W. C.
1572. Elizeus Byrfoote ; patron, Balph Mynars, for this turn, by the concession
of John Babiugton. On the death of W. S.
* A schedule of the property of this infant heiress, taken when only seven months
and five days old, specifies, inter alia, the manor of Cottons or Cotton in Normantoii
township, also Normantoii Grange, that had pertained to Barley Abbey, all the tythes
of corn and hay in Normanton, and the advowson of the church of S. Peter's, valued
conjointly at the yearly sum of =17 19s. 2d. From the original schedule, kindly lent
to me, by the Rev. W. Hope, the present vicar.
t Churches of Derbyshire, vol. ii., p. 200. The Committee of plundered ministers
ordered that, out of the sequestered impropriate tithes of G-lossop, i'70 should be
paid to the minister of All Saints' ; '30 to S. Werburgh's ; 38 to S. Peter's ; 50 to
Chesterfield; 40 to Mellor; i'50 to Hayfield; '50 to Brassington ; 40 to Stony
Middleton ; and 1'30 to Ockbrook.
148 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
1582. William Stanton. Buried 1596, Parish Registers.
1596. Robert Mason ;* patron, Sir Francis Beaumont, of Gracedieu.
1608. John Baylie ; patrons, the trustees of Barbara, daughter of Sir Henry
Beaumont.
1628. John Wyersdale. On the death of J. B.; patrons, the bailiffs and bur-
gesses of Derby.
1648. Robert Gee.f Parish Registers.
. Walter Taylor.
1656. Luke Cranwell ;J patrons, the mayor and burgesses of Derby. On the
death of W. T.
1662. Thomas AUestree ; patron, Beaumont Dixie. On the ejection of L. C.
1664. William Osborne ; patron, Beaumont Dixie. On the resignation of T. A.
1712. James Orton; patron, Sir Wolston Dixie. On the death of W. O.
1715. Henry Greene; patron, Sir Wolston Dixie. On the death of J. O.
1749. Henry Offley Wright ; patron, Sir Wolston Dixie. On the death of H. G.
1773. Beaumont Dixie ; patron, Willoughby Dixie.
* The following is a verbatim copy of a letter from this vicar relative to the dispute
pertaining to the presentation :
" To my very loving freude
M 1 Thomas Levinge at his
house in Derby give these
" Good Fr.
" I received your Ire by this bearer, for answere whereonto these may signify,
that I was sometyme vicare of S* Peters, I was presented thereonto by Francis Beau-
mont of Gracedieu one of y e justices of the Comon pleas, and was Instituted there
two and thirty yeare agoe, as it will appeare by my instruments, w h I am not willing
to let go out of my hand, because I know not what inconvenience may follow thereof.
This is all I can say for my certeine knowledge and will ever be ready to avow : And
so w th my best wishes to you leave you to God's blessing and rest.
Your loving frend
" Drayton, May y e 8 th , 1629. Eobert Mason."
t " Robertus Gee in Artibus magister Inductus fuit in vicar' Petri Darbieus*
November 15, 1648, per Mr. Swetnam and Mr. Bakewell. By the presentation of the
Hall of Darbie aforesaid. Mr. John Parker, Aldermane, and Mr. Domage beinge
present and manie other parishioners and neighbours." Parish Registers.
} The original presentation of Luke Cranwell is preserved at Lambeth Palace
Library (MSS. 944, f. 22). It is a small parchment document. 12 in. by 9, and runs as
follows : " To the Commission for approving of Public Preachers to all other person
or persons whatsoever that have or shall have sufficient power and authority in this
behalf Greeting, Wee the Mayor and Buigesses of the Burrow of Derby in the county
of Derby, the sure and undoubted Patrons of the vicarage of S* Peters in Derby, now
voyd by the death of Walter Taylor the last incumbent thereof, and to our Present-
ation of full right belonging, Doe by these presents present Luke Cranwell Clerke M r
of Artes to the sayd vicarage desireing that the said Luke Cranwell may be admitted
to and set in the vicarage of S* Peters in Derby aforesaid and inducted in all the
rights members and appurtenances thereof and that you doe perfect and execute all
the Articles and things necessary and requisite to bee done in the premises. In
Witness whereof we the said Mayor and Burgesses have put to the Common Scale of
the said Burrow the first day of July in the year of our Lord 1656.
(Signed) Tho. Sleigh, Mayor
Roger Allestry."
The following is Calamy's account of this vicar : " A knowing, couragious, zealous,
and upright Man. He was not very ready in Elocution ; but very Scriptural, Solid
and Substantial in all his Discourses. His Sermons when look'd over by Writers, or
thought over by Understanding Hearers, were found to be full of Divinity. He had
some competent Skill in Physick before he was Sileuc'd. When he was no longer
suffer'd to exercise his Ministry publicly, he resolv'd to try what he could do in the
other Faculty. He betook himself to serve bodies, and he grew very Judicious and
Skilful, Famous and Successful. Hereby he maintiau'd himself and his Family very
comfortably, kept good Hospitality ; and he did as readily help his Bretheren, and
the Poor among his Neighbours, without any Desire or Expectation of Fees, as he did
the Rich and greatest. He had a working Head. He understood well what he read,
and found out some Magistrals of his own, some happy and effectual Medicines. He
was a chearful Man and to appearance very strong, but when he began to decline, he
ran down speedily. That he might be out of reach of the Oxford Act, he went to
Kegworth in Leicestershire where he dyed, Nov. 11, 1683; on the Lord's Day."
Ejected Ministers, vol. ii., p. 165.
s. PETER'S. 149
1786. Thomas Wright; patron, Willoughby Dixie.
1788. Richard Rowland Ward; patron, Willoughby Dixie. On the resignation
of T. W.
1834. Charles Wright; patrons, Henry Wright, Thomas Wright, said Charles
Wright, Francis Wright, and Samuel Wright. On the death of R. R. W.
1847. William Hope; patron, Rev. Charles Wright. On the resignation of C. W'
In the year 1338 the sanction of the Bishop and of the Abbot
of Darley was obtained for the founding of a chantry in this
church, at the altar of the Blessed Virgin. The founders were
John de Crich, of Derby, priest, Walter de Shardlow, John de
Shardlow, Simon de Nottingham, Jordan le Walker, William de
Nottingham, and Adam de Leicester all of them being parish-
ioners of S. Peter's. The first named was the principal founder,
and the immediate object of the endowment was to provide for the
saying of daily mass for the soul of Geoffrey de Crich, of Derby,
who is described as a chief promoter of works of charity in that
town, and whom we believe to have been the father of John de
Crich. The vicar of S. Peter's for the time being was to be the
guardian (custosj of the chantry, and to have not only the power
of nominating a chaplain on a vacancy occurring by death or resig-
nation, but also of removing the chaplain and substituting another,
for any breach of decorum or lack of attention to his duties. If a
vacancy occurred, and the vicar neglected to nominate within a
month, the presentation passed to the Abbot of Darley ; and if he,
too, neglected to present within a like period, the Bishop was to
collate to the vacancy.* On April 12th, 1339, the royal license
was obtained by John de Crich for endowing this chantry with two
messuages, twenty-two acres of arable land, sevenpence in rents,
two parts of another messuage, and half an acre of meadow,
situate in Derby, Normauton, Alvaston, and Litchurch. For the
letters patent, licensing the alienation of this property, John de
Crich paid a fee of thirty shillings .t The chantry was not defi-
nitely established until 1342, when John de Crich himself was
collated first chaplain. The following list of -chaplains, extracted
from, the Episcopal Registers, shows that they were always insti-
tuted by the Bishop in the 14th century ; but this custom, as we
find no later institutions, seems to have afterwards died out.
1342. John de Crich. Collated by the Bishop. The chantry is described as in
the custody of Robert, vicar of S. Peter's.
1349. Walter Feelde; patron, Thomas, vicar of S. Peter's. On the death of
J. de C.
* Cotton MSS., Titus C. ix., f. 108b.
t Pat. Rot., 13 Edw. III., ft, 1, memb 22.
150 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
1356. Henry Spencer. Collated by the Bishop through lapse of time.
1358. Thomas Tichebroke; patron, J. de N., vicar of S. Peter's. Ou the
resignation of H. S.
1379. Henry Withy; patron, Laurence, abbot of Darley.
1382. Richard de Crich. On the resignation of H. W.
. William de Brenaston, vicar of Crich, exchanged his benefice for this
chantry with R. de C.
. H. Wether.
1391. John Foucher : patron, W. de B., vicar. On the death of H. W.
1398. William de Charnes. Collated by the Bishop through lapse of time.
The following is the statement in the Chantry Eoll, temp.
Edward III., respecting this chantry :
S T . PETER'S DERBY founded by J. Cruche Pryste Walter Shardelowe Simon de
Nottingham and Ade de Leycester for a pryst to say Masse daylye iiij li. Clere
vj li vj s. Gregorye HawxWell Chauntry pryst. Stock iiij s. vj. d.
The pension roll of Queen Mary assigns an annuity of 48s. 8d.
to Gregory Hawkswell.* His name was therein given as George,
but this was an error, as we shall subsequently find, from his
autograph on the walls of Morley Church. Part of the property
of this chantry was sold by the crown, 6 Edward VI., to Thomas
Cecill and John Bell, part to Edward Pease and James Wilson,
aud part to the Burgesses of Derby.
In the year 1348 another chantry was founded in this church, in
honour of S. Nicholas, by Adam de Shardlow. The Episcopal
Eegisters give us the name of John Hower as the first chaplain.
He was instituted in 1348, on the presentation of Adam de
Shardlow. The only other reference that we have found to this
chantry at Lichfield is under the year 1479, when Ealph Pole, of
Eadbourn, presents a chaplain, whose name is illegible. The fol-
lowing is the entry in the Chantry Eoll :
THE CHANTRY OF S T . NYCHOLAS founded by Adam Shardlowe by lycence of
K. Edwarde ... 6 July Ao Regni xxo. for a pryste to synge masse daylee at
S Nycholas alter xl s. Clere liiij s iiij d. Gamys Cheryholme chauntry pryst.
xxxix s iij d is claymed by German Pole, Esq. The incumbent hathe all neces-
saryes of the parisshe churche.
James Cherryholme obtained a pension of 53s. 4d. from the exche-
quer in the time of Queen Mary.
Eobert Liversage, a charitable and wealthy dyer of this parish
whose name has been already mentioned as a prominent benefactor
of the tower of All Saints' by deed dated November 3rd, 21
* Add. MSS., 8102, f. 49b. See appendix I. In a deed relative to some property
pertaining to All Saints' church, dated 4th March, 7 Edw. VI., Gregory Hawkswell is
mentioned as residing in a house in Bag Lane. There is a notion current in Derby
that Bag Lane is a name of modern devising, and that the street used to be called
Castle Gate. This is a complete error. We have met with the name Bag Lane in
charters, circa 1150.
s. PETER' 8. 151
Henry VIII., granted various tenements in Derby to William
Collier, vicar of the parish, and seven others, as trustees, after the
death of himself and his wife, to the intent that the rents should
be given to his priest, Ealph Ley, and his successors, for saying
daily mass, in a chapel within the parish church, for the souls of
the said Robert and Alice his wife ; and further, that on every
Friday thirteen poor men or women present at the mass should
each receive a silver penny. Tradition has it that the chapel per-
taining to Robert Liversage, shut off by a parclose or screen, was
at the east end of the nave on the north side, immediately in front
of the pulpit. The present vicar, Rev. W. Hope, tells us that he
has talked with those who recollected the "hearse" of Robert
Liversage standing within the parclose. This would probably be
the framework over the tomb, in which the funeral tapers would be
fixed. A portion of this parclose was discovered under the floor of
the pews when they were removed in 1859.
The church of S. Peter consists of nave and aisles, chancel,
north vestry, and tower at the west end. The following is the
area, according to Mr. Rawlins' measurements : Nave, 37 ft. 5 in.
by 20 ft. 6 in. ; north aisle, 86 ft. by 16 ft. 3 in. ; south aisle,
52 ft. 10 in. by 19 ft. ; and chancel, 38 ft. 6 in. by 22 ft. 11 in.
The greater length of the south aisle arises from the fact that the
tower is engaged on that side, and used to open into the aisle by
a lofty arch now closed.
The earliest work about the church is the Norman capitals to
the octagonal responds of the aisle arcades, on each side of the
chancel arch, and also the circular respond at the west end of the
south aisle. The nave is divided from each aisle by three pointed
arches, supported by circular columns on the north side, and by
octagon ones on the south. These arcades, as well as the windows
of the two aisles, are of 14th century date. The tracery of the
south- aisle windows is of a remarkable geometrical design, but that
of the north aisle is of a freer and apparently later character.
Probably the altar of Our Lady was in the south aisle, and that
of S. Nicholas in the north aisle ; but it may be well here to
remark, that although the dates seem very nearly to correspond
with the style, it is not necessary to suppose that the foundation
of chantries at altars in the aisles always implied the rebuilding
of those aisles. The south doorway is a good sample of Decorated
work. It has at different times, in its history been screened
by two successive porches, as is shown by the weather-Hues in
152 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
the masonry. But it has no porch now, nor did a porch form
part of the original design. Several drawings that we have
seen of this church early in the present century show a porch
that looks to be of Queen Anne date. This was removed in
1865. The south windows and general features of the chancel
are also of the Decorated period. Considerable alterations were
made in the fabric during the Perpendicular period, apparently
about the time of Henry VII. The high-pitch roofs were lowered,
the walls over the nave arcades raised, and clerestory windows of
three lights inserted, the chancel arch widened, the east end of the
chancel apparently curtailed of a bay and an east window of five
lights erected,* and the tower, with double bell-chamber windows,
rebuilt. The lower stage of the tower seems to be of earlier date;
at all events the fine lofty archway into the nave, with good con-
tinuous mouldings, is of the Decorated style. The nave and
chancel have embattled parapets. Below the clerestory parapets
are some remarkable gurgoyles. The three on the south side
represent, respectively an eagle holding a cat, a lion and child, a
bear and key. On the apex of the chancel gable is a shield
charged with the crossed keys of S. Peter.
The tower is said to have suffered from a shock of earthquake
about the year 1811, and a crack that can still be seen below the
south clerestory window nearest the tower is attributed to the same
cause.f In 1817, the tower was underpinned, and the lower part
of the west wall renewed in a substantial but unsightly fashion.
