St. Leonard's Church, Thorpe
History
St. Leonard's Church was originally a chapelry of Ashbourne, and the Taxation Roll of Pope Nicholas IV in 1291 makes no mention of a separate parish of Thorpe. The first record of a Rector of Thorpe, indicating that the parish was now independent, is of Ralph de Cressi, who was instituted in 1299. A list of Derbyshire livings under the patronage of the Deans of Lincoln published in 1310 also gives Thorpe as an independent Rectory. A list of all the known Rectors of Thorpe is given below.
THE BUILDING
The Church itself is one of the many small country churches of Norman foundation, and indeed, some authorities claim that it may well be older. The squat Norman Tower is its greatest treasure, of very early construction, possibly dated from the transitional period between Saxon and Norman, for the belfry windows are divided into two lights set back a little from the main arch, and this is a typical Saxon touch. Three of these windows have been partly filled with stonework at some period in the past, but the one on the west side remains untouched. It has been suggested that the date of the Tower may thus be about 1100.
The old West Door to the tower may still be seen, now partly filled in and converted into a window. A plain hood moulding surrounds the top of this arch. The parapet on the tower has excited some comment from experts, and although some claim it to be Norman work, it seems to rest very uneasily on what is undoubtedly the Norman corbel table, and it would seem more reasonable to assume that as such parapets are not common in Norman work, it is of a slightly later date. Just how uneasily the parapet rested was not fully realised until an inspection was made in 1964, when the stones were found to be held in position purely by their own weight. The tower roof was found to be affected badly by death-watch beetle, necessitating its replacement, and the opportunity was taken to re-build the parapet at the same time. During this work, one of the small king-posts was found to bear the date 1665, evidently carved by a workman engaged on similar repairs three hundred years ago.
The present Nave is of early 14th Century construction, that is, some two hundred years after the Tower. This would suggest that the Nave was perhaps originally of timber, and possibly of Saxon date. One can imagine the Normans adding a stone tower, and then finally a stone Nave when the old wooden building became unserviceable. The walls of the Nave are of limestone rubble laid in lime mortar, with their thickness varying between two and a half to three and a half feet. As the outside of the walls appears to be nearly vertical this difference in thickness is taken up by an apparent lean outwards of the inner surfaces of the walls. Looking west from the altar rails this is somewhat disconcerting, but careful inspection of the fabric shows that no movement has in fact taken place, so that the effect must be intentional.
The Vestry was added in 1881, when the chancel was re-built, and the roof of the Nave was replaced shortly afterwards.
THE PORCH
The South Porch bears marks on each side of the outer doorway said to have been caused by the repeated sharpening of arrows. From the reign of Edward III in 1363 there were several acts of Parliament devised to encourage the practice of archery among the men of the country, for the Black Death had seriously depleted the number of skilled archers available for the defence of the country. Every Englishman was therefore to have a bow and arrows kept ready for use, and also to provide his sons similarly. Sunday afternoons were to be devoted to archery practice "on the South side of the Church", and apparently parishes were instructed to keep a supply of bows and arrows for the use of those who could not afford their own, this supply being kept handy in the church.
THE INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH
THE FONT
Dr. Cox, in his book on English Church furniture, remarks that this is one of the three Derbyshire tub fonts which are undoubtedly from the eleventh century - namely Mellor, Tissington and Thorpe. If this is true, then this font would be in use in the old timber church, possibly even before the tower was built. Unfortunately, its looks belie its age, for it has had a somewhat unhappy history. Dr. Cox refers to a conversation he had with "the oldest inhabitant," who could remember sitting near the font when he was a boy, and he could well remember seeing it covered with carvings of queer-shaped animals with long tails and horns. This, incidentally, is a description remarkably like the font still to be seen at Tissington, bearing its original carvings. As Dr. Cox wrote his book some one hundred and twenty years ago, the description he gives would be of the font as it was towards the beginning of the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, when the church was re-pewed about 1810, the font was removed by one of the Churchwardens, and was for many years left in the open air, where the weather destroyed the greater part of the carvings. It was discovered many years later, by the then Rector, Joseph Kewley, who, in an excess of Victorian zeal, had it cleaned up and resurfaced, thus efficiently destroying the last remaining traces of the original carving. The Baptismal Register bears the following note, evidently inserted at the time:
"The ancient font, which had been removed from the Church about 50 years ago was, after that period of neglect and desecration, restored to its proper place on the 8th November, 1865, and used again on the occasion of the Baptism of Flora Emily Pidcock on November 9th, 1865. JOSEPH WILLIAM KEWLEY, Rector."
