St Mary's Church, Wirksworth

St. Mary's Church, Wirksworth
Coordinates: 53°04′56″N 1°34′27″W / 53.08221°N 1.57404°W
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Broad Church
Website	www.wirksworthteamministry.co.uk
History
Dedication	St. Mary
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade I listed building
Designated	24 October 1950
Architectural type	Perpendicular Gothic
Specifications
Length	142ft[1]
Width	102ft[1]
Administration
Parish	Wirksworth
Diocese	Diocese of Derby
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Rector	Canon David Truby

St. Mary's Church, Wirksworth, is a parish church in the Church of England in Wirksworth, Derbyshire. It is a Grade I listed building^[2] dating mostly from the 13th century, but with notable survivals from the Anglo-Saxon period. It was restored in 1870 by Sir Gilbert Scott.^[2]

Description

Anglo-Saxon coffin lid on the north wall

The church is notable for its Anglo-Saxon carvings, and a large Anglo-Saxon coffin lid which was discovered in the churchyard in 1820. It is now mounted on the north wall of the nave. It appears to date from the second half of the 7th century.^[3] The church is also noted for containing an Anglo-Saxon carving of a lead miner, "Th' owd Man", the oldest representation of a miner anywhere in the world. It was moved here in 1863 from Bonsall church for safe-keeping and has never been returned. The parishioners of Bonsall have had a replica carved for their church.^[4]

It is one of the few remaining churches in Britain which still performs the ancient custom of Clipping the church. This takes place on the first Sunday after 8 September, the Sunday after the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Th' owd Man, the oldest known representation of a miner

Memorials

In the north aisle are the tombs of the Gell family. Sir Anthony Gell (d. 1583) has his statue on his tomb. Alongside is the simpler tomb of his father, Sir Ralph Gell.

The chancel contains the tomb of Anthony Lowe, a Gentleman of the Bedchamber who served Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I and died in 1555.

Abraham Bennet, the inventor of the gold-leaf electroscope and developer of an improved magnetometer.

The churchyard contains the tomb of Matthew Peat of Alderwasley, who died 11 December 1751, at an alleged age of 109 years and 10 months.^[5]

Parish status

The church is in a joint parish with

• All Saints’ Church, Alderwasley
• St James the Apostle’s Church, Bonsall
• All Saints’ Church, Bradbourne
• All Saints’ Church, Ballidon
• St James’ Church, Brassington
• St Margaret’s Church, Carsington
• All Saints’ Church, Elton
• St James’ Church, Idridgehay
• Holy Trinity Church, Kirk Ireton
• Holy Trinity Church, Middleton-by-Wirksworth

Vicars

This list is taken from the list displayed by the South Porch door inside the church.

1270 Nicholas de Oxton 1272 Richard de Middleton 1275 William Godman 1287 Appointment made but name not recorded 1295 Appointment made but name not recorded 1299 Robert de Bradborn 1313 Milo de Leicester 1326 John de Hale 1349 Robert de Darbi ???? Robert de Irton 1362 Robert Spondai ???? Thomas Chastelton 1397 John Sotheren 1410 Bartholomew Lyburgh ???? John Masson 1422 John Rolf 1432 Thomas Eyton

1487 Richard Smyth 1504 James Baresforthe 1520 Anthony Draycott 1560 John Hyron 1577 Michael Harrison DD 1600 Tobias Stoyte 1615 William Parker 1619 Richard Caryer 1633 Robert Topham 1650 Martin Topham 1660 Peter Wilkinson 1667 Thomas Brown (or Browne; Archdeacon) 1689 William Browne 1705 Richard Willis 1714 John Inett 1718 Thomas Inett 1746 Thomas Harris

1778 Richard Tillard 1787 Richard Kaye 1790 John Chaloner 1815 George de Smith Kelley 1824 Henry Gordon 1831 William Edward Nassau Molesworth 1831 John Harward 1851 Thomas Tunstall Smith 1893 William Harry Arkwright 1902 Hubert Arnold Gem (previously vicar of All Saints' Church, Nottingham) 1913 Thomas Beedham Charlesworth 1917 Herbert Ham 1925 Arthur Lionel Edwards 1935 Stephen Langrish Caiger 1951 Geoffrey Busby 1984 Robert S. Caney (Rector)

Organ

In 1826 a 2 manual organ was installed by Thomas Elliot. It cost £400 (equivalent to £30,309 as of 2015),^[6] raised by subscriptions, and was placed in the tower of the church, but it was removed in 1853 to a more convenient location in the nave.

The church had a 3-manual 26 speaking stop tubular pneumatic action pipe organ installed in the north transept in 1899 by Brindley & Foster.^[7] It was rebuilt in 1955 by Kingsgate Davidson with electric action.

This organ was replaced in 1987 by a 3-manual 48 speaking stop Makin electronic digital organ.

Organists

• George Frederick Simms ????–1832^[8]
• Thomas Reeves 1832–60^[9]
• Edward Birch 1860–78^[10]
• Nicholas Mason Day 1878–98^[11]
• Carl Ashover 1899–1916^[12]
• F. Isherwood-Plummer c.1920–c.1921
• E.S. Jones c. 1923
• Harold Udall Ogdon
• Hingley James c.1937^[13]
• Christopher Dixon 1980–present

See also

• Grade I listed churches in Derbyshire

References

1. Hackett, Richard R. (1863). Wirksworth and five miles round. British Library, Historical Print Editions. ISBN 978-1241320706.
2. Historic England. "Church of St Mary  (Grade I) (1335090)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
3. Millward, Roy; Robinson, Adrian Henry Wardle (1975). The Peak District. Eyre Methuen.
4. The Matlock Mercury, 20 February 2002
5. Magna Britannia: Volume 5: Derbyshire (1817), pp. 275–306.
6. UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2016), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.
7. http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N05363
8. Derby Daily Telegraph, Monday 22 February 1932
9. Wirksworth Advertiser 27 July 1860
10. Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald, Saturday 26 October 1878
11. Plaque in church on pier in the north transept.
12. Lichfield Mercury, Friday 18 February 1916
13. Derby Daily Telegraph, Friday 7 May 1937