The chancel was restored in 1852, when the pews and large impro-
priator's gallery were removed, and the old roof timbers exposed
by the removal of the flat plaster ceiling. The south chancel
window nearest to the east, then blocked up, was filled with Per-
pendicular tracery to correspond with that in the east window.
The nave and aisles underwent a careful and judicious restoration
in 1859 under Mr. Street. The unsightly galleries J that blocked
up the interior of the church were at that time removed.
In 1865, an organ-chamber was made at the east end of the
north aisle, the south porch removed, and the interesting two-
* The tracery of this window closely resembles that of the east windows of the
churches of Duffield and Breadsall.
t This would he the same earth-quake or tornado that damaged the tower of Kirk
Ireton church ; see Churches of Derbyshire, vol. ii., p. 500.
J A faculty granted to Isaac Borrow by the Consistory Court, Lichfield, dated July
6th, 1714, gives him permission to erect a gallery, 20 ft. long by 16 broad, over the
south entrance to the church. The faculty recites that Isaac Burrow "armiger,
iucola, et paterfamilias " within the parish, although he had built an august and
magnificent mansion in the parish, had not a single seat within the church. To
obtain the faculty he paid five pounds towards the parish expenses.
s. PETER'S. 153
storied vestry on the north of the chancel was to a considerable
extent rebuilt. A remarkable squint, from the upper vestry to
the high altar, was at that time uncovered, and is still open.
A small piscina on the south side of the chancel is so close to
the east wall that it confirms the theory of a bay of the chancel
having been removed probably for the purpose of widening
the street. There is another piscina, with a trefoil niche, in
the south wall of the south aisle. On each side of the east
window of both aisles are the obvious places whence projecting
corbels have been broken off, and the same thing may be remarked
on the respond by the pulpit. Some portions of fresco painting
were exposed at the east end of the north aisle in 1859, of which
certain faint traces still remain. There are also some traces of
colour on several of the capitals of the columns, and also some
faintly-marked scrollwork on the jambs of the east window of the
south aisle. A stone coffin, containing a complete skeleton, was
found only a few inches below the floor, between the two pillars
of the north arcade.
The effective chancel screen of Perpendicular date, that found
here a sanctuary after it was discarded from the parish church of
Crich, has been already mentioned ; but there is another piece of
woodwork that should not escape notice. We allude to the remark-
ably fine carving of an old 14th century chest, now standing on
the north side of the chancel, and utilised for vestments (Plate
VII.) It is undoubtedly of Flemish workmanship. Similar ones
may be seen at Brancepeth, Durham ; at Wath, near Kipon ; at
Wroot, and at Haconby,* Lincolnshire. The poor-box affixed to
the south-west respond is also of old Flemish work, but was a
recent gift N to the church. The tie-beams of the nave roof give
the different dates at which it was repaired, though one at least
of them pertained to the original Perpendicular roof. On the beam
nearest the west is cut, " T. W. E. C. 1646 ;" and on the one
nearest the east, " W. 0. Vic. 1672. T. M. I. W. CH. W. T. M."
An embattled line on the west gable of the chancel shows below
the present roof, and its presence there is rather puzzling. Our
conjecture is that the roof of the chancel involving this altera-
tion was lowered some little time before the pitch of the nave
roof was changed.
Various incised sepulchral slabs were utilised in the 14th century
* The chest in Haconby church is most remarkably similar in all its details. In
Shaw's Furniture is a drawing of 'this chest, where it is described as circa 1350, or
rather earlier.
154 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
for the rebuilding of the walls. One fragment, with a circular
head, may be noted over the pulpit ; another in the north aisle,
over the arcade ; and several in the south wall of the south aisle.
They seem to be of the 12th century. At the east end of the
south aisle is a piece of a massive coffin-lid, ornamented with a
cross in relief, which is of Early English date. A slab of unusual
design, which appears to pertain to early in the 13th century, is
given on Plate VII. It is built into the south wall, near the floor
level.
Against the west wall of the south aisle are two fragments of
alabaster slabs. One of these bears the lower half of a female
figure, and the following portion of a marginal inscription :
" erne et filia Johis Fowcher * que obiit t - .r die mensis
NovemV in Vigilia Sci Andrie anno dni MCCCC "
The other fragment shows the foot of a man in the centre, with
boy's feet to his left, and the following remnant of an inscrip-
tion : " . . . . ni MCCCCCIV et Elena obi it iiii ilie Fcbr'
anno dni M . . . " There is also a shield charged with three
stirrups (?)t and the words "... ppicietur deus" by it.
Several 17th century monuments the inscriptions of which were
taken by Bassano in 1710, and have been reproduced in Simpson's
Derby have long since disappeared. On a brass plate against the
east wall of the .south aisle is this inscription :
"Elizabeth Wilcocks sometyme servant unto the right worshipful S r John
Stanhope of Elvaston in the County of Derby, Knight, did, by her last will and
testament, give unto the poore of the several parishes of Ashwell in the County
of Rutland, of Alvaston in the said County of Derby, and of S* Peter's in the
towne of Derby, one messuage or tenement with the appurtenances situate and
being nigh S* Peters bridge end in Derby aforesaid, Now or late in the tenure or
occupation of one Anthony Spicer. The rents and profltts thereof yearly to be
distributed amongst the poore of the said parishes upon the feast day of S*
Thomas the Apostle, by the Executors during their lives, and after their decease
by the Parsons or Vicars and Churchwardens of the said parishes for the tyme
being for ever, in manner and fome following (viz*). To the poore of the parish
of Ashwell aforesaid, one half of the yearly profltts of the said messuage or tene-
ment to be equally divided into two parts, and one part thereof to the poore of
the said parishe of Elvaston, and the other part thereof to the poore of the said
parish of S* Peters. She dyed the 12 th day of July Anno Dui 1648.
I. C. ) C H : War.
T. W. / 1652."
* The family of Foucher were at an early date considerable landowners at Osmastin,
in this parish, as will be subsequently noted. They were extinct at the time of the
Heraldic Visitations, temp. Elizabeth, so that we have no accurate pedigrees. One of
the family was chaplain to the chantry of Our Lady in this church, as has been
already seen, from 1391 to 1398. A lady of the family, Joan Foucher, was instituted
prioress of the convent of S. Mary's, Derby, in 1334. Lichfield Episcopal Registers.
t The Giffard arms were az.. three stirrups with leathers, or. Their connection
with this county is shown in Churches of Derbyshire, vol, iii., p. 92, etc.
PLATE VI.
s. PETER'S. 155
The tower contains a ring of five bells :
I. "Jesus be our speed - John Daye T. H. 1636."
II. "God save our King, 1636."
III. "Jos : Taberer & Hen. Every Ch- Wardens," the founder's
mark of Abraham Eudhall, and the date " 1738."
IV. " Gloria Deo in excelsis. William Duffield, Thomas Skinner,
CWTH., 1636."
V. "! to the Church the living call,
& to the grave do summon all, 1769."
The oldest register begins in March, 1558. Down to the year
1591 it is a transcript of an older one, made by the hand of
Kobert Mason, vicar. There are three considerable blanks within
these years viz., from July, 1558, to August, 1560 ; from Feb-
ruary, 1570, to April, 1572 ; and from September, 1576, to July,
1582. There is also a gap of five months in the year 1605.
There are several entries relative to deaths from the Plague at
different periods, but these we have already enumerated in a note
to All Saints' registers. In the years 1658-60 the burials of many
"prisoners" are entered e.y., "1658, October 23, Henry Lummas,
prisoner of Bagshaw in Chappell parish;" and "1660, September 6,
Gervise Price a prisoner of the towne of Tickill in Yorkshire."
Those acquainted with Hutton's entertaining History of Derby, will
recollect his story of one Noah Bullock, who called his three sons
Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and built an ark on the Derwent, where
he resided, and for a long time carried on, with the aid of his
sons, the unpatriarchal occupation of a coiner of false money. From
S. Peter's registers we find that his sons were actually baptised by
these names, being respectively christened in the years 1670, 1672,
and 1681. Noah Bullock was married to Anna Clarke in 1667,
and, in addition to the three sons already mentioned, they had
also a son Benjamin, and five daughters Anna, Eebecca, Jephtha,
Maria, and Elizabeth. Noah, having escaped the halter through
the clemency of Sir Simon Degge, died a natural death in 1687.
The chalice of the Eucharistic plate is thus inscribed :
" The silver of this chalice given by Elizabeth Willughby 1666 was remodelled
in the year of grace 1857 in honour of God and for use of the Church of St
Peter's Derby. "W. Hope, M.A. Vicar, Eobert Russell, William Cantrell, Church-
wardens."
The paten and flagon were at the same time recast from the old
silver ones, given by Thomas Swinerton in the year 1686.
156 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
of Boulton.
[HE manor of Boulton, within the parish of S. Peter,
belonged, at the time of the Domesday Survey, to Kalph
Fitzhubert. Shortly afterwards it seems to have passed
to the family of Sacheverell. Eents to the value of twelve shil-
lings per annum were given to the chapel of Boulton, as early as
the reign of Henry II., by Kobert de Sacheverell. This gift was
confirmed, in the reign of King John, by Oliver de Sacheverell,
grandson of Eobert. Further lands were given to the chapel by
the same family, in the early part of the reign of Henry III.,
which grants were confirmed by Sir Patrick de Sacheverell, son of
Oliver, in 1250. Sir Eobert de Sacheverell, son of Sir Patrick by
Joan, daughter of Eobert de Vavasour, not only claimed to present
to a vacancy in the chaplaincy which occurred in 1271 but al^o
contended that Boulton was an independent church. In this claim
he was resisted by the Abbot of Darley, as rector of S. Peter's.
A writ was issued to Sir Hugh de Babiugtou, sheriff of Derby
and Nottingham, enjoining him to empanel a jury of twelve free-
men acquainted with the district to try the case. The cause was
heard on the Wednesday following the feast of the Assumption,
when it was agreed that Sir Eobert de Sacheverell, in consideration
of twenty marks paid to him by the abbot, should recognise the
chapel of Boultou as in the parish of S. Peter, and therefore per-
taining to the abbey of Darley. Sir Eobert was to nominate a
suitable priest, who was to be admitted to the chaplaincy by the
abbot. The chaplain was to have for his support the messuage,
the three bovates of land, the nine sellifms of land, and the twelve
shillings in rents all within the town and territory of Boulton
BOULTON. 157
which the ancestors of Sir Eobert had bestowed upon the chapel.
It was also agreed that the chaplain was to have the small tithes,
in the same way as Eobert, the lately-deceased chaplain, who had
been presented by Geoffrey Barri, the guardian of Patrick de
Sacheverell.
On the feast of S. Michael, in the same year, a further agree-
ment as to details was drawn up between the parties, when it
was settled that the chaplain was to be subject to the mother
church of S. Peter ; that he was to be removable by the abbot, if
neglecting his duty ; that the abbot was to pay one mark annually
to the chaplain half at the feast of the Purification, and half at
the feast of S. James ; that the tithes and preventions of the
house and family of Eobert de Sacheverell and his heirs, together
with all oblations, were to go to the chaplain ; that the tithes of
corn were to be received by the abbot, but that the lesser tithes
pertained to the vicar of S. Peter's. This agreement was again
finally confirmed by Sacheverell and the abbot at Easter, 1280.*
The Chantry Eoll of the first year of Edward VI. says :
" The Chappell in BOUGHTON founded by Eoberte Zachaverell to mynyster
Sacraments and Sacramentalls ijs. viijd. clere xlvijs. viijd. besyds iiijs. to the
Kyng. Sir Humfreye Shelley Curate. It is distante from the Parishe Churche
ij miles. A mancyon praised at vs. by yere. Stock lijs. vijd."
The Church Goods Commissioners, 6 Edward VI., give the
following inventory of this chapel :
" Oct. 5 th Humfraye Shelley curat. i chalice parcell gylte of sylver ij belles
in the steple j coope of twylle j vestemeiit of dun sylke with j albe iij aulter
clothes j towell j handbell j corporas with j case j surples."
Iii the year 1550 the crown alienated the chaplain's house at
Boulton, together with the whole of the endowments given by the
Sacheverells to the chapel, and granted them to Thomas Eeve and
George Cotton,t though it was clearly a great stretch of the statute
that could bring these endowments under the head of " super-
stitious us.es," or of chantries proper, as there does not appear to
have been any stipulation as to masses attached to these bequests.
From the time that Edward VI. stripped Boulton of its endow-
Darley Chartulary, Cott. MSS., Titus C. ix., ff. 40b, 94b, 95, 100. The first settle-
ment of tiie Sacheverells in this county seems to have been at Boulton, and then at
Hopewell. It was not till the reign of Edward IV. that they obtained Morley, by
marriage with the heiress of Statham; see the pedigree (chiefly taken from Thoroton)
in Fox's History of Morley Church. Ralph Sacheverell died seized of the manor of
Boulton, 4 Hen. VII. ; William Sacheverell, who died 5 Philip & Mary, held 36 acres
here of the crown ; and Henry Sacheverell, in the reign of Elizabeth, also held lands
in Boulton. Meynell MSS.
t Patent Bolls, 3 Edw. VI., pt. 4, memb. 9.
158 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
merits, it seems to have been jointly served together with Alvaston
by one minister. In 1650, the Parliamentary Commissioners thus
report :
"Bolton a chappell reputed a member of Peters but hath beene long united
to Alvastone, the vicarall tythes worth five pounds per annum and fitt w th
Alvastone to be united to Elvastone."
It does not, however, seem that the alienation of the glebe
land which passed from Eeeve and Cotton to the family of
Burdett remained unresisted ; for in 1684 it was found that
Joseph Cope, clerk, had been for seven years chaplain of Boulton ;
and that the messuage, land, and tithes were of the yearly value
of 15 and upwards ; and that the small tithes arising in Boulton,
and belonging to the chapel (? to the vicar of S. Peter's), were of
the yearly value of 3; and that Sir F. Bui'dett had for ten years
received the rent and profits of the same messuage, lands, and
tithes ; and that Joseph Cope had for seven years taken all the
small tithes due within Boulton ; and that Sir F. Burdett should
pay to the said Joseph Cope 105, upon the 5th of October then
next, in the chapel of Boulton. for the profits for seven years.*
Boulton technically became a benefice in 1730 by augmentation
from Queen Anne's Bounty, which made the then curate a per-
petual curate.
