St. Mary's church is tucked away down a narrow lane away from
the village centre, close to the river and surrounded
by lovely countryside. Nikolaus Pevsner, in his county guide,
stated that this Grade 1 listed building is "essentially
a C13 church"[1].
The stereoview shows the north side of the church and the
14th century windows of the north aisle. All three windows,
so the two facing the road and the slightly larger side window,
have distinctive and attractive ogee curves at the top. When
the church was restored in 1877 "the old plain glass" of
these windows was not replaced[2].
The 1877 work had been undertaken by Messrs. Bullock and Barton
of Melbourne from plans drawn up by the Nottingham architects
Evans and Jolley. The then Rector, Rev. J. Wadham, had
begun fund raising in 1869 and by August 1877 some £1,200
had been spent, though work still needed to be done on the
roof and spire as well as the porch[2].
In 1910 further work was proposed as the lead on the roof
was by then over two hundred years old and had become porous;
other work was also needed[3].
However, the roof repairs had still not been done in 1949[4].
Sadly, in 1954, the theft of 15 of the 24 sheets of lead
from the roof necessitated urgent repairs[5].
Three Derby men were prosecuted and sentenced, with one man
receiving an eight year prison term. A further person skipped
bail[6].
Enlargement of part of the right hand stereo image of St. Mary's
church.
There are three stepped buttresses supporting the north aisle
wall and a blocked up doorway is to the right of the windows,
mostly hidden by the wall; the top of its arch appears as
a small dark mark on the image (half way between the right
window and the down pipe).
The embattled tower, with a slim octagonal recessed
spire, is attached to the western end of the building, so is
not over a crossing. It was built about 1360[7]
although Dr. Cox, the church historian, suggested that the
battlements were probably renewed towards the end of the fifteenth
century[8].
It shows the marks of a former steep-pitched roof on its western
side. We can clearly see the louvres in the tower's belfry
windows and there are two tiers or lights, or lucarnes, in
the spire[9].
The church door and seventeenth century porch are on the southern
side, so on the far side of the building.
There are only minor differences between the way the church
looked when the stereoview was taken and the way it looks
today. The gate shown above has changed and the large tree
on the left, which blocked the view of the chancel and its
two narrow lancet windows, has gone so there is now a far better
view of the structure as a whole.
Cox tells us that "at the outbreak of the Civil War
there was an engagement at King's Hill ford, in this parish,
which was held by the royal forces. After an entry of July
4th, 1644 [in the parish register], is written - "Some
souldiers buryed of ye Garrison ;" and again under August
7th - "Duck a souldier buried a little aftr." The
rector at the time was John Poole, though his name was written
as Pole in the register[8]. |
Weston-upon-Trent,
Kelly's 1891 Directory