THE WEST END
A simple Norman arch forms the entrance to what has in the past been the Children's Corner. This area has also been used as a chapel for the celebration of Holy Communion on occasions when it was not wished to heat the whole church. The west window is modern, and was designed by Mr. A. F. Erridge in 1950.
Cox records that there was a West Gallery erected in 1841, and still there in 1877 when he saw it. It was no doubt removed during the re- roofing of the Nave about 1884. A very narrow stairway leads from the comer of the tower room up to the belfry (not open to visitors) which contains three bells bearing the following inscriptions: -
1. "Jesus be our spede." This is beautifully wrought in Lombardic characters. Below the inscription are two elaborately finished letters "H. D." similar to those on a bell in Elton Church.
2. "Campana Beate Mane Virginis." This is also in Lombardic characters but is obviously much older than the first bell, and probably of pre-Reformation date.
3. A relatively modem bell, inscribed "C. and G. Mears, Founders, London 1845."
The bells were re-hung on a steel frame in 1902.
The clock was installed in 1914 by John Smith and Sons of Derby, and is in memory of the Twigge family.
THE WINDOWS
The two square-headed windows on the north side of the nave were re-leaded in the early 1930s. The one opposite the door contains some very pleasant old glass, with a faint green tint. The window by the pulpit contains coloured glass depicting the. raising of Lazarus, and like the one on the south side of the Chancel showing children offering flowers to the Chnst Child, is by Mr. F. C. Eden, F.S.A. Both are noteworthy in that the background in each case is of clear glass, so that the window is still able to perform its primary function of admitting light to the Church.
The pulpit window is to the memory of Emily and Mary Twigge, and in her will, Emily Twigge clearly laid down that this window was to be " ... a picture of Martha and Mary. Martha is to have red hair like my own was." It will be noticed that the artist has obediently carried out Miss Emily's wishes. The discerning viewer may be a little puzzled by the pelican which stands by Martha, for there appears to be no New Testament warrant for this odd intrusion. It is apparently justified by the fact that this bird was the crest of the family, and the bird will also be found gracing the centres of the crosses over Twigge graves in the churchyard. The pelican is in fact an ancient symbol for Christ, since it is reputed to feed its young with its own blood, drawn by wounding itself with its beak.
On the south side of the nave is a two-light window, of date about 1320, with glass in memory of those who fell in the 1914-18 war.
By the Lectern, high up in the wall is another small window bearing the figure of St. Leonard, the Patron Saint of the church. Leonard was also the Patron Saint of prisoners, and the glass shows him carrying the fetters by which he is usually identified in art, The little window is something of a puzzle, for openings of this kind are often found, called "squints" and giving a view of t.e. Altar f:om outside the church. From the position of this one, however, this is certainly not the purpose for which it was intended, and it is far too small to have been meant for access to a Rood Loft. We are therefore left with the most likely explanation that in the days when the church was much darker and this window would have clear glass in it, it would have afforded light to the Rood, now long since vanished.
The most recent window in the church, by the entrance, is in memory of Fred C. Hunt, a consultant surgeon, lay reader and churchwarden. It was designed by Alfred Fisher and dedicated in 1997 by the Rt. Revd. Jonathan Bailey, Bishop of Derby. The theme of the window is 'God is Love'. The sun is the symbol of the God of all creation, and the open Gospel is surrounded by the flames of the Holy Spirit.