The dedication of this church or chapel has not been hitherto
known, but we have found it more than once described in the Darley
Chartulary as the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The church
now consists of nave, north aisle, south porch, and chancel, having
been recently enlarged. Mr. Rawlins' notes, taken in 1824, give
the dimensions of the nave as 34 ft. by 18 ft. 10 in., and of the
chancel 21 ft. 3 in. by 13 ft. 4 in. In 1840 the church was
extended some twelve feet to the west, repewed, and generally
repaired at a cost of 483 8s. lOd. In 1871 it was again enlarged
and restored by the addition of a north aisle, a north chancel
vestry, and the substitution of a comely bell-turret on the west
gable for the mean wooden box that was placed there in 1841.
Previous to the latter date, as we find from a drawing of Mr.
Meynell's, there was a diminutive four-sided slated spire on the
west gable. The various alterations of this last restoration cost
1083 13s. 4d.
The south doorway, within the porch, is of Norman date. It
* From papers kindly lent mo hy Rev. E. Poole, vicar of Boulton and Alvaston.
BOULTON. 159
has a square doorcase aud rounded tympanum over it. The
moulding above the tympanum is of the chevron pattern, and on
the hood-mould is a lozenge pattern. The jambs have shafts and
capitals. Up to the time of the recent restoration the chancel
arch was also Norman, and ornamented with a double chevron
moulding ; but this has now been taken down, and the "best stones
re-used in constructing the doorway into the north vestry. Sir
Stephen Glynn's notes, taken May 5th, 1866, say that "one
window on the north of the nave is a small Norman one." This
deeply-splayed light, with an opening 20 in. by 6 in., has been
moved to the vestry. He also noticed a lancet window with a
trefoil head in the north wall of the chancel, near to the east end.
This used to be known by the name of the "Devil's Window."
It was supposed to be placed at such an angle of the building
as to admit the earliest rays of the rising sun, whereby the evil
spirits would be expelled from the church. The two sides of this
window were parted in 1871. and, a centre mullion being inserted, it
now serves as a two-light window in the north wall of the vestry.
This window was of Early English date, and to that time undoubt-
edly belong the two shallow buttresses at the angles of the
chancel. The two-light pointed east window, with a quatrefoil in
the apex, is of Decorated design, circa 1300. The top of this
window is cut off in the interior by a flat plaster ceiling. The
date of this roof, as well as of the two square-headed south windows,
divided by a plain central mullion, is probably given on a stone
built into the chancel gable, which bears "W. R. I. W. C. W.
1706."
The south wall of the nave was rebuilt in 1871 ; the windows
are of Perpendicular design. The porch, which is of fourteenth
century or Decorated date, has a doorway with cinquefoil folia-
tions. Its side windows are worth noting, as the upper part
of their interior splay is finished off in an unusual way.
Mr. Eawlins (1820) mentions, on the floor of the chancel, " an
alabaster slab, the effigy whereon was that of a priest now entirely
worn away from frequent passing over it, except the part from
the head to the waist." He also noticed, within the altar rails,
on another alabaster slab, " the faint remains of an Ecclesiastic
and his wife (?)." This alabaster, then wholly illegible, was used
in 1871 for the construction of a pulpit, the wood of the former
one being utilised for a vestry cupboard. Before the last altera-
tions there was a rounded founder's recess under one of the south
160 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
windows of the nave. If we look at the step to the altar, in front
of the rails, we shall find that it is in part composed of a long
narrow stone, six and a half feet long, i.e., just the length of the
old recess, on which there has heen at one time incised a cross,
some of the base of which still remains. This stone was in all
possibility moved here from its original position within the recess
in 1706, and is most likely the memorial of the Sacheverell who
originally founded this chapel.
During the alterations of 1840, several old encaustic tiles were
found. These are now in the pavement near the pulpit. One of
them has the monogram M, another is an alphabet tile, two of
them have heads like those of Edward I. and Eleanor, and on
another are two keys in saltire. This last one we believe to be
a hitherto unique pattern, see Plate VI. ; it doubtless came from
the tile kiln at Dale Abbey, for numerous tiles of the other
patterns have been found there during the autumn excavations
of 1878.
There is now a modern font. Eawlins speaks of it being
" circular and plain," probably the original Norman one. A
movable Norman stoup was recently rescued from an adjacent
farmyard, and now rests in the porch. It is of peculiar shape,
being embraced by four ribs (Plate VI.), and is much like the
old font recently replaced in the church of Darley Dale.
Of the two bells, one is altogether uninscribed and unmarked ;
on the other is" J. Taylor & Co Loughborough 1870." The
diameter of both of them is 19 inches.
The registers, kept in common with those of Alvaston, begin
in 1614.
On the back of the royal arms, recently removed from the
church, was written: "These Arms were painted by John Rother-
ham of Derby in the 61 st year of his age, 1793."
NORM ANTON. 161
Cljapelrg of Normanton.
I HAT there was a chapel here in early Norman days, cannot
be doubted, from the remains of work of that date in
the old fabric ; but the earliest historical mention that
we liave found of it occurs in the year 1288, when the abbot of
Davley, as rector of S. Peter's, had a dispute with the parishioners
of the chapel of Normanton respecting the repairs, etc., of the
building. It was settled, by an award of the Archdeacon of Derby-
shire, that the abbot was to repair the chancel, and to sustain all
the ornaments, except one missal, one chalice, and two vestments
for festivals, which were to be provided by the parishioners.* It
seems that the parishioners had hoped to succeed in compelling
the abbey to also repair the nave ; for they were large landowners
here, having had the manor of Normanton granted to them by the
crown in 1234.f The manor was granted to the Babingtons by
Henry VIII., on the dissolution of the abbey.
The Parliamentary Commissioners of 1650 say:
" Normanton is another chappell apperteyning to Peters the profitts thereof
is accompted for in the first mencioned fortye pounds and both Osmaston and
Normanton lye neare to Peters are fitt to continue (?) and both chappells
disused."
The old chapel consisted of nave and chancel, with a low tower
surmounted by a broach spire at the west end. Mr. Eawlins, who
was here in 1820, gives the dimensions of the nave at 30 ft. 4 in.
by 17 ft. 1 in., and the chancel at 16 ft. 10 in. by 15 ft. 6 in.
The chancel was divided from the nave by a low Norman arch.
The chancel itself, excepting the lower courses of the walls, was
of modern brick. A corbel-table of Norman date, with quaintly-
carved heads, ran the entire length of the nave on each side. On
the south side of the church was a pointed doorway of 14th
* Cott. MSS., Titus C. ix., f. 101.
t Rot. Chart. 19 Henry III., pt. 1, memb. 1.
12
162 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
century date ; but the dripstone over it was of Norman zig-zag
moulding, which had clearly been used up again when the older
doorway was destroyed. Close to this doorway was built-in a
singularly-carved stone that had been the tympanum of the Norman
doorway. The centre figure of the sculpture is our Lord on the
cross ; but the other figures, which were much worn when the old
church was taken down, are now almost wholly defaced.* This
tympanum was preserved by being built into the outer south wall
of the new tower. It would have been much better if an inner
wall had been selected. In the west wall of the tower was a lancet
window, widely splayed inside. This window and the buttresses at
the angles showed that the tower was of Early English character.
The tower was only twenty feet high ; but it had evidently been
lowered at the time when the xigly broach spire rising another
twenty feet, and composed of brick and stucco was added.
The brickwork of the spire and the chancel was probably part of
the beautifying effected here in the last century. A slate tablet
against the old chancel arch informed its readers that " This
Church was Beautified in the year of our Lord 1749. John Wil-
kinson, Churchwarden." On the north side of the nave was a
two-light window of Decorated date.
Owing to its limited size, the old church was taken down; the
work of demolition commencing on May 27th, 1861. The new
building consists of chancel, nave, south aisle, tower, and spire.
It is dedicated, like its predecessor, to S. Giles. It is now an
independent vicarage, in the gift of trustees.
The font, which pertained to the old fabric, is of plain octagon
design, 29 in. in diameter and 45 in. high. We believe it to be
of early 14th century date certainly not of any older period. The
single bell is thus inscribed :
"W. D. Knight, Samuel Pegg, George Stenson, C.W., 1712.
J. Osbrn Vic. D. H."
On the silver paten and chalice of the Eucharistic plate are the
arms and quarterings of Harpur, and this inscription : " The gift
of the Lady Barbera Harpur, 1645." This lady widow of Sir
Henry Harpur, of Calke was by her first marriage the wife of
Sir Henry Beaumont. The connection of the Beaumonts with
Normanton has/ already been mentioned in our account of the
mother church.
* There is a pood woodcut of this tympanum in vol. ii. of the Reliquary, where
there is an excellent and well-illustrated article on Normanton chapel, written by Mr.
Jewitt. just at the time when the old fabric was being destroyed.
OSMASTON. 163
of
the time of the Domesday Survey, the manor of Osmaston
was held by Henry de Ferrers. His grandson, Kobert de
Ferrers one of the chief founders of Darley Abbey
gave to that establishment, in the reign of Henry II., lands at
Osmaston then valued at a rental of six shillings,* and also the
oratory at Osmaston, with its cemetery.f Osmaston was, from an
early date, held of the Ferrers by the family of Dun or Dunne,
whose chief residence was at Breadsall.J Robert de Dun, lord of
Breadsall, circa 1155, for the health of his soul and the souls of
his wife and heirs, gave to the abbey of Darley all right that he
had as patron of the chapel of Osmaston, upon condition of the
abbot paying yearly, at Michaelmas, two shillings to the church of
Breadsall. He undertook to defend them in their right to the
chapel against all comers. It would appear from this that the
Dunnes were the first founders of the chapel of Osmaston, which
had hitherto been of the nature of a private chapel, as we judge
from the use of the word oratorium. It also had had the excep-
tional privilege of rites of sepulture attached to it, which were
probably, however, limited to the family of the owner of the manor
and his immediate servants.
Walter Durdent, who held the bishopric of Coventry and Lich-
field from 1149 to 1161, confirmed the grant of the chapel of
* " Sex solidatce terra." It is more usual to understand a solidata of land as
meaning twelve acres, and not a piece fetching a shilling rental ; but, from com-
paring various passages in old charters, we are inclined to adopt the latter meaning
moreover, so far as Osmaston is concerned, we know that the abbey did not hold 72
acres there ; a return, circa 1275, of their temporalities mentions 14 acres at
Osmaston. See Cowel's Interpreter, sub voce " Farding Deal."
f Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. ii., p. 231.
With respect to the family of Dunne, see Churches of Derbyshire, vol. iii., p. 53.
Darley Chartulary, Cott. MSS., Titus C. ix., f. 137.
164 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
Osmaston to the abbey, saving one mark to be paid to the mother
church of S. Peter. *
Another charter, undated, but about the year 1245, records the
appointment by Peter, vicar of S. Peter's, with the full consent and
at the wish of Walter, abbot of Darley, of William Grernon to
the chapel of Osmaston, with all its appurtenances. It was to be
held of him and of the mother church by rendering annually to
the vicar one mark half payable at Easter and half at Michaelmas.
William Gernon was also to pay annually to the mother church,
for the use of a house at Osmaston, one penny, at the stated times,
for waxshot ;t he was to halve the first mortuary with S. Peter's,
and also to render to the vicar the whole of the customary offer-
ings of the parishioners of the chapelry.*
In 1288, a dispute arose between the inhabitants of Osmaston
and the abbot of Darley respecting the repair of the chapel and
the sustentation of its ornaments. It was referred to the arch-
deacon of Derby, and settled on the same terms as already detailed
in our previous description of Boulton.
The Black Death, or plague, to which we have more than once
referred in the introduction, etc., of this volume, seems to have been
specially intense within the parish of S. Peter. In June, 1349,
when the plague was at its height, the episcopal license of Roger
Northbury was obtained for opening the graveyard at Osmaston,
which had hitherto been regulated by a most singular custom, to
all the inhabitants of the chapelry. It is stated in the preamble
to the license, that the chapel had been used by the inhabitants
from ancient times for the Sacraments and sacrarnentals ; that the
bodies of single persons fa conju;/ali d/niculo solutorum) were buried
in the cemetery attached to the chapel, but that the bodies of
householders or married persons were carried for burial to the
mother church of S. Peter. This carrying of the bodies to Derby
had been often attended with inconvenience and danger, owing to
delays caused by inundations and other unexpected impediments ;
but now, in these days, when a most fatal plague was raging
throughout the parish, the corpses were so numerous that they
were scarcely able to bury them. The Bishop, therefore, gave his
license to use the cemetery henceforth corporibus tarn conjiujatoruin
quam solutorum.^
* Darley Chartulary, f. 157.
t Waxshot (ceragium) was an old payment for providing candleR for the church ; it
was usually paid on three several occasions in each year.
t Ibid, f .' 40. See appendix No. VIII.
S Lichfield Episcopal Registers, vol. xiii., f. 71.
OSMASTON. 1 65
In the year 1357, Robert Foucher (Fulger or Fulcher) founded a
chautry, at the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary, within the chapel
of S. James,* at Osmaston.t He endowed it with certain lands
and tenements in Osniaston and Normanton ; and the inquisition
giving permission for this alienation states that the founder retained
other lands in Osmastou, as well as in Duffield and in Cotton,
the latter a sub-manor of Normanton.! For the royal license- for
this grant Foucher paid six marks. This chantry, chiefly founded
for saying Mass for the souls of the founder's family, did not
entail a second priest at Osmaston, but was held by the curate or
chaplain. The following is a list of the chantry priests, so far as
they are mentioned in the episcopal institutions at Lichfield :
1357. William de Tykenhal; patron, Robert Foucher.
1390. John Foucher ; patron, Helen Foucher de Osmaston.
1392. Thomas Lamley; patron, Helen Foucher de Osmaston. On the resignation
of J. F.
* * *
. William Tyknal.
1500. James Basford (alias Beresford) ; patron, Thomas Bradshaw. On the death
of W. T.
(1535). Richard Robynson. Valor Ecclesiasticus.
