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Kelly's Directory, Derbyshire, 1891> This page |
| Fenny Bentley, Derbyshire |
| 19th Century Derbyshire Directory Transcripts |
| From: Kelly's Directory of the Counties of Derby, Notts, Leicester and Rutland pub. London (May, 1891) - p.208 |
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| FENNY BENTLEY is a parish and picturesque
village, situated in a pleasant valley, watered by a small brook,
to which it gives name and which is here crossed by an ancient stone
bridge of two arches, 2 miles north from Ashborne station on the North
Staffordshire railway and 7 south-west from Wirksworth, in the Western
division of the county, Ashborne union, petty sessional division and
county court district, hundred of Wirksworth, rural deanery of Ashborne,
archdeaconry of Derby and diocese of Southwell. The church of St.
Edmund, King and Martyr, a building of stone, consists of chancel,
nave, north aisle, sooth porch and a tower with spire at the west
end containing 3 bells, dated respectively 1850, 1654 and 1617 : the
whole building seems to have been reconstructed in the early part
of the 14th century, of which the east window and one in the nave
are good examples: the chancel is separated from the nave, and the
aisle from the organ chamber by exquisitely carved oak screens of
Late Perpendicular date, erected circa 1450 and restored in 1850:
the aisle is separated from the nave by an arcade of three bays; the
high-pitched roofs of dark oak, as well as the tower and the north
aisle, were additions made in 1850: on the north side of chancel is
a square alabaster monument to Thomas Beresford, who, according to
the inscription, specially distinguished himself at the battle of
Agincourt, 25 Oct. 1415, and died in 1473, and to Agnes, his wife,
who died in 1467; on the upper surface are two recumbent figures completely
enveloped in shrouds, and upon the sides twenty-one similar effigies
of their children, the cornice being incised with figures of war-like
instruments: there are seven other mural monuments to the same family,
dating from 1516 to 1815, and brasses to Richard Beresford (1733)
and to the Rev. Garton Howard B.A. late rector (1877) : the east window
is stained, and on the south side of the church is a memorial window
to Harriet, wife of the Rev. J. Barnes M.A. sometime vicar of Tissington
(1879) : the church plate dates from 1702 : the ancient circular font,
a work of earlier date than the general fabric of the church, is composed
of red gritstone, carved with six panels of varying size, and stands
on a round base with six deep flutings: in 1850 the church was thoroughly
restored at the expense of Francis Wright esq. of Osmaston Manor,
and Sir Henry Fitzherhert bart. of Tissington Hall :
the spire was erected in 1866 at the expense of Mrs. Barnes and Miss
Van Tuyl, and in 1873 an organ chamber and vestry were added : there
are 200 seats, all free: the restoration of the church is now (1890)
proposed. The registers date from the year 1604, but at first are
very illegible and have been very irregularly kept: there is a blank
from 1642 to 1660. The living is a rectory, average tithe rent-charge
£49. net yearly value £240, with 34 acres of glebe and
residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Southwell, and held since
1888 by the Rev. Richard Knott Bolton M.A. of Trinity College. Dublin.
There is a Wesleyan Methodist chapel, erected in 1832, but only used
occasionally. The late Rev. J. Barnes left the sum of £6,000
to the Lichfield diocesan trustees, but this sum has been considerably
reduced by succession duty and change in the fluctuation of stock,
and now (1891) amounts to £5,152; two-thirds of the income of
the investment is paid to the rector of Fenny Bentley for the increase
of his stipend, and one-third to the rector of Fenny Bentley and other
manager or managers of the Bentley school (which belongs to Sir William
Fitzherbert, bart.), to be expended in support of the said school:
the Rev. Francis Gisborne, sometime rector of Staveley, who died in
July, 1821, by his will dated 7th May, 1818, bequeathed £6 10s.
annually to this pariah, which is expended in warm clothing for the
poorer inhabitants: ten shillings yearly is paid to the poor from
Port's Ilam charity. Bentley Hall, pleasantly situated in the village,
is the residence of William Adshead esq. Timothy and William Challinor
esqrs. are lords of the manor, and Sir William Fitzherbert bart. J.P.
of Tissington Hall, is principal landowner. The soil is heavy ; subsoil,
chiefly clay over limestone. The land is chiefly in pasture. The acreage
is 1,038 ; rateable value, £1,853; the population in 1881 was
248. Parish Clerk, William Wright. POST OFFICE.-William Harrison, receiver. Letters arrive from Ashborne at 7.30 a.m. ; dispatched at 4.45 p.m. There is no sunday delivery or dispatch. Tissington is the nearest money order & Ashborne the nearest telegraph office National School (mixed), erected in 1868, for 80 children ; average attendance 47; Miss Annie Bangs, mistress Adshead William, Bentley hall Bolton Rev. Richard Knott M.A. [rector] Maurice CoI. Arthur Corbet (late Royal Minster Fusiliers), Bentley cottage COMMERCIAL. Allen Samuel, farmer Botham Thomas, farmer Cartwright Christopher, farmer & assistant overseer, Fenny house Challinor Timothy, farmer, The Alders Clews Arthur, farmer, The Firs Dichfield Thomas, farmer Harrison Charles, boot & shoe maker, Post office Hooson William, farmer Howie William, Coach & Horses P.H. Kirkham Mary (Mrs.), Wheatsheaf inn Lownds William, farmer, Bank top Pearson Thomas, grocer Potter Jsph. farmr. & overseer, The Ashes Redfern Samuel, Blue Bell P.H Richardson Thos. frmr. Ravenscliffe frm Slater Adam, farmer, Hillock close Slater Samuel, farmer Watson Thomas, farmer, Pasture tops Webster Joseph, farmer & cattle dealer, Cherry orchard Wigley Francis, farmer, Pasture tops Wright James, farmer [End of transcript. Spelling, case and punctuation
are as they appear in the Directory.]
 An Ann Andrews historical directory transcript |
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 Village Links |
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More on site information about Fenny Bentley and
the surrounding area Derbyshire's
Parishes, 1811The Gentleman's
Magazine Library - Derbyshire to Dorset (Thomas Beresford mentioned
on page 14)Wolley
Manuscripts, Derbyshire for more information about Derbyshire
deeds, pedigrees, documents and wills (see Beresford)Please note: Over the years, Fenny Bentley's church has been dedicated to both St. Mary Magdalene and to St. Edmund, King and Martyr, the name by which it is known today. As later as 1873 Fr. Redfern, author of The History of Uttoxeter, wrote that "A chantry was founded in St. Mary Magdalene's Church, Bentley, by the Berisford family ..." (The Derby Mercury, 29 January, 1873). A few years later J. C. Cox, writing in his Churches (1877), says that although the church was the supposed to be dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, a chantry was founded to St. Edmund; it was this that caused Cox to believe that it was inconceivable that Beresford, who founded the chantry, got the church name wrong when dedicating the parish church. Of course, Beresford just could have made two different dedications, but we will probably never know. Cox suggested that a rededication to St. Mary Magdalene might have happened in the distant past, perhaps when the church was rebuilt or repaired, but he had found no ancient record. The name changed to St. Edmund around the time Cox's book was published and was given as that in Kelly's Directory of 1881. Both names are often quoted for this church. The older registers would have been for St. Mary Magdalene whereas the registers from around 1877 onwards would be for St. Edmund's. |