THE PULPIT
This is of relatively recent constuction, and is said to be the work of a local mason, using Hopton Wood crinoidal limestone. The rail by the pulpit steps is also of local manufacture, to match the Elizabethan communion rails.
THE CHANCEL
As has already been mentioned, the Chance! was rebuilt in 1881 when the vestry was added. A sketch of the church made prior to that date is reported to show that there were originally two small square-headed windows on the south side, but these were destroyed in the reconstruction. Fortunately, some of the old stonework remained in the churchyard, and about 1930 a new window was opened up just behind the Rector's stall, as a memorial to a Rector, the Rev. W. M. Tomlinson, who died in 1926. This gave an opportunity to replace the original stonework back into the fabric again. A few pieces of the old stone still remain, and are in the porch.
Otherwise, all that remains of the old chancel is the Piscina, very low down on the south side of the sanctuary; the altar rail, of Elizabethan origin, and one side and end of the Milward tomb, of which more details are given below.
The east window was given in 1893 by Mr and Mrs W. B. Badnall.
THE MILLWARD TOMB
This tomb was erected in 1632, and up to the restoration of 1881 it stood in the chancel, having the communion rail attached to it with iron clamps. Dr. Cox, who records this position, mentions that the top was perfectly plain, although defaced by many scratched initials, but suggests that at one time it may have carried a sculptured effigy. The south side of the tomb, now set into the wall of the sanctuary, bears a very worn inscription, which Dr Cox records as reading:
"Here lieth the body of John Millward, Esq., who married Mary, daughter of William Blount, Esq., who had issue two sons and two daughters, wh. John died 288 of Januy 1632 his age 82".
On one side of the inscription stand the small figures of the two sons, and on the other, the two daughters. The sons have moustaches and peaked beards, and are dressed in the fashion of the time of Charles I, with close-fitting doublets, short cloaks, breeches with fringed ends and wide-topped boots, while over their shoulders they wear the characteristic broad collar of the time. The daughters wear embroidered bodices with pointed waists, and have the skirts of their dresses slightly open in front to disclose the petticoat. Round the neck is a crescent-shaped jewel.
The eldest son, Robert, was a celebrated soldier. Bassano, in his manuscript Church Notes written about 1710 relates a story told to him by the then Rector of Thorpe, Alexander Hamilton, about Robert's adventures in Spain. Apparently he engaged a Spaniard ill single combat, when "He and his adversary were first to fight with quarter, staff, in which he was wounded : then they betook them to sword and dagger; the Spaniard hereby soon lost the use of his left arm and afterwards his life."
The other brother, John, who was also a soldier, served with the Royalists as a Colonel, and bought the manor of Snitterton in the parish of Darley Dale. He died in 1670 leaving only daughters, of whom the eldest, Felicia, married Charles Adderley, thus taking the Manor of Thorpe into the Adderley family, together with a moiety of Snitterton. John's wife, Anne, has a memorial in the chancel of Darley Dale Church.
THE COMMUNION PLATE (now stored in a bank vault)
The most valuable of the Communion plate consists of a Chalice, Flagon and Paten in silver-gilt, presented to the church in 1709 by Mary, widow of the first Duke of Beaufort. Each piece bears her arms, i.e. Beaufort impaling Capel.
THE PARISH REGISTERS
The records date from the year 1538, although the first register is a copy of the original, made by Alexander Hamilton, Rector in 1675.
The year 1605-6 contains details of no less than 29 burials in three months, which is evidently the period during which the plague visited the parish, for the usual number of burials for such a period would be about two or three.
On the back page of the first register is the following note: - "Memorandum that two py'd sycamores were set in the churchyard at Thorpe by Henry Lea Rector on the twenty eighth day of October in the year one thousand seven hundred and twenty one, at which time they were nine foot in height and six inches in circumference." GYLES GREGORY, Curate, Sept. 3rd, 1728.