1544. James Powker ; patron, the King. On the death of B. R.
One branch of the family of Bradshaw, of Bradshaw, married
the heiress of Foucher in the 15th century, and thus became
possessed of the family estate at Osmaston, as well as at Wiudley
and Charnpeyne Park, in Duffield parish.] This accounts for the
presentation by Thomas Bradshaw to Osmaston chantry in 1500.
The Valor Ecclesiasticus (27 Henry VIII.) gives the clear annual
value of the chantry house and glebe, together with the Easter
offerings and tithes of lambs, wool, flax, hemp, pigs, and geese, at
3 Os. 8d.
The following is from the Chantry Eoll, 1 Edward VI. :
" Chapelry of OSMASTON founded by Rob. Folger for a pryste to say Masse v
dayes in the weke at the alter of our Blessed Ladye Ixs. viijd. clerc xxxixs. vijs.
rents resolute to the duchye of Laucastre. The Incumbent Jamys Parker taketh
upp the small tythes w ch belongethe to the Vicar of St. Peter's. It is distaunte
from the parisshe churche j myle & a halfe. In it is mynistred all Sacraments
and Sacramentalls ; there ben iiij xx houselynge people belougynge to the hamlette.
The ornaments they borowe of other towns."
* The dedication of this church or chapel has usually been stated as All Saints ;
but there is no doubt whatever, from various entries in the Lichfield Registers, that
the true dedication is S. James. See Episcopal Registers, vol. xiii., f. 219, etc., etc.
f Lichfield Episcopal Registers, vol. v., ff. 58b, 59 ; and vol. iii., f. 144a.
I Inq. post Mort., 30 Edw. III., pt. 2, No. 24.
Rot. Orig., 30 Edw. III., memb. 28.
|| Churches of Derbyshire, vol. iii., p. 222.
166 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
Oil the dissolution of the chantries, the crown sold the endow-
ments of this chantry to Edward Pease and James Wilson, who
also obtained, as we have already seen, numerous similar grants
throughout the country.*
The Church Goods Commissioners (6 Edward VI.) thus reported
of the goods of this chapel :
" Osmaston juxta Derby. Oct. 10. Jas. Poker curat.
ij belles in the steple ij handbelles j sacryieg bell j chalice of sylver with a
patten iij vestiments of blew wolsted, j of yelow sylke & j of wyte twylle
coope of dune sylke j albe with a amysse j surples iij aulter clothes iij
towells. "
The Parliamentary Commissioners of 1650 say :
" Osmastone is a chappell and member of Peters the vicarall Tythes worth six
pounds thirteene shillings and fourepence per annum, the curate hath received
the profitts and served the cure. Mr. Potter scandalous."
The cure has been augmented both from Queen Anne's Bounty
and by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and is now an independent
vicarage, in the gift of Sir Eobert Wilmot-Horton.
The little church of S. James, now (1878) undergoing a judicious
restoration, is a picturesque building, in a well-planted and carefully-
kept graveyard. "At this Osmaston, near Derby, we will turn and
linger awhile, glad that the gradual out- stretching of the town still
leaves the domain so beautiful ; and we will seek its little church
and bowery churchyard one of the most attractive yet retired of
all the sacred nooks we know. What a fitting shade is formed by
these firs and yews ! What an antiquated little temple, smothered
in verdure, with its tiny bell-turret just peeping out ! " f- The
restoration will, happily, not deprive it of its picturesque and
interesting character, as it only includes the removal of the
unsightly fittings, the opening- out of the roof, and the substitution
of a comely bell-turret on the west gable for a comparatively
modern wooden box. It consists only of a nave and chancel ; Mr.
Kawlins, who was here in 1825, giving the dimensions of the
former at 30 ft. by 19 ft. 10 in., and of the latter at 20 ft. 6 in.
by 13 ft. 4 in. But it has at one time had a small south aisle,
separated from the nave by two pointed arches, as can be seen
from the outer wall. The restoration will leave these arches filled
up as they now are, but will show the centre column supporting
the arches in the inner waU. The date of this work we should
naturally assign to about the middle of the fourteenth century ; so
* Particulars for Grants, 3 Edw. VI.
+ Spencer Hall's Days in Derbyshire, p. 244. Plate XXII., vol. ii. of Sketches of
the Facsimile Society, is a good drawing of the unrestored church.
OSMASTON. 167
that we liave little or no doubt that this aisle was built by Robert
Fulcher to provide the side altar of Our Lady, about the time of
his founding the chantry. The present south doorway is evidently
the old doorway of the south wall, and was set back to its present
position when the aisle was taken down.
The fabric seems to have been restored or rebuilt throughout in
the first half of the fourteenth century. The wall-plate and but-
tress at the north-east angle of -the chancel are of Decorated
character. Some of the timbers of the old roof, said to be of
chestnut wood, are of the same period. The three-light east
window of the chancel is of late Perpendicular character. The
other windows are of debased design. Some time in last century,
a recess was thrown out for a manorial pew, on the north side
of the chancel, and the north wall of the nave seems to have
been rebuilt about the same time.
Notwithstanding the early days at which this chapel had rights
of sepulture, there are no old monuments now extant. Against the
north wah 1 of the chancel is a monument thus inscribed :
" Sacrum Memoriae Nicholai Wilmot Milit : Servientis ad legem & Dorotheas
ux : ejus fil. Hen Harpur Barronet : prole inter eos habueruut numerosa
reliquerunt tantu Roberta -nupt : Eliz : fil : et cohaared : Ed: Eardley deJEardley
Armig: Nicholau 1 nupt^ Eliz: Chaloiier denuo_Eliz : Revel Dorothea nupt :
Fran : Revel arm Barbara Will : Bainbrigg armig : et Eliz : Tho : Charnell
arinig : obierunt viz : p'dict : Nicholaus 28 Decemb : 1682 aetatis suse 72 Dorothea
22 Jan : 1682 aetat. suss 65."
Sir Nicholas Wilrnot, Knt., of Osmaston, serjeant-at-law, was the
second son of Robert Wilmot, of Chaddesden, by the heiress of
Shrigley. There are also monuments to Sir Robert Wilmot, of
Osmaston, the first baronet, who died in 1772; Sir Robert Wilmot,
second baronet, 1834 ; Elizabeth, daughter of the first baronet,
1852 ; Mary Ann, relict of the second baronet, 1862 ; and Charles
Foley Wilmot, 1852.
Against the west wall is a stone to Rev. Thomas Shipton, fifty
years minister of Osmaston, who died in 1774, aged 83. There is
also a memorial to the Rev. S. Pearson, minister of Osmaston,
who died in 1811, aged 65 ; but his remains are at Croxall, by his
brother, Rev. J. B. Pearson, vicar of that parish.
A most interesting relic of the chapel originally built here by
the Dunnes has disappeared during the present generation. In
Lysons' MS. notes, taken about 1815, is given a sketch of the
Osmaston font, which he describes as being very large, circular, and
much defaced. It was ornamented with Norman arcade work, not
interlaced, and above this was a kind of continuous scroll moulding.
168 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
It must have been of early Norman date, not later than the reign
of Henry I. The present font is of plain octagon design.
The restoration now (October, 1878) in progress has brought to
light a recess on the north side of the chaucel, 3 ft. 4 in. long
by 2 ft. high, built up with brick. It is only eight inches deep,
which seems rather too shallow for an almery. Bound it were
evident traces of wall-painting in red, but too faint to decipher.
The workmen have also found a stone ornamented with the
Norman chevron moulding. On the north side of the east window
is a projecting stone corbel.
The single bell, which has a diameter of 27 inches, is thus
inscribed : " Sir Robt Wilmot Bart Patron : Pearson Minister,
W. Parker Churchwarden. T. Hears & Son of London fecit,
1808."
The registers only begin in 1780.
jjHERE can be no doubt that S. Werburgk's was one of
the six Derby churches mentioned by the Domesday Book
as extant in the time of Edward the Confessor, and again
in the reign of William I. ; but whether to identify it with the
church owned at the former period by Brun, and afterwards by
Norman de Lincolnia or with the one by Coin, and afterwards
by his son Edric, does not now seem possible. The church of
S. Werburgh was one of those given by Robert de Ferrers to the
newly-founded abbey of Darley, in the reign of Stephen ; * but
Lysons, Glover, etc., are wrong in supposing that it remained
appropriated to that abbey. The abbot of Darley, soon after the
foundation of his own house, obtained both episcopal and regal
sanction (temp. Henry II.) to found a small priory of Benedictine
nuns on the King's Mead, at Derby. This priory, dedicated to the
Blessed Virgin, and usually known as the monastery of S. Mary
de Pratis (of which we shall have more to say on another occa-
sion), was transferred to the church of S. Werburgh during the
episcopate of Richard Peche, 1161-1183. The abbot of Darley
exercised special and unusual rights over the priory of nuns,
which led to various disputes, until at last Bishop Roger Weseharn
(who held the see of Coventry and Lichfield from 1245 to 1258)
declared the complete independence of the priory, and , sanctioned
the prioress, Sybil, in the free holding of various property, including
the church of S. Werburgh.t We do not know the precise time
at which a vicarage was ordained and the tithes were appropriated ;
but it must have been some time prior to 1 278, for in that year
mention is made of Walter de Marketon, vicar of S. Werburgh's.J
* Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. iii., p. 61.
t Darley Chartulary, Cott. MSS., Titus C. ix., f. 78.
I Ibid, f. 52.
172 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
In November, 1322, the church of S. Werburgh was polluted by
a sanguinary quarrel. Of its details we know nothing ; but Hugh
Meynell, of Langley, was adjudged by the Bishop to have shed
violently blood within the church, and the Archdeacon of Derby
was enjoined to first try suasion to bring him to repentance.*
The archdeacon's suasion probably sufficed, as we find no further
entry in the episcopal Act Book. This bringing to repentance
would, most likely, involve the payment of a good round sum, as
the church, according to canon law, would require "reconciliation,"
and the offender would, naturally, be mulcted for the fees of this
episcopal function, and this in addition to personal chastisement, t
The prioress of the nuns of King's Mead regularly presented to
the vicarage of S. Werburgh when vacancies occurred. The Vnl<>r
Ecclesiasticus (27 Henry VIII.) gives the clear annual value of the
vicarage at o 12s. 8d. Its emoluments were derived from a
house, Easter dues, offerings at four fixed dates termed " offryng
days," and tithes of lambs, wool, hay, etc. The rectory at the
same time was only valued at 2 6s. 8d. per annum ; but the
priory also received 12s. rent from Robert Thacker, the vicar, for
a messuage and garden that he held of them. On the dissolution
of the monasteries, the advowson of the vicarage reverted to the
crown, and it remained in the gift of the Lord Chancellor until
1873, when it was, by exchange, vested in the Bishop of the
Diocese.
The Parliamentary Commissioners of 1650 say of this benefice:
" Item Warburge is a viccaridge really worth eighteeiie pounds per annum an
augmentason of thirtye ponnds per annum forth of the Impropriate Rectory of
Burnastone sequestred from Sir Edward Moseley and twenty pounds per annum
allso forth of the impropriate Rectory of Glossop sequestred from Alathea
Countess of Arundell for her recusancye. Mr. Thomas Bakewell viccar an able
and pious man."
This is further explained by the following minute of the "Com-
mittee for Plundered Ministers :"
* Lichfield Episcopal Registers, vol. iii , f. lib.
t See the subsequent account of Hope church in the addenda to this volume ; also
Churches of Derbyshire, vol. iii., p. 580. A curious instance occurs in the Durham
Registers of about this date, 1315. showing the grave light in which any blood shed
about a church, even when accidental, was regarded. The Scots making a raid over
the border came to the village of Houghton, when one John Sayer, to escape them,
fled to the church and climbed to the top of the tower. Incautiously looking over the
battlements, he fell to the ground. He was instantly killed, and the blood escaping
from his nostrils, flowed under the west door into the church. The rector immediately
suspended all divine offices in the church and sent information to the Bishop. Nor
was service allowed to be resumed until the Bishop had sent his Commissary to hold
an inquisition, when it was definitely proved that the presence of blood in the church
was purely accidental and not occasioned by any violence. Registrum Palatinum
Dunelmense, Ricardo de Kellawe Episcopo, f. 145.
s. WKRBURGH'S. 173
" Jane 3, 1646.
By vertue of an order of both houses of parliament of the second of May last,
It is ordered that the yearly sum of 30 out of the tythes of the impropriate
rectory of Etwall. in the county of Derby, which arise and grow within the
towns of Barracoate and Burnaston, and the premises and limits thereof,
be paid and allowed to and for more ease of the maintenance of the minister
of the church of St. Warburgh, in the town of Derby, the present maintenance
being but twenty marks per annum, and the sequestrators of the premises are
required to pay the same accordingly at such times and seasons of the year as
the same are payable."
The following list of vicars is chiefly taken from the Lichfield
registers and the returns of the First Fruits Office :
1278. Walter de Marketon. Darley Chartulaiy.
1312. Walter de London.
1318. Thomas de Stokes. On the death of W. de L.
1327. John de Derby.
1328. Simon de Wasdutton. On the resignation of J. de D. Collated by 'the
Bishop.
1329. John Dormer.* On the resignation of Simon de Northbrough, alias
Wasdutton.
1333. Richard de Barwe. On the resignation of J. D.
1338. Robert de Haneyate. On the resignation E. de B.
1339. John de Berdeleye.t
1349. Henry de Longeley. On the resignation of J. de B.
1369. John de Holand. On the death of H. de L.
1396. John Flamstede.
. Ralph Stanley.
1423. William Duffield. On the resignation of R. S.
1425. Nicholas Barton. On the resignation of W. D.
. William Parkeston.
1438. John Cowper. On the resignation of W. P.
1439. William Smyth. On the resignation of J. C.
1440. Thomas Lancaster. On the resignation of W. S.
1443. John Wythale. On the resignation of T. L.
* On May 25th, 1332, this vicar of S. Werburgh's received the Bishop's commission
to act as a general confessor or "penancer," as he was then termed, "pro officio
Penitentiaries." Other similar commissions were at the same time granted to two
priests in the archdeaconry of Salop and to one in the archdeaconry of Cheshire.
