Category: Derbyshire

On the afternoon of Friday 11 August we went for a drive, and ended up at the village and church of Shirley – St Michael’s, SK 218416. It is part of the Brailsford benefice, with this website – click on it just to see the name! A pile of church and village guides produced in 1991 – not a lot has happened since then (or has it?, read on). Sewallis, a Saxon Thane, held land at the Norman Conquest. At Domesday Henry de Ferrers was Sewallis’ overlord, and Sewallis’ son Fulcer had a mill and four oxgangs. Fulcher’s son,...

Back home we tried to have a day off on Friday 28 July. We had coffee at the National Stone Centre, and then cut across to Brassington. Sadly the church was locked. We went on to Bradbourne. Here is All Saints’ church which is at SK 207527. They are part of the Wirksworth team, with a website here. It was not really the weather to wander round outside. If I had, I would have found that part of the north wall is Saxon, and the tower is Norman. The main body of the church is C13 and C14. Restoration...

A few miles down the road is the village of Pentrich, site of England’s last revolution. My wife is an expert on this revolution as she went to a day conference about it. I know nothing (I come from Barcelona). There is a website here. It tells me that “The men of the Derbyshire village of Pentrich formed themselves into an armed force in 1817 and marched towards Nottingham expecting to be part of a national uprising to overthrow the government. The main reason for their action was anger and despair at the lack of work, lack of food...

David, one of my churchwardens, wanted a chat – so we had it en route to the Tip. We came home via St Mary’s Boulton, where they are opening the church on a regular basis. We had visited this church on a previous occasion, but here are some new photos. The lych gate is a War Memorial. This time we entered through the south door – C13 porch with Norman tympanum. Interesting font, vase, not sure what it is. The church is open, and people are visiting regularly. They are doing a Prayer Week, working with local schools –...