In 1643 there appears a note as follows :-
"Memorandum that this register was omitted for 12 years next ensuing this present year vizt 1643-1656 excepting only these few following names wh were collected by (illegible) and here afterwards inserted and engrossed."
This, of course, relates to the period of the "Long Parliament" when church records were very sketchy indeed. A further note on this period is given in connection with the list of Rectors below.
THE SUNDIAL
Halfway along the path to the Rectory stands a tall sundial. Although now somewhat corroded, the inscription can still be made out on the dial as: - Lat. 53 degrees, 00 minutes. Whithurst, Derby 1767.
The steps closely resemble those of the churchyard cross at Blore, over the river from Thorpe, and it has been suggested that a similar cross may perhaps have stood here at one time in the past. The sundial appears to have been moved from its original home, and erected here later, as the latitude at Thorpe is nearer 53°03' than 53°00'. The height of the pillar is rather unusual for a sundial, and one can only assume that it must have been originally erected for the use of people on horseback, perhaps at a Hunt Meet.
John Whitehurst, F.R.S. was a famous clockmaker, who lived from 1713 to 1788, and founded a business in Derby. Although he and his sons were better known for the many long-case clocks and turret clocks they made, there is another sundial of his manufacture in the churchyard at Morley, dated 1762.
It is interesting to note that the clock in the tower at Thorpe is made by John Smith and Sons, of Derby, who are the successors to the Whitehurst family business.
THE RECTORS OF THORPE
1299 Ralph de Cressi
1348 John de Cresey
1364 Nicholas de Benteley
1377 William de Thokeby
1391 William de Eyton
1428 John Watten
14:32 William Shebynton
1444 Richard Garrarde
1452 William Watteson
1466 Thomas Jakson
1469 Robert Midylton
- Thomas Smyth
1527 Thomas Lillylowe
1530 Adam Prowdelowe
1567 Richard Porte
? ?
cl610 William Tomlinson
1633 Francis Topham
1656 Alexander Hamilton
1712 ? ?
1717 Henry Lea
1722 William Portal
1734 Thomas Dane
1737 Thomas Winder
1766 Nathanial Hurd
1774 John Lloyd
1819 Robert Gordon
1824 Benjamin George Bagden
1860 Joseph William Kewley
1872 William Kynaston Groves
1878 Thomas Twiss Howell
1888 Thomas Wilson Windley
1898 Arnold Pawson
1907 Ernest Higham
1914 Walter Michael Tomlinson
1926 Roland Frederick Borough
1933 Richard Wheen
1959 Derek Haslam Buckley
1967 Thomas Gordon Usher
1977 David H. Sansum (Priest in Charge)
1983 Anthony P. Betts
1990 Victor Brown
1996 Christopher Harrison
In 1643 the "Long Parliament" under Oliver Cromwell passed an act for the abolition of Bishops, and shortly afterwards the Prayer Book was forbidden. For some 15 years the Church of England had no legal rights at all, and the 'Commission of Triers" ejected many of the clergy who would not conform to the new Independent form of worship. Records in Church Registers in general ceased at this time. Francis Topham, who was rector in 1643, appears to have attended four Presbyterian meetings at Wirksworth during the years 1652 to 1653, and Cox's 'Derbyshire Annals" records that Presbyterian Sermons were preached twice at Thorpe. These were no ordinary sermons, but were given on the occasion of a Classical Fast, which appears to have been a holiday celebrated by the preaching of a number of special sermons.
Topham died and was buried in the churchyard on 5th August 1656. His successor, Alexander Hamilton records himself as being "admitted Rector" in October, 1656 during the Commonwealth period, and he retained the Rectory after the Restoration of Charles II. It is to this Alexander Hamilton that we owe the copy of the first register of the church. It appears that he did not attend the Wirksworth meetings, so one may perhaps presume that he was therefore found fit to carry on after the Restoration, unlike his neighbour at Fenny Bentley, Edward Hollinshead.