All the clergy and laity of Derbyshire might confess to the penitentiary " exceptis
casis ex judiciarii putestate descendentibus necnon corruptoribus monialium et
corruptis eisdem illis etiam qui perjurium in assisis et in inquiaitionibus juratis
in foro seculare incurrerint." Episcopal Registers, vol. iii., f. 30b. These graver
cases would be reserved for the Bishop himself, or even for the Pope. It seems
that this appointment of special penitentiaries did not interfere with confessions
of private sins to any licenced priest, and the priests of almost every important
parish were licenced for that purpose ; but it related more especially to the imposing
of penances, after a regulated canonical system, for public or more serious offences.
In short these official penancers, one or two in each archdeaconry, acted as epis-
copal commissaries and gave absolution and imposed penances in those cases reserved
by the canon for the Bishop. It would also appear as if this appointment had some
special reference to three sets of English canons ( Archbishop Langton's, 1222, Otho the
Legate's, 1237, and Archbishop Reynolds', 13'2*2), empowering Bishops to appoint con-
fessors for the diocesan clergy, in case they were reluctant to resort to the rural deans,
who were the usual confessors of the priests.
f This institution is recorded in the Act Book of Bishop Roger Northbury (vol. iii.,
f. 59b), and not in the regular book of institutions. It is followed by a challenge to
a claimant of the vicarage to appear before the Bishop and support his claim. Heuce
probably the entry in the Act Book. The rival claimant did not put in an appearance,
so the institution of John de Berdeleye held good.
174 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
1447. Thomas Monyasshe. On the resignation of J. W.
. John Stanford.
1517. John Hodgekynson. On the death of J. S.
1518 Ralph Edmundson. On the death of J. H.
1530. Robert Thacker. On the resignation of B. B.
1544. Thomas Parker; patron, the King. On the resignation of R. T.
1608. Richard Johnson. " Richard Johnson, late vicar of St Warbnrge was
buried the 20 day of Julie 1629 who had beene vicar 21 yeares or there-
abouts." Parish Registers.
1629. Daniel Eyre; patron, the King.
(1650). Thomas Bakewell. Parl. Com. Report.
1657. Samuel Beresford.* " Mr. Samuel Beiesforde came to be minister of this
parish up the 21 of May 1657." Parish Registers.
1662. Nathaniel Macham; patron, the King.
1689. James Walker.
1710. John Bradbury. On the death of J. W.
1722. William Lockett.t
1751. John Seale. On the death of W. L.
1774. Charles Hope. On the death of J. S.
1799. Frederick Hotham.
1809. Edward Unwin.
1847. W. F. Wilkinson. On the death of E ; U.
1871. Thomas Berry. On the resignation of W. F. W.
A chantry was founded at the altar of Our Lady in this church,
in the year 1359, by Sir John Chandos and others. It was
endowed with eight acres of land, tenements, etc., situate in
Derby.:}: We find from the Valor Ecclesiastic us that the chaplain
of this chantry received a yearly pension of 3s. from the abbey of
Darley. The following is the account given in the Chantry Boll:
" S. WAKBUBGHE. The Chauntrye of our Ladye founded by Ser Jo. Shaunders
knyght, Peter Prentys Henrye Eggyngton and Otho Ashe of Derby by special
lycence of K. Edward III. dat. A regn. xxxij for j pryste to synge mass daylye
at the alter of our Ladye and to praye for the Kynge and all cristian sowles
iiijli. Clerc cxiijs. iiijd. Ser Robert Bywater Chauntry Pryste. To the parisshe
belongethe cclx howselynge people."
On the dissolution of the chantries this property went to the
crown ; but Queen Mary granted the various lands, cottages, etc.,
that had pertained to the chantry of S. Mary, within the church
* " He was a good Scholar, a fine Preacher, a curious Orator, and a very Holy
Man. He was very warm against the Sectaries, but was not at a great distance from
the Church. After his Ejectment, he went frequently (if not constantly) to Church
during his stay in Derby; which was till the Five Mile Act took Place; and persuaded
his Friends to do so too. He was against both Superstition and Separation. The
former made him a Nonconformist; and the latter caus'd him to attend on the publick
Assemblies." Ejected Ministers, vol. ii., p. 166.
t Hutton records of " the wiser Lockett," that in the exciting times of 1715 when
Derby and especially the clergy were hotly Jacobean ; when Sturges of All Saints'
openly prayed for King James; when Harris of S. Peter's had to be called to order
by the magistrates ; and when Cantrel of S. Alkmund's drank James' health upon
his knees, that " the wiser Lockett rather chose to amuse himself with mowing
his grass-plat, than meddling with politics." History of Derby, p. 245.
{ Inq. post. Mort., 32 Edw. III., pt. 2., No. 34. This is really an Inquisitio ad
quod damnum, and is wrongly classified.
s. WERBURGH'S. 175
of S. Werburgh, to the Bailiffs and Burgesses of Derby. Robert
Bywater, the ex-chantry priest, was also awarded a pension of 6
in the reign of Queen Mary.*
There are only ten dedications in honour of S. Werburgh, and
the churches are all supposed to be of Saxon foundation, as the
Normans did all they could to discredit any special veneration of
the saints of the conquered race. It is interesting to find that
three of these dedications Derby, Blackwell, and Spondon pertain
to this county. The remainder are at Kingsley (Stafford), Hoo
(Kent), the Cathedral at Chester, Warburton (Cheshire), Bristol,
Wenbury (Devon), and Treveglos (Cornwall). S. Werburgh was
the daughter of Wulphere, king of Mercia, and when young,
consecrated herself to a holy life in the monastery of Ely. On
Ethelred, brother to Wulphere, succeeding to the throne in 675,
he recalled his niece from Ely, and entrusted her with the care of
forming nunneries in Mercia. Within a short time, assisted by his
munificence, she founded religious houses at Trentharn and Han-
bury, in Staffordshire, and at Wedon, in Northamptonshire, of all
of which she was superioress at the same time. She died at
Trentham, February 3rd, 699, but was buried at Hanbury. Some
two centuries afterwards, when the Danes were pillaging Eepton,
her relics were removed from Hanbury, only a few miles distant,
and translated to Chester, of which city she came to be considered
the patroness, as S. Alkmund was of Derby.
Of the old fabric of this church we know little or nothing. It
stood close to the west side of Markeaton brook. On January
20th, 1601, a violent gale from the west caused the overthrow of
the steeple, which in its fall did great damage to the chancel and
part of the body of the church. . The word " steeple " was used
for either a spire, or a tower surmounted by a spire ; and tradition
has it that the tower of S. Werburgh's was crowned with a tall and
graceful spire. This tradition is confirmed by the use of the word
"pyramis" in the Latin note on this subject in the parish registers
of S. Alkmund's. The entry is as follows :
" Vigessimo die hujus mensis Januarii devicta erat Pyramis S* 1 Warburg!
Darb hora secuda a meridio, vi scilicet cujusdam procellse a zephiro ortse, quo
casu cecidit Cancellu et pars Ecclesiss ad maguu parochise detrimental, nuilu
tamen interfecit homine una ne bestia quidem. Oh profuuditas divitiarum et
sapientiae et scientise dei, cujus juditia nemo scrutator, et cujus semitas fuit
super vestigabiles. Bom. 11. 33."
* Add. MSS., 8,102, f. 49b.
176 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
Hutton, and all subsequent writers on Derby, have attributed
the fall of the steeple to a flood that undermined the foundations ;
but it is impossible that a contemporary account, entered in a
register, could be anything but accurate. It is, however, very
possible that the action of the water may have rendered the tower
more susceptible to the effects of the gale. To gain firmer ground,
it was decided to rebuild the tower on the south-east side of the
church, where it now stands. This work was not finished till 1608.
It is obvious that the lower stage of the tower consists of the old
materials, which must have been carefully re-erected. This part of
the tower is of Perpendicular style, and was probably first built in
the second half of the fifteenth century. The upper stage, with its
double bell- chamber windows, is of the poor character that might
be expected of the date when it was built.
Owing to its nearness to that unmanageable stream, the Mark-
eaton brook, the church of S. Werburgh seems to have constantly
suffered from floods. The following is an entry from an old book
of Churchwardens' Accounts :
" July the 19 th 1673, being Sabbath day at night, there was a great Floud.
The water was two Foot high in the middle ally it weare masured so that
it came into Cheasts and wett all the writinge. Such a Flood was not known in
our agge before. Isaac Jackson and William Jerom, Churchwardens."*
On November 5th, 1698, another great flood occurred, and the
brook rising "ran into the churchyard, and getting into the ground,
hollow and loose by the graves, occasioned some of the pillars that
supported the body of the Church to give way." t The consequence
was that the whole body of the church and the chancel collapsed.
The day of the catastrophe caused a paltry rhymester, one John
Pegge, to produce this couplet :
"Fifth of November, Gun -powder Plot,
The Church is fall'n ; and why not ? "
" This wicked distich," says Hutton, " without measure, harmony,
or thought (for John was never able to think), which ought to
have been treated with a smile, raised the clamour of the Estab-
lishment against the Dissenters, for John was one of that body."J
On November 25th, James Walker, the vicar, wrote a letter to
* Quoted in the Reliquary, vol. i., p. 552, where it is stated that this book is in the
possession of Mr. Llewellyim Jewitfc. It is much to be hoped that it will be restored
to the parish chest, to which it undoubtedly belongs. For a further account of the
flood of 1(J73 and the damage it did to the town, see Simpson's Derby, p. 111.
t Wolley's MS. History of Derby, circa 1710, in the College of Arms.
J Button's History of Derby, p. 142.
s. WEKBURGH'S. 177
Bishop Lloyd, stating that a flood had " demolished '' the
church on the night of November 4th and 5th, doing damage
to the amount of 1,000, and praying his lordship's direc-
tions how to make collections for the rebuilding. The Bishop
replied, advocating voluntary contributions, and giving 20 as
his donation. *
The body of the church was rebuilt "after the Tuscan order,"
with a dome in the centre, and a chancel was added, after the
same style. A stone in the south wall in the gallery, states
that the rebuilding was accomplished in 1699. An elaborate
tasteless reredos of plaster was put in the chancel in 1708, the
chief ornament of which is Queen Anne's arms.
In 1730, Mr. George Eichardson built a west gallery to accom-
modate the organ. In 1778, a north gallery was erected; and in
1788, the population of the parish had so increased, that it was
decided to extend continuous galleries round the three sides of the
nave, the deficiency of light expected to be thereby caused being
supplied by glazing the dome.t
Considerable damage was once more done to this church by a
flood, on December 9th, 1740, "when y e water made so great a
Breach in the pavement throughout y e Church y* it had to be
newpaved." J
Again, the great flood of April 1st, 1842 (when the water was
six feet deep in some of the principal streets), undermined the
floor and filled the vaults of S. Werburgh's, necessitating the
opening of many of them, and the reflooring of a large portion
of the nave.
When Elias Ashmole visited this church, August 8th, 1662, he
noted " a monum* set in the North wall about the Midle of the
ChauceU," thus inscribed :
" Here (in the middle of the Quire) lyeth buried the body of Henry Milward
late of Syndfern Geii : who depted this Lyfe the 25 th day of Jan 1 ? 1615, the 79
yeare of his age, he had by his wife Elizab th daughter of Georg* Hygham of
Adlyngton in Cheshire Gen : ten Children 5 sons and 6 daughters, & having
lived lovingly together 52 yeares she deceased the 27 tb of Sep 1 * 1 1610 & lyeth
buried in the Churche of Barrow upon Trent, to whose memory in filial duty
John Milward their youngest child hath erected this Monument
* Pegge's MSS., vol. v.
t This information is from a pamphlet of nearly one hundred pages, written by Mr.
Henry Mozley, one of the churchwardens in 1830-1, when there was considerable dis-
pute about the re-allotting of pews.
J Pegge's MSS., vol. v.
13
178 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
Though never rich, richly did Mflward live,
With lib'ral haiid to lend, to spend, to give,
Whose need requir'd according to his portion
* * *
To God devout and to the Church inclin'd,
Hurtful to none, helpful to all, and kind,
Especially to neighbors, friends, and kindred
And father-like his children dear he tender'd.
Skrat, good housekeeper, constant to his word,
Milde peacemaker, so blessed of the Lord,
A child of God, he reigns in heaven for ever,
From labour free, from care, from fear, from fever."*
On the slab were the arms of Milward (Erm., on a fesse, >/n.,
three plates) impaling Higham (chequy, arg. and az., on a chief,
git,., a lion passant guartlant, or.) Henry Milward, of Sinfin, was
the third son of William Milward, of Eaton Dovedale, by Catharine,
daughter of John Fleetwood, of Colwich. The above inscription is
given, from Bassano's notes (circa 1710), both in Simpson and
Glover, as if then extant ; but the MS. notes of Mr. Rawlins,
taken in 1826, mentions that it was not then to be found. It
seems to have been placed on the floor of the chancel when it was
rebuilt, and it most likely disappeared after the repaviug of the
church in 1740.
A handsome mural monument against the south chancel wall,
which used to be against the north wall in the days both of
Ashmole and of Bassano, bears the following inscription :
" Memoriae sacrum Gervasii Sleigh de Ash, Arm. qui duxit Elizabethan! filiam
Johannis Chomley Gen. ex qua suscepit Samuelem, Gervasium, & Hugonem ; post
quam autem cum ilia aunos xxxv ab inito conjugio pie & feliciter vixisset,
placide in Dom : obdorruivit vij Junii Anno Salutis MDCXXVI. ^tatis suae LXVI.
Gervasius Sleigh )
Is re gavisus lege '
Qui qua sunt legis, prastat, procurat, & urget
Is re gavisus lege proculdubio est.
Talis erat noster Gervasius, integer ipse,
Justiciss locuples, ac elemosynas,
Talis erat noster, procnrans omnia justa.
Sive foris obiit munia, sive Domini,
Talis erat, cunctos urgens ad justa patranda,
Sumptibus, exemplis, consiliis, precibus ;
His tamen hand fisus quies siquis fidere possit,
Exclamat moriens ; O miserere Deus.
Qui legis haec, legem serva, te servet Jesus,
Si re gavisus lege cluere velis."
