The early 1830s engraving of St. Martin's Church (above) shows
what the building was like before the Victorian restoration
of 1868-9. Stephen Glover, writing about Alfreton in 1833,
provided the following brief history to accompany the image.
"The church is an ancient rude structure, with some
handsome perpendicular windows, and pinnacled tower steeple
at the west end embattled; the whole structure has evidently
been built at several different times, with but little regularity
of form. One of the lords of Alfreton was the builder of
this church; for it appears that in the ninth year of the
reign of Henry II. Robert, the son of Ranulph, gave it to
Beauchief abbey, of which he was the founder. In the second
year of the reign of Edward VI. the king granted it to Thomas
Babington, who had then become the proprietor of the manor.
The church is dedicated to St. Martin. ...
The rectory of Alfreton, with the advowson of the vicarage,
was granted by Henry VIII. to Francis Leake, esq. whose descendant,
Nicholas Earl of Scarsdale, sold them; in 1673, to John Turner,
of Swanwick, gent. The rectorial tithes were sold by auction,
about the year 1779, chiefly to the several land owners, by
the trustees of the late George Turner, esq. The advowson of
the vicarage was purchased by the late George Morewood, esq.
and now belongs to William Palmer Morewood, esq. The present
incumbent is the Rev. John Pepper. There was a chantry in the
church of Alfreton, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The lands
belonging to which, of the value of £8. 4s. 8d. per annum,
were granted by Edward VI. to Thomas Babington"[1].
The church had been built for a population two thirds
less than that of the 1860s. The interior was filled
with "cumbrous piles of carpentry"; pews were of
every shape and size and there were various galleries, presumably
to try to accommodate everyone[2].
The architects of the 1868-9 design were Messrs.
Hine and Son of Nottingham, with the work contracted to Messrs.
C. Wright and R. Johnson of Nottingham, supervised by Mr Alfred
Appleton of Derby (the Clerk of Works). The church was greatly
enlarged, given a new roof and some of the original windows
were incorporated into the bigger building. The sacrarium
floor was covered with Minton tiles and the church was "warmed
by one of Boulton's furnaces for the circulation of warm air".
There was also a new organ, built by Mr. C. Brindley
of Sheffield. St. Martin's was re-opened by the Bishop of Lichfield
on Thursday 5 August 1869, with many local clergy in attendance[2].
The heliotype photograph of the porch dates from slightly
after this restoration and was taken in 1875 for J. C. Cox's
first volume about Derbyshire's churches[3].
We can see the new roof, the apex of which was roughly level
with the top of the clock on the south face of the tower. In
the left bottom corner is a gravestone:
In Memory of William Everingham
Died February 4th
---- Aged 72 Years
William Everingham was buried on 11 Feb 1837 and his obituary
notice in "The Derby Mercury" said: "Also
at the same place [Alfreton], and same day [Saturday
last], Mr. Everingham, cooper, after a lingering
illness. He was a very honest upright man, and much respected."[4]
St. Martin's Church contains monumental brasses to the Ormond
family, and tablets and inscriptions to the Moorwoods and others.
Black's Guide of 1888 noted the 14th century porch, the
reredos of Derbyshire alabaster and the arch from the nave
into the tower as containing early English work[5].
"The only other memorial of that period is a slab, incised
with the head of a sepulchral cross; it was found beneath the
pavement of the chancel and in 1894 was fixed in the chancel
wall and protected in front by a sheet of plate-glass"[6].
The third image was taken outside the churchyard, showing a pretty
wrought iron arch over the gateway. Around the turn of the
century "the churchyard was kept
in very good condition during the summer months, a special
fund being raised for the purpose"[6].
Amongst the memorials inside the church are several that stand
out from the
late nineteenth and early to mid twentieth century. "In
1894 a stained window was erected to the memory of Tom Herring
Bingham, son of the late Dr. Bingham, who was drowned at Eastwood,
Notts, on Friday, 12 Aug. 1892, while attempting to save the
life of Cecilie Barber, aged 5 years, who had fallen off a
steam launch at Lamb's close.... Another memorial window was
erected in 1907, to William Wooding Nelson and his son, who
were drowned at Sutton-on-Sea, Aug. 1906"[6].
There are also poignant memorials to those killed in the Boer
War, World War One and World War Two.
A new vicarage, later called The Glebe, had been built on
a large plot next to Alfreton church in 1891[7] though
it was eventually replaced by a more modern building. Amongst
the Rectors who lived at The Glebe was Thomas Allen Moxon M.A.
who was appointed Rural Dean of Alfreton in 1910[8].
His younger sister, by then Mrs. Eliza A. R. Haigh, lived with
him for a time on her return from India. Rev. Moxon resigned
in 1916, joining the British Red Cross Society Motor Ambulance
Department as a chauffeur and he saw active service in France.
He married Evelyn Goodwin Stroyan of Alfreton in 1917 but the
couple did not return to Alfreton post war.
Please contact the web mistress, via the link in the footer
below, if you can assist someone who is researching Eliza (Ellie)
Haigh. |
References:
[1] Glover, Stephen (1833) "The
History and Gazetteer of the County of Derby ..." Edited
by T. Noble. pub. Derby and London.
[2] "The Derby Mercury",
Wednesday 11 August 1869.
[3] Cox, J Charles (1875) "Notes
on the Churches of Derbyshire, Vol I, Hundred of Scarsdale",
Chesterfield: Palmer and Edmunds, London: Bemrose and Sons, 10
Paternoster Buildings; and Derby.
[4] "The Derby Mercury",
8 February 1837. One of the executors of his Will was S. Everingham
of Oxford Street, London.
[5] "Black's Tourist Guide to
Derbyshire", (1888) pub. Adam and Charles Black Edinburgh.
[6] "Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire",
1912.
[7] "Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire",
1891 and various historic maps.
[8] Amongst the sources used for Rev.
Moxon were census returns, Derbyshire newspapers, the British
Red Cross Register Of Overseas Volunteers 1914-1918 and his
obituary in The Times of 18 Sep 1943.
Alfreton is mentioned in the following on-site transcripts:
|
Derbyshire's
Parishes, 1811, Parishes A
