Derbyshire Churches and Chapels
SOME SUGGESTED THEMATIC TRAILS
Not all of the churches or chapels included in these "trails" have supplied information about opening times for inclusion here. Prospective visitors should therefore check the details in the text - some places that are not included may quite well turn out to be open; in other instances a view of the exterior will have to suffice.
Bagshawe Trail (northern area)
William Bagshawe was baptized at Tideswell in 1628 and ordained in 1650 at Chesterfield into the Presbyterian form of ministry current during the Commonwealth period. Following the restoration of the monarchy and the subsequent Act of Uniformity, he was (like many others) ejected in 1662 from his living as Vicar of Glossop and became an itinerant preacher, earning for himself the nickname of "The Apostle of the Peak". During this period of his ministry he founded independent Presbyterian congregations at Bradwell (latterly Unitarian - the chapel now closed and used for other purposes), Chinley (now Independent Congregational) and Great Hucklow (now Unitarian); he is also known to have preached at Charlesworth (now Independent Congregational). He died in 1702 at the family home of Ford Hall and was buried in the chancel of the local parish church at Chapel-en-le-Frith (which he had regularly attended in order to pay lip-service to the law requiring attendance at parish worship on the Lord's Day!).
Bakewell Trail (central and southern areas)
Robert Bakewell, 1682-1752, the celebrated craftsman in iron, was born at Uttoxeter (just in Staffordshire). He established himself in London, filling a niche in the market conveniently vacated by the great Jean Tijou. His popularity in and around Derby seems to have resulted from a commission by Thomas Coke of Melbourne Hall. The finest collection of Bakewell ironwork is to be seen in Derby Cathedral, with its great gated screen and numerous other fittings. Disregarding (for our purposes) his important work in private houses, other examples of his ecclesiastical craftsmanship are at Alvaston (former reredos & table), Ashbourne (churchyard gates), Borrowash (chancel screen), Duffield (weather vane), Etwall (almshouse gates leading into churchyard), Foremark (communion rails & churchyard gates) and Radbourne (weather vane). It is also worth a visit just over the border into Leicestershire to view the splendid screen in the NT church at Staunton Harold.
Catholic Chapels Trail (northern area)
"Under-cover" (or "recusant") Roman Catholics survived in considerable strength in the Dales during the repressions of the post-Reformation centuries. Prior to the official re-establishment of a parochial system in the mid 19th century, a number of "chapels" were built at the expense of wealthy Catholic patrons such as the Eyre family at Hassop Hall. Some of these chapels (like the original one in Derby, built by the Earl of Shrewsbury) were later replaced by substantial parish churches; the survivors comprise Hathersage (c1690), Hassop (1816-18) and the slightly later example at Glossop (’All Saints" : 1836) - all in Classical style. The mediaeval chapel at Padley is exceptional: Padley Hall itself had been the home of the Catholic branch of the Fitzherberts and had maintained its worship during the troubled centuries. Following abandonment and partial ruination of the building the remnants were acquired by the Catholic community and the chapel repaired and re-consecrated in 1933.
Derwent "Mill Churches" Trail (central area)
The Derwent Valley is designated a World Heritage Site. During the C18 and early C19 numerous mills, with their supporting communities, sprang up along the length of the river from Derby northwards. Almost invariably the mill owners furnished these villages with churches and other social facilities. To list them in geographical progression we have: Darley Abbey St Matthew (Evans: 1819), Belper Unitarian (Strutt: 1788), Alderwasley All Saints (Hurt: 1850), Holloway Methodist (Smedley: 1852) and Cromford St Mary (Arkwright: 1797).
"Estate Churches" Trail (southern area)
The south of the County has several country houses (great and small) with their associated estates. The mediaeval pattern was for the lord or squire to build build the parish church where it suited his own convenience - ie next to his residence. Examples of this may be found at Calke, Elvaston, Foremark, Kedleston, Longford, Radbourne and Sudbury. A later development, in the C19, was for a "model" estate village to be built with its own church, such as may be found at Bretby and Ticknall (part of the Calke Estate).
Hunstone Trail (northern area)
"Old" Advent Hunstone was the most celebrated member of a family firm of wood carvers based in Tideswell. Advent himself flourished in the late C19 and early C20. His work was firmly rooted in a good understanding of late (ie Perpendicular) Gothic style, but within this parameter he was able to produce a profusion of natural, representational and symbolical subject matter. Nowhere can this better be seen than in his native parish church of Tideswell - most spectacularly in the organ case (1895) and Lady Chapel screen to which it is linked. The work here is fully described in Martin Hulbert's publication, ’The Woodcarvings at Tideswell". Other churches containing Hunstone's work include: Burbage (lych gate), Dronfield (reredos & high altar), Matlock St Giles (organ cases & choirstalls), Miller's Dale (various furnishings) and Wormhill (chancel furnishings).
Stevens Trail (central & southern areas)
Henry Isaac Stevens (1806-1873), was Derby's most noted architect of the C19. Working in the early decades of Victoria's reign, he was clearly inspired by Pugin and Scott, and never lapsed into the "Georgian" Gothic of so many of the "Commissioners'" churches. His best work is probably at Repton School Chapel (1857), where money was clearly not a problem, while at Derby St Michael (1858 - now offices) the originality of the segmental window arches looks forward to ’Art Nouveau" Gothic of the C20. Where there were financial restraints then he would use a simple, though still stylish, lancet Gothic formula. Much of his work consisted of so-called "restorations", which (typically of the time) often involved considerable rebuilding and alteration. Completely new designs by Stevens are to be found in the churches at Alvaston (1856), Belper Christ Church (1849), Clay Cross (1851), Coton in the Elms (1846), Hazelwood (1840), Heath (1853), Idridgehay (1845), Osmaston (1845), Shardlow (1838 - an early work, still reminiscent of Commissioners' style), Swadlincote (1848), Ticknall (1842) and Woodville (1846 - a pleasant essay in Norman style).
Wesley Trail (central & northern areas)
John Wesley (1703-1791), indefatigable traveller and preacher, visited Derbyshire on a number of occasions. During the 1760's he is known to have preached in the new chapels at Derby (St Michael's Lane, now demolished) and Crich (still in use); then, in the 1780's, at Belper, Fairfield and Hayfield (in the parish church). There is also an interesting connection with Bagshawe's Chinley Chapel, where there is to be seen the C18 grave of former chapel minister, Revd John Bennet, and his wife, Grace, whom, in her earlier days, John Wesley had courted and wished to marry (until other counsels apparently prevailed).