Bodleian Library, Ashm. MSS., 851. The rhyming part of the epitaph is not
given by Ashmole, but is here taken from Bassano's notes. See the epitaph to the
wife of Henry Milward, supra, p. 24 ; for information respecting this family, see
Chwches of Derbyshire, vol. ii., pp. 165-6, 633; and vol. iii., pp. 123-4.
s. WERBURGH'S. 179
Above the inscription is a quartered coat 1st and 4th Sleigh (gu.,
a chevron between three owls, or), 2nd Arderne (iju., three cross
crosslets fitchee and a chief, or), and 3rd Kyley (or, a fesse
between three crosses patee fitchee, sab.) Below are the arms of
Sleigh impaling Cholmondeley (iju., in chief two helmets, arg., in
base a garb, or). An explanation of the lineage of Sleigh,
accounting for the above quarterings, and some account of the
family, have already been given in these pages.* In addition to
this mural monument, Ashmole also mentions an alabaster slab,
then on the floor in the centre of the chancel, thus simply
inscribed :
" Heere lyeth the Bodies of Gervase Sleigh of Ash Esq r who depted this lyfe
the 7 of July (?) A dni 1626, & of Eliz : his wife depted this lyfe the 20 th of
July A dni 1633."
This latter slab cannot now be found.
In 1850, the present west portico was added to the church, the
entrance having previously been on the south side. At the same
time, a north chancel aisle was added, which now serves as an
organ chamber, and this necessitated the moving of the Sleigh
monument, mentioned above.
Very considerable improvements were effected in the church in
the year 1873-4, when it was reseated throughout, the chancel
fitted with quire stalls, and the organ removed from the west end
to the chancel aisle. The alabaster of the new pulpit formed part
of an illegible monumental slab then found under the pavement of
the north aisle. The small brass lectern is well worth notice,
and is of unique design. The actual support for the book rests
on a well-executed pelican vulniug itself, with its four young ones
(Plate X.), and on the base are the words: "The gift of Charl 68
Beuskin of Derby, 1711." The pelican used to rest immediately
upon this base, and formed part of an elaborate font-cover, sus-
pended from the roof by a pulley. It had long been disused, and
the present vicar, Eev. T. Berry, conceived the happy idea of
utilising it as a lectern, which was accomplished by inserting a
tall pillar of the same metal between the bird and the base. The
beautifully wrought framework of beaten iron, which used to
surround the pelican, now rests on the stove in the north-west
angle of the church. The brass chandelier of twelve lights in the
chancel, and one of twenty-one lights in the west portico, are from
the same benefactor. On the latter is inscribed : " This and the
* Churches of Derbyshire, vol. iii., pp. 329-30.
180 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
brainch in y" cliansell was the gift of Mr. Charles Benskyn, of
Derby, 1708." Of this gentleman's gifts to Alvaston church, where
he was buried, we have already spoken. Nor did Mr. Benskin
merely con fine his generosity to church monuments: he augmented
the cures of Alvaston, Boulton, and Osmaston, and, with respect to
S. Werburgh's, he provided " an additional stipend for reading
prayers in the week day."* The reigns of the first two Georges
are generally regarded, and very rightly so, as including the
darkest times of the Church's history in England ; but in Derby,
at all events, the Church's injunctions as to daily prayers were
complied with in at least two of her five churches.
Over the door leading to the tower stairs is cut " G. Pycrofte,
clark, 1703." The tower contains a ring of eight bells, thus
inscribed :
L, II., III., IV. V., and VIII. "C. & G. Hears, Founders,
London, 1848.
" Thomas Crump. Esqr. Church
Henry Darby, Esqr. j Wardens."
VI. " My roaringe sounde doth warning geve
That men cannot heare always lyve. 1605."
The bell-mark is that of Henry Oldfield.
VII. "Ihs See Warbqro T.G. W.T." Henry Oldfield's mark,
surmounted by a crown.
The earliest register is a small parchment volume, in poor con-
dition and badly kept. It begins in 1588 and ends in 1642.
There is a leaf missing between 1586 and 1587. The second
volume extends from 1652 to 1721.
" Memorandum that According to an Act of Parliament beringe date the 21 of
August 1653 that Thomas Inkershel of Darbie was chosen Register for the
Parish of Warboro And approved of and swore before mee
J. W. Dalton
Samull Sparman
"William Tabror present
Churchwardens."
In the third volume occurs an entry which imparts considerable
value and interest to its page viz., the marriage of Dr. Johnson :
" July 9, 1735. Mar' Sam u Johnson of y e parish S. Marys in Lichfleld and
Eliz h Porter of y parish of S. Phillip in Burmingham."
* Woolley's MSS. History. There is no trace now left of this benefaction.
jlgninfon.
lgginfon.
HE manor of Egginton, at the time of the Domesday
Survey, was held by Geoffrey Alselin, and it is recorded
that it then possessed a priest and a church. The heiress
of his descendant, Kalph Alselin, married Thomas Bardulf, of
Wormigay, conveying Egginton and his other estates to that
family. William Bardulf held the fee of this manor in the reign
of Henry III.* The manor was held under the Bardolfs in
moieties by Amalric de Gasci and William Fitzralph. The latter,
who was the son of Ealph Fitz-Geremund, was seneschal of Nor-
niaudy, and founder of the abbey of Dale. Fitzralph's moiety
passed to Geoffrey de Musters, who had married his daughter
Avice.t The rectory of Egginton was divided with the manor
into two moieties ; so that there were two rectors at the same
time, and not merely alternate presentations. Early in the reign of
Henry III., the two medieties of the rectory were respectively
conveyed to the newly-founded abbey of Dale by Amalric de Gasci
and Geoffrey de Musters.]:
None of the tithes of Egginton were then appropriated to Dale;
but for upwards of a hundred years the abbot continued to present
to the rectory. We have failed to find out how it was that the
abbey parted with the presentation ; but it eventually returned to
the owners of the manor ; the last presentation by the abbot
taking place in the year 1344. Perhaps it was the result of a
lawsuit ; for the lords of the manor clearly laid claim to the
* Testa de Nevill, pp. 4, 8, and lib.
t Another daughter of William Fitzralph, of Alvaston, Edelina, was the first wife
of Hubert Fitzralph, of Crich. See the previous account of Crich and Nichols'
Collectanea, vol. iv., pp. 1 and 9. A third daughter, Matilda, was the wife of
Geoffrey de Salicosa-Mara.
I Dale Chartulary, Cott. MSS., Vesp. E. xxvi., f. 169b. See appendix No. IX.
184 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
advowson though they do not appear to have gained it as
early as 1253. In that year (1253) a composition was entered
into between Sir John Chandos and his wife, Margaret, and Sir
William Stafford and his wife, Ermentrude, respecting the right
to the patronage of the churches of Eadbourn and Egginton, by
which it was agreed that Chandos should take the former, and
Stafford the latter.* But we are missing a link or two in the
very intricate history of the patronage of this rectory, and must
step back.
Soon after the gift of the double rectory of Egginton to Dale
by Gasci and Musters, we find, from various entries in their char-
tulary, that the manor or, at all events, the greater part of it
came into the hands of William de Grendon, nephew of William
Fitzralph. His wife, Ermentrude, gave it, after her husband's
death, as dower to her daughter Margaret, on her marriage with
Kobert Wakelin. Wakelin left this estate, together with those of
Mugginton and Eadbourn including in each instance the advowson
of the rectories to his two daughters and heiresses, Margaret and
Ermentrude, who became the wives, as we have already seen, of
Chandos and Stafford.t Chandos disposed of . his share of Eggin-
ton to Stafford. Sir Eobert, son of Sir William and Ermentrude
Stafford, left five daughters, co-heiresses, amongst whom a partition
of the Stafford property was made in the reign of Edward II.
Ermentrude became the wife of Sir Eobert Toke ; Elizabeth, of
William Tymmore ; Eeyne, of Thomas Eolleston ; Ida, of Thomas
de Stanton ; and Agnes, of John de Walton.
A close comparison of numerous deeds J relative to the Chandos
and Stafford properties at Egginton, Mugginton, and Eadbourn,
taken in connection with various Inquisitions, proves that the manor
and part of the advowson of the first of these was divided into
four parts between four of the heiresses of Stafford, Sir Eobert
and Ermentrude de Toke being excluded. And now comes in a
very singular, and we believe unique, arrangement respecting this
rectory. The last presentation to the half rectory made by the
abbot of Dale, took place, as we have already stated, in 1344.
In the following year, Bishop Norbury, apparently on the bare
episcopal authority, appropriated the half rectory (that is hah the
* Add. MSS.,6,671, f. 125.
t Churches of Derbyshire, vol. iii., sub Mugginton and Eadbourn, where tins
intricate genealogy is more fully set forth.
J Abstracts and transcripts of a large number of deeds are given in Add. MSS.,
6,671, 6,672, aud 6,695.
EGGINTON. 185
great tithes) of Egginton to the abbot of Dale and his twenty-four
monks. The Bishop states that he was chiefly induced to do this
in order that the monks might the better exercise hospitality, for
numbers flocked to the abbey every day for food on account of
its considerable distance from towns.* This gift, which did not
involve any patronage, was confirmed to the abbey by Bishop
Burghill in 1400,f and is entered as pertaining to them in the
Valor Ecclesiastics of Henry VIII. John de Tymmore presented
to Egginton rectory in 1343 ; and after the other mediety of the
rectory fell to the abbot two years later, the quadripartite division
of the advowson simply meant that there were four different turns
to the half rectory as it fell vacant, the other half being absorbed
by Dale.
In 1359, Isabel, daughter of Thomas de Stanton, granted her
fourth part of the manor and advowson of Egginton to Sir John
Chandos, and this moiety descended to the Poles. A year or two
later we find Walton's share granted to Twyford and Morton in
trust, and it thence passed to the Bothes, and subsequently to the
Popes and to the Blounts.
The patronage seems for two centuries to have run on pretty
steadily in its fourfold turns Pole, Eolleston, Bothe, and the
descendants of Tymmore. The last of these changed hands,
through lack of male heirs, repeatedly, till we find, in 1541, a
presentation by Humphrey Babington. It is thus to be accounted
for : Alice, heiress of Tymmore, married John Heronville ; Joan,
lieu-ess of Heronville, living 1435, married William Leventhorpe ;
Joan, heiress of Leventhorpe, living 1441, married Henry Beau-
mont ; Eleanor, third and youngest daughter and co-heir of John
Beaumont (grandson of Henry) married Humphrey Babington,
fifth son of Thomas Babington, of Dethick, and ancestor of the
line of Babingtons of Eothley Temple.^
In 1587, Queen Elizabeth granted a considerable parcel of the
possessions of Anthony Babington, forfeited by attainder, to her
favourite, Sir Walter Raleigh. Amongst the Derbyshire property
is enumerated a fourth turn of presentation to the church of
Egginton. This statement has caused us on several occasions no
small trouble in order to try and find out how Anthony Babington,
* Lichfield Episcopal Registers, vol. iii., f. 147b.
t Ibid, vol. vii., f. 180.
J Shaw's Staffordshire, vol. i., p. 63, 375.
Add. MSS., 6,697, f. 444-59.
186 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
of Dethick, the conspirator, could possibly have obtained this share.
We believe, however, that the above descent to his relative, Hum-
phrey, had nothing to do with the matter, but that this share
of the rectory was really the old half share pertaining to Dale
abbey, and granted to Babington after its dissolution. If this
is the case, it is wrongly described, and ought not properly to
have carried any right of presentation with it, after having been
so long in abeyance.
About this time, a fresh claimant to a share in the patronage of
this much divided living, comes on the scene. The ancient family
of Lathbury had from an early period held the subordinate manor
of Heath-houses, afterwards termed Hargate, in this parish, as well
as considerable lands in Egginton proper. In 1324, Margaret,
widow of Ealph Lathbury, died seized of the manor of Heath-
houses ; of lands in Ambaston, Chaddesden, and Mercaston ; as
well as of a messuage, forty acres of arable land, six acres of
meadow, 6 6s. Od. in rentals, and a fourth part of a water-mill
in Egginton ; and her son Ealph died seized of much the same
property two years later.* In the beginning of the sixteenth
century, Anne, daughter and sole heiress of Thomas Lathbury,
married Robert Leigh, descended from a younger son of the Leighs
of Adlington, Cheshire .f From this time, so far as we can
unravel the very twisted history of this benefice, the turns in the
presentation were five in number. Meanwhile the Leighs purchased
two other of the shares in the manor and rectory ; the Poles also
purchased another share of the rectory ; so that the presentation
then stood, Leigh three turns and Pole two. On the death of Sir
Henry Leigh, in the reign of James I., his estate at Egginton
passed to his daughter and co-heir Anne, who married Simon
Every, of Chard, Somerset, created a baronet 1641.
It is not surprising to find that there have been at least two
long lawsuits in connection with the intricacy of the presentation
to this rectory. One was being waged in 1631, which resulted in
the king presenting to a vacancy that meanwhile occurred, and
another prolonged one took place on the presentation of Sir Thomas
Pope Blount (claiming through Walton) in 1712. $
*Inq. post. Mort., 17 Edw. II., No. 55; 19 Edw. II., No. 28. For a pedigree of
Lathbury, of Egginton, beginning about 1400, see Nichol's Leicestershire, vol. vi.,
p. 577.
+ Harl. MSS., 1,093, f. 54.
J Those curious in this matter will find a great deal of original correspondence,
relative to this latter most involved dispute, in Add. MSS., 6,671, ff. 47 to 218.
JEGGINTON. 187
The matter now stands thus : the patronage is in five parts ;
two turns belonging to Sir Henry F. Every, two to E. S. C. Pole,
and one to Joseph Leigh.
After this long explanation, the following list of rectors and
patrons, compiled from the Lichfield Eegisters, the Parish Kegis-
ters, and the returns of the First Fruits Office, will, we hope,
be tolerably intelligible ; but it should be added that the list is
evidently not quite perfect in the fourteenth and fifteenth cen-
turies :
1317. John de Sutton; patron, abbot of Dale.
1339. John del Horeston, acolite ; patron, abbot of Dale. On the death of
J. de S.
1343. John de Tymmore ; patron, John de Tymmore, sen.
. Geoffrey de Chaddesden.
1344. Nicholas de Kersington, rector of Long Whatton, exchanges benefices
with G. de C., rector of a mediety of Egginton ; patron, abbot of Dale.
1345. Simon de Brancyngham, rector of Carsington, exchanges benefices with
N. de K., rector of a mediety of Egginton.
1349. Richard de Makkeley; patron, Ealph de Eolleston. On the death of
John de Tymmore.