Thomas Winder, Rector from 1737 to 1766, left various sums of money to charity, and a copy of his will is in the church records. From this we learn that every poor person that attended his funeral was to be given sixpence a piece -"this being the last good that I can do them." There was also a legacy of £20 ..."to my successor and successors and officers of Thorpe in trust to be by them put out and kept at interest for ever, and the interest thereof yearly and every year for ever to be paid and distributed by them to and among the poor of and belonging to Thorpe on the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, and I pray God that it may never be lost or misapplied."
The most interesting thing about Thomas Winder's will, however, appears in three bequests of a hundred pounds each, one to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel " ... in trust to be by them applied for propagating the Gospel where it has not been preached" and the other two to the Revd. Mr. John Wesley and the Revd. Mr. George Whitfield ..."in trust to be applied by him to the most pious and excellent uses." It seems therefore that Thomas Winder was unwittingly one of the earliest supporters of what turned out to be the Methodist Movement. Of course, at this time Wesley and Whitfield were Anglicans and were in fact missionaries attached to the S.P.G. In passing it is interesting to note that it was their methodical observance of the practices of a Sacramental and High-Churchly worship that originally earned the name Methodists, although Whitfield was a thorough-going Calvinist at heart, and it was no doubt his later influence that developed into Calvanistic Methodism.
A memorial to Thomas Winder is to be seen on the south wall of the Chancel, and the words inscribed upon it are carefully set out in his will.
From 1722 to 1824, with the exception of Thomas Winder, all the Rectors of Thorpe were non-resident, and their duties were carried out by curates. They would no doubt pay occasional visits to see that all was well, and indeed, one such visit was paid in April 1817 by John Lloyd, who was evidently so unfamiliar with the registers of the church that he entered the Baptism of one Mary Mellor in the wrong book five years out of place. His successor, Benjamin Blagden, who lived at Thorpe, records this fact with no doubt a certain amount of glee
!
By an "Order in Council" dated 22nd October, 1958, the three benefices of Fenny Bentley, Thorpe and Tissington were united. Following an interregnum from 1977 to 1983 with the Vicar of Ashbourne as priest in charge, the parish again forms part of a united benefice, this time with Tissington, Fenny Bentley and Kniveton. In 1994 the Parishes of Thorpe, Tissington and Fenny Bentley were united with Parwich and Alsop-en-le-Dale.
CHURCH POSSESSIONS
The inventory of church goods drawn up in the reign of Edward VI contains the following entry relating to Thorpe :
"Thorpe, Septe, 20th. Alen Prodelove, person. j chalice with j paten silver and gilt - two vestments of saye with ij albes and j anayse -- iij bells -ij hand bells - j sacringe bell - j surplice - j towell - j alter clothes - j corpus with the case."
The "Valor Ecclesiasticus" of 27 Henry VIII mentions this Alanus Prowdelove as Rector, and gives the annual value of the living as £6 1s. 6d,
The Beaufort communion plate has already been mentioned, and there is nothing else of real value that has survived the years.
There are two books of some antiquarian interest. One is a very tattered "Breeches Bible" dated 1581. This derives its name from the fact that in Genesis, chapter 3, verse 7, Adam and Eve are quoted as having made themselves "breeches" out of fig leaves, whereas later versions give "aprons". This Bible was properly known as the "Geneva Bible" and was the work of English Protestant exiles who had fled to Geneva to escape the persecutions of Mary Tudor, familiarly known as "Bloody Mary".
The other book is a copy of "The Attourney's Academy" dated 1630. This is a handbook giving " ... the manner and form of proceeding practically upon any suite, plaint, or action whatever..." Reference to the British Museum Library has elicited the information that only three other copies are recorded as being in existence.
Click here for a recently-discovered account of a confirmation service held at Thorpe in the late 1880s.
This survey of the history of Thorpe church draws heavily from the work of the late Derek Buckley, past rector of the parish.