1358. Roger de Makkeley ; patron, John de Eolleston. On the resignation
of Eichard de M.
1362. William Vessey ; patrons, Eobert de Twyford and Eobert de Morton. On
the death of E. de "W.
1398. John Hulme; patron, Henry de Barton.*
1431. Richard Brassyngton ; patron, William Eolston de Eolston.
1443. Ralph Forde; patron, Peter de la Pole. On the death of E. B.
1491. Thomas Rolston; patrons, Ealph Pole de Eadburne, and Thomas Babing-
ton. On the death of E. F.
1499. Richard Smethley; patron, William Bothe. On the death of T. E.
. George Heyth.
1512. Roger Needham; patron, Thomas Eolleston. On the death of Q-. H.
. George Pole.
1530. Richard Smythe ; patron, Edmund Smythe. i- On the resignation of G. P.
1541. William Babington; patrons, Humphrey Babington, and Eleanor his wife,
one of the daughters and coheirs of John Beaumont. On the death of E. S.
1582. Walter Bickles. Parish Eegisters.\
1589. Simon Presse; patron, German Pole.
1597. Walter Kynnersley. Parish Registers.
* We did not note this ourselves at Lichfield, but have taken it from a very in-
complete list of rectors given in Add. MS3., 6,672, f. 49, and we suspect there is a
mistake in the transcribing of the patron's name. If correctly given, he probably
presented as a trustee.
t A Caveat was entered in the Bishop's register, dated 12th Feb., 1524, against any
admission to the church of Egginton, except on the presentation of Edmund Smythe
and William Smyth, of Barrow, as the next presentation had been assigned to them
by John Bothe. Lichfield Eegisters, vol. xiii. & xiv., f. 41.
J Said to have been presented by John Eolleston, but of this there is some doubt.
From the way in which the sixteenth century rectors apparently overlap, judging from
the entries of their deaths in the registers, it would almost seem as if there were two
rectors for the last half of that century. If this is the case, it would arise from the
possession of the Dale abbey half of the rectory being supposed to confer a right to
nominate a second rector.
188 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
. William Whittington.
1616. George Leigh; patron, Sir Henry Leigh. On the death of W. W.
1631. Joseph Leigh; patron, the King. On the death of G. L.
1642. Peter Yates. On the death of J. L.
1680. John Beardsley ; patron, German Pole. On the death of P. Y.
1712. William Woodcock; patron, Sir Thomas Pope Blount " pleno jure, ut
dicitui " On the death of J. B.
1732. Thomas Phillips ; patron, Sir Simon Every. On the death of W. W.
1747. Simon Every; patron, Eev. Sir Simon Every. On the death of T. P.
1758. John Hepworth; patron, German Pole. On the death of S. E.
1795. Edward Pole; patron, Sacheverell Pole. On the death of J. H.
1824. John Leigh; patron, Sir Oswald Mosley. On the death of E. P.
1856. Rowland Mosley; patron, Sir Henry F. Every. On the death of J. L.
The Taxation Eoll of Pope Nicholas IV. (1291) gives the annual
value of this rectory at 14 13s. 4d. ; the half was valued at
8 2s. 8d. when the Valor Ecclesiasticus was taken, 27 Henry
VIII. The exact value of the half pertaining to Dale cannot be
given, as it was classified with the rectory of Hkeston, and only
the total of the two mentioned.
The Church Goods Commissioners, 6 Edward VI., drew up the
following inventory :
"Eggyngton, Oct. 5. Will Babyngton parson.
j chales of sylver with a paten parcell gilt j pyx of laten j canape j crosse
of copper & gilte ij candelstycks of brasse j holly water pan of brasse j bell
in the steple the other ij were sold for the repayrynge of the Munck's brydge, iij
oold coopes vij vestments iij aulter clothes ij albes iij towells & j corporas -
j lytle hand bell j lytle sacryng bell ij crewetta of pewter ij syrplesses ij
bells were sold in the ijnd yere of the kyngs reign to the reparynge of the
Monks brydge* w ch is so farre in decay that the township is not able to amend
the same."
The Parliamentary Commissioners, of 1650, merely say of this
henefice that it is " a parsonage really worth three score pounds
per annum noe chappell apperteyning Mr. Peter Yates Incumbent."
The notes of an Heraldic Visitation of this church, September
13th, 1611,t describe five coats of arms as then extant in the
windows, all of which have now disappeared.
1. Or, on a chevron, git., five plates (Stafford).
2. Paly of six, arg. and az., on a canton, of the second, a
martlet, or (Lathbury).
3. Arg., three mullets, sub. (Hammencourt).
4. Lathbury impaling Mackworth.
* Monks' Bridge, which still retains that name, is about a mile to the west of
the church. It crosses the Dove, connecting Derbyshire and Staffordshire. It
was probably one of the good works of the monks of Tutbury.
t Harl. MSB., 1,093, f. 53b.
EGGINTON. 189
5. Lathbury impaling a/v/., a chevron, gu., between three bundles
of rushes (?) vert.*
6. Az., three stirrups, or (Gifford).
The pedigrees of Lathbury, etc., are too imperfect to enable us to
identify the alliances of shields 4 and 5.
Though the heraldic glass has all gone, there are still some very
interesting remains of old stained glass in the chancel. In the
east window are four small figures under canopies. One represents
Our Lord on the Cross ; another, the First Person of the Trinity
in the act of blessing; and the side ones are probably intended for
the Blessed Virgin and S. John. The border chiefly consists of
castles, or on azure field, and fleurs-de-lis. There are also several
old quarries of set patterns. The south window of the chancel,
nearest to the nave, has two figures : one is a man kneeling, clad
in a blue robe, with a rosary in his hands and a dagger in his
belt, and having on a scroll the words, "Miserere mei d'ne ;" the
other seems intended for a bishop or abbot, but the head is gone;
a chalice and the lower part of a pastoral staff are in his hands.
The border to this glass is of a crown-and-lozenge pattern. This
latter glass, or at all events the figures, we believe to be not earlier
than the conclusion of the fifteenth century ; but the glass of the
east window is, we think, of the first half of the fourteenth
century i.e., of the Decorated period, and contemporary with the
stone work of the window.
The church, which is dedicated to S. Wilfred, consists of chancel,
with modern north vestry, nave, aisles, and low west tower. Mr.
Rawlins, who visited this church in 1822, gives the following
dimensions: Nave, 34 ft. 7 in. by 24 ft. 1 in.; north aisle,
33 ft. 9 in. by 15 ft. 4 in. ; south aisle, 32 ft. 10 in. by 13 ft. 1 in.;
chancel, 35 ft. 3 in. by 16 ft. 7 in. There is apparently no trace
left in the fabric of the old Norman church that doubtless stood
on this site. The oldest work seems to be circa 1290-1300, when
the church seems to have been rebuilt nearly throughout. To that
date pertains the chancel, with its large east window, the tracery
of which is divided into five lancets without any foliations ; the
four two-light windows in the side walls ; and the south priest's
door. The arcades of the nave are dissimilar in style and date.
That on the north side we take to be of the same date as the
* Arg., a chevron, sab., between three bundles of laths, vert, were the arras of
the old London Company of Woodmongers. This is the nearest coat we have been
able to find in Papworth. etc.
190 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
chancel viz., at the beginning of the Decorated period. The
arcade is of three bays, and is supported by circular columns with
plainly- moulded capitals. The west window of the north aisle is
a fine widely-splayed lancet window with a trefoil head. It is a
mistake to suppose that such windows must of necessity be of
Early English date. We believe it to be coeval with the rest of
the aisle. The east window of this aisle was originally lighted
in a similar way ; but a three-light Perpendicular window, circa
1400, was subsequently inserted, most likely to afford space for the
display of memorial glass. Over this window is the upper part of
the old lancet, now much overgrown with ivy ; but in a photograph
of the church, taken several years ago, its character is plainly
to be seen. One of the north windows of this aisle is of two
lights, without foils, and exactly resembles the side chancel
windows. There was another window of the same style in this
wall ; but it has recently given way to a new one, at the time
when the blocked-up north door was being re-opened. During that
work a toad was disclosed embedded in the masonry. It lived for
a short time after its discovery.*
The south aisle we are inclined to date circa 1320. The arches
that separate this aisle from the nave are supported on columns
formed of four clustered shafts, and the responds at each end are
rounded. The south doorway is a good specimen of Decorated
work, with continuous mouldings ; but the windows in the south
are late debased ones, of square form, with four and three lights.
The east window is original, having three lights of plain inter-
secting tracery.
Over the south arcade are three two-light clerestory windows of
a late date; but they are now closed, owing to the roof of the
south aisle having been carried up, in comparatively modern times,
in a continuous slope with the nave roof. Over the north arcade
it is interesting to note two very small square clerestory windows,
in one of which the quatrefoil foliations still remain. These are
undoubtedly the original windows of the Decorated church. Cleres-
tory windows of that date are most rarely met with in the midland
district. In the timbers of the roofs may be noted some moulded
beams that seem to be of Decorated date, and in the north aisle
are three pieces of well-carved work pertaining to the Perpendicular
period.
. * For another instance of an ecclesiastical toad in this county, see Churches of
Derbyshire, vol. i., p. 425.
EGGLNTON. 191
The tower is late in the Perpendicular style, with debased battle-
ments and pinnacles. There is no west door, but a pointed three-
light window exists. On a stone high up in the outer wall of the
north aisle is carved "1593, B.S., W.K.," which probably gives
the date of the battlements of the north aisle and of other work
done to the roofs at that time.
In the south wall of the chancel is a good sedile with a trefoil
head, and having over it a hood mould terminating in a bishop's
and a priest's head. There is a small corresponding piscina niche
close to it. In the opposite wall is the pointed recess of an
almery, in the sides of which may be noticed the grooves for a
shelf. On the right hand of the east window is a plain bracket.
In the south wall of the chancel, close to its west end, is a "low-
side window"* with a square opening. By the east window of the
south aisle there is also a projecting corbel head, carved to
resemble a knight in his coif-de-mailles. The font is modern. It
may also be well to notice in the chancel an oak chair, thus
inscribed " 1686 T.M.," and a Holy Family, after Murillo, copied
by Henderson, and " presented to this church by Joseph Leigh,
Esq r ., of Belmont, Cheshire, A.D. 1833."
In the south wall of the south aisle are two low recesses with
continuous mouldings. One is unoccupied, but in the other is the
defaced stone effigy of a woman, holding a heart in her hands.
(Plate VIII.) These recesses must have been built here for the
co-founders of this aisle possibly for those who rebuilt not only
the aisle, but the chancel and most of the church. It seems very
reasonable to suppose that this is the effigy of Elizabeth, co-heiress
of Stafford, and wife of William Tymmore. She died before her
husband, and he was buried in Staffordshire.
On the floor, within the altar rails, are stones to the memory of
Francis Every, 1690; Sir Henry Every, second baronet, 1700, and
his wife, 1706 ; Eev. Simon Every, 1758 ; Alexander Beardsley,
1687; Mary, wife of John Beardsley, rector, 1709; and Kev. John
Hepworth, rector, 1799.
Against the north wall of the chancel is a monument to Sir
Simon Every, first baronet, who married Anne, daughter and
co-heiress of Sir Henry Leigh ; and to Sir Henry Every, second
baronet, who married Vere, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir
* On the interesting subject of "low-side windows," see Churches of Derbyshire,
vol. iii., under Croxall, Spondon, and Raveiiston. The old hall of Egginton, and
probably therefore the chief part of the village, was near to the church on the south
side, thus confirming the " sanctus-bell " theory.
192 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
Henry Herbert " Dame Vere erects this, 1701 ;" a monument to
Eev. Thomas Phillips, rector (1747) and his family ; and several
to the Mosleys.
On the south wall is a monument to Rev. Joseph Leigh, rector,
1856. On the floor are stones to the memory of Sir Henry
Every, sixth baronet, 1755; to his brother, Eev. Sir John Every,
seventh baronet, 1799 ; and to Martha, wife of Sir John Every,
fourth baronet, 1729.
At the east end of the south aisle are slate slabs against the
wall to Penelope, wife of Sir Henry Every, ninth baronet, 1812 ;
Eev. Sir Simon Every, fifth baronet, 1753 ; and Dame Frances
Every, wife of sixth baronet, 1754.
The tower contains three bells :
I. "I was recast again to sing
By friends to country church & king.
Thomas Hedderley founder Nottingham 1778."
IL " Ihc. Ave Maria gracia plena Dominus tecum." In beautiful
Lombardic capitals of the same character as those at Breaston and
Marston-on-Dove. This must have been the bell spared, when its
fellows were sold for the repairing of Monks' Bridge.
III. "I sweetly toling men do call
To taste of meats that feeds the soole, 1615."
The bell mark of Henry Oldfield.
The registers, which are in a good state of preservation, begin
in 1561 ; but down to the year 1598 it is a copy of an
older book. The first entry is :
1561. Margerie Leighe was baptized the xi dale Auguste yeare aforesaid.
A quarto black-letter copy of Erasmus' Paraphrase, in fair con-
dition, is kept in the vestry.
Eltaaston.
<H>rhbroo[;.
| HE three hamlets of Elvaston, Ambaston, and Thurlston,
which conjointly form the parish of Elvaston, were held,
when the Domesday- Survey was taken, by Geoffrey
Alselin or Hanselyn. At that time there was a church and a
priest on the manor. Large possessions were made over to
Geoffrey by the Conqueror; his principal residence being at Shel-
ford, in Nottinghamshire. From him descended Ealph Hanselyn,
who played an important part in the baronial wars of the time of
Stephen. Ealph Hanselyn was the founder of the Augustine
Priory of Shelford, and amongst the considerable endowments that
he bestowed upon it was the advowson of his church at Elvaston.*
This gift did not remain undisputed ; for William Fitz-Ralph,
seneschal of Normandy, and founder of Dale Abbey, held much
laud in Elvaston proper, and in the other subordinate manors
within the parish; so much so, that for a time the alternate
presentation to the rectory was held to be in his hands, and he
presented in the reign of John. One of his daughters, Edelina,
married Hubert Fitz-Ralph, of Crich. Their daughter and heiress,
Juliana, married Anker de Frecheville ; and Amicia, widow of
Anker de Frecheville (grandson of the last-named Anker) laid
claim to the advowson of Elvaston as a descendant of William
Fitz-Ralph, and summoned the prior of Shelford to the King's
Bench in the year 1276 ; but she was not able to substantiate her
claim .f In the first instance the priory merely presented to the
rectory, which was valued in 1291, under Pope Nicholas' Taxation
Roll, at 20 per annum ; but within a very few years the great
* Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. iii., p. 65; Abbrev, Placit., 14 Edw. II., Hot. 150.
| Nichols' Collectanea, vol. iv., p. 26.
196 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
tithes were appropriated to the monks, and a vicarage ordained,
for the Lichfield Eegisters give a presentation to the vicarage as
early as 1298.*
The Valor Ecclesiasticus (27 Henry VIII.) gives the clear annual
value of the vicarage at 5 8s. 9d., the vicar paying 17s. 3d.
yearly to the priory. The tithes of grain, together with the profits
of the chapelry of Ockbrook and the tithe of a grange and a mill
at Ockbrook, held by the abbot of Dale, brought to the monks a
revenue of .23.
After the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII. granted,
in 1539, the manor of Shelford and almost the whole of the
possessions of the late priory to Sir Michael Stanhope. By this
grant he became possessed of the impropriate rectories of five
Nottinghamshire churches, of two in Lincolnshire, and of Elvaston,
with the parochial chapelries of Ockbrook, in Derbyshire, together
with the advowsons of the respective vicarages, t The Parlia-
mentary Commissioners of 1650 say of Elvaston, that it is "a
viccaridge really worth twenty pounds per annum, the place desti-
tute att present." The great tithes and presentation to the vicarage
still remain in the hands of the Stanhopes (Earls of Harrington).
The following list of the vicars of Elvaston and their respective
patrons is compiled from the Episcopal Registers and the returns
of the Augmentation Office. As the prior of Shelford was always
the patron in pre-Reformation days, it has not been thought
necessary to reiterate that fact.
1298. Frater Godmannus, canon of Shelford.
1311. Hugo de Suwelle. On the resignation of F. Q-.
1330. Richard de Leicester, canon of Shelford. On the death of H. de S.
1363. William de Kinalton. On the resignation of E. de L.
1365. Thomas de Byrton. On the resignation of W. de K.
1391. Robert de Shelford. On the resignation of T. de B.
. Robert Fyssher.
1417. William Derby. On the resignation of E. F.
1436. John Barton. On the resignation of W. D.
1437. William Derby. On the death of J. B.
1442. John Benyngton. On the death of W. D.
. Richard Starkey.
1467. William Lyverpull. On the resignation of R. S. Collated by the Bishop.
1496. John Thorley. On the death of W. L.
1500. Thomas Porte. On the death of J. T.
. Nicholas Holmes.
1658. John Haywood ; patron, Anne Stanhope de Shelford, widow. On the
resignation of N. H.
_ * Unfortunately there is no Chartulary of Shelford extant, so that we are unable to
give the precise date or any particulars relative to the ordination of the vicarage,
t Collins' Peerage, vol. ii., p. 201.
ELVASTON. 197
1564. Richard Cloes ; patron, Anne Stanhope.
. Gervaise Hall.
1621. Robert Townson ; patron, Sir John Stanhope. On the resignation of G. H.
1625. Thomas Hudson; patron, Sir John Stanhope.
1635. John Houlkes ; patron, Sir John Stanhope.
. John Clayton.
1673. Arthur Francis ; patron, John Stanhope. On the death of J. C.
1691. John Brentnall ; patron, John Stanhope.
1695. Thomas Cantrell; patron, Alexander Stanhope. On the resignation of J. B.
1699. Anthony Blaekwell; patron, Alexander Stanhope. On the death of T. C.
1723. Thomas Blunt ; patron, Thomas Stanhope.
1734. John Lowe ; patron, Charles Stanhope.
1768. John Swain ; patron, William, first Earl of Harrington. On the death of
J. L.
1790. John Crauford ; patron, Earl of Harrington.
1806. John Swain; patron, Earl of Harrington. On the death of J. C.
1842. Frederick Nathaniel Hignmore ; patron, Earl of Harrington. On the
death of J. S.
1874. Alexander Robert Goldie; patron, Earl of Harrington. On the death
of F. N. H.
The Inventory of Church Goods, taken at the beginning of the
reigu of Edward VI., has the following entry relative to this
parish :
" ELVASTON Ser Nycolas Holmes Vycar.
"j chalys of sylver parcel! guylt with j paten iiij bells in the steple j hand
bell j sacryng bell iiij vestments wherof j of blew velvet, j of whyt velvet, j of
red damaske, j of grene saye iiij albes iiij ameses ij copes of blew saten, j of
whyte fustyon xj alter clothes iiij towells ij candelstycks of brasse ij hang-
ing clothes ij cruetts j holy water stocke of brasse j corporas with the case.
"We had ij chapells within o r parishe, j at Thorlston, the other at Ambaston,
which had nothing saving ij bells of the which j the inhabitants of Ambaston
have sold the price iij*. iiij^. & the other in the hands of Ellys Bokson &
Will Boghyn. Ser Thos. Wyndson knyght one of the iuhabytanns of the lordship
hath taken the said chapells to his own proper nse."
Of the two chapels of Thurlston and Ambaston there are no
remains, nor even any tradition as to their site. The feast day at
Ambaston is said to be "the second Sunday after the 12th of
September." The Windsors purchased the manor of Ockbrook,
and other lands in this parish, of Sir Thomas Seymour early in
the sixteenth century, but Frederick Lord Windsor resold them in
1583.* There was a grange (i.e., a monastic farm) both at
Ambaston and Thurlston, and these chapels would undoubtedly be
for the use of the monks and their tenants on their respective
estates, and not of the nature of chapels of ease to the parish
church. The parish church was, as we have seen, appropriated to
Shelford priory, but these two granges were the property of
* Lysons' Derbyshire, p. 225.
198 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
Derbyshire abbeys. In 1379, a large endowment of lands, con-
sisting of fifteen messuages, 240 acres of arable land, four acres
of meadow, one rood of pasture, and 20s. in rents, situate on the
manors of Elvaston, Thurlston, and Ambaston, was conferred upon
the abbey of Darley by Sir Thomas Franceys and others.* And
in 1391, we find that the abbey was seized of five messuages, one
hundred acres of arable land, and thirteen acres of meadow, in
Elvaston, Thurlston, and Ambaston.f In the reign of Henry VI ,
the abbeys of Darley and Dale are each mentioned as owning one
knight's fee within the parish, of Elvaston. J The lands of these
two establishments overlapped in the different townships, and
neither Thurlston nor Ambaston exclusively pertained to one or
the other, but it seems that the monks of Dale had a grange at
the latter place, and those of Darley at the former.
The church, which is dedicated to S. Bartholomew, consists of
nave, south aisle and porch, chancel, and lofty western tower.
There is also a shallow north transept a memorial chapel of the
Stanhopes. Of the church that was standing here at the time of
the Domesday Survey there are now no apparent remains. The
earliest work of the present fabric is of the Early English period
of the commencement of the thirteenth century. To that date
belong the tall lancet window at the west end of the south aisle,
and the three small lancet windows (now blocked up) on the north
side of the chancel. The string course of this chancel wall is also
Early English.
To the Decorated date, circa 1300, pertain the two three-light
windows, with intersecting mullions, in the south wall of the aisle;
the chancel arch; and the arcade of three pointed arches, sup-
ported on octagon pillars, between the nave and the aisle. The
south porch seems also to belong to this period : it is evident that
it was originally roofed with stone slabs.
The church underwent extensive repairs, and a general restoration,
towards the end of the fifteenth century, when the Perpendicular
style was in vogue. To this period belong the three clerestory
south windows, the east window of the south aisle, all the windows
of the north side of the nave, the tower, the roof of the nave, and
Inq. post Mort., 3 Hie. II., No. 127. See also Darley Chartulary, Cott. MSS.,
Titus C. ix., ft. 92-4. With respect to an arrangement between the abbey of Darley
and the priory of Shelford respecting the tithes due to the latter as rectors of
Elvaston, see the same Chartulary, f. 30.
f Inq. post Mort., 15 Hie. II., No. 86.
J Inq. post Mort., 10 Hen. VI., No. 30.
There is much more about Ambaston than about Thurlston in the Dale Chartu-
lary. Cott. MSS., vesp. E. xxvi. For Dale possessions in this parish, see ff. 8-19.
ELVASTON. 199
the chancel screen and remains of stall work. One of the south
chancel windows is also of this date ; hut the other south window
and the priest's door are insertions of a later and more debased
style. The arches of the south clerestory windows (see Plate IX),
as well as those in the north wall of the nave, are remarkable for
having their sides nearly straight.
We are, fortunately, able to assign the precise date to these
extensive alterations. Walter Bloiint, first Lord Mountjoy, by will
dated July 8th, 1474, ordained that the parish church, and chancel
of Our Lady, at Elvaston, should be made up and finished com-
pletely out of his own proper goods, and a third bell called a tenor
be bought for the same church; and also that a convenient tomb
should be set in that church over his wife Eleue/ ;: The heiress
of the Hanselyn family brought the manor of Elvaston to the
Bardolphs, who held itf until the reign of Henry VI., when it
passed to Sir Thomas Blount,}: the father of the first Lord
Mountjoy. It remained in their family till about the middle of
the sixteenth century, when it was purchased by the Stanhopes.
Helen, the wife of Lord Mountjoy, was the daughter of Sir John
Byron, of Clayton, Lancashire. There is now no trace of her
tomb. It was probably swept away, together with other memorials
of the Blounts, by the Stanhopes, in the alterations they subse-
quently made, in order to find room for their own monuments.
The tower is a fine example of the Perpendicular work of that
date. The ogee-shaped hood-moulds over the double belfry windows,
and the expanding lines of indented moulding that proceed upwards
to the parapets, give a peculiar effect to the upper stage. There is
a ring of four bells, thus inscribed :
I. " Sit nomen Domine benedictum. Gloria in excelsis Deo,
Amen, Amen. Gloria Deo os meum annunciabit laudem tuam.
IHS. John Taylor and Son Founders Loughbro 1847."
II. "Jhesus be our Speed, 1595." The mark of Henry Oldfield.
III. "John Taylor and Son Founders Loughbro late of Oxford
St. Neots and Buckland Brewer Devon."
IV. The Lombardic initials E. D. and G. F. each repeated three
times, also the initials K. I., and the date 1564.
In order to provide a receptacle for the large monument of Sir
* Dugdale's Baronage, vol. i., p. 520. For further particulars relative to this will,
and of the estates of which he was seized, see Churches of Derbyshire, vol. ii., pp.
7, 196 ; also Stowe's Survey, bk. iii., p. 133.
t Testa de Nevil ; Iiiq. post Mort., 3 Edw. III., No. 66; 9 Eic. II., No. 11 ; 13 Hie.
II., No. 6; etc.
| Inq. post Mort., 19 Hen. VI., No. 30.
200 DERBYSHIRE CHURCHES.
John Stanhope, who died in 1634, the bay of the north wall of
the nave nearest the chancel was taken down, and a transept
18 ft. by 9 ft. built out from the main building. It is lighted by a
large square-headed transomed window, and the clerestory window
above it is of a similarly debased style. It may here be remarked
that we have reasons for thinking that this church had a north as
well as a south aisle previous to its rebuilding in 1474.
The condition of the pews and the general state of the interior
of the church are anything but creditable to those concerned a
large chimneyed stove standing in the centre of an open space
directly in front of the chancel screen but there are several good
monuments to the Stanhopes, and some interesting old wood work.
The slightly-gabled roof of the nave is in fairly good condition,
and has some well-carved bosses. Its date is evidently that of
the tower and the rest of the Perpendicular alterations. Four
of the tie-beams are of later date, and were probably inserted
when the north Stanhope chapel was added ; but the old carved
spandrels have been used up below them. On one of the spandrels
is a shield charged with a castle, and supported by two animals,
apparently talbots. At the west end is a badge that we could only
see indistinctly, but which appeared to be the stump of a tree
erased and a fetterlock. The chancel roof is modern. The east
end of the south aisle which serves as the Stanhope pew, and
has some inner carving of seventeenth century date, is screened off
by a traceried parclose of the Perpendicular period. This would
be "the chancel of Our Lady"* referred to in the will of Lord
Mountjoy ; for the altar to the Blessed Virgin would naturally
stand in the side aisle, and not in the chancel proper. Here would
be the site of the tomb of the Lady Helen, and we have no doubt
that this parclose was erected by the executors of Lord Mountjoy.
There is also a fine screen separating the nave from the chancel
proper, and this, though probably of the fifteenth century, we take
to be of earlier date than the repairs ordered by Lord Mountjoy.
There are some good details of carving on both sides, though
perhaps there is the greater finish on the east side. The chancel
was evidently treated as a regular quire ; the jambs of the doorway
of the screen being prolonged into the sides of stalls facing the
* It is a mistake to think that the term chancel, " cancellum," in mediaeval phrase-
ology, was invariably applied to the most eastern part of the church or choir. It was
often used for the east ends of the aisles, especially when they were separated by a
scrcpii (cancellus) from the rest of the church. Thus in an order for the repair of
the chapel in the tower, an. 1240, mention is made of the '' cancellum Beatae Maria
in ecclesia Sancti Petri et caricelluin beati Petri in eadem ecclesia."
ELVASTON. 201
east, having boldly-carved animals as fiiiials or poppy-heads on
one side an antelope, on the other a chained lion. From this we
may gather that the chancel would he fitted round with stalls for
special quire services an unusual arrangement for an ordinary
vicarage church, especially when we are not aware of there being
any chantry priests attached to it. Probably the monks from the
granges of Ambaston and Thurlston occasionally, or on festivals,
took part in the services of the parish church.
The font, at the west end of the church, has an octagon base,
but a rounded top. It is 30 in. in diameter, and stands 40 in.
high. We believe it to be of Decorated date. In one of the
north windows of the nave is a piece of old glass, consisting of the
lower half of a lion rampant. The rails in front of the altar are
of wrought iron of seventeenth century date.
On the north side of the chancel, blocking up the Early English
lancets, is the costly and elaborate monument to Sir John Stanhope
(who died in 